Another utility, another way to organize your desktop. It just never ends! However, we really shouldn't be mad because it gives us users yet another method to choose from. It should be clear by now that while one method may work for one individual, it may have the opposite effect on another. Therefore with different alternatives, each individual hopefully will find one that works for them. With Fences by Stardock, organizing your desktop icons just got a whole lot better. Check it out to see how this software can help you out.
There are probably some of you that will laugh at others who still likes to utilize desktop icons. However, you should know that desktop icons is here to stay and is a way of life for many computer users. While some may dislike having their desktop littered with folders and program icons, there are also many others who think the opposite. The desktop is the place many users go to quickly access their work and data files. I've previously talked about using Direct Folders to quickly get access to your most used folders with mouse clicks. That way, you can organize your folders in locations other than on your desktop but without the fear of having to remember each folder location or drilling through levels and levels of subfolders just to get to the document you need to edit.
Fences by Stardock
Many of you probably recognize the name Stardock from their immensely popular and free offering of Objectdock. With Fences, the company has once again offered a free utility that helps us better organize and manage our desktop space. In a nutshell, Fences allows us to group our desktop icons into their own shaded container which you can then move around to your liking. For example, if you currently have ten folders on your desktop, with five of them being for work, three of them for school and two for your videos and music, you can create three containers to group the similar folders together. It's a really simple idea yet it works really well once you try it out.
1. You can download Fences from here. The utility works for XP, Vista and Windows 7 so no one gets left out! Microsoft .NET Framework is required so install it if you haven't already. Installation of Fences is a breeze. Restart your computer thereafter to begin using Fences.
2. Once restarted, we are now ready to use Fences. But first, we should customize the behavior and look of our fences. Simply right click on an empty area on your desktop and select Configure Fences from the context menu. This will immediately bring up the Fences main configuration menu screen. There are three tab areas of interest here.
First up is the Fences tab. Here you'll get to quickly see the fences you have configured. Because this is our first time using Fences and therefore haven't created any yet, the desktop picture should be empty to reflect that. As we create new fences in the future, they will show up here. However, we really can't modify them from this tab and so this screen doesn't really do a lot. If you click on the links on the bottom, they just present some text on how to actually create, label and adjust your fences but doesn't actually allow you to do it there.
Next up is the Customize tab. Here we can configure how, if any, the labels should appear in your fences. You can disable labels altogether, only appear when you move your mouse inside the fence, or always have the label appear on the fence. The other feature to customize is the color and transparency for your fences and labels. Because we haven't created any fences yet, simply revisit this menu after you have created some fences to see the color effects.
The last tab of interest is the Tools tab. A very neat and awesome feature of Fences is that it quickly allows you to hide/unhide your desktop icons and fences with a single double click of your mouse (yes I know, that's an oxymoron). By double-clicking on an open area of your desktop, you can quickly toggle between having your desktop icons visible or hidden. You can even configure which icons to exclude from this feature. For example, you may always want the recycle bin icon to remain visible. If you don't like this feature of hiding/unhiding the icons and fences, simply disable it by unchecking the option box. The Snapshot feature can also come very handy. By taking snapshots of your desktop icons, you can simply revert them back to that snapshot picture should you go a little too crazy about moving your icons with fences!
If you click on the More Tools link on the bottom, you can configure a few more options which Fences do a good job of explaining here.
If you want to learn a little more on how to use Fences, click on the Help tab to get the information.
3. Now that we got that out of the way, it's time to start creating some fences! To create one, simply hold down the right mouse button, drag it to draw a small rectangle and release the mouse. You will then have the option of creating the new fence. Do not worry about the size and figure of the fence. You can customize it any way you want to later on. Once you have opted to create a fence, give it a label if you have that feature turned on.
Once you have created your fence, simply resize it to any shape and size you want to by using the resizing arrows (move your mouse towards the edges of the fence till the mouse changes to a two sided arrow). Once that is configured, simply drag your icons into the new fence. As you move more icons into a fence, it will start to become overcrowded. The good news is that fences will provide scroll-bars so you can see the other icons in that fence. By default, the scroll-bar will disappear as soon as you move your mouse away from that fence. If you want the scroll-bar to always be shown, you can configure so in the Customize tab in the Fences menu. Remember, once you put icons into a fence, you can simply move every icon in it by moving just the fence itself.
Here is a screenshot of my 'Fences configured' desktop:
Don't forget, you can simply hide/unhide your icons with a simple double click. This allows you to only see your desktop icons when necessary. Therefore, you can finally enjoy your desktop wallpaper the way it was meant to be by removing all those icons that was previously blocking its view!
Hope you guys enjoy using this awesome utility as much as I have. By combining Direct Folders and Fences, it certainly makes finding my most used folders and programs a breeze.
