Submit Hint Search The Forums LinksStatsPollsHeadlinesRSS
14,000 hints and counting!

Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited) Desktop
This is an update to two previous posts (1 and 2). Things have been changed a bit in Panther and I thought it warranted an update.

Constantly, I was changing desktop picture collections I keep on my computer that I compile from places like Pixelgirl Presents and Mandolux. I wanted to hack the collections that showed up in the list to the left hand side when in the Desktop PrefPane. This is how I did it.

Navigate to -> System -> Library -> PreferencePanes -> DesktopScreenEffectsPref.prefPane -> Contents -> Resources -> DesktopPictures.prefPane -> Contents -> Resources. Open Collections.plist in your favorite text editor (root privileges will be required). You'll see something that looks a lot like any other .plist file...
  <dict>
    <key>identifier</key>
    <string>nature</string>
    <key>path</key>
    <string>/Library/Desktop Pictures/Nature</string>
    <key>showScalingPopUp</key>
    <string>NO</string>
  </dict>
You can pretty much guess how to hack this. The identifier command (or is it class?) is used to name the collection. The path is literally the path of the folder (it can be placed anywhere). The showScalingPopUp enables you to stretch a picture to fit your desktop (among other things). My addition looked like this:
  <dict>
    <key>identifier</key>
    <string>Mandolux</string>
    <key>path</key>
    <string>~/Pictures/My Desktops/Mandolux</string>
    <key>showScalingPopUp</key>
    <string>YES</string>
  </dict>
It should be noted that the order in which you place the new entries is the same order in which they will appear in the PrefPane, so you can rearrange the collections if you like.
    •    
  • Currently 1.50 / 5
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  (2 votes cast)
 
[6,753 views]  

Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited) | 5 comments | Create New Account
Click here to return to the 'Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited)' hint
The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. This site is not responsible for what they say.
Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited)
Authored by: alextaylor on Aug 03, '04 03:40:26PM
I'm using 10.3.4 and my Collections.plist file looks nothing like your example. More like this:
(    
	{
        identifier = appleBackground;
        path = "/Library/Desktop Pictures";
        showScalingPopUp = NO;
    },
    
    {
        identifier = nature;
        path = "/Library/Desktop Pictures/Nature";
        showScalingPopUp = NO;
    },
    
    {
        identifier = abstract;
        path = "/Library/Desktop Pictures/Abstract";
        showScalingPopUp = NO;
    },
    
    {
        identifier = solidColors;
        path = "/Library/Desktop Pictures/Solid Colors";
        showScalingPopUp = NO;
    },

    {
        identifier = usersPictures;
        path = "~/Pictures";
        showScalingPopUp = YES;
    }
)
Making any changes causes most options to disappear in the Desktop Display Dialog. Also you will note that all but one
showScalingPopUp
is set to "NO" even though the popup option existes for each instance in the Desktop Display Dialog. What's up?

[ Reply to This | # ]
Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited)
Authored by: alextaylor on Aug 03, '04 05:26:30PM

I was wrong about the popup thing. I wasn't selecting a new image in the categories that have it turned off, just selecting the category itself. However the file Collections.plist file IS formated completely differently for me and doesn't take kindly to the edits suggested.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited)
Authored by: Fuzzle on Aug 03, '04 08:22:58PM

Or you could just drag those subfolders to the prefpane list and it adds them normally?

---
___
This space intentionally left blank.



[ Reply to This | # ]
Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited)
Authored by: Ganymede on Aug 05, '04 11:55:19PM

AlexTaylor,

What editor did you use on this file? The .plist file is in xml format, and the text you show is a reformat of standard xml. If you use the Apple's Property List Editor (in the Developer's tools, under Applications-> Utilities), you will get a graphical, expandable-&-collapsable rendering of each of the elements; click the "DUMP" button at top right of the window, and you'll see the XML code unadorned in the lower pane.

If you open the .plist in BBEdit, you'll see just the XML code as well. I imagine that whatever application you opened the file in, it undoubtedly offers the option (somewhere) to view the XML without reformating.

That said, I am curious about your statement, "Making any changes causes most options to disappear" - what options are you talking about? AFAICT, the only option available is the showScalingPopUp, and only on the userPictures and subsequently selected folders.

To Fuzzle: I beg your pardon? Are you able to drag and drop any pictures folders onto the prefpane list? Please share your method; the lack of that ability makes me relegate "Desktop Pictures" to the never-use category. I use SwitchPic by Joe Howard instead (homepage.mac.com/maceuph/apps/SwitchPic). He hasn't updated it in quite a while, and it could use some fresh paint, but it is still leaps ahead of Apple's fare.

Ganymede



[ Reply to This | # ]
Creating multiple desktop picture collections (revisited)
Authored by: Fuzzle on Aug 08, '04 09:49:10PM

When you say prefpane list do you mean the list of folders on the left hand side of the Desktop preference pane? That is followed by your pictures and albums from iPhoto? Because if that's the case, I most certainly can drag and drop folders there.

---
___
This space intentionally left blank.



[ Reply to This | # ]