Confused about content types and folder options

I'm sorry to post such a stupid question, but I'm a bit confused by the help for folder and content type options.

If I select a folder in the lister, and choose Tools|Folder Options, I can kind of figure out what to do to set the various fields and so on. I've even managed to apply a great view style to all subfolders. This is such a powerful and complicated aspect of Opus, I'm sure it will take some time to fully understand.

So how can I easily apply the same view settings (fields, sizes, colours) from a folder view into a Content type view? It seems to be an opportunity to add this facility somehow, but I'll be darned if I can figure out how.

I got into a situation a few days ago with a previous version of Opus, where I tried to do just that (I figured out a folder view I liked, then tried to change the Content Type settings (for that particular content type and no other, I wanted to use the same settings as in my folder view), but then that somehow propagated to every single folder. So I did a bad thing, and reading the help I think I know where I made the mistake (in the confusing save/clear/reset actions).

Re-reading the help for the Folder Options, I'm fine until halfway down the page, when it suddenly starts talking about folder format groups being displayed, with checkboxes in a list somewhere, and they ain't. Not in my Folder Options dialog, nor in any of the tabs in that dialog. The only way I seem to be able to see the items discussed in this help topic is if I use the Preferences|Folders|Folder Formats|Content Type Formats, and there is no way that I can see to "copy" or "duplicate" the settings I painfully entered for the folder options into the appropriate Content Type settings (which makes a lot more sense in this situation than changing 3,000 folders' options!), which I guess is the whole point of Content Types.

But there seems to be no link or description in that same help topic to explain how to get to the Content Type editor. I guess this is just an oversight in the otherwise excellent help, but it's sadly lacking in this area. To have a single help topic explain a similar looking dialog that can only be accessed by two completely different menu commands is quite disconcerting, when only one method of access is discussed or explained.

I'm assuming (!) this is just an oversight in the help file, but if not, then I'm doing something wrong, and if anyone can help me figure out what I'm doing wrong to be unable to see what's described in the help topic for that dialog, and/or b) how to simply "transfer" the settings for a folder view "into" a content type view, I'd be very much obliged.

Again, I apologise for the silly question, I've reviewed the tutorials (which don't work correctly on an x64 system due to Macromedia's issues with 64-bit flash players!) and tried to figure it out, but a good half hour later I'm still scratching my head. Fleas, probably.

Did you try reading the faq?

Yes, sadly after I posted. I've avoided some of the faqs due to the swf problem on x64 when I tried to view most of the tutorials, I didn't realise most of the faqs are text and still image.

I actually found Leo's great folder options explanation too. I don't know why the forum search "folder content types" didn't show those higher in the list... I was just a bit too rushed and frustrated. Damn.

I'm learning, I'm learning... it's the fleas.

OH - and if anyone, and I mean anyone knows of a good pdf manual printer service, I'd really appreciate hearing about it.

I got 11 quotes (6 in Victoria, 3 in the rest of Oz, and 2 international) for doing a simple b&w A4 duplex reprint of the Opus user guide, the lowest was AUD$172 (AUD$325 for colour duplexed). I need a printed manual 'cause I'm not vertical for much of the time, and reading the low-res laptop version of the PDF is bad for what's left of my intelligence.

Alternatively, if the full guide (and maybe even the to-date faqs as an appendix) were available from GPSoftware, I would pay to have a nicely printed and bound version. I don't care how many trees I kill, I use more coal-fired electricity to post stupid questions than any recycled-paper manual would take.

I used to get SNAP printing here in Aus to print out the Opus manual - B&W only but it only cost around $15 per manual.

The Tools -> Folder Options dialog edits the current window's temporary settings and, optionally, allows you to save those settings into your preferences as a Folder Format.

The Settings -> Preferences -> Folders -> Folder Formats page displays all of the saved (or default) Folder Formats in your preferences and lets you edit them by double-clicking. The dialog you get when editing them looks like the Folder Options dialog since at that point you're editing the same type of object.

In Preferences, if you want to copy the setup of one Folder Format to another then you can do this by right-clicking one and selecting Copy, then right-clicking the other and selecting Paste.

Thanks for the clarification, nudel, it's actually starting to come together now that I can follow where the document types and groups are matched from.

I appreciate you taking the time to respond!

Tanis, I hadn't tried Snap, so I gave them a go. I just got a quote back for the Opus manual in A4 80gsm duplex, it was $157 for colour, or $114 in B&W, no binding, or $177 for colour + wire binding. I think you must have a great discount structure for volume printing!

This is a serious ripoff, IMHO. If I knew there was a need for this, I'd lease a colour printer and do the work myself (for what I know for a fact are consumable AND maintenance costs of less than $0.12 per page) But it's also completely OT, so I'll stop it here. Thanks for the suggestion, anyway!

I just asked snap to print it out - double sided - 2 pages per side - and bind it with a simple plastic comb. $15 per book. Additional copies were slightly cheaper as they just photocopied instead of printed. As for volume, I got 3 copies total.

Yeah, I got some static from a couple of other print services (Kwik Copy, etc) who quoted the same price range as Snap. They tried to BS me about consumable costs, maintenance, and so on... then they found out I was the Asiapac printer guru for HP in another life. I didn't have the patience to give them a second chance to quote more reasonably.

I've got a Samsung laser duplex printer, but it's a bit of a boat anchor at the moment because Samsung is having some QA issues with their 240V fusers, and the poor old CD printer is starting to do the equivalent of losing its teeth and going bald, so manual duplexing of more than 20 pages on the old Epson is a lost cause.

I'll keep trying, there has to be a reasonable way to print this stuff out. Thanks anyway for the comments, I'm not going to give up just yet. (And I'll be damned if I have to go for b&w, I know the cost differential for CMYK consumables and the Opus manual isn't that heavy on colour).
Cheers,
PCPete

[quote="nudel"]
In Preferences, if you want to copy the setup of one Folder Format to another then you can do this by right-clicking one and selecting Copy, then right-clicking the other and selecting Paste.[/quote]
Leo, you're a star, mate. That is just so cool.

I know Ruby has a motto of "the principle of least surprise", but I think Opus got there first.