Tagamac

Since I published my advice on tagging best practices, the most common question I’ve received has been something along the lines of “why the heck would you use singular tags?” Everyone agrees that consistency is the name of the game, and it’s hard to argue with succinctness. Some people disagree with using lowercase tags, but quite honestly it’s mainly personal preference (unless the program uses case-sensitive searching).

Whether or not to use singular tags, though, is a much more open question, and I’d like to lay out the reasons that I included a recommendation to stick to singular. [read more...]

iGTD, free Getting Things Done app, was updated today to version 1.4.5.4. This minor update includes a number of GUI improvements and bug fixes. Most notably, you can now configure the font size for tasks, and a task’s tags can optionally be shown at the end of the name field.

For the full details about the update, please see the release notes. If you prefer to have screenshots with your release notes, see the 1.4.5.4 blog entry.

I’ve added a glossary of the tagging terms I use on Tagamac. I’ll add terms to it as I use them in articles; currently it features the terms that I defined in Parts of Tagging, Tag Browsers, and Tagging Best Practices. Currently it’s a pretty short list.

My goal is to keep all the terms I use either immediately obvious or simple enough that someone who has no experience with tagging can pick them up easily. Regardless of whether I achieve that goal, I figure a glossary for reference can never hurt. Plus it makes me feel so important (“I have my own glossary! Whoopee! Who needs grad school, anyway?”).

One of the reasons that tagging can be difficult to get into is because few tagging systems are alike. Although there are similarities, tagging is not only still evolving as a way of organizing but there are also several different ways to think about tags.

The most striking difference between different tagging programs is generally the tag browser. The act of tagging is fairly standardized (auto-complete, drag and drop, etc.), but browsing is much more heterogeneous. Most browsers fall into one of three types: tag clouds, tag trees, or tag recipes. [read more...]

EagleFiler, Tagamac’s choice for tag-based file library software, was updated today to 1.2.4. This minor update mainly contains improvements to the way EagleFiler deals with PDFs, although some minor graphical changes and bug fixes were included as well.

For the full list of improvements, please see C-Command’s 1.2.4 update post.

Everyone’s favorite free file system tagger Punakea received a minor update today. Punakea allows you to tag any item in the Finder using Spotlight comments. It features several quick and easy way to add tags, a tag cloud for browsing them, and saved searches (smart folders). If you’re a hard-core tagger, it will even allow you to ditch folders all together for your tagged items.

The update includes minor bug fixes for the most oft-reported crashes and increased Leopard compatibility. For details, see the release notes.

I just wanted to issue an apology to anyone who is using RSS to connect to Tagamac; I accidentally broke it today, but didn’t notice until tonight. It should now be fixed, however.

This has nothing to do with tagging. PathFinder is an amazing file browser that I use daily, and it is on sale for 43% off today August 1st, 2007 only. The deal is available through the MacUpdate Promo. I highly recommend you check it out; PathFinder may not have anything to do with tags but it’s still an amazing piece of software, and at $19.95 it’s a total steal.

If you think Apple’s Finder is the best way to browse your files, you haven’t tried PathFinder yet. Check it out!

Cultured Code recently posted a sneak peak of Things, their upcoming GTD application. Although its name may be the least compelling or descriptive name I’ve ever heard, the app itself is looking pretty intriguing. In particular, it looks like most of the information attached to any given task is tag-based.

For those who can’t wait to hear more about Things or want to get in on the beta action when it is available, you can sign up for their mailing list to be one of the first to see it in action.

KIT (Keep It Together), a tag-based file library, was updated today to version 1.3.8. This minor update includes a number of performance improvements and bug fixes. You can find the full details (and a link to the download) in the KIT release notes, or just launch the application to have it auto-update.

Although I personally prefer EagleFiler for filing documents because of its Finder-friendly storage format, KIT is a quality solution for those who are looking for a cheaper piece of software than EagleFiler or DEVONThink.