Need pointers: Efficient File System Organization

December 15, 2005 9:52 AM

43Filters: I'm looking to re-organize my home directory on my Mac OS X laptop, and I want to do so with a clear organizational structure in mind. The majority of data is work-related, though I have a lot of personal data as well. I need to have a clear distinction between work and personal data, to make backups easier. I tend to create deep hierarchies, and I'd like to simplify where possible.

I'm a graphic designer and programmer, so I have two kinds of data. I've got visual data -- a lot of photoshop files, fonts, images, etc. as well as a ton of source code. I've also got the usual morasse of administrivia and miscellany. I'd like ideas, tips, or pointers to how others have solved this problem for themselves.

posted by redmonk to Computers & Internet (3 answers total)

I have a folder in my home area called "Downloads" since saving downloads to any other folder always ends up being a nightmare for me. I have a To Do & Projects folder on my desktop that either contains my actual To Do items and Projects or aliases to them. In my Documents folder, I have a WORK folder and a NONWORK folder plus all the crap like "Adobe Reader" that other applications require by default. Within those two main Documents folders, things are broken down by subject. I 'retire' likely-to-be-obsolete material to an "Old Stuff" folder every now and then, sometimes compressing them. If I go long enough without using them, I delete them. Periodically, I'll organize my Downloads folder using a taxonomy pretty much mirroring that of my home area and Applications folder.

Also, labels are your friend.

Finally, and slightly off-topic, I just started using Kinkless.com's Kinkless Getting Things Done OmniOutliner document/AppleScript system, which is probably something you'd be interested in if you aren't already using it.
posted by kimota at 10:59 AM on December 15, 2005

I actually use pretty deep hierarchies as well, so I don't think there's anything wrong with that. I've got a work directory and a personal directory. Within the personal, I've got folders for any subject that goes beyond N files (where N is a pretty small number); within the work, everything is foldered by client/year/job. I also embed some metadata in the filename, which can make it easier to find in the future.

However, if hierarchies feel too constraining, you might check out Spotmeta which lets you define your own key/value metadata tags and assign them to files. I'm intrigued by it but feel that it would require too much fooling around to be useful for me.

For backups, btw, I just use silverkeeper to make a backup of my entire $HOME directory (minus caches and the like) every night to an external.
posted by adamrice at 12:21 PM on December 15, 2005

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