Context Menu (files, folders) tweaking

Hi,
I'm using v.11.12 X64.

First off, as said each time I ask for help, I'm not a computer genius.
I need basic things explained simply.
Try as I may, the Web Help confuses me no end because I don't have a technical background (I'm a B.A, heh).
Often, I can't see what the bigger picture of what Opus Manual is explaining.
I think I got even more alienated in the switch from v10 to v11 -- where the stuff I managed to setup got consigned to a poor man's "Directory Opus 10" toolbar set.
So, I've tended to avoid asking for help.
But this isn't toolbars (I think).
I've made no such changes since v10 as I have guessed I'd have to keep switching between toolbar sets 0 & 10.

I also went through many pages of the 201 pages that search = "context menu" returns on this site but (as far as I understand them) they don't seem to be what I need.

So, my apologies for asking basic stuff that most users get themselves... or if I've missed answers already given.

There's 2 things I'd like to do:

1. remove some items from the Opus Context Menu (right-click on either a file or a folder)
eg. some of the WinRAR options ; there's many context menu items I'll never use and they force regularly used items so low down that I have to scroll to get to them (eg. "Delete" is always off-screen):
• compress and email
• share with
• include in library (I just move them manually to various directories as I have hundreds of destination folders)
• etc etc

2. Batch some context menu items in a drop-down menu so there's only 1 item at the "root"
eg. I've created many colour-coded options that I apply to selected folders so I can quickly find them among dozens of folders.

Related to Q #1 above, if I could create an item called "Apply folder colour" or something and store all those colour-code choices in it (like how "Send To" has a lot of target folders in a drop-down list), it would make the context menu much more concise.
So, instead of the above screenshot, the Context menu would have:

(sorry, I'm not brilliant with Photoshop either).

This 2nd solution might also solve some of the Q#1 problem (eg. put all WinRAR options under I item with a drop-down menu) but not all (eg. "Scan for deleted files" is not part of a set).

Can someone please explain the steps to do these two (related) Context Menu tasks?

Your kindness will be rewarded in the next life.

Thanks.
:slight_smile:

Hi Destry,

The only dumb questions are the ones that are never asked, so don't feel bad about asking "basic" questions. :slight_smile: There's a great community here that's always willing to help.

To help with cleaning up Winrar context items. This can be done in Winrar.

Open Winrar and go to Options -> Settings -> Integration tab.

Turning on "Cascaded context menus" will move all the zipping/extracting options into a one-item menu. Better yet, click on the "Context menu items" button and turn off the options you don't want to see.

To move your colour-coded labels into a menu.

Go to Settings -> File Types. Double-click on "All files and folders" (or highlight and click "Edit"). Go to the "Context Menu" tab. Click on "New..."

Under Action:, type a name for your menu item. (your example: Apply folder colour)
Under Type:, make sure it's set to "Standard Function (Opus or external)"
Use the below code to display all your labels:

Properties SETLABEL=!menu

Click OK to save. Now drag-n-drop your menu item to where you want it to appear. Don't forget you can right-click -> Begin a Group to help separate items.

I hope this helps clear up these 2 items for you. Someone else might have more tips on cleaning context menu items up.

.
Thank you ktbcrash for your help.

Q.1 : I was only using WinRAR as an example. I'd like a solution that could easily deal with pruning any context menu item now & in future.
There's others that I'd like to send along "the road paved with good intentions" (ie. to Hell).
:wink:

Q.2 : Many thanks for your clear, detailed instructions.
I haven't tried them yet but I will do that as soon as I can, today (work up the nerve).
It's the witching hours now. Wind is howling. At least I think it's the wind.
:wink:

I'll report back on results for Q.2.
:slight_smile:

Q1 is best done by configuring the tools themselves, but in cases where you can't, and don't want to uninstall them, Tip: Organise and Speed-Up Context Menus has another method.

.
Leo : thanks a lot. I'll check your link out today. (Warning to self: Take things slowly, dude).
I'll let you know the result when done.

ktbcrash :
:frowning: I don't have "Standard Function (Opus or external)" under Type. :frowning:

Should I ask for my money back?
:wink:

Use "Run an Opus function" when creating a new context menu item. (The list of available types is slightly different if you then go and edit an existing context menu item, as you can't directly turn some types into others. Ktbcrash was probably looking at an existing item.)

Wow... a nearly 10 year old How-To post... how time flies folks.

[quote="ktbcrash"]
Use the below code to display all your labels:

Properties SETLABEL=!menu

Click OK to save. Now drag-n-drop your menu item to where you want it to appear. Don't forget you can right-click -> Begin a Group to help separate items.[/quote]

3 Questions:

  1. You don't say where to put that code... is what I did correct?

  1. Drag menu items FROM where ? ; trying to drag the existing context menu items doesn't work.
  2. Drag menu items TO where ?

You don't want "CODE: SELECT ALL" (that's something the forum adds before blocks of code), just the "Properties SETLABEL=!menu" line.

I indeed was. Sorry about that, Destry. I never knew there was a difference :neutral_face:

Thanks, Leo.
I'm a bit slow.

I indeed was. Sorry about that, Destry. I never knew there was a difference :neutral_face:[/quote]
No worries, mate.
You still get rewarded in the Afterlife (while Bill Gates gets a holiday in Hell for crimes against Windows Explorer).

Anyway, I'm not there yet.
The instructions work fine but :
• in mysterious ways
• and leave shrapnel behind.

* 1. * I didn't drag-'n'-drop anything yet the original colour-coded labels are indeed in the new label group (for want of a better name)
How did they get there, without me specifying what to include?
Just in case my earlier drag attempts might be responsible, I created another "label group" called WinRAR, using the same instructions, didn't do any dragging at all, and it also ended up populated by the colour-coded labels.
Q : How did that happen?
Obviously, with the 2nd attempt, I wanted to move in all the Winrar items on the context menu.

* 2. * When it populates "Set List Colours" with the colour-code labels, it leaves the originals in the list as well, in their original places.
That's no good. The end result is just making the Context Menu longer.
When I go into Preferences where I set the colour-codes up, and delete 1 label (in this case, White-on-Red) and restart Opus, it deletes the label from both places in the Context Menu (the original position and "Set Colours" group.)
Which is also no good.
Q : How do I remove all the original colour-code labels without them getting deleted from the "Set List Colours" group as well?

* 3. * Q : How do I create a another "Group" without populating that with the same Colour-Coded labels every time?

Thank you both for help so far.
Sorry for the low wattage (next Christmas, I'll ask Santa for more Braaaaaains).
:slight_smile:

Ok, looks like the help has dried up.
I'll just delete the mess and forget trying to use that functionality.
Looks like Explorer has its moments after all.

It's difficult to see what has and hasn't been answered in this thread as it's multiple questions all interwoven. You'll get better help if you ask one question per thread.

Explorer can't even do what you're trying to do here. :slight_smile:

If you followed the suggestions above, you added the command Properties SETLABEL=!menu to your context menu. This command automatically generates a submenu containing all your labels.

But it sounds like you had already added individual label commands to your context menu. These will still be there, and you'll need to remove them one-by-one to get rid of them.