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!
 

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