DockFun, Your Alternative Dock

Most people I know who use a Macintosh enjoy customizing their machine in some way. Whether this is changing themes using ShapeShifter or adding an application to enhance the OS X experience, they all do it. Although I don’t put my hands up to changing themes, I am a regular application-enhancer user and I love downloading new applications developed by small time companies to make the already easy Mac experience, easier.

Last week I came across an application called FileGazer (read my review here) by Donelleschi Software, which gave you a sort of alternative way to access and preview files and folders throughout your system. It was almost like a Start Menu system but for OS X. This week, from the same company, I’ve tried out yet another application called DockFun.

As you can guess from the name, it’s basically a way of making your Dock fun. Well actually, that’s a lie, it’s not a huge amount of fun, just slightly more efficient than your normal OS X dock.

Categorizing Your Applications

If you’re like me, you’ve got about 40 applications sitting in your dock that you use on a regular basis,  and you’ll know how frustrating it can be to have a cluttered screen. Sure, I could remove them all and leave the ones I use the most, but why should I?

So where does DockFun come into things? I can now categorize my applications and have them open up, in their categories, in the dock with simply a nudge or two of a hot key.

Let’s say I wanted to have just media applications appear in the dock, such as QuickTime, RealPlayer, MPlayer and iTunes, for example. I could set up a Media dock group, add the applications I want in there and then set up and press a hot key (for example, alt+ctrl+m), and the dock launches itself with just the media applications I selected and all in fast time. Handy right?

My new “Media” dock that I set up using DockFun

The same will apply to any application. If you wanted to set up a “Creation” dock, you could have Adobe Photoshop, Dreamweaver, Flash and Preview appear, or what about a “Coursework” or “Business” dock? Pages, MS Word, MS Excel, Text Edit. Sound good?

When reading about this and before downloading, I was a bit curious as to what might happen to already open applications once I load a new dock. Thankfully, they stay open and their icons are still present until I decide to close them. So once things are open, they stay open until you say so.

There is another dock feature present in DockFun. When you’ve enabled a custom dock, you’ll see all the applications you’ve selected appear, but you’ll also see currently open applications - from before you changed dock - as well as Finder (which is always there by default). Should you want to go another way about this, for example, keeping your original dock but using a new dock to show only the applications you want, then you’ll need to use the built in tool called Donelleschi’s Dock. Once you click on this, a little window appears (View Donelleschi Dock) which shows only the applications you’ve got listed in that category.

In this mode, it’s also relatively simple to change category by clicking on the square, which appears when you hover your cursor over the window, and then selecting the category. I realize all of this may seem a little confusing, especially if you’ve not used the program before, but I assure you it’s all straight forward.

For your information, the names these docks have (Media, Creation, Coursework etc) are ones I’ve created and have done so in such a manner that it makes more sense to you. You can call the docks anything you like, but I’d advise you name them something memorable.

Loading Docks

There are a few ways to change docks whilst in DockFun. The easiest way would be to simply set up a hot-key for each dock, as I mentioned above. A couple of other ways include using the DockFun floating window (see image below) that stays visible over all other applications, or you can right click (ctrl+click) on the dock icon and select the categories from there. The floating dock, for me, was rather frustrating as it does, with reason, sit above all other applications. After using it for a while, I decided to stick with the hot-key function because it got in my way.

The DockFun floating window

Setting Up DockFun

I’m quite impressed by DockFun’s customization features within the main window (refer to image below). Once you’ve created a dock, you can customize it beyond that of a normal dock running in OS X Tiger.

First off, you can change the icon for each dock. The DockFun application icon can be changed to a variety of preset icons so, in the event you’ve got more applications running than you desire and you’ve forgotten which dock is loaded, you can use an icon to assist.

This is where you create your docks The position of the dock can be changed from the normal left, right and bottom to load in either top left, top middle, top right and 9 other locations around the screen. It’s a rather handy idea if you know your Media dock should be top left of the screen and your Creation Dock bottom right. Unfortunately, only one dock can be loaded at any time. You can look at this as a downfall, but would it be defeating the point of the application considering it’s trying to organize your desktop and reduce clutter? Of course, the usual size and magnification settings for the docks remain, and each dock can have a different setting. I’ve also noticed a new minimizing effect that is implemented on the Genie and Scale effects. The “Suck In” effect, which is good for those who are turned on by silly things like this, comes across as an inbred form of both Genie and Scale effects. Enough said! Adding applications to certain docks you’ve created is a piece of cake, almost. I haven’t found an easier way to do this, but by opening up your applications folder and dragging the applications to the dock you’re customizing is literally all there is to it. This is also where you can decide on which applications, if any, should load automatically once the dock you’ve created is open. Pro’s

Easy way to access popular programs

Can categorize applications into certain docks

Fast and seems reliable

Easy to customize

Hot-Keys allow the changing of docks

The floating dock, which I find annoying, is easy to remove Con’s

In customized docks, once the application has been opened, the icon within the dock seems to bounce for about a minute after. I’m unsure why, but it’s easy to turn off the “animation” effect. Possible bug?

Regular in-your-face buy me window. I’d much prefer to have one message opening.

Once customized, reloading docks doesn’t always work. I sometimes had to make a few attempts at reloading the dock before seeing my settings take effect.

Not possible to have more than one dock loaded at any time. Perhaps this would be defeating the point of the product though. Overall, I’m quite impressed by Donelleschi Software’s applications and this makes no exception. It’s fast, easy to customize and overall a piece of cake to use. It’s a great way of organizing your desktop, especially for users who use a variety of applications on a regular basis. I’m in two minds about the Donelleschi Dock, which is the tool I was refering to before being a little ‘confusing’. I understand the idea behind it, but it just seems as though it’s adding more clutter to the desktop, which, in my mind, is what the program is trying to eradicate. The product is shareware and you’ll realize this when you see the regular “buy me” windows. I think if they cleared up some of the bugs that I picked up on, it would be well worth buying. Until then, I’m going to put up with my regular 40 applications dock. Definitely worth giving it a try.  Go here to give it a go. Digg This Article