257 - [Tr] Using Tags in OSX - Part 1 [PDF Trailer]

[Trailer for Members's Only Show] Another Mac only show this week, and some useful information to help improve your productivity and speed up your workflow.

Tagging has long been used to advantage in many applications and web services, as a way to organise and retrieve data effectively and efficiently. A tag is simply a keyword that you can assign to a piece of information or object. The beauty of using tags is the complete flexibility it offers. Assign multiple tags to an object and you have complete control on how you structure your data for future use.

Freed from the shackles of a fixed "folder" hierarchy, never again do you have to waste time pondering where to file a document in some convoluted directory structure. Just add the relevant tags to the file and let the speed and power of your Mac retrieve it for you instantly. Ever wanted to "file" a document in two places at once?

Well with tags, it's simply a matter of assigning multiple tags and the problem is solved.

Up until now, the only system wide option you had for tags was using keywords in the Spotlight comments field. It worked but was extremely limiting. There was no standards imposed and applications were not able to interact to share a common set of tags.

These limitations are now lifted by OpenMeta - an open sourced, simple, scalable metatdata system for OSX.

Rapidly becoming adopted as a standard method of handling and sharing tags system wide, many of the top Mac applications are now being updated to take advantage of the benefits of OpenMeta.

This week's show takes you through the basics of OpenMeta and introduces to the tools and techniques available to start organising your data properly. The show also introduces you to some applications now embracing OpenMeta, and gives you an insight of the potential power of this open source system. In detail, the show covers:

OpenMeta Introduction
How OpenMeta Works
Creating OpenMeta Tags
Using Tagit to assign Tags
Using Tagger to assign Tags
Using LaunchBar Instant Send
Tagging Other Objects
OpenMeta and MailTags
Adding Tags at File Creation with Default Folder X
Searching OpenMeta Tags with Launchbar