Many people are familiar with the Option-down-arrow keyboard shortcut in Default Folder X. When you’re using an Open or Save dialog, it takes you straight to the last folder you used. (If you haven’t been using this, try it – it saves a TON of time).

What most people don’t know is that there’s a hidden setting in your Default Folder X preferences that will let you use the same keyboard combination in the Finder. Press Option-down-arrow and the most recent folder in your DFX Recent Folders menu will open up in a new window.

To enable this, open System Preferences and select Default Folder X. Hold down the Option key while you press the “Settings…” button and you’ll get this sheet of options:

Turn on the checkbox marked “HotkeysForRecentFolders” and click OK.  That’s all there is to it.

If you’re curious about all of the other “secret settings”, have a look at this blog post.

LaunchBar is a great ‘mouse-free’ utility for instantly getting to files, folders, URLs, music, addresses, and just about anything else on your Mac.  Hit command-spacebar and start typing the first few letters of whatever you want – LaunchBar lists the choices that match and you just hit the return key to open or go to that item.  I use it all the time and recommend it to everyone I know.

There’s a really handy way of including your recent and favorite folders from Default Folder X in LaunchBar’s index. After doing this, you can instantly access those folders from the keyboard using LaunchBar.

To make Default Folder X favorites and recent folders available in LaunchBar do the following:

1. In your Default Folder X preferences, click on the Advanced tab and turn on “Create aliases of Recent Folders and Favorites in your Library folder”.



2. In LaunchBar, choose Show Index from the Index menu.  Click on the “Folder+” button in the toolbar to add a folder.



3. Select the HOME/Library/Favorites/ folder.
4. Once the folder is added, click on the Options tab for that folder and set Search Scope to “Search 1 Subfolder Level” and Search for “Folders”.



5. Click on the Schedule tab and turn on the “Update automatically” checkbox.



6. Repeat steps 2-5 for the folder HOME/Library/Recent Folders/
7. Once you tell LaunchBar to reindex, you’ll have access to all of your Default Folder X favorite and recent folders.

Thanks to Gary Schelling for asking about this and jogging my brain

Default Folder X 4.3.6 is finally available, delivering a whole bunch of improvements and fixes.  And yes, it finally uses Sparkle to check for updates

If you use Default Folder X, make sure you update to 4.3.6 – not only does it address bugs in some of its own features, but it also compensates for a lot of the quirks and not-quite-right things in Snow Leopard.

For a full listing of changes and links to download it (in various languages), check the What’s New page. If you just want to grab the update right away, use this link:

http://www.stclairsoft.com/cgi-bin/dl.cgi?DX

As always, if you encounter problems or have questions, post a comment here or send an email to us!

In case you haven’t already seen the news at the Indie+Relief site or on Twitter, the Indie+Relief fundraiser pulled in more than $143,000 for earthquake relief in Haiti – that’s more than any of us ever anticipated! You can read the details at Justin Williams’ blog.

Thanks to everyone who bought software or participated last Wednesday – you’re all fantastic!  It’s really heartening to see the community come together when the need arises. A lot of people really stepped up to contribute.  THANKS!

- Jon

The earthquake in Haiti has nearly destroyed what was already a fragile country. Please join us in assisting in the relief effort.

On Wednesday, January 20 St. Clair Software and 100+ other developers are donating all sales to help provide medical care and supplies for Haitian earthquake victims. Please visit the Indie+Relief web site and purchase any products you need, think you might need or have even considered buying. All revenue will be donated to charities that benefit Haitian earthquake relief.

Even if you don’t purchase anything, donate to the charity of your choice.  Skip that latte and send water to people that desperately need it.  Skip that dessert and provide food or medicine. Or keep your lifestyle exactly the same and just donate a few dollars – it all adds up.  If you’re unsure which charity to give to, visit Charity Navigator, which breaks down the benefits (and costs incurred) for most major charitable organizations.