New user questions

I am trying out EF as an alternative to KeepIt in part due to the email archive options of EF. A few questions I have are:

  1. Is it possible to have a monochrome sidebar - I find the coloured folder icons keep distracting me?
  2. Can the order of the permanent smart folders be adjusted so that unfiled and untagged are on the top?
  3. Is it possible to nest a smart folder inside a normal folder?
  4. Is it possible for new items to not have the unread tag applied automatically?
  5. If I were to create a normal folder named “Archive”, would it be possible to use Hazel to watch the EF folder(s) for an archive tag and then move the tagged files into this folder? Would this cause any issue to managing the library?
  6. Are there any plans to add support to capture from Forklift? Or is this something I could replicate with Keyboard Maestro?

I would like to add that one of the major plus points for EF is the comprehensive support documentation and the developer’s responsiveness on these forums. Thank you.

That’s not currently possible, but perhaps I can add a preference in a future version of EagleFiler. The tag colors are customizable, so you could make them monochrome if you want.

You could put them in a folder that sorts to the top of the list, and then they would be at the top as well (if the folder is expanded).

You can make folders in the Search For section of the sidebar and put smart folders in them, but it’s not possible to mix smart folders with regular folders in the Library section of the sidebar.

Yes, you can control that with the MarkNewRecordsAsUnread esoteric preference.

It’s fine to move outside files into EagleFiler. Having another app move files that are already managed by EagleFiler will cause problems. Some alternatives (not exactly sure what you’re trying to do or where you’re adding the tag from):

  • You could have a script that applies the archive tag and moves the file to the Archive folder.
  • You could have a script that looks for files tagged archive that are not in the Archive folder and moves them there.
  • You could use Hazel as described, but have it tell EagleFiler to move the record instead of moving the file itself.

I hadn’t considered that. Are you wanting to capture local files that are selected in Forklift? Or ones that are stored on a server? From what I can tell, it looks like Forklift has AppleScript support for getting the folder being displayed but not the selected items. You should be able to drag and drop, though. Maybe there is a way to use its Tools feature to send the items to EagleFiler.

Michael, thank you for the detailed reply,

  1. I have managed to change the folder icons in the Finder and these are replicated in Eagle finder so this is an option. I am not sure they are better than the default at the moment as I haven’t found the perfect icon shade yet…but this is a possible solution.

  2. That works.

  3. Noted.

  4. I never saw those preferences. Perfect.

I am not a programmer nor understand how to write scripts etc. My use case request is that I have client and/or project folders for filing project information. At the culmination of the project (or at a certain point during) I would like to archive some or all the associated files and records but maintain all tags etc.

My thinking is that I can use this archive tag as an automated filing system. I am sure the scripts would also work or I could just use a smart folder looking for the tag and move manually.

I asked about Hazel, because when I added a dummy Archive folder into the library, it appeared in the Finder as a normal folder within the library folder. I do not want to archive the records out of the library - just hide them within the library.

I use Forklift instead of Finder for most things and it is always local files. I can drag and drop easily enough - just not use F1. I think KM can do this for me easily enough.

Thanks again for your assistance

It sounds like you just want to move the files for completed projects into the Archive folder. That seems straightforward to do via drag-and-drop when you complete the project. What is the purpose of the archive tag? Is that to help you hide those records?

If so, one option would be to make a smart folder that shows all records that are not tagged archive. Then it would be easy to view/search all the current stuff. You could set the smart folder’s actions to add the archive tag and move the record into the Archive folder. Then you could move and tag the completed files just by dragging and dropping onto that smart folder—no script needed.

EagleFiler 1.9 uses a monochrome sidebar when running on macOS 11 Big Sur.