Mavericks seems to have replaced the color labels with "tags". The problem with the tags is that it's hard to see what color tag the file is. Is there a way to color label/highlight the whole filename like before?
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How to assign color labels to files?
- Thread starter red321red321
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I dont think so. the reason its a dot next to the name instead of coloring the entire name is because you can tag the same file multiple times with different colors. so by having dots next to the name you can see all of the tags that file has. if they just colored the name like before there would be no way to indicate multiple tags for the same document.
I having the exact same issue! I don't care about lables, but I want my tags back. I did heavily rely on fully colored folders to find things quickly and indicate whats done etc. Having a small dot beside the file is not helping. It's not noticeable enough...
It's a matter of adjusting your thinking. Tags give you so much more flexibility and freedom. In your case, you might create a tags called "Complete", "In Progress", and maybe a tag for your work project. Then you could set up a Smart Folder that filters by those tags, so you could quickly see what files are in what state of completion. Really, it can handle whatever kind of organizational system you can think of.
I know Labels have been our friends on the Mac for a long time, but I think it's time to leave that System 7 feature behind...
Tags, labels, whatever. The problem here is that the little coloured dot is very hard to see at a glance, unlike the big coloured highlight that labels used to have. Tags are very cool and very useful, but when dealing with large numbers of files or folders in a big list, I need to be able to see the colours more clearly.
Is there some third-party label app?
Is there some third-party label app?
Torn on this issue.
I much prefer the flexibility of tags to labels, but I would imagine that it's very difficult for near-colorblind people to discern the tiny circles. I'm not colorblind myself, and I had trouble with discerning orange from purple! (Especially when the tiny circles are stacked on top of each other when a file is associated with multiple tags.)
I much prefer the flexibility of tags to labels, but I would imagine that it's very difficult for near-colorblind people to discern the tiny circles. I'm not colorblind myself, and I had trouble with discerning orange from purple! (Especially when the tiny circles are stacked on top of each other when a file is associated with multiple tags.)
I can see that that is why they've switched it to the little circles, rather than the big coloured highlight - with multiple tags, you couldn't do the latter.
Mind you, it seems to be random as to which coloured circles you get when assigning multiple tags - I have some tags that don't show up as circles at all, except when overlapping other tags. I need to be in list view with the "tags" column showing to see the tags. Except then it just calls the tags by their colour, not the custom name I created.
Pretty useless so far.
Forgive my directness but that is one of the dumbest things I have read on any forum... EVER!
Whether on MR or CNET or other sites, lots of people used to full-line labels are having MORE DIFFICULTY DOING THEIR WORK NOW!!!
The reason why I use a Mac is because I am visually oriented and visual clues make it easier. I am not a database manager. I do not want to relabel, sorry, retag all my folders and files. I have existing folders that had files with 3 types of labels and I could find the files easily based on the color of the whole line.
If those labels made it easier for visual people like us, why would Apple want to take that away from us? Us visual people are those who bought Macs over windows during the lean years of the mid to late 90s. We kept Apple alive. Now Apple is slapping us down and telling us that there is more utility by typing things out. If you call "progress" forcing people to adjust to something that takes longer to learn and is less useful for them personally, then call me regressive if you want, but your vision of progress is leading down the road to DOS.
Is this Cupertino 2013 or is this Redmond 1984?!
Wow. Let go of the anger, it will only lead to the dark side.
I agree that the dots are not optimal, but with the ability to attach multiple tags to a file, there has to be some way to represent that visually. If you're a visual person, then you understand that there is a visual design problem inherent in this. Perhaps vertical stripes would be better, though it still presents readability issues. One solution to your problem would be to make the tag look like the old color bar labels if only one tag is attached. Perhaps you should send feedback to Apple with this solution. As for your anger management issues, I'm not sure Apple can help with that.
I'm one of those "visual people", and my first Mac was a Mac Plus. It didn't even have your fancy colors (though to correct myself, labels were debuted with System 6, not 7). Sadly, according to the Ars Technica review of Mavericks, your damn labels are still present in Mavericks, as the tags are written to the same place on the hard drive as they were in 1988 when I had my Mac Plus, keyed to the same hardcoded color binary values. (Apple still uses the same basic filesystem..that's another whole rant) This means that tags can only use the same seven colors that were in System 6. So, I hope you're happy now that your labels are holding back the future!
