Tutorials

Getting started (or reacquainted) with Quicksilver

Merlin — Wed, 28 Mar 2007 08:22:20 -0400

Hack Attack: A beginner's guide to Quicksilver - Lifehacker

Adam Pash has written a terrific introduction to Quicksilver that I recommend for folks who are still scratching their heads about what all the fuss is about.

Part of the challenge is the "layers of the onion" problem. There's no explanation of what Quicksilver does that's at once brief, accurate, exhaustive, and easy for new users to immediately grok; it really does reveal its delights over time, through repeated usage, and in proportion to your willingness to learn and experiment. Adam does a good job of acquainting new folks with the basic idea and the setup, then he walks through a few of the many bits of fu that have made this app the phenomenon that it is.

Quicksilver can be used to launch files and applications, manipulate data, and seamlessly plug into almost any application on your Mac so that you can perform actions as soon as you think of them in a few short keystrokes.

Also from our own archives, here are a few popular Quicksilver items from the extended 43 Folders family (including 4 video tutorials). And seriously: if you really still don't see why QS is different, do watch the videos; writing about Quicksilver is like singing about a magic trick.

Merlin's Quicksilver Video Tutorials

“...writing about Quicksilver is like singing about a magic trick.”

MacBreak 12: Quicksilver - "Leo Laporte and Merlin Mann show you how to turbocharge your interactions with your data and applications using Quicksilver."
MacBreak 17: Quicksilver Tips - "Merlin Mann's back sharing more productivity tips with Leo using Quicksilver." This segment focuses on how to control iTunes via Quicksilver.
006: HOWTO: Quicksilver: The Comma Trick - "Learn how to create a temporary stack in Quicksilver, so you can do stuff to (or with) a big pile of objects all at one time."
008: HOWTO: Quicksilver: Application Menus - "Learn how to access drop-down menus in every application via Quicksilver."

Our favorite Quicksilver resources from elsewhere

quicksilver:tutorials [docs] - This is the mother lode. The best Quicksilver meta-resource anywhere.
A Better OS X In Just 10 Minutes - Dan's post is what got me to try Quicksilver
Howard Melman's 'Quicksilver User's Guide' - A wonderful piece of PDF documentation. As far as I know, this is the closest thing there is to an end-user Quicksilver manual, all in one place.
Howard Melman's 'Quicksilver Quick Reference' - An unbelievably useful PDF cheat sheet of most all the Quicksilver commands in one place. Print. Post. Refer. Learn.
Quicksilver Changes Everything at The Apple Blog - Another good entry point

”Getting started (or reacquainted) with Quicksilver” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on March 28, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Robert Daeley on configuring for QS proxies

Merlin — Tue, 13 Mar 2007 05:41:21 -0400

Enabling Quicksilver proxies and application menus | Celsius1414

Robert Daeley has posted an excellent appendix to yesterday's screencast on Quicksilver proxies.

Because, like most Quicksilver power users, I run the app in full-bore, bleeding-edge mode with all the plug-ins installed, I tend to leave out some of the rubber-chicken-waving that new users need to go through to make advanced features work properly. Robert picks up the slack nicely with this swell tutorial. Many thanks!

Merlin Mann’s new episode of the Merlin Show posted yesterday teaches very powerful Quicksilver-Fu, enabling you to access the menu items of any application, as well as introducing the concept of proxies. These techniques belie the mistaken impression that Quicksilver is “merely” a program launcher — it is an application master. ;)

What isn’t clear in the ‘cast is the settings, downloads, and brand of incense you need to burn in order to make all of that happen. I’m pretty sure the below covers everything, but let me know if I missed something.

Read all of Robert's article.

”Robert Daeley on configuring for QS proxies” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on March 13, 2007. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Process email faster with Mail Act-On

Merlin — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 11:56:00 -0400

My usage of Mail Act-On, while far from novel, has revolutionized the speed with which I can blow through email processing.

If you've never seen it before, Mail Act-On is a very clever Mail.app plugin that lets you create key commands that execute Rules you've generated in your Preferences. Sounds pretty dull, right? Absolutely. Until you start putting this stuff into action and learn how painfully slow all that draggy mc drag drag business is. Here's how I've set mine up.

