10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack

Now that I have to live without Fruit Menu (nothing Unsanity writes is yet Leopard-compatible) I found myself missing a cascading System Preferences menu.

To replicate it, I made a folder and dragged in aliases to all my frequently used preference panes. The panes are located in each of these locations (for some reason, some panes appear multiple places):

~/Library/Preference Panes
/Library/Preference Panes
/System/Library/Preference Panes

I created a folder (I keep it in my home directory, but it can be anywhere) called System Preferences to hold these aliases, and I dragged that folder to the right side of the Dock. Lo and behold, a cascading System Preferences menu. Right-clicking on the Stack lets you decide if it should be a fan or a grid (though a fan is limited in how many icons it shows).

The icon of a Stack is literally a stack of the icons of the first few items in the folder; in my case, it was the layered icons for the preference panes for Accounts, Appearance, and Bluetooth. I found that ugly so I made an alias to the System Preferences application itself in the folder, too. I put a space at the start of this new alias's name so it would alphabetize first. Now the icon for the Stack is still a stack, but the top icon on the stack is System Preferences itself.

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10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: bodosom on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 8:41AM PST

This is cool (although I normally use Quicksilver to open prefs). It would be even niftier if the grid view would use the application icon rather than the composite pref icon. When it first opens you see the native icon for a blink then it changes.

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: mithras on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 8:56AM PST

Can't claim credit for this -- found it somewhere on Ars Technica, I think -- but it's a lovely hint and a good use for Stacks. Open Terminal, and type the following (all on one line):

defaults write com.apple.dock persistent-others -array-add '{ "tile-data" = { "list-type" = 1; }; "tile-type" = "recents-tile"; }'

Then type

killall dock

to add a Stack that automatically reflects the 10 most recent applications (or whatever you've set in Appearance preferences).

---
--
mithrastheprophet.net (coming soonish)

[ Reply to This | # ]

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: Mac Berry on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 9:43AM PST

Doesn't work here - killall dock gives No matching processes belonging to you were found. Maybe it's just me not knowing how to use terminal? Mark

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: mark hunte on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 9:56AM PST

It is case sensitive. Use

killall Dock

---
mh

[ Reply to This | # ]

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: Mac Berry on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 10:02AM PST

It's always the simple things (i.e., me!).

Thanks

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: mark hunte on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 9:59AM PST

That neat, wonder how Ars found that little tidbit

---
mh

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: MacKane on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 10:52AM PST

Actually Right-Clicking on that Stack that gets created via the Terminal is a lot more useful than one could suspect.
Try it!

Gives you several options of view to Recent Items OR Your Favorites Folder !

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: MacKane on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 10:54AM PST

Have to correct myself on that one:
The Favorites it shows is actually the Finder Sidebar Items....

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: MartiNZ on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 2:29PM PST

This discovery shows real promise for what else might be hidden away in stacks. The recent items one appears to have no view options though - wouldn't mind having it as a fan as the grid appears so large, but it doesn't respond to a 'showas' argument in the .plist. Any other way this might be adjustable?

Cheers.

Here's a nifty one: a Recent Applications stack
Authored by: LOGL10 on Wed, Nov 14 2007 at 12:58PM PST

Very nice and useful. "defaults" more one time generate other dock "Recent" stack to set to each needed "Recent" things.

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: skribble on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 8:59AM PST

Of course you could just use the System Preferences application on the dock, which when active will present you with a list of all the preferences just you'd expect.

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: Mac Berry on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 9:29AM PST

Or use MenuPrefs: http://ithinksw.com/menuprefs.

Not free, but bloody cheap.

Mark

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: stanza on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 8:00PM PST

I get stymied trying to make aliases in /System/Library/Preference Panes. I got around this by doing command line stuffs.

I made a folder, then to terminal, cd'ed into that folder, and typed:

for i in `ls /System/Library/PreferencePanes/`; do ln -s $i . ; done

and I got all my shiny aliases. I've done this to get aliases out of other hard to reach places, as well. Oddly enough, the Finder won't let you make aliases in folders, not even with a password, not even if you try to drag it out of there (it copies in that case).

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: stanza on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 8:02PM PST

Now it's giving me "the original alias could not be found" when I click on them, and pointing to the original in the Finder does not work either. :(

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: kostia on Mon, Nov 5 2007 at 10:05PM PST

I didn't make the aliases IN the preference panes folders; I just held down option and command and dragged the .prefpane files to my newly created folder. I don't recall being asked to authenticate once.

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: stanza on Tue, Nov 6 2007 at 5:31AM PST

When I do that, it copies the PrefPanes. Then when I double click one it just opens the Sytem Preferences program but does not go to the specific prefpane (opening "Appearances" or any of them take you to the main menu).

What I did find to work simply dragging /System/Library/PreferencePanes to the dock, no permissions required. It's ugly (all the icons change into "document" style icons) and I did take advantage of my administrative powers to put a file labeled "_icon" in the folder, giving it the same icon as System Preferences program. But this won't work if you have prefpanes elsewhere on your system.

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: llee on Tue, Nov 6 2007 at 10:12AM PST

http://lonestar.utsa.edu/llee/applescript/dockprefpanes.html

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: pba on Tue, Nov 6 2007 at 2:52PM PST

Or just do the following in a terminal window

bash# ln -s /System/Library/PreferencePanes ~/<dir>

and drag the link on to the dock....saves about 200+megs of diskspace.

10.5: Create a System Preferences Stack
Authored by: katlady81 on Fri, Nov 9 2007 at 11:24AM PST

Or you can make a Smart Folder.
In the Finder, got to File and New Smart Folder
Just add to the criteria File Extension is prefpane
and System Files include

And there will be listed all your prefpanes.
You can save this smart folder and add it to your sidebar, or to the Dock (although adding a smart folder to the dock will just open the finder window and not do stacks)

Just another option.

10.3-4: Create a System Preferences Dock Folder
Authored by: hoodsmom on Thu, Jun 5 2008 at 2:33PM PDT

I had installed PrefsMenu, but discovered I wasn't using it much because there were only a few System Preference Panes I actually use frequently and it was almost as much of a hassle to dig thru all the PrefsMenu choices as to find them in System Preferences. And PrefsMenu was yet another login item.

I did this instead: Logged in as root, which allowed me to create aliases of the desired preference panes located in /System/Library/Preference Panes. Dragged the aliases out of the system folder into new folder and dragged the new folder to the dock. If desired, you can find the icon for the preference pane by right-clicking on it and showing the package contents. The icon is in the Resources folder.

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