Fig 1.0 Click on the PICTURES shortcut link to open the PICTURES folder
Fig 1.1 The MEDIUM ICONS Content View of the PICTURES folder
| FOLDER VIEWS EXPLAINED |
In this section I will show you how to change a folder's Content View (sub-folders and files view) so that you can manage/view that content better. With picture files (photos) for example you may want them displayed/viewed as Thumbnails (preview icons) whereas for Copy & Paste purposes you may want them displayed/viewed as a List of files. It depends on the occasion/purpose.
In this first example I will show you how to change the display area of the PICTURES folder. So begin by opening the PICTURES folder - Click on the START Menu button and then on the PICTURES shortcut link.
The above MEDIUM ICONS Content View shows 2 sub-folders and 12 photograph files (pictures) within the PICTURES folder. Ignore the content for now though, it is the view that matters. To change the content view for another content view simply click on the folder's VIEWS drop-down menu, to bring up the VIEWS menu-items, and then select a different content view (menu-item); by either sliding the VIEWS Selector up/down or by clicking on a particular menu-item (content view).
As you can see from Fig 1.2 above, the VIEWS Selector has many content views to choose from. In this example I am currently using the MEDIUM ICONS content view but am just about to click on the LARGE ICONS content view (menu-item) to change the folder's content view into large icons. Here is a sample of the other content views.
If you want to change to a custom-size content view you can do so by dragging the content view selector manually up or down. For example. If you are using the MEDIUM ICONS content view and want larger icons but not too large, not LARGE ICONS content view, you can always drag the selector between the two content views.
In the above example I am changing the content view from MEDIUM ICONS to smallish custom sized icons. As I drag the selector downwards the smaller the icons become. If I level up with the SMALL ICONS menu-item the content view will automatically change to become the SMALL ICONS content view.
| CLASSIC MENUS |
If you want to use the classic menus that appeared in Windows XP folders for example, which are now switched off by default in Windows Vista and Windows 7, you can do so as follows. Click on the ORGANIZE drop-down menu and then hover the mouse pointer over the LAYOUT sub-menu until its sub-menu menu-items appear. From there, click on the MENU BAR sub-menu menu-item to switch on the classic menus.
If you want to switch off (hide) the classic menus simply click on the MENU BAR sub-menu menu-item again. When the classic menus are switched on (shown) a tick is placed on the left-side of the MENU BAR sub-menu menu-item and when the classic menus have been switched off (hidden) the tick is cleared.
| USE THE PREVIEW PANE FOR A LARGER VIEW |
If you do not want to switch between views but at the same time want to see your pictures as large as possible, you can be in MEDIUM ICONS content view and then switch on the Preview Pane for example which allows you to preview your pictures as LARGE ICONS. To do this simply click on the PREVIEW PANE button located in the top-right corner of the folder (window). Alternatively. You can hover over the LAYOUT sub-menu, within the ORGANIZE drop-down menu, and then select the PREVIEW PANE sub-menu menu-item.
As well as the preview pane, which works very well with previewing documents too, you can also sort your files by MONTH, DAY, RATING or TAG order by clicking on the Arrange By: FOLDER drop-down menu. So if, like me, you have various picture (photo) files gathered into one folder from various folders (albums) you could have them arranged into MONTHs for example.
Note: The Arrange By: FOLDERS drop-down menu options also include sub-folders. So in this example the Windows 7 sample pictures have also been included in my collection/arrangement, simply because the SAMPLE PICTURES folder is a sub-folder within the PICTURES folder.
| THE DETAILS VIEW |
When using the DETAILS content view (Fig 1.8 above) with the PICTURES folder, or any other folder that has media content inside it (i.e. the MUSIC folder and VIDEOS folder), that folder is given another toolbar; with column headings on it such as Name, Date, Tags and so on. This is partly due to the way Folder Options is set up (explained in the next sub-section). Although all content views give information about a folder or file, when you hover over that folder or file with the mouse pointer for example, the column headings used on the DETAILS content view toolbar add richness to what you can see at a glance (i.e. file Name and Date the file was created). This is because of the way you can change the column headings, and more specifically because of the way you can choose which column headings to use.
Folder Options allows you to apply certain settings and a content view from one folder to all other folders of the same folder type. However. This is not always a good idea, especially if you normally view pictures as MEDIUM ICONS for example but this time apply the LARGE ICONS content view to all folders of the same type. This would make the files in those other folders look too big or out of character. For example. The picture files inside the PICTURES folder might look great with LARGE ICONS but the various files inside the DOCUMENTS folder might look too big with LARGE ICONS.
To change the columns headings for the current folder, in this case the PICTURES folder with a DETAILS content view, right click over the empty column heading to bring up the Options menu. Do not worry if you cannot see the empty column heading, just right click over any column heading instead. From there, left click on the MORE menu-item to bring up the CHOOSE DETAILS window.
