Q: I hate the new tags in Mavericks, need coloured folders!!

So... if the Finder won't do it for you use something else that does? Seems very obvious.

So... if the Finder won't do it for you use something else that does? Seems very obvious.

I already said this several times. Why is this addressed to me?

Gail from Maine -- as you write, it's been three years, a couple of OS changes, 113 pages of info, and a plethora of options to work around faulty design.  You write how this conversation "has gotten really, really old" and yet you're still here.  What's up with that?

There is an app called XtraFinder. It brings color folders back and more customizable finder features.

It works on Yosemite and earlier. El Capitan broke a lot of things....I had so many problems with El Capitan with its slowness and lack of customability and ability to work with third party apps like XtraFinder...I reverted back to Yosemite.  I don't know if XtraFinder works with El Capitan yet. May or may not.

Worth checking out third parties to do what the OS has done in the past and should do in the future.

What makes Apple think that I wouldn't need more than (6) colors and a gray... to differentiate items?  Really?

I need Bright reds, Medium reds and dark reds...same goes for other hues in the spectrum.

And Why did they not think that people used color to differntiate function on their desktop?

I used the RED circle with a slash to quickly identify DELETE in the MAIL app...now i have to slowly scan the icons and figure out, through a color blind person's eye.... their function.

Really????

At this rate...here is how the next OS is gonna look. They will soon remove all color and shading depth...

Hi HGMLLC

Use XtraFinder. Im not sure if it works with El Capitan yet..but I reverted back to Yosemite for this function and other slowness reasons.

XtraFinder has a lot to offer..including folder colors!

And yes...as we get older and wiser.....unlike like some level 10 asshats here on the forum who will ALSO someday get older...THEN they will know how left out they will feel once they are in their 40s and the body does not work anything like it used to...ESPECIALLY the eyes are first to  quickly diminish in vision.

Young people have no clue and those who have no sympathy or the imagination to visualize it happening to them...get hit harder later in life....because...it to them..."it can never happen to me".

We know that it's not a question of IF...but WHEN. Very few people over 40 get away with not having something go wrong.

So good luck to you and good health!

Enjoy XtraFinder!

If you need to downgrade to Yosemite....look up how to make a bootable USB thumbdrive with Yosemite on it. Good to have one of these around anyway.

I think it's really sad to invest premium dollars in what was once a top-of-the-line computer and then have to resort to outside apps to do what was done flawlessly for years as a built-in feature on the expensive computer.  Just another example of how this Apple has soured in recent years.  Thanks for the work-around suggestion.

Personally, I'm not interested in color.  I would love a return of keywords/tags that I can type myself to attach to files so I can retrieve them intelligently.  Since Mavericks, Apple insists on doing the typing and Apple cannot spell.  Tags have become a useless nightmare that I have not been able to turn off so I can file things with functional retrieval in mind. . . just like I did in the good ol' days! 

Got a fix for that?

I just keep to good ol..organization and naming of my folders and files.  Color folders was a bonus to when you were trying to keep track of what is being copied over to another drive or just highlighting an alias on your desktop OR just knowing what you are going to delete by making the folder or files RED.

I used that WAY more at work than I did at home.

In fact, I hated when itunes started reorganizing your files. I've always sorted my music by DECADE and then by ARTIST/GROUP then name of song. So it would look look like this:

MUSIC 1980s / DAVID BOWIE Blue Jean.mp3

This way...I can always VIEW and get a nice sort by NAME. Visually grouping them in the list by ARTIST in all caps. It looks niiiccce when you view by name. Easy to find in a long list.

The tags are only good for files like the "tag editing" feature they have in the iTunes app...if THAT.

Let's face it. THE POLICE never sounded anything like CULTURE CLUB so it didn't matter back then what things were labeled..your band had it's own sound which makes the 80s so much more diverse in its choices...I didn't need to a tag to tell me what I liked...is what I liked.

But organization is key!  You dont need to search if your files are named in structure and organized.

You can always search spotlight for a song if you couldn't remember who sang "Total Eclipse of the Heart"...or you knew approximately which decade it was so you can just scroll thru your FILE.

Yep..just like the good ol' days.

XtraFinder allows you to use BLACK BACKGROUND in your finder windows. Nice for those who's eyes are bloodshot looking at white pages all the time.

Please not that good organization skills are not a one-size-fits-all endeavor.

I write cookbooks so I collect thousands of recipes.  And I am an extremely organized person.  Most professional chefs are.