Step 0: Remap "`Caps Lock`"

First off: do yourself the biggest favor ever, and make that stupid "Caps Lock" key into something more useful. In the months since I first mentioned remapping this typewriter relic using third-party utilities, the folks behind OS X have been kind enough to bake it right into the Keyboard & Mouse PreferencePane ("[Apple] > System Preferences... > Keyboard & Mouse > Keyboard > Modifier Keys").

As your attorney, I advise you to immediately map "Caps Lock" to "Ctrl" since it's about to make your life a little better, thanks to Mail Act-On -- which relies heavily on the "Ctrl" key, as you'll see -- although you'll get way faster at many key commands as a result. Plus it doesn't bend your pinky up all weird.

Okay, with that nonsense out of the way, let's go make some rules.

(Important: If you've never set up Mail Act-On rules before, there's a few things you'll need to know, so be sure to first check out the FAQ).

To archive

This first one is really basic, although it's certainly the one I use most -- moving selected messages to my Archive folder.

That should be mostly self-explanatory, except remember that you can only add currently-visible mailbox sub-folders to a Mail.App rule. If you can't find the folder you want, cancel out and make sure it's first visible in your mailboxes and folders list over on the left (flip the little "reveal" triangle until you can see the folder you want).

Next up, it gets a bit more interesting.

To respond

This one is a workhorse; it takes the selected messages, flags them, and moves them into my Respond folder.

As I've said, I use a combination of flagging and mailbox location to create Smart Folders -- that way I can quickly glance, say, messages I've received 3-7 days ago that still need a response.

Handy way to catch up or just to make sure things don't fall between the cracks.

To respond...some time

The next one shows a really simple example of how you can make Mail Act-On work in concert with its muscle-bound big brother, Mail Tags.

In this case I'm adding a priority tag that -- again with Smart Folders -- gives me control over what kind of un-responded email I want to see. This rule gets a workout whenever I get mission-critical epistles like "Will you review my $500 Windows app?" and "You should totally link to photos of my kitty!"

Like most GTD-ers, I don't like to rely too heavily on prioritization as its own thing, but if I'm traveling or whenever things get really hectic for a few days, I need a fast way to separate the wheat from the chaff, and this helps a lot with that.

I'm really just scratching the surface on what you can do with Mail Act-On -- I'm sure there are power users out there who are doing much sexier stuff with it -- but I wanted to make sure people know that this is most definitely not just for geeks and high-volume email users. In my opinion, this is functionality that should (and eventually will) be included as a stock feature in Mail.app.

As I said in Inbox Zero, excellent processing is one of the ninja email moves. And for even the most casual user of Mail.app, Mail Act-On can make that road to ninjahood so much faster and less annoying.

”Process email faster with Mail Act-On” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on September 15, 2006. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

HOWTO: Flag "penciled-in" events in iCal

Merlin — Thu, 06 Jul 2006 10:34:22 -0400

As I've mentioned before, I like using iCal's invitations to share appointments with people -- especially since this lets them easily respond to let me know whether they 1) will attend, 2) won't attend, or 3) are just "tentative." Unfortunately, there's no analogous tentative flag for the (seemingly endless) number of appointments and events I want to just pencil-in -- you know, those times when you want to make sure to block out time for a call or lunch, but are waiting on confirmation from folks who don't use iCal (or for whom it makes no sense to pester with an invitation). My workaround -- yes, like many of these things -- is really simple.

When I create the event, I just put a Spanish-language question mark "¿" (hit: OPTION-SHIFT-?) in front of the event's title. Like so:

So, why's this work?

most importantly, I never accidentally book two Canadian actress pancake breakfasts in the same time slot
if/when the event is finalized, all I have to do is remove the "¿" flag/character
if it never gets finalized, but the notification still pops up, I can quickly see that it's not a "real" appointment, and I can just delete it
because this hacky "flag" is the first character of the event, it won't be cut off when viewing events in the crowded week or month views

Like I say, simple little trick, but it's saved my non-Canadian bacon on a number of occasions.

”HOWTO: Flag "penciled-in" events in iCal” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on July 06, 2006. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Eno on the Microsoft Sound: 'Here's a specific problem -- solve it.'