The Options menu itself provides you with a quick way of removing the default column headings, except for Name which must remain, by simply unticking those default column headings you do not want to use (i.e. Date, Tags, Size and/or Ratings). However. In this example I will remove all but the Name column heading and then add the Date Modified column heading using the CHOOSE DETAILS window which is accessed through the MORE menu-item. One reason for using the CHOOSE DETAILS window is because it has loads more column headings on it - If you have music files in your folder or use the MUSIC folder you can use the Bit Rate, Length and Album Artist column headings for example.
Fig 4.1 Untick the column heading(s) you do not want to use |
Fig 4.2 Tick the column heading(s) you want to use |
To arrange information in a certain order, either ascending or descending order, simply click on the appropriate column heading to do so. For example. In the example below I wanted the information arranged in Date Modified order, as opposed to Name order, so I clicked on the DATE MODIFIED column heading. If I then wanted the information back in Name order I would need to click on the NAME column heading. Clicking on a column heading toggles (rotates) its data list (i.e. Names) into ascending order and descending order (i.e. A-Z order and then Z-A order). More information and examples on customizing column headings can be found in the Customize Windows Mail Columns section.
After using the PICTURES folder (window) and the Windows Mail window you should begin to realise that they both have common elements on them, such as window panes and column headings, that can be manipulated in the same way. And this is true of other windows that have the same elements. Many third party software titles for example use the common List View - A view like the DETAILS content view but it can have Grid Lines on it to separate its information (data list).
| FOLDER OPTIONS |
Folder Options, as described above, allows you to apply certain settings and a content view from one folder to all other folders of the same folder type.
So in the case of the PICTURES folder you could have it and all of its sub-folders using a LIST content view. And with the MUSIC folder you could have it
and all of its sub-folders using a DETAILS content view. But what happens if you put a music file into the PICTURES folder for example?. Is the PICTURES
folder still classed as a picture folder type? Yes it is! Remember. It is the folder itself that inherits the folder options (certain settings and a
content view) and not the files themselves. Hence its name Folder Options, not File Options.
To use Folder Options either click on the ORGANIZE button to bring up its Options menu and then click on the FOLDER AND SEARCH OPTIONS menu-item (Fig 5.0
below) or click on the TOOLS menu and then the FOLDER OPTIONS menu-item (Fig 5.1) if the Menu Bar is switched on. Either way the Folder Options window
will appear (Fig 5.2).
When the Folder Options window appears (below) it will open on the GENERAL Tab (window), but you need to click on the VIEW Tab in order to change the folder options and/or apply the current folder options. In Fig 5.2 for example I have just unticked the HIDE EXTENSION FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES option and am about to click on the APPLY button to apply that setting change. Whereas in Fig 5.3 I have applied that setting already and am now ready to apply it to all other folders of the same type, by clicking on the APPLY TO FOLDERS button.
Fig 5.2 Click on the APPLY TO FOLDERS button to continue |
Fig 5.3 Click on the APPLY TO FOLDERS button to continue |
The HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES option, when ticked, allows you to see file extension names belonging to common file types, such as .jpg, .png,
.mp3, .wmv and so on. This means instead of seeing picture file names as 000_IMG and 002_IMG for example you would then see them as 001_IMG.jpg and
002_IMG.jpg for example.
By default Windows 7 hides common file name extensions (i.e. .doc, .mp3, .jpg and so on) but the trouble with this default behaviour is that sometimes,
when looking at a picture file for example, you have to guess "Is that John picture file a .jpg file or a .png file?" for example because the file name
extension cannot be seen.
One important thing to be aware of with Windows 7 and Folder Options, and more precisely with Libraries, is that Libraries folder options cannot be
applied to all folders (of the same type). They can only be applied to the current/local folder (i.e. Libraries >> Pictures). If you want to apply
your Libraries >> Pictures folder options globally, to other folders of the same type, using the APPLY TO FOLDER button you must do this from inside
your account folder (i.e. from within the Yoingco >> Pictures folder) and not from the Libraries >> Pictures folder simply because the APPLY TO FOLDERS
button is not available from Libraries. This is because Libraries is classed as a shortcut link to the PICTURES folder only whereas using your username
folder (i.e. Yoingco) is using the direct path (path name).
After clicking on the APPLY TO FOLDERS button the following message requester will appear. Simply click on its YES button to apply the current folder
options and current content view to all other folders of the same type.
Although the above examples have concentrated on the PICTURES folder they apply equally to the MUSIC folder, VIDEOS folder and so on. Basically. Experiment with the folder settings and views in general, and globally apply them, to see what is best for you. In my case I do not use Folder Options all the time because once I have certain options applied (such as the HIDE EXTENSIONS FOR KNOWN FILE TYPES option) I do not really care about the content view (i.e. I just switch between views using the VIEWS drop-down menu). I suspect you will probably do the same once you have experimented.
Microsoft product screen shot(s) reprinted with permission from Microsoft Corporation. As stated here by the Microsoft Corporation.
