Default Tracker Preferences

dcbeckman

I work with a lot of fresh Haiku/Renku images and the one thing I always need to do is change the default Tracker preferences. Since we are very open to change here, I figured I would open a discussion to possibly decide on some changes here.

Here are the changes I make and believe are sensible options for the majority of users:

Desktop: Show Disks icon
Because of how unpredictable icon placement can be on the Desktop, I find it easier to use the Disks icon to contain all of my mounted volumes.
Windows: Show folder location in title tab + Single window navigation + Show navigator
Opening a new window for every folder is just messy, and it is not easy to navigate. I have no nostalgia for classic MacOS or the earliest versions of BeOS. But we have had these features for decades, and it seems like they should be shown off.

Kevin

Yep, I always change those too. And swapping the keyboard buttons to not be the BeOS way.
I do have nostalgia for BeOS... but didn't like it back then either lol.

dcbeckman

Kevin When I used BeOS daily I also switched the keyboard button. It was mainly a matter of if you were more comfortable with the Mac layout or the Windows one, and that is always what made sense to me. I would also vote to make that key the default. Speaking of which, how do I do that in Haiku/Renku again?

ilfelice

dcbeckman Windows: Show folder location in title tab + Single window navigation + Show navigator

FWIW, this is also the first thing I do after a fresh install. I would not be against making this the default.

Shaka444

I always switch it to "Single window navigation + Show navigator" but I don't use the location in the title tab because it's already listed in the navigator and the title tabs are cleaner that way.
I like "Show thumbnails" but I don't know if thats a default..
I also like to see my different disks on the desktop, so:

-1 for "Show Disk icon"
-1 for "Show folder location in title bar"

+1 for "Single window navigation + Show navigator"

dcbeckman

Shaka444 I think you are right. The tab does look better without "Show folder location in title tab". Single window navigation and Show navigator are enough.

Disk icon is going to be a lot more of a personal preference. My preference would be individual volume icons on the Desktop if it weren't for the fact that the Desktop is so chaotic and unpredictable. But maybe that just means we should make fixing icon layout behavior on the Desktop a priority. The Cleanup right click option is pretty much a joke too. Are there any user apps to help with this?

clasqm

dcbeckman

Desktop: Show Disks icon - not what I'm using ATM, but no strong feelings either way
Show folder location in title tab - a bit too fussy and cluttered. Can it be a tooltip?
Single window navigation - YES. The spatial thing drives me nuts.
Show navigator - yes

Shaka444

dcbeckman The Cleanup right click option is pretty much a joke too. Are there any user apps to help with this?

I know there is a hidden option- SHIFT-right click Desktop gives you a "Clean up all" option that arranges icons alphabetically top left to right.

We should unhide this and call it "arrange by name"

dcbeckman

Shaka444 Yes, arrange by name and arrange by type are both good options. But also, the behavior of where icons land when a device is mounted or a file is copied to Desktop is very random and doesn't seem to follow normal logic.

Shaka444

If you look at the desktop like columns and rows, I would prioritize like this-

Drives and mounted devices in first column with boot device being first-(top left) and other drives below it.
Home folder gets top spot in second column
Trash gets last spot in last column (bottom right)