Merlin — Wed, 10 Aug 2005 17:18:47 -0400

Q and A With Brian Eno

Brian Eno, from 1996, speaking on the creation of “The Microsoft Sound” (the gentle little tune that plays when you boot your Windows PC).

I thought you’d enjoy it as an example of how a novel bit of work and some limitations can re-align your perspective and even help you get unstuck about unrelated projects.

(Thanks, Mike)

The idea came up at the time when I was completely bereft of ideas. I’d been working on my own music for a while and was quite lost, actually. And I really appreciated someone coming along and saying, “Here’s a specific problem — solve it.”

The thing from the agency said, “We want a piece of music that is inspiring, universal, blah- blah, da-da-da, optimistic, futuristic, sentimental, emotional,” this whole list of adjectives, and then at the bottom it said “and it must be 3 1/4 seconds long.”

I thought this was so funny and an amazing thought to actually try to make a little piece of music. It’s like making a tiny little jewel.

In fact, I made 84 pieces. I got completely into this world of tiny, tiny little pieces of music. I was so sensitive to microseconds at the end of this that it really broke a logjam in my own work. Then when I’d finished that and I went back to working with pieces that were like three minutes long, it seemed like oceans of time.

”Eno on the Microsoft Sound: 'Here's a specific problem -- solve it.'” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on August 10, 2005. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"

Quicksilver: Setup & Troubleshooting

Merlin — Fri, 05 Nov 2004 11:00:21 -0500

[n.b.: this post has been updated to reflect the release of version B32r2. --2004-11-06 15:35 PST]

Since there's new folks moving to Quicksilver all the time, I thought I'd post some more starter tips if you're following along here. If you have questions about stuff not working as described, doublecheck your setup and the tips below.

Read the Quickstart Guide
Always use the latest version of Quicksilver, available here
Read Dan Dickinson's really great tutorial on setting up and orienting yourself with Quicksilver.
- This is the post that got me to try Quicksilver, and it's excellent.
- Note that some of the items discussed in the tutorial (including some Appearance prefs) have moved around in recent releases
- Update 2005-02-23 07:11:33 - Dan also has created an excellent intermediate tutorial I can highly recommend.
Get comfortable with all your options in the Prefrences box.
- As of v. B32r2, most of the configuration options (including catalogs and triggers) have been consolidated into the tabbed Preferences box
- To get to Preferences:
  1. Invoke Quicksilver (Control-Spacebar, by default)
  2. Type Command-, (that's a comma)
To use many of the tips metioned on 43 Folders, you need to run in "Beta mode"
- While slightly more adventurous than "Stable" mode, Beta shouldn't give you much worse problems than an occasional crash. YMMV.
- Beta mode can be enabled under "Preferences > Application > Feature Mode" where you select "Enable Advanced Features > Beta"
Load up on plug-ins, which are all here
- Quicksilver's main application provides a core of basic functionality; the plug-ins are the sexy bits that let you integrate with other applications and services
- Browse the list for any apps or services that you use, and install any others that look interesting to you
- If you're running in Beta mode, note that extra plug-ins may be available (but are filtered out of the standard plug-in page).
  1. Go to "Preferences > Plug-ins"
  2. Click the little gear menu
  3. Select "Download More Plug-ins"
    - This will take you to the plug-ins web page, with extra, beta-compatible plug-ins revealed
  4. Install or download the plug-ins you want
- Important: If something is not working the way it's described in a post, chances are good you're missing a necessary plug-in
Make sure you've set up and enabled the right Catalogs for what you want to do
- View and add to Catalogs by going to "Preferences > Catalog"
For more on getting started or to learn more about Quicksilver, check out other resources:
- Good introductions to Quicksilver
- All posts in our 43F Quicksilver category
- Quicksilver Documentation Wiki
- Quicksilver Forums
- Quicksilver IRC channel

”Quicksilver: Setup & Troubleshooting” was written by Merlin Mann for 43Folders.com and was originally posted on November 05, 2004. Except as noted, it's ©2010 Merlin Mann and licensed for reuse under CC BY-NC-ND 3.0. "Why a footer?"