I'm sure Apple will work out the issues and bugs with tags over time. Just give them a chance. Or roll back to Mountain Lion.
if you're ever worried about features or standard being ripped away and replaced with new ones...apple is not the company for you...that would be mircosoft, the kings of unnecessary legacy and backwards compatibility.
apple has no qualms with getting rid of outdated things or replacing old things with newer things that will help more users.
yeah it sucks that the old way was so engrained in your usage and now it's gone, but the tech world moves very quickly, and i've learned it's best to not get too set in your ways.
Apple screwed up large with labels/tags. Those who believe otherwise do not understand basic GUI design, or the implications of the growing list and degree of the execution errors at Apple. This bit of folly is just one of many changes in this update that is clearly inferior (aka: A completely unnecessary DOWNGRADE).
Being forced to resort to third-party software to get anything as basic as labels right? Being "stuck" with a dated version of the OS because it works better? This isn't the Apple I've known since 1984. There were AT LEAST three different ways they could have supported the existing use of labels while providing all the functionality they added with tags. And it would have been -simple-.
Apple could of course use a minuscule amount of the growing billions in cash horde to right the ship. Hire those who grok the important from the unimportant, who understand far more than the basics and are obsessed with excellence (from basic detail to finished product, just as Jobs was). One of the results would be OS updates envied by the industry and a joy to use. Instead we get mediocre Mavericks pablum, a case study in leadership entropy.
Being forced to resort to third-party software to get anything as basic as labels right? Being "stuck" with a dated version of the OS because it works better? This isn't the Apple I've known since 1984. There were AT LEAST three different ways they could have supported the existing use of labels while providing all the functionality they added with tags. And it would have been -simple-.
Apple could of course use a minuscule amount of the growing billions in cash horde to right the ship. Hire those who grok the important from the unimportant, who understand far more than the basics and are obsessed with excellence (from basic detail to finished product, just as Jobs was). One of the results would be OS updates envied by the industry and a joy to use. Instead we get mediocre Mavericks pablum, a case study in leadership entropy.
Pathfinder seems the way to go. Recent Twitter chat shows that the label issue is a big one for some users. Like us!
awesome, thanks for the link. I think PathFinder is a tad pricey (at least if you're purchasing it just for that one feature). TotalFinder is $18 and there's a support thread where you can chime in if you would like them to also bring back labels as an option, as they are currently considering it:
http://discuss.binaryage.com/t/wish-return-finder-labels-to-mavericks/662
and of course.. tell Apple:
http://www.apple.com/feedback/macosx.html
They could have just done it with a multi-coloured stack, i.e - you set the red tag and you get a red file-name, set the green tag and you can see the previous red background just underneath.
The dots really aren't as visually obvious; not that I especially liked the coloured labels either, but at least they really stand out.
tags are crap!
Sorry to say this but the new tagging system is crap!
First it is not really usable. Since you tag the whole computer together you can't really use it. You can't search tags in a specific folder. Filtering by the orange tag for example will give you all the files tagged under this color on you HD. making it useless.
Labels were good for marking stuff. The small color dot of tagging is hard to see and useless for this matter.
Also Apple forgot to change the tag design in the open menu where tags are still seen as labels.
Apple had to do some change between 10.8 to 10.9 so they lighten up some menus, add support for useless things as maps and books (things that you could already use with 3rd party apps). I'm just sorry they screwed the labels in the process.
I don't know if this is the work of the same guy responsible for the horrible iOS7, but if so...
Sorry to say this but the new tagging system is crap!
First it is not really usable. Since you tag the whole computer together you can't really use it. You can't search tags in a specific folder. Filtering by the orange tag for example will give you all the files tagged under this color on you HD. making it useless.
Labels were good for marking stuff. The small color dot of tagging is hard to see and useless for this matter.
Also Apple forgot to change the tag design in the open menu where tags are still seen as labels.
Apple had to do some change between 10.8 to 10.9 so they lighten up some menus, add support for useless things as maps and books (things that you could already use with 3rd party apps). I'm just sorry they screwed the labels in the process.
I don't know if this is the work of the same guy responsible for the horrible iOS7, but if so...
I can't find any label preferences or controls in XtraFinder.
Pathfinder is pricey and its UI is clunky compared to the native Finder.
It's amazing we're searching for third-party apps to replace functionality Apple has taken away from us. Think I'm going to roll back to Mountain Lion.
I must admit, not having labels forced me to go back to ML about a week ago. I couldn't find folders on my desktop fast enough - especially during seminars or during customer enquiries. It's a bloody disgrace. Apple should have given us the option to chose ourselves in the system prefs.
I will stay with ML on all 4 of my Mac's, until somebody releases a way to get labels back in Mavrx.
Mike C
I will stay with ML on all 4 of my Mac's, until somebody releases a way to get labels back in Mavrx.
Mike C