The dock is a great way to store the programs that you use all of the time and do not want to dive into the applications folder in order to find it each time you want to use it. Of course, if you have a wide variety of programs that you use on a regular basis, you may find that your dock is getting crowded and that the convenience is less than it was before. What do you do with the conundrum of a convenience that is no longer convenient? That is easy. You modify it to meet your current needs, even if that includes going with an option that the design team did not originally consider. Today you are going to learn how to add multiple docks to your system so that you can have one for each of your work flows and make your life simple again, well at least you will make access to your software simple again with the help of a little bit of shareware.
Dock It
The system in question is known as Dock-It. You need to start by getting the software. Once you have gotten to the download page, you can either buy it outright or to download the free trial version. The free trial is valid for fourteen days, and this trick is only for users of the Snow Leopard operating system. Sorry to those of you who have not updated recently. Once the download is done, drag the application icon to the Applications folder of your hard drive.
Customize Your First New Dock
When you first open this software, you will see your first new dock show up in the middle of the screen. It is full of things that you may or may not want to have on a custom dock. Click on the first icon to access the dock controls. To add a new dock, open this menu and click on “Edit Docks”. Then click on the plus sign. The dock will by default be given the name “Favorites Dock”. You can rename it if you want by double clicking on the name.
Add Items to Your New Dock
If you want to add an application to your new dock, you would do this the same way you would for your current dock. Simply find your icon and drag it onto your dock. After a few seconds, you will see the icon on your dock. But, what if you want add something that is not an application? What if you want easy access to a folder? To add a folder to your dock, open your settings and choose “Add File/Folder”, you will find it in the “Add menu” section. All that you have to do is browse to the location of the folder that you want to add and click on Open. This will add your folder to your dock.
Give The Dock Your Own Style
Now, lets give your dock a little bit of style and make it your own. To do that, begin by clicking on the Advanced tab. Here you will find options that allow you to change the background colors, border types and the overall transparency of the dock. Play with these to make it the way you want. Admittedly, this is not a high degree of customization but it will give you some sense of meshing with the rest of your system’s look and feel.
There you have it – an extra dock to do with as you please. Have fun. Dockit is fully functional for 14-day trial. After that, if you like it, you have to pay $10 to own it. Dock-It