Back in the good ol' days, when Apple let me type my own tags/keywords, I would save one recipe.  Let's say it's a chicken cashew curry recipe.  I'd save it once and use keyword identifiers such as chicken, cashew, nuts, curry, spices, India, vegetarian, sweet potatoes, eggplant, main course . . . .

Then, when I was looking for all my recipes that contained curry, I could simply type "curry" in my search terms and all my files that used curry as a keyword would appear, along with this one.

I'd also get this same recipe plus all relevant others if I searched for chicken, India, . . .

Now, if I bother at all, I save one copy of the recipe in chicken.  A second copy in cashews.  A third copy in India.  A fourth copy in vegetarian . . . . YUCK!!!

Apple dummied down but I did not.  It has cost me an exhaustive amount of time and it's just too inefficient and frustrating to even bother with anymore.  My paper files are more efficiently organized than anything I can do with Apple since Mavericks rode into town.  It's obvious to me the bad Apples with the code books don't know a thing about the consumer experience that funds their foolishly fat paychecks.

I want my good Apple back!!

I'm not sure how you're doing that exactly, but I can add keywords to any file and then search on those keywords in the finder. It finds all the tagged files. I can do it via the search box, I can do it via Smart Folders as well.

Similarly, I'm not sure why you have problems typing in your own tags and keywords, I can do that in the Get Info window. OS enhancements like Default Folder will allow you do that in the Save dialogue.

That said, if you're dealing with a lot of things like recipes then you might get benefit from some kind of basic database application, which will index not only tags but also contents of the files and so offer you much richer ways to categorise, organise and search. These can vary from the very powerful DevonThink range, to quite simple apps like EagleFiler or Things or Yojimbo. Even simple journaling apps like MacJournal, DayOne and so on would offer these facilities.

Now, if I bother at all, I save one copy of the recipe in chicken.  A second copy in cashews.  A third copy in India.  A fourth copy in vegetarian . . . . YUCK!!!

I'm not sure why you can't use Tags, but the copies are just silly. Make Aliases of the original and put the aliases in the additional folders. A hard link would be better, but it cannot be done in the GUI.

I can't use tags because Apple autofills them in and Apple can't spell.  I need to turn the autofill feature OFF so I can work the same efficient way I've worked for years.  Any idea how to turn off the utterly useless and totally aggravating tags autofill chaos?

I can't use tags because Apple autofills them in and Apple can't spell.  I need to turn the autofill feature OFF so I can work the same efficient way I've worked for years.  Any idea how to turn off the utterly useless and totally aggravating tags autofill chaos?

I want the easy, quick, efficient, accurate tags/keywords system that I've been using for years.  I'm pretty sick of Apple's dummying down of features that made it the best computer on the market.  Tags/keywords didn't need fixing.  Wish Apple hadn't tried.

Pretty sure than when Tags offer to autocomplete they’e offering existing tags that you (or someone else) added to the files. For instance, any files that you might download can come with tags attached that you are not aware of. Apart from colour names no tags come with the system.

You can, however, edit the list of tags quite easily.

In the Finder sidebar Show Tags, and then click on All Tags:

You may be surprised by what you see, for instance, I've never added these to any file, but they all lead to material I have downloaded:

The good news is that you can edit that list by right clicking on the tag, and the resulting menu will allow you to delete or rename the tag as you prefer.

I'm not sure how you might turn off an auto-complete, but this means that at least you'll be offered more accurate tags.

No, I am not being "offered more accurate tags."  That is the problem and the reason I want the auto-fill nightmare turned OFF.

I type faster than Apple auto-fills.  That makes every tag I try to type accurately a spelling battle -- me against a stupid robot.  And, yes, these bizarre tangles of useless letters are kept on file so they can come back to haunt me every time.  I am so not appreciative.

I know I can do all kinds of time-consuming, annoying things to correct every spelling fiasco Apple's auto-fill nightmare creates but I don't want to waste my time that way.  The keywords function worked flawlessly before Mavericks destroyed it.

I have only one question.  Nothing else matters.  Does anybody know how to turn OFF the auto-fill demand for tags/keywords when saving a file in any OS after Mavericks?

Thank you.

And people wonder why I am still using os 10.6.8.

Apple software is really starting to look like Microsoft.  And I mean that in the most derogatory manner possible.

They have forgotten the KISS principle.  Keep It Simple Stupid!

The more automatic crap they add the more difficult they make it as you try to bypass the automatic crap that never works correctly.

Apple software is becomming as bad as sutomatic toilets that don't flush properly and automatic faucets that are like a mystery game to turn on, or so sensitive they turn on when you walk past them.