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Tech Tip Tuesday: Folders Aren’t Manila Anymore

folder-manillaI'm sure we all know what a manila folder is right? I'll even bet a few old school diehards still use them today. The word Manila actually refers to the manila hemp that they were originally made from. These days they also come in the form of strings of ones and zeros grouped together in a computer's memory representing an image of what we have always known and recognized. By itself does nothing more than hold a few papers which are likely related to a similar topic. But combine them with tabs, dividers, larger folders, drawers and file cabinets and you have what is the most common means of record storage of this century. If you don't believe me go look in Accounting. The same can be done on your computer and even influenced the way computers are set up today.

First thing is first, it's important to understand where things are stored on your computer. To see this in Windows you will need to open up Windows Explorer. This program is represented by a small folder icon folder-icon and can be accessed via your start or your quick launch bar at the bottom of your screen. When it opens you will see a list of folders and drive letters on the left and other icons representing different locations on your hard drive. Pay attention to the one named “Documents”. This is the default location where all of your personal data is stored. By clicking on Documents, you should see the default folders created by Windows and possibly other folders you may have already created. On the Campus network, this folder is actually redirected to a server where this data can managed and backed up but that's a whole other unnecessary level of understanding. To create a new folder in your documents you can either right click with your mouse and click New Folder or click New Folder from the menu at the top of the screen. The keyboard shortcut is Ctrl+Shift+N. Once you have created your folder you need to give it a name. If you don't and accidentally click off of it, it will still show up with the name “New Folder”. To rename it, right click on it and click Rename. Now to store things inside that folder simply double click it or hit Enter with it selected and it opens to see the contents. If you want to go up one level, you can either click the Up Arrow at the top of the drive list on the left or use the keyboard shortcut Alt+Up. Now you can create subordinate folders here and continue until your heart's desire. However, always keep in mind that simple is better. If you don't really need to separate something then don't. You don't want to get confused by your own organizing efforts.

To make things easier, I'll pretend I'm an online student with four in which I need to save and organize assignments, notes, research, tests, etc. The main difference to realize with file and folder organization on a computer is that every level is still a folder. Meaning there is no picture of a drawer or file cabinet. They're all just folders. So you want to start out with your top level of organization. For this example I'll call it “College”. Then under college I'll make folders for each class: “Math”, “English”, “History” and “Science”. This sets up my main organization structure in which I will save and organize things. When I want to save something for Math, I will click save and if the location does not default to my Documents folder, I will click Browse and follow the same process as above until I see my College and then Math folder. After double clicking on the Math folder, I can click save and see that my Math file is now organized in my Math folder inside my College folder inside my Documents folder on my hard drive. Hopefully that sounds simple. 🙂

I'll leave an example picture of what this might look like. Best wishes on being more organized.

folder-view

Author Info: Beatitudes Campus Verified Administrator
At the foundation of Campus is the vision of of the Beatitudes pastors and congregation members to create a better alternative for older adults than the nursing homes of the early 1960s. The type of community they imagined was the first of its kind in Arizona. Beatitudes Campus is proud to continue the legacy of our founders, by being a leader in the field of aging for over 50 years.

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