The Dock & Folders/Apps Question

[GovtLawyer]

I'm a switcher from PC since March, and I thought I had become fairly proficient with OSX. There is a lot I don't know and never use, but I find my Mac experience to be very positive. Yesterday I discovered that I may have been using the Dock incorrectly. Here's what I did, what happened, and the obvious need for some clarification.

I did not want the dock to become too busy with many app icons, so I created a folder for my favorite photo applications; Lightroom, Photoshop Elements, Bridge, and some Canon camera and printing programs. I liked the idea that I could just click on the one folder and it would fan open with all of the related apps. So, I simply dragged apps to the folder, and for months it seemed to work very well.

Yesterday I tried a Panorama feature in Photoshop Elements, and it was grayed out. So, I went to the Adobe PSE Forums and posted a message. A few very knowledgeable people answered, and we tried to troubleshoot the problem. We looked at permissions on the apps, and other stuff. At one point, I clicked on the app from within Finder, and it opened with the feature back where it belonged. I then went to the folder and by accessing there, it was gone. I'm not sure in which order this happened, but I did get a message that the app had been moved from its original location and needed to update itself. When I reported this to the export I was admonished that you can't add an app to a folder, you need to make an alias.

I trashed the folder and tried to redo it, but I recreated the same problem. So, I instead opened the applications from Finder and kept them pinned to the dock. They now work, but they clutter up the Dock.

What surprised me was that in the Dock tutorials I saw on the Apple site and the other Dock related stuff I read elsewhere, it seemed as if simply dragging apps to the dock or folders on the dock was the correct procedure.

Did I miss something? If I did not do it right, what steps would I need to go through to create a folder on the Dock with related apps?

 

[kajitox]

Well, I think to get around this you can use an alias in the folder that you put on your dock, that doesn't make too much clutter since it's only an alias.

 

[decksnap]

Some apps don't want to be moved from the apps folder for issues of updates and such. What people seem to be telling you is this:

You can make an alias in the dock of any existing app or folder by dragging it to the dock (good)

You can make a folder of ALIASES of apps in the finder and then make an alias of that folder in the dock by dragging it there (good)

You shouldn't move your apps around in the finder into custom folders and then make an alias of that by dragging it to the dock (bad) This is because you are moving the actual app location even before the dock is involved, which causes issues with some apps. For most any other files you don't have to worry about this.

 

[GovtLawyer]

I tried that

When I tried to put the alias in the new folder on the dock, when I clicked on the new alias, it opened a finder window with the original application. That seemed counter productive, as I could have opened the finder to begin with.

If I need to go your route, would you agree that Apple and other tutorials simplified the procedure too much? Obviously, if SOME applications don't like to be moved, the tutorials should not be suggesting you simply drag them to other folders.

Unless, I misread or did not comprehend the process.

 

[i.shaun]

what's with the alias stuff?

From the OP it seems he is opening apps directly from DMG files that have mounted, therefore the apps only work when the disk image is mounted.


What he must do is drag the application from the dmg file into the "Applications" folder to open from there.




If you want to place programs in other places, make an alias, and move the alias around. What I do is have am "apps" folder in my Finder sidebar (or "places" menu in the leopard finder)


Inside there, I place an alias to the most used apps that aren't on the dock. This way I click finder, click apps, and I have a short list of apps, not a large list of EVERY app I have. As for the ones I use constantly, I keep those in the dock.

 

[decksnap]

hmmm... thought I was going crazy, so I gave it a try. Works for me.

1. Make a blank folder
2. Make an alias (File >make alias or apple+L) of any apps you want. Put dem in da folder.
3. drag da folder into the dock.

Of course I keep about 50 or so apps in my dock so maybe I'm not a good example.

 

[GovtLawyer]

what's with the alias stuff?

From the OP it seems he is opening apps directly from DMG files that have mounted, therefore the apps only work when the disk image is mounted.


What he must do is drag the application from the dmg file into the "Applications" folder to open from there.




If you want to place programs in other places, make an alias, and move the alias around. What I do is have am "apps" folder in my Finder sidebar (or "places" menu in the leopard finder)


Inside there, I place an alias to the most used apps that aren't on the dock. This way I click finder, click apps, and I have a short list of apps, not a large list of EVERY app I have. As for the ones I use constantly, I keep those in the dock.

Great answer. Thanks. Although I did try dragging an Alias into a folder on the Dock, but when I clicked it, it opened up the finder, not the application. I'll look over your suggestions more carefully, and see if it doesn't work your way. My apps folder is getting very busy, and finding a way to go directly to some of my most used apps, or related apps, is something I'd like to do.

Thanks for your help.

Steven

 

[i.shaun]

hmmm... thought I was going crazy, so I gave it a try. Works for me.

1. Make a blank folder
2. Make an alias (File >make alias or apple+L) of any apps you want. Put dem in da folder.
3. drag da folder into the dock.

Of course I keep about 50 or so apps in my dock so maybe I'm not a good example.

that's similar to my method but I guess you use stacks which are not available in Tiger. I also cannot place folders in my dock

 

[decksnap]

that's similar to my method but I guess you use stacks which are not available in Tiger. I also cannot place folders in my dock

You can just put them in the right side of your dock, no? I've been doing that since panther.

 

[i.shaun]

You can just put them in the right side of your dock, no? I've been doing that since panther.

haha what the?? I just tried and it worked. .

I've tried placing system apps (like system preferences) there, but it wouldn't let me, so I assumed it was reserved only for Trash (and that weird icon that comes from a fresh install that points you to apple.com)