OSX Pro Tips Series: Where Files Live

28th June 2007..

 

It doesn’t take long to recognize that I’m a fan of Apple products. From the Apple sticker on my bike, to the stickers on my external hard drive, day planner, and notebook (although no visible tattoos yet), it’s quite obvious where my alliance lies. And while most of the world can appreciate Apple’s product designs (think iPod and upcoming iPhone), my personal admiration is towards Apple’s software, particularly OSX. It is an operating system like no other, not just intuitive and user-centric from day 1, but filled with hidden gems and tricks that forever renew that love-at-first-sight feeling.

The thing is, because a user’s typical first impression of OSX is initially so pleasant and successful, not many people take the time to seek out these hidden features. But for me, discovery is all part of the enjoyment of working on OSX. Some of the things I’ve picked up are not just novel nuggets to impress your friends, rather they’re honest time-savers and productivity boosters. They’re so helpful that I want to share them with you. So this article kicks off a new weekly OSX Pro Tips Series, in which I’ll reveal a new pro tip each episode. And now for our first tip: Where Files Live!

TIP: Where Files Live

Picture this: You’re working on a Word document, and you have a photo that you’d like to include. The photo is located in the same folder as your Word document. What’s the quickest way to get to that photo? I’ll tell you what isn’t the fastest way: opening up a new Finder window, and clicking your way to the desired folder. While you could create a shortcut to that folder on your dock or Finder window sidebar, I don’t like the idea of cluttering up my workspace with shortcuts. So, what’s the secret?

The secret is in the document window’s title bar, as seen here:

By holding down the Control key while clicking on that title, a drop-down menu appears, revealing the document’s location within your computer. You can then, just like any other menu, select with your mouse which folder to browse to, which will open up in a new Finder window. Watch the video for a demonstration:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/yGLJTuAtMhM" width="350" height="288" wmode="transparent" /]

Pretty slick, right?

Bonus Tip: Where Pages Live

These days many sites are being built with “friendly URLs”, which is to say that they use readable, well-structured URLs for each webpage. So instead of http://www.somesite.com/index.php?cat_id=3&prod_id=10, it would read http://www.somesite.com/clothing/jeans. Notice that it begins to read just like a filesystem (like Finder). Well Safari has noticed this, and adopted the same Command + Click feature into it’s window title bars. Watch the demo:

[kml_flashembed movie="http://www.youtube.com/v/inE5NQvPGi8" width="350" height="288" wmode="transparent" /]

I hope you’ve enjoyed the first installment of the OSX Pro Tips Series. Please be sure to leave a comment if you found it helpful, and if it sparks a tip of your own, please share!