Classic Shell: Forum

Hi,

First off I would like to say thanks for developing Classic Shell. I have been using it for months and it has been a great upgrade from the default Windows 8.1 experience.

The feature request I would like to make is to add the ability to put tags on files and folders and then be able to search or sort using those tags. I know there are some programs that do that, but most of them are limited to just media files or files themselves, nothing I have found has been able to easily tag folders without having to use a completely different UI. I know doing this would probably mean that the files/folders themselves probably wouldn't have the data, it would be probably done in a file owned by Classic Shell, and I am honestly not sure how difficult it would be to program the feature in, I am just honestly very surprised it isn't even a default windows feature.

Wouldn't this basically be the manual equivalent of WinFS?

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TILES WOOOOOO

Actually this is already possible using Windows Search and the property handler system.

1. Download and install FileMeta from here: https://filemeta.codeplex.com/releases/view/121762
2. Run the FileMeta File Association Manager.
3. Locate the file extension for which you would like to add tags/keywords.
4. Select it and click "Add File Meta Handler" button, and close this tool.
5. Go to Control Panel -> Indexing Options -> Advanced -> File Types tab. Make sure that this extension's properties (and file contents if you want) are indexed. You may have to rebuild the index.
6. Now just open the Properties of whatever file type/extensions that you wish to add the tags to. Go to the Details tab and add them.
7. Windows Search will index them, then they will show up in Classic Start Menu.

Folders don't need this. Adding any folder to Indexing Options makes it searchable from the Start Menu. Folders can also store metadata as "comments" inside desktop.ini files which Explorer can display in the "Comments" column in Details view and Windows Search can find when you use the Explorer search box.

Read the Start Menu search box usage guide to understand it in detail.

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Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

Honestly, I really just want this capability for folders. I want to be able to add multiple tags to folders and be able to sort/search by tags.

Will FileMeta work for Folders?

I've wanted integrated FOLDER tagging for many years. GauravK fails to recognize that the utility of this isn't in FINDING a tagged folder, it's in sorting and viewing it relative to other folders. In the past I found a utility or two that attempted to do it externally, but they functioned poorly. I would give his request a thumbs-up. Whether it's feasible is another matter for Ivo to determine.
148153

@VulcanTourist, the original poster did mention searching ability too which you failed to notice.

A folder can't store tags but a desktop.ini inside it *can* store a tag/comment which you can also see in the "Comments" field of Explorer in Details view and in its tooltip/infotip as well as the Classic Shell status bar. However for it to work, setting the right permissions on the desktop.ini file and doing it with admin rights for UAC protected folders is tricky.

I know of a commercial app called Microangelo OnDisplay: http://www.microangelo.us/mod.asp that handles this perfectly for modern versions of Windows.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

I didn't fail to notice. Searching wasn't all he mentioned, and I dare say his real intention is sorting, to have those comments visible in a separate column while viewing folders, regardless whether he mentioned searching or not. It's precisely the same thing I always wanted to be able to do.
163

While I did say search, and it would be nice to have if folder tagging were a thing, sorting by tags would be mainly what I want. I mostly just want to be able to say "show me all folders here with xyz tag. "

@VulcanTourist just curious, but why do you have seemingly random numbers at the end of your posts?

Well you can certainly use the solution above and use Windows Search's comment:"<keyword>" syntax to show all folders in Explorer with a specific tag. Or sort them in details view by the "Comments" field without using search.

In fact even though that app is a paid one, it has a trial version and I don't think the commenting feature expires even after the trial period expires. When you install that app, it adds an "Appearance" entry to the folder's right click menu where you can add the tag/comment of your choice.

_________________
Links to some general topics:

● Compare Start Menus

● Read the Search box usage guide.

I am a Windows enthusiast and did Classic Shell's testing and usability/UX feedback.

You still fail to consider the specific usage case that I described and the OP reiterated: not looking for folders with a specific known tag, instead simply wanting to compare and contrast folders based on their tags. Windows Search is useless in that context; the only way it can be accomplished is with a standard Explorer view configured with a column to display comments FOR FOLDERS.

Shall I give you a specific usage example? It's not relevant to me any more, but it demonstrates the issue:

I used to collect erotic image sets from USENET. They came from all different sorts of sources, and I wanted to document those sources. Initially I tried to keep that information in the folder name for each set, but path names have a finite length. I wanted to use comment metadata, but that only worked for files, not folders. I wanted to be able to view that list of set folders and see and be able to sort upon their sources as found in comment metadata.

That simply wasn't possible then. It still isn't.
13

Yeah, I would really prefer to not have to put all the tags as keywords in the folder names, one of the reasons being, as VulcanTourist said, path names having finite lengths.

@VulcanTourist you still haven't answered my question about the numbers at the end of your posts. 148153, 163, and 13 so far in this thread alone.

Wait, you asked me about that? Sorry, wasn't paying attention! The truth is... I have no exact idea where those numbers are coming from! They have no meaning to me because I'm not putting them there! It's some extension to Firefox that is broken, or maybe a pair of them fighting with each other? Now, when I make comments and posts at SOME forums with textarea fields - but not all of them - these numbers will appear pre- or post-pended to my post when I submit it! I'm not seeing a number as I type this now: it isn't here yet. It only appears at the instant that I submit it. It always seems random to me, no pattern to the values or whether they appear first or last. I don't have the fortitude to isolate which of the many extensions is causing this weirdness.

Is the NSA, or a god, or the Universe, trying to communicate something through me? Should the number always be 42?

I now return us to the regularly scheduled programming....
14


Addendum: Ah, so the number is 14 this time, at the end! Will it change when I edit this...?
17

If someone is searching for tagging software, I recently develop (because the previously tested software does´not fulfil my expectations of a visual and easy interface among others) a free and open source application capable of tag folders and files with tags of different shapes (and colors of course), construct specific search like all “white” “small” “dogs” and “brown” “big” “cats” and show all them in search results, multimedia files preview both in explorer and search, also epub previews, integrated image visualizer, various view modes; like a list or cards of different sizes, etc..
You can check it in:

https://tagstoo.sourceforge.io/

and compare with previously existing software:

http://tabbles.net/
https://www.tagspaces.org/
http://lunarfrog.com/projects/taggedfrog

(I don´t like comparisons and in some ways those programs can be more advanced, the programmers can know much more than me, like in Tabbles that have some kind of integration with windows, but for me are incommodious in their usage, and as mentioned don't fulfil my requirements, that is why created Tagstoo).