What do we do as Internet marketers? More specifically, what do we do on our Macintosh computers as Internet marketers? The next few posts may seem pretty basic, but I am going to focus on the routine things we do when we use Macs, and how we can do those even more proficiently.
Three videos accompany this post. Click here to view them.
I remember when I first got interested in computers in the late ‘70s. The buzz words in schools was that we needed to develop computer literacy. Even then, I thought the need was computer proficiency. Our Macs are our tool. To be a productive with a tool a user must developing proficiency with it. Therefore, I’m going to focus on the tasks we do as Internet markets and how we use our Macs to do them as I write the next few posts.
If I were to put our work into task categories, it would include something like the following:
- Manage and use our computer(s) drives, folders, and files
- Connect our computers to sites on the internet to search for and use web sites to upload and download files from our web sites
- Create content for our blogs and web sites including
- text documents for our posts
- images for posts and web sites
- Audio and video for posts, web sites, YouTube and podcasts
- Communicate with our readers/users via email, forums, chats, and webinars
I’m sure you will be able to tell me about other tasks I have missed via your comments, but let’s begin with these tasks. Let’s get started!
Managing our Macintoshes
I am convinced after all my years of supporting Apple employees and customers that most users never full advantage of the capabilities of the Finder, and yet it is one of the core technologies that makes the Macintosh so powerful. Mastering the skill of managing drives, folders and files on your Macintosh can be a significant productivity booster, and it is the Finder that enables us to do so. In the next couple of posts we’ll take a look at the Finder, at what it does, and how you can use it more proficiently.
The Finder is for viewing drives, folders, and files
Finder Windows – When you open any drive or folder icon a window is displayed. In their normal state windows have three parts, the Title bar, the Sidebar to the left, and the Toolbar at the top. The Sidebar and the Toolbar can be hidden by clicking on the oval button on the right side of the Title bar. There is a third bar, the Path Bar which can be displayed when a window is open by selecting the View menu and choosing the Show Path Bar sub-menu. Did you know? The Title bar will display a window’s path when you click on the window’s name while holding down the Control key. The path can also be displayed by selecting an open finder window and choosing View > Show Path Bar.
The Finder allows us to view drives, folders, and files in a variety of ways
Macintosh Finder Icons
Out of the box, the default view of drives, folders, and documents is the icon view. The Desktop always shows icons. Icons visually represent drives, folders, files and aliases. Drives, folders, and files all have the following meta characteristics/information embedded in them. This is important, as you will see, because we can search for things on our computers using this information.
- Name
- Date modified
- Date created – Determined the first time a folder is created or a document is saved.
- Size
- Kind – Defined by the creator of the file. However, this can be redefined in the info window
- Versions – Used to show application versions
- Comments – the user adds comments although sometimes the developer will put comments in Application and document files.
- Label – this is a great way to organize and find project files
While in the Finder choose View > Arrange By and select the meta characteristic by which you would like the icons arranged. You can also use the key combination Control+Command + 1 through 8. Remember, the Desktop always shows icons but open Finder windows can display the contents of drives and folders in several ways; as icons as we have seen, but also as lists and columns.
Aliases are a special kind of icon. They are two way pointers to any Finder element. When you move the file or folder the alias will still know where it is, or if you move the alias, it still keeps track of the file. The icons you see in the Dock and in the Sidebar of a Finder window are aliases. They are created by simply dragging the actual icon of the file into either the Dock or the sidebar. To remove them simply drag them out. This is a very flexible way to create temporary pointers to files that you are using regularly for a project or task. I move aliases in and out of the Dock and the Sidebar all the time. Did you know you can drag files or folders into the Toolbar too. The Finder will create an alias of the file or folder. Other ways to create aliases include selecting a file or folder and typing Command + L, or you can click and drag on a file or folder while holding down the Option + Command keys.
Macintosh Finder List View
You may find it more convenient to view things in a single List. To view any open window as a list choose View > as List or type Command + 1. List view displays files and folders in a vertical format. Folders in a list can be expanded downward and collapsed upward by clicking on the reveal/hide triangles to the left of each folder name. You can also click on the folder and type Command + down arrow or Command + up arrow to expand and collapse a folder in list view. This provides and easy way to drill down into folders.
Macintosh Finder Column View
An even more flexible view of lists is the Column view. The Column view displays nested folders in a horizontal format. Clicking on any folder in Column view displays any files or folders within it in a column to the right. Expanding the window to the right exposes more columns. Clicking on a file in any Column displays its viewable meta characteristics to the right
Tomorrow, we’ll take a look at how you can use the Finder to , of all things, FIND stuff.
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