Tagamac

Leap, possibly the best file system tagging solution around, has been updated to version 1.1. This version introduces an Italian localization, the option to search everywhere (including Library folders), better file name searching, better searching for partial tag matches, speed improvements, improved Spaces support, support for Services (you can select an item in Leap and it will be available to items in the Services menu), a new “Search in Leap” service, a “only show these documents” menu item, better handling for pasting into the tags field, and “other bug fixes”. Ironic Software’s descriptive release notes strike again.

Personally, I’d just as soon take my Services menu out back and put it out of its misery, but hopefully the generically described speed improvements and bug fixes will make Leap that much more useful despite the new features not being all that exciting. For more information about Leap or to download the software, head over to the Leap homepage.

Nifty Box, one of those pieces of software that straddles the line between file system tagging and a file library, has been updated to 1.2. The big addition to 1.2 is Applescript support, allowing you to access items in the Nifty Box library or tag files automatically (there’s even an extremely helpful rundown of examples available; wish other developers were so kind).

Although I haven’t played with Nifty Box much, my impressions of it are that it’s not a terribly robust system, but offers a far superior searching speed to Spotlight when it comes to file system tagging. Nifty Box is in many ways a precursor to Leap, but one with an interface more inspired by file libraries like EagleFiler or Together.

A freeware utility called Tag Folders was released today. Tag Folders, which is essentially a complex Applescript bundled as an application, allows you to create smart folders that apply tags to files that you drop on them based on their rules. So for instance, if you have a “work” tag folder and you drop a file on it, that file gets tagged with “work”. Open the folder, and you’ll find the file you just tagged (along with any others tagged “work”). Tag Folders works with all of the major tagging solutions (including Leap, Punakea, TagBot, and the Quicksilver tagging plugin), and offers a Finder-centric way to both assign and find tagged files.

Although I haven’t played around with it much, the application itself is fairly awkward (thanks in large part to being a complex Applescript), but what’s promising about it is the place that it can play in current tagging workflows. Tag Folders provides an interesting meeting place between something like FileSpot and whatever file system tagging solution you prefer, wrapped in a familiar, Finder-like package. Definitely worth checking out for anyone trying to tag their file system.

MarsEdit, the trimmed down blogging software from Red Sweater, has been updated to version 2.2. This version introduces AtomPub support, customizable image markup using MarsEdit’s standard macro language, and significant performance improvements for launch time (along with a few other minor changes). The image markup in particular is a godsend; no more deleting width and height tags for every image and adding a custom class or two. Set it up once, and you’re good to go.

For more details about the update, see the blog announcement.

EagleFiler recently underwent several updates in quick succession recently. 1.3.6 improves memory usage and speed when using Capture with Options, fixes some small memory leaks, improved the French localization, and included a number of other small fixes. 1.3.7 fixed a faulty bugfix in 1.3.6 that was causing memory leaks and crashes. 1.3.8 fixes a regression that was keeping Firefox from working.

For more details on 1.3.6 (the only release with much going on), see the blog announcement.

Default Folder X, a great piece of software and particularly interesting for its helpfulness in home-grown tagging systems, has been updated to version 4.0.7. This minor update includes a fix to allow Spotlight keyword saving in Word 2008 save dialogs, a fix to make sure the recent folders list works in Word 2008 dialogs, and numerous other small bug fixes.

For more details and to download the new version, see the release notes.

I got a little behind again last week and let a couple updates go by, but here they are: Code Collector Pro, the tag-based snippets manager, has been updated to 1.2.4, a minor update of mainly bug fixes (see the blog announcement or change log for more). Together was updated to 2.1.5, bringing some changes to Shelf behavior along with several minor bug fixes and small improvements (see the release notes for full details). PackRat, the desktop front-end for 37signals’ Backpack, was updated to version 1.6.2 which brings some fixes to images and attachments (see the blog announcement for info).

Along with those minor updates, Cha-Ching 2.0 has been released as an early public beta. I haven’t tried it myself yet, but it will be interesting to see if the second version is able to fix some of the many issues that marred the first. Cha-Ching is one of those applications that I want to love, but have trouble using regularly because it just isn’t quite perfected yet.

MailTags, one of my favorite and most-used tagging plugins, has been updated to version 2.2.1. This minor version bump includes the ability to undo tag edits, a improved stability, and some bug fixes including a fix for an issue where tags were not being included in replies and forwards.

For more information and to download, visit the MailTags release notes.

Hazel, a program for automatically doing any number of things to files on your Mac, has been updated to version 2.2. This version includes the ability to create patterns for matches, the ability to embed AppleScripts or shell scripts directly into your rules, relative date matching, and much more. For details, see the release notes.

Hazel is one of those one-of-a-kind pieces of software that can be amazingly helpful if you take the time to set it up but may at first glance seem too esoteric to be worth downloading. Admittedly, I have never taken the time myself yet, but particularly if you are trying to create a file system tagging workflow Hazel could be an essential part of making sure that all your files get tagged and sorted as you create them without having to expend a lot of effort along the way. Hopefully sometime in the near future I’ll be able to play with it and provide a bit more specific advice; for now, though, you should definitely be aware of the possibilities of Hazel if you’re trying to automate your tagging tasks.

StoryMill, my all-time favorite writing software and one of the first places where I discovered the joys of tagging, has been updated to version 3.1. This point release includes French and German localizations, the ability to import text from Word documents or RTF and automatically have text parsed into chapters (works both for people who have a chapter per document and those who separate their chapters with headings), and dozens of additional bug fixes and small feature improvements.

For more information, check out the official 3.1 forum announcement or download via the in-program auto-updating or the Mariner Software download page. This is definitely a worthwhile update to download.