DockShelf Manual
Items

DockShelf supports various kinds of items which can be displayed in docks. To add items use the Dock settings window (see here).

Contents

  1. Files
  2. Folders
  3. Applications
  4. Stacks
  5. Smart Folders
  6. Trash Can

Files.

General documents like text, movies, images etc... and are displayed by their Finder icon. When you hover your mouse over a file item and wait a moment a QuickLook preview of the file will popup (this behavior can be changed in the preferences).

Browsing a folder using the popup window.

Folders.

Folders are like files except they represent a folder which can be navigated by clicking which will bring up a popup window you can use to browse the folders contents. Optionally you can browse folders using a popup menu by contextual clicking on the folder and choosing "Browse as menu" or by clicking and holding down until the menu appears.

If you enabled the Browse folder after delay option in the preferences clicking and holding down on the folder will show the popup window while single clicks will open the folder in the Finder.

Note: pressing the space bar while the mouse is hovering over an item will display a QuickLook preview like in the Finder.

Applications.

Application items allow you to launch applications from DockShelf and show an indicator if the application is currently open. Additionally in the contextual menu (see below) you can choose to quit open applications and open at login.

You can assign AppleScripts to application items which can be invoked via contexual clicking and choosing the script. This is useful if you want to add additional actions to applications you can access via DockShelf. There are some default scripts added to certain applications like Finder.app inside the DockShelf bundle but you can add custom scripts to any application you want.

To add a script for an application:

  1. Open ~/Library/DockShelf.
  2. Add a folder named "Themes".
  3. In the Themes folder add a folder with the name of the application you want to script.
  4. Add any number of AppleScripts into the applications folder.

For example if you want to add a script for iTunes named "play.scpt" you would add the script to ~/Library/DockShelf/Themes/iTunes/play.scpt

Browsing a stack.

Stacks.

Stacks are like custom folders that let you add aliases of files which can then be browsed from the dock using the same interface as normal folders (except opening folders opens them in the Finder). When you add and remove files from stacks the original file is not moved or deleted, only the alias in DockShelf.

To add files to the stack drag any file from the Finder onto the stacks image. When you want to remove items open the stack by clicking on the stack image then contextual-clicking on any item and choosing "Remove from Stack" in the popup menu.

You can edit the stacks name and change the way it's displayed (grid, perspective or pile) by contextual-clicking on the stack which will open a popup window.

Editing a smart folder query.

Smart Folders.

Smart folders let you setup Spotlight queries which display the results in a popup window, much like the window used for browsing folders.

To edit a smart folder contextual-click on the item and a popup window will appear. The window has the following options:

Search Tab: Apperence Tab:

Trash Can.

Identical to the trash in the OS X dock.