Document Files / Personal Files

Hi, I am extremely new to macs.
It maybe silly but i've got a question regarding the Documents Folder in my user area.

Where do I save my personal documents (e.g. word, excel, pp, etc)? Can I group the app files in documents into 1 folder?
Can I create another folder at the same level of the tree as documents and chuck all my personal crap in there??

Cheers to all those who reply.

i just create various folders within the documents folder to contain anything pretty much not a video, picture, or music file. do whatever you'd like in those folders, they're yours!

also, if you create a folder, say, within documents called "mac stuff", you can drag that folder to the area on the bottom left to create a "shortcut" to that folder. you could also drag a folder to the dock and it will create a shortcut there as well.

You can create a folder virtually anywhere on your mac, even in the system's restricted are, if you use your password. Macs are flexible that way, bt very safe so they keep you from doing crap.

I just started using a Mac less then a week ago. Similar to Eric, I have used the documents folder as well as the movie, music and pictures folders within my home folder. However under the Documents folder I created a word and excel folder for those respective file types. Also any program installations I download I save in a folder called Software that I created at the root of my home folder.

I am trying to keep it fairly consistent with the way I had it organized on my PC.

You shouldn't. Mac OS X has a different structure and behaviour. The more you mess with what comes natural to Mac OS X, the more problems you risk getting in the long run.

Are you saying that you should not freely create folders to organize your data under your home folder and to just use the Documents, Movies, Music, and Pictures folders?

Just don't try to bend Mac OS X into being Windows is what I'm saying. They are not the same.

Mac OS X comes from Unix/BSD which are highly structured in their ways, just like Windows is. You can't ask one to be the other, in their structure or behaviour.

I am aware of that. I guess I just don't follow how creating your own file structure under your personal folder is "bending" Mac OS X into Windows. If the OS gives a place to put all of your own data (which is what I thought the personal folder is for) what's the point of storing any data in it?

Your user account should store files as in documents. Other stuff like software installations or applications should go in the Applications folder. Unless you mean to say these are installer files such as .dmg.

If that is the case then why not burn those installers on CDs or DVDs so you don't clog up your hard drive extra fast? That's what I do anyhow.

Basically, this is a question of how YOU like to organize things so that YOU can easily retrieve them. Pretty much, I try to follow the general organizational rules that Mac OS X sets up - I keep my music in my home's Music folder, my photography stuff in the Pictures folder, my videos in the Movies folder, my web site source pages in the Sites folder, and then EVERYTHING else in the Documents folder.

In the Documents folder though, I have deep many layered hierarchy, organized by topic vs. by file type. So, for example I have a folder where I keep applications specific notes, another where I keep Mac information in general, another where I keep all my older Linux info and so on...

It is really up to you. However, as MacHeadCase points out, following the Mac way, vs. trying to bend your Mac to the PC way, will generally make life easier.

MacHeadCase,I store the .dmg files in a software folder so if for some reason I need to reinstall something I have it. I'll wait till I have a bunch of then to burn to CD. As for the actual installations of programs, I put them in the Applications folder. I think our thoughts are the same but I just explain it in a PC-centric way and you in a Mac-centric way.

Ok gotcha you now. Thought you meant you installed applications (software) in your home directory and forced the system to work from there with the software you installed. :girl:

Oh... you have to keep those .dmg files? What for, is it just in case you need to reinstall the program?

You don't have to keep them, in fact, I throw away all of them. Most of my DMGs are downloaded from the internet, I have a fairly speedy connection at 4 Mbps, so I just redownload in case I ever need the DMG again.

Stephan936 said:

Oh... you have to keep those .dmg files? What for, is it just in case you need to reinstall the program?

Click to expand...

A .dmg file is the Mac equivalent (more or less) to a setup.exe file on a PC. However, most Mac applications don't require an install, just a drag and drop of the program within the .dmg into your Applications folder. If your Mac dies and you have to reload OS X, you'll want these .dmg files to install your programs.

yogi said:

You don't have to keep them, in fact, I throw away all of them. Most of my DMGs are downloaded from the internet, I have a fairly speedy connection at 4 Mbps, so I just redownload in case I ever need the DMG again.

Click to expand...

Or you could do it how yogi does it... but I'm lazy.

I also keep my .dmg files in a folder I have inside of Documents called "Software Installers". We all know that Leopard is coming soon, and my guess is that the best way to approach the Leopard upgrade is to do a clean install and then manually re-install the programs that you use regularly. This cleans out all the junk that has accumulated over time. So, I know for a fact that I will want to re-install pretty much everything I use routinely and thus I keep all my installers.

Since most of us will likely upgrade to Leopard when it is available, this may be a good rationale for keeping all those DMGs.