jbarr

Want to be more "functional" with LanucherX? Why not rename your apps to something more meaningful!

One way to make launcherX's "Launcher Experience" more functional is to use LauncherX's "Rename" Gadget to rename application filenames to something more meaningful. Note that we are NOT actually renaming the app itself, but we are renaming LauncherX's name for the app. This is very important because it does not disrupt the underlying integrity of the app, it just changes how you, the user, see the app labeled.

Here's a real-world example: TomeRaider is a nice DOC reader that also reads other specialized formats. One of those specialized documents is the "IMDB - Detail" file. This cool file found at Memoware weighs in at over 15MB, and contains over 30,000 US Movie listings. Anyway, I use HandStory for all of my DOC reading, but I use "TomeRaider" EXCLUSIVLY to acces the "IMDB Detail" file. I don't use it for anything else, just for that. So, because "TomeRaider" is not really descriptive of its function, I renamed it in LauncherX to "IMDB Lookup". Now, when my wife or I want to access the IMDB database, there is no confusion as to what app to launch.

Another example is the Clie Remote Control program called "CLIE RMC". At first glance, I say, "What the heck does that mean?" Why not rename it to "Clie IR Remote"? Makes more sense, and again, there is no confusion to its function.

Here are some more examples of some application filenames I have installed, and the names to which I renamed them in LauncherX. Some are for clarity, and some are for consistency:

"DateBK5" becomes "Date Book"
"Address" becomes "Addresses"
"CLIE RMC" becomes "CLIE IR Remote"
"ProWord" becomes "Dictionary"
"TomeRaider" becomes "IMDB Lookup"
"TimePlace" becomes "Global Time"
"MyBible" becomes "The Bible"
"Movie Rec" becomes "Movie Recorder"
"Prefs" becomes "Preferences"
etc.

Obviously, not all apps need renaming, and not all apps are so "functionally specific". My goal was to rename several apps so that they are more "meaningful" and "consistent".

If you find that you end up with an "elipsis" (...) at the end of a filename, that means that it's too long to display. There are several ways to fix this: 1. Shorten the name through the Rename Gadget, 2. Go into the tab's settings, select the "Advanced" page, and change the tab's font to something smaller. Personally, I have changed ALL fonts in LauncherX to "Small Bold" and find it to be very readable and it looks sharp!, and 3. Go into the tab's preferences and tweak the tab;s "view" (ie: Icon view vs list view, number of icon columns, etc.)

Oh, and if you can't remember the original app's name, just drag the app's icon the the "Information" gadget and a dialog box will pop up with the app's actual name. Please note that unfortunatly, this doesn't always work, so if you REALLY need the ACTUAL name of the app, just exit LauncherX and view the actual filename in the Clie launcher. Simple as that.

LauncherX is VERY customizable, so poke around at the settings and have fun!

For this and other tips, do a search on this forum for "Jim's Tips" or visit my web site, jimstips.com

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