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Setting up stack icons + 'date added'

J

Jakerno

macrumors member
Original poster
May 25, 2010
32
0
New to the forums,

And I was just wondering if anyone could help me with stack icons. I've read several blogs and sites that explain how to put them in, and I've tried dropping a .png, and even a .icns and it's not transparent.

I have been able to drop a folder with the icon set to the 'stack icon' and it has worked. But my only problem is that I have my stacks set to "Sort by: Date Added". This site, http://justinhileman.info/articles/keeping-my-custom-leopard-stack-overlays-in-front has explained it a bit, but that script just didn't seem to work for me.

Any help setting up and figuring this date added issue would be awesome!
 
What I meant,

Badly worded, sorry. I meant since I have it set to "Sort by: Date Added", every time I download something new, the stack icon goes 'back into the past'. And it's not on top anymore.
 
Jakerno said:
Badly worded, sorry. I meant since I have it set to "Sort by: Date Added", every time I download something new, the stack icon goes 'back into the past'. And it's not on top anymore.
Click to expand...

Actually, the newest will be on the bottomost part.
 
Jakerno said:
Badly worded, sorry. I meant since I have it set to "Sort by: Date Added", every time I download something new, the stack icon goes 'back into the past'. And it's not on top anymore.
Click to expand...

Huh? What is not on top anymore? On top of what, exactly. I can make assumptions, as the previous poster has...

How does a stack icon go "back into the past"? The wording implies that the icon itself changes into something different. Is that what you mean?

No, I'm not trying to be difficult. I come by it naturally. ;) Really, I'm just trying to understand. :)
 
Gregg2 said:
How does a stack icon go "back into the past"? The wording implies that the icon itself changes into something different. Is that what you mean?
Click to expand...

I know what you need.

doc-and-marty.jpg
 
Woops!

Haha! Thanks for the Doc and Marty! They can take me back to the past!
Man I'm bad at explaining myself. Sorry again.

I keep my download folder in my dock. I set it to "Sort by: Date Added" so the newest file is always on the bottom. When I put a stack icon in the folder, and download something new, the stack icon just goes back, and is not visible anymore. Which defeats the purpose of having a stack icon.

So all I would need is some way for it to stay in front/on top, even if I download something new.
 
GGJstudios said:
Right-click on the folder on your Dock and select "Display as" > Folder.
Click to expand...

This is one way, which doesn't involve placing the icon inside the folder, but rather copy/pasting it as the folder's icon.

The other way is a Terminal trick to set the "Date Added" to a good ways into the future. Actually, now that I think about it, I think you can only do that with Date Created and Date Modified, so unless your icon is intended to also show stuff behind it, I'd go with the first trick.

jW
 
this

I have done this, but it doesn't show the files in the background. It's just an empty stack icon.

Added to the stack
14Ut9r.Screen%20shot%202010-05-26%20at%2017:11:19.png


Display as folder
14Uu9g.Screen%20shot%202010-05-26%20at%2017:11:56.png


I like the first one better, so if there's any way I could have that look, but with each new download not to cover the stack icon.
 
Open a Terminal window and type:

touch -t 2001010000 [drag the stack icon you want into the Terminal window and press return]

This will change the date to 2020, so the icon should always appear first in the sort order.
 
GGJstudios said:
Right-click on the folder on your Dock and select "Display as" > Folder.
Click to expand...
That might be the answer. Good guessing anyway.

Jakerno said:
Man (i)I'm bad at explaining myself(/i). Sorry again.

I keep my download folder in my dock. I set it to "Sort by: Date Added" so the newest file is always on the bottom. When I put a stack icon in the folder, and download something new, the stack icon just goes back, and is not visible anymore. Which defeats the purpose of having a stack icon.

So all I would need is some way for it to stay in front/on top, even if I download something new.
Click to expand...


You said it! ;) The icon goes back. Where? And then it disappears, or it disappears because it goes back (to wherever) or it doesn't disappear, it's just not visible, or... But, yeah, if you can't see the icon, what's the sense of having one?

That's what makes me think the answer above is a good guess. Display as Stack will always show the first item in the folder as the Stack icon in the Dock, using the OS "as shipped" of course. Have you used a Dock "enhancer" to change the appearance of your Dock? If so, that could be the problem, and is certainly in the equation.
 
I use Candybar to change my dock's appearance.

Right now, my only problem is changing the stack icon's added date. I have been able to find a script to change it's modification date, however, I would still like to be able to use "Sort By: Dated Added".

Perhaps a terminal command exists to change the date added (not modified, or created) ?
 
Alright, I think I've got it figured out.

Found an older thread on the site and someone posted this, http://dl.dropbox.com/u/588592/lj/automator-date-added.png, that shows an automator action that would put my stack icon always in front.

It works when I run the action. But is it possible to make it run automatically every time I add something to the downloads folder?
 
I've followed the steps in the image, and saved it as a folder action. However, it's still not automatic when I drop something into the downloads folder. I am missing this: http://drp.ly/15oQew.

I'm sure that's why my folder isn't performing the action when something is put into it, or deleted.
 
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