SevenFolder Documentation

SevenFolder

SevenFolder is a quick launch toolbar for Windows 7, alternative to the usual menu.

After I wasted my time to search a simple, free and open launcher I decided to design this software on my own, in a couple of days by using the C# language.

The software is released under the terms of the GPL v.3 license, so I invite you to download the code and customize the project yourself or enjoy it's simplicity.

How it works

Seven has a great taskbar, which can be used to organize your shortcuts. If you place a shortcut to a folder instead of a program icon, the folder will be started with the default program, i.e. explorer which is complicated to open and close.

SevenFolder is a kind of smart folder that starts and runs "from the taskbar", from which to launch your shortcuts.

SevenFolder is pretty, it opens and closes itself when needed and give you the capability to launch your preferred applications link with a single click.

Due to this behaviour, nothing will remains resident in your memory when you are not using it.

Install and Uninstall

I wrote a script for NSIS installer (by Nullsoft), this script :

• Installs the program into Program Files (x86, if you have a 64bit system) into the SevenFolder folder.
• Creates an uninstaller.
• Installs a Shortcut on the desktop.
• Installs a Folder and a couple of shortcuts on the 7 menu.

Everything will be deleted after you run the uninstaller.

To use this program, click on the SevenFolder installer icon

and follow the instructions in the next chapter.

SevenFolder usage

First steps

Create a folder in 'Documents' root folder. the name does not matter :

Open this folder and create there another folder where to drag your preferred applications shortcuts :

I Started with the folder Web to manage all my browsers.

Inside the Web folder you can drop your preferred applications shortcuts :

to fill the folder as you like.

Rewrite Link

Simply, drag and drop the Web folder over the SevenFoder shortcut onto the desktop.

This will prepare a re-written shortcut, designed to use SevenFolder instead of explorer.

You can create a lot of folders like Web and drag each folder over the shortcut.

remember that these folders have to be dragged over the shortcut, one at a time.

Toolbar customization

Right click on the taskbar, and unlock it :

in Toolbars choose New Toolbar.

then put into the Choose a folder dialog box, the following address :

  %USERPROFILE%\\AppData\\Roaming\\SevenFolder

and confirm.

A new Label, named Sevenfolder will appear into the Taskbar,

drag it to reveal the other icons.

It's time to modify the new toolbar as you prefer, I hid all the labels :

and made the icons larger.

It's possible to change the icons that SevenFolder has choosed by default, with a right click on the icon, Propery->Icon ...

Oh, good, we have finished our work, and now we can Lock the TaskBar again,

and ...

Enjoy the result ....

Hidden Launcher

From the release 1.0 SevenFolder has got a special features, named Hidden Window.
If the shortcut that you are starting begins with the sequence #HIDDEN# the toolbar starts the process in a "Hidden Window".
In Windows 7 the hidden window mode which is not available from the shortcut menu, appears as a minimized application, so you can click it and restore to the original position on screen but the starting window is not directly visible when launched.
I made this simple modification because I use a VmPlayer session in Unity Mode to manage the Ubuntu applications and terminal under Windows 7, having a full desktop integration.
To do this you can create a shortcut named :

 #HIDDEN#VmPlayer

and pointing to :

 "C:\<vmware folder>\vmplayer.exe" -U "C:\<vmware machines>\Ubuntu.vmx"

If this shortcut is launched without SevenFolder, it produces an unsightly window and shows the entire bootup sequence, before entering in unity mode.

If it is launched by SevenFolder, it shows only a small icon in the taskbar with the startup sequence running in background.

Obviously this is only an example. You can find a lot of different ways to use the Hidden Window mode.