Seeking Advice For Organizing Workflows in Directory Opus?

Help & Support
1

Hi everyone,

I have been using Directory Opus for a bit now, and I am really enjoying the flexibility and power it offers compared to the basic file managers out there. However, I feel like I’m probably not using it to its full potential when it comes to organizing my workflows and maximizing efficiency.

I was wondering if anyone here could share their favorite tips or tricks for setting up Directory Opus in a way that makes everyday tasks smoother? When I was searching about this I came across these resources/articles A Permanent, Fixed Folder Tree AWS DevOps Tutorial, however, they are quite helpful but I wanted to learn more from community members.

I work on a lot of different types of projects (coding, some media work, etc.) and would love to hear how others have customized it for similar uses.

Thanks in advance :blush:
Faelannm

2

Hi,

On my end, I defined different layouts per workflow where you have tabs already opened for the most common tasks and location I use for that workflow (with/without : folder tree, preview pane, metadata pane, single/dual pane, ...). Those layouts are saved and I can call them back in their predefined state whenever I need.

Toolbars : most common customized buttons (scripted or not), menus, are in always visible toolbars top and bottom of listers. Less used toolbars are hidden (for me : drives list, less common but specific action buttons, ...) and have a button to toggle their display, sometimes attached somewhere (sides), sometimes as floating toolbars.

Common places I need to go : either in the tabs of the layouts, or in custom made menus, and most often with an alias defined for it if I want to jump quickly from the keyboard.

For some places I have predefined formats that will help : tab coloring, background image (for instance, backup locations have some kind of a "backup" logo image displayed in the bottom right of the file displays so I know I am in the backup folder and not the source, which can have, or not, its own background image).

On top of that, I have some folder and files "coloring" based on their names and locations (using labels). I try not to use direct label association on files (which are stored in the file system) but rather have rules (which are stored in Opus configuration). On example : every folder starting with TMP_ has a specific label coloring attached so I can see them at a glance when navigating Opus.

Finally, I changed the default context menus to display what common action I use, having the default Windows context menu reachable as a sub-menu of the custom one. Some of the most common file types I use also have specific context menus.

Of course, considering the power of Opus, there are probably many other things I can not think of right now :slight_smile:

Hope this helps giving you ideas.

3

You'll find plenty of inspiration in the Tutorials section of the forum. The videos on YouTube are also worth watching, including the older ones for Opus 12.

The default setup in the Preferences is quite useful. When Opus 13 was released, I started with a fresh configuration and manually transferred all my settings. As it turned out, there weren’t that many changes.

My Toolbars are a different story; they have evolved substantially over the years. And that's the approach I'd recommend: Start using Opus, and if you find yourself stuck or thinking "This should be easier!", make a post in the forum - after using the search function, of course :wink:

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4

I am a professional photo organizer. I have developed workflows for organizing photos and for organizing videos in client's digital collections. Those workflows are closely tied to the different metadata photos and videos use.
'Organizing' means different things to different people.
My suggestion would be to define the organizing tasks you want/need to do and then dive into Opus to figure out exactly what you need to do. Then when you have much more specific questions, this forum will be a great place to ask those questions.

5

A random tip I wish I thought of earlier, is in the filetypes menu for exe > Commands tab > Events, add a command like this to the "Left Double Click + Shift" event (or one of the other modifier keys):

cd {sourcepath$}
cmd /k {filepath$}

This is for the times you want to run a command-line program that shows the "help" info and parameters list when you run it without arguments, but the command prompt window immediately closes so you can't actually see them.

But with that command you can just hold shift while double clicking, and the command prompt window will stay open so you can actually read it and then use it (since the cd command changes to the working directory too).

Whereas normally you have to open up a new command prompt window, then type in the name of the exe and run it so the window stays open.

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6

You probably are not using it to its full potential - at least initially. Don't be put out. It takes time to fine tune all the options to your workflow - the more so the more fine tuning you aim for. Opus is a very powerful program, it can take some time to get to know the tasks that you want it to do, yet it is very usable from the initial installation for basic tasks.

The best single suggestion I would offer is to notice when you do anyting repeatedly - that's a candidate for fine tuning or automation. Automation is the combination of setting preferences, and creating buttons on toolbar(s) and context menu(s). Once you know you want to automate something, you can look at FAQs and search the forum for solutions. That said, my suggestions are just that, mine, a way not the way; they match my thinking and your workflow.

The opposite way to learn is to look at examples of buttons to see if it automates something you could use. To that end, look at my toolbars that organize Opus features functionally. Move through all the toolbars and buttons to see if you could use someting to automate something you do. See Source Menu for Directory Opus 13 - #3 by jinsight

There are some common things most people should do, regardless of any particular workflow:

  1. Put more frequent actions at always visible button and tabs. Put less frequent at two or at mouse three levels down.
  2. Use context menus for tasks more specific to your workflow.
  3. Develope a standard naming convention for folders and files.
  4. Most folks go to a handfill of drives, folders and files. My technic is putting all of these in the location bars of dual file displays in a standard lister. Hit a button on the left file display and that file display opens. Hit a button on the right file display and that file display opens. Others use multiple dedicated listers designed for specific purposes. e.g., three listers, one for New Clients/Projects, one for Active Clients/Projects and one for Archived Client/Projects. Working with graphics files or music files are other specialties.
  5. For less frequently accessed actions, you can use tabs and tab groups. See Tabs in my Source Menu.
  6. Make very accessible copy, move, delete files and folders See Copy, Paste, Move and Delete in my Source Menu.

Best of luck