Is there any chance of adding an option for more than two panes?
I find I often need to drag and drop between more than two folders at a time and this is helped by having more than two panes. I've been using Q-Dir just for this (originally tested it as a free portable option for friends/colleagues) and am aware that others (eg MTexplorer) have even more than 4 panes.
Open as many listers as you want and save them as a layout.
To the original poster...Thanks for telling us about this file manager. I couldn't locate it in Download.com but decided to take it on faith that it's legit and it does work! Q-Dir is nice! I love this! Gonna start using this in conjunction with DOpus.
That's not the same at all, unless I'm just missing configuration options.
I just end up with all the general toolbar overhead on both instances. What I'd really like is an option to switch into quad mode the same way that I can switch into dual horizontal, commander etc.
It's not a major problem since I have a way of doing it; just feels strange running two file explorers.
[quote="Dormouse"]
That's not the same at all, unless I'm just missing configuration options.[/quote]
I didn't say it was the same. I offered it as a potential solution for your needs though. Not sure what you mean about the overhead of the toolbars - unless you mean the room they take up. Unless you're running on a tiny resolution it's great having multiple listers open, all independant yet working together when required. Apart from the toolbars taking up a little room I can see no advantage to having multiple panes with one lister.
Create a style that contains no toolbars and use it in a layout with your standard lister.
X.
Styles don't affect toolbars.
Yes, that is what I meant.
Yes, I often used to have multiple listers tiled, and saw no advantage to having more than 2 panes available.
But since I have tried it, I have stopped using DOpus for drag and drop, except sometimes for FTP.
So explain yourself then. What are the actual benefits of having multiple panes over multiple listers?
Basically, ease and speed.
It started as an observation that I was opening Q-Dir rather than DOpus when I was going to Drag and Drop rather than something thought through.
So this is really an attempt to explain my behaviour. All the panes are always on top (or not); they only have one set of lister controls. The opened panes take up the full screen (if I want, which I nearly always do) and using the sliders to vary pane size always works within that full screen.
I do usually have lots of applications open at the same time.
Why is it better to have 2 2-pane listers rather than 4 1-pane listers?
None of this may sound like much, and in practice it may or not be, but it certainly feels as if it makes my life easier.
I frequently have to move & copy/paste files between a number of folders. And it is much easier to have all the folders open when I'm doing it. I used to use multiple listers to achieve the effect; I have seen some people tile multiple instances of Windows Explorer to achieve the effect; I'm aware that some explorers have 6+ panes (but so far have never felt the need for more than 4). I'm aware that it does make my life easier because it isn't something I decided to do, but just found myself doing (and initially I had to go through DOpus to open Q-Dir - so DOpus was always open).
I hope this helps. I'm not sure that it would have been that convincing to me before I started doing it.
This does not deal with your original request, but you sound like the sort of person who could use a dual monitor system, if you haven't gone down that road already.
While I can see why you like the idea of a four-pane file manager, the extra screen real estate with a second monitor makes life much easier all round.
While my real need is to have a couple of word processor documents and PDF files or web pages available at a glance, I often have a pair of file managers open, one on each monitor.
If one monitor is "widescreen," even better. I would say make both monitors widescreen, but my desk isn't that big.
We don't have any plans to increase the number of file displays per Lister, sorry.
Could you just use multiple tabs? You can drag and drop to other tabs simply by dropping on the tab label; if you hover on the label it will even come to the front so you can see the contents.
You are right, though the extra space doesn't replace a 4 pane solution. atm, I am without 2 monitors as I have a stop-gap computer whilst I fix my own & it doesn't have a graphics card with 2 outputs (and I don't feel like switching the other one over even temporarily). But I do agree that it makes a huge difference to efficiency.
[quote="jon"]We don't have any plans to increase the number of file displays per Lister, sorry.
Could you just use multiple tabs? You can drag and drop to other tabs simply by dropping on the tab label; if you hover on the label it will even come to the front so you can see the contents.[/quote]
Thanks. Not a problem, since I do have a solution that works.
Multiple tabs do work, but its just a bit clunkier and slower than the 4 panes. Very good when the need isn't for such frequent interaction between different folders, and I do generally prefer this to multiple listers.
GREAT suggestion Jon; I was not aware of that. Good information to know.
Thanks;
Doc
[quote="jon"]We don't have any plans to increase the number of file displays per Lister, sorry.
Could you just use multiple tabs? You can drag and drop to other tabs simply by dropping on the tab label; if you hover on the label it will even come to the front so you can see the contents.[/quote]
First off as this is my first post on the forum I would like to start by saying that I love dopus and it really does make everyday life so much easier.
I have been in the same predicament as the OP quite a few times and have ended up making do with having multiple tabs on each side as Jon suggested but this does become awkward in a lot of cases. I would like to point out that I have a dual monitor setup and therefore always have a dopus lister fullsized on one monitor or the other. However, it ends up being quite a chore (relatively) to do a bunch of copying when you only have 2 panes and I would love to have 3 or even 4 panes sitting under one set of toolbars.
Below I have attached two pictures, the qdir-quadblurred.jpg picture is what a quad pane browser looks like in qdir and shows why it is a useful thing to have on a widescreen monitor. Below that I have attached a screenshot of something that was suggested above, 2 x 2pane listers. As you'll see, it just ends up being a lot less efficient.
I would love for this to become a feature at some point (along with a supercopier/teracopy esque copy list feature) but I won't find the program any less useful if these features don't make it.
My use case is for 4 panes in a 2x2 grid with one nav tree on the left, like the way DOpus works out of the box with 2 panes. Its the most efficient use of space to have a singular window layout, with the one tree and the 2x2 grid. I prefer DOpus' feature set to Q-DIR so would love to see this feature come to the platform. Right now at work I have to use 4 explorer windows and it's the worst...-_- (but that's besides the point, I am trying to get them to get me a license of DOpus)
Might I suggest Tab Groups as a possible workaround. Left pane has the source folder; the right pane has four tabs to which you copy files. Save this tab configuration as a Tab Group. You could have many Tab Groups for different sets of tabs. Create a Folder Tabs Context menu button to call up the Tab Group. The following button does this:
Tab Groups List.dcf (553 Bytes)
This is too clunky. I often need 3 - 4 folders open and viewable for comparing information about files in folders and not just copy/pasting. Tabs means I still only see two folders at once. Looking to see 4 at once while preserving as much screen real-estate as possible.
Right now the closest solution is two independent DOpus instances, each with its own navigation tree and two panes in horizontal. Lots of duplication of visual elements. I only ever need one nav tree at a time, but often need to see into 3+ folders at a time.