Software

Quick Cliq

14 Comments

If you’re like me, you probably like using the quick launch toolbar. If you’re still like me, you start having way too many things on that toolbar, to the extent that it’s starting to take up a bunch of real estate on your monitor. That part is irksome, but the other part is wonderful. Is there another way?

This program was found by our buddy Mitchell Allen of Morpho Designs and shared with me. The site is called Apathy Networks and program is called Quick Cliq. It’s called a “launcher” program, and what it allows you to do is add “shortcuts” (I’m assuming y’all know what shortcuts are) to a menu that you access by right-clicking your mouse, pulling down slightly, then releasing, and having everything you want in your newly created menu.

I had to try this out so I downloaded the program, which comes in a Zip file, and basically there’s only the program in there as well as a couple of small text files. You open the program and then follow the instructions, which initially might seem hard but actually it’s telling you exactly what to do.

When you get the initial menu it’s pretty much a blank slate. The way you add programs to your list, at least the easy way, is to drag shortcuts off your desktop or any of your program files into the menu and there you go.

You’ll see icons at the top which, if you hover over them, tells you what each one represents. The first icon you shouldn’t have to use. The second icon allows you to create a menu of files you’d like to open that aren’t programs, and I did that by adding certain files I open all the time like my password file, some coding files, and some other files for data I track. It doesn’t care what format they are, and in this case you’re pulling the actual files instead of looking for a shortcut for those files. The third icon adds separators, which can be kind of cool but aren’t necessary.

I’d skip the 4th icon, which brings you to the next two icons. Those allow you to move the programs up and down so you can put them where you want them to be. I put the files I use often at the top, even though when you open the menu you’re normally in the middle, because I tend to look up at first almost all the time.

What it’s allowed me to do is first kill all the rows I had before except for one, then set the entire toolbar to totally disappear until I decide I need it, like when I need to reboot or want to check to see what the time is. Otherwise all my programs open fully, my wallpaper can be shown in its full glory, and I have easy access to all my favorite programs all the time with just a click, drag and release. Very neat little program indeed; oh yeah, it’s free!
 

14 thoughts on “Quick Cliq”

  1. Great share, Mitch. I have to consolidate3 like that all of the time.

    I had to do the same thing in WordPress to keep my admin panel “usable”.

    Thanks 🙂

    Mark

  2. I guess I’ll start the ball rolling with the obligatory “Where’s the Mac version” harping! lol

    This does look like a neat little time saver, though. I love how someone sees a need for something, or a little hole where they can swoop in there and fill a void, and potentially make money at it.

    Nice find Mitch. And er, Mitch…

    1. We thank you John. lol I’m just glad to capture the rest of my monitor space, and let’s face it, I either always have my hands on the keyboard or my mouse anyway, so it’s really easy to use. I may have to go back to see if there’s a keyboard shortcut that also opens it up; hadn’t even thought about that until now.

      1. Windows+Z key.

        If you do a lot of work in Excel, you may find the so-called mouse gestures to be a drag. (OH GAWD! Another pun)

        Sometimes, I have to suspend the handy feature – available from the menu, itself, second item from the bottom.

        You did an excellent write-up. Am forwarding my new app to you for a review. LOL

        This program has filled such a huge need, as John pointed out. Not only was I able to eliminate my Quick-launch toolbar, I was also able to get rid of the following:

        1. Desktop Shortcuts
        2. PortableApps.com launcher (a cumbersome attempt at Quick-Cliq)
        3. A launcher that’s included in my Explorer replacement app, FreeCommander

        In addition, I no longer have to rely on the slow Start Menu (mine is slow because I turned off the resource-hogging Windows Indexing utility)

        Here’s a tip: that second icon isn’t just for non-program files. You can use that to create a sub-menu of related programs, too! I have a sub-menu called Games, which opens to reveal 23 game short-cuts. Without sub-menus, the main menu would be huge!

        Cheers,

        Mitch

      2. Thanks for that shortcut, Mitch. Course now I have to remember there’s another reason to hit that Windows key. lol Still, I can hit them both with one hand; breeze! I had already hidden all my desktop shortcuts so no worries there. As to the menus, I hadn’t thought about why one would need to open other programs but now that you’ve mentioned it, I do have a lot of secondary programs that I don’t open all that often that might be nice to plug in there so I don’t have to shut things down and open the explore window.

        Of course, if you can tell me where the program or shortcut is to Explorer so I can add that to my menu I’d be as happy as a clam, however happy that might be.

  3. For quite a while I haven’t use similar software, actually more than 5 years from now, but probably I should as my desktop is always full with icons and almost everybody that see it, is saying that never seen than many. Not that I am not organized, but I prefer fast access and there are many tasks and projects I am working on.

      1. I will give it a shot, hopefully will get used to it quickly. And of course I hope it will help me to get a bit more organized desktop.

  4. Quick Cliq..like it very much as its really work quick and helps us lot by creating shortcut which saves lots of our time and energy also.

    As this is call smart work with smart tools.

  5. Great post man! Been a while since I used a software like this but I love Quick Cliq it’s awsome really! 😀

    Thx for leting us know!

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