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OS X has a system-wide Services menu available ... how often do you use something from it?
1/1: OS X has a system-wide Services menu available ... how often do you use something from it?
Other polls | 2,588 votes | 50 comments
Services menu
it's not that i don't like the Services menu, it's just that i have no use for it.
Services menu
Good point; I changed the "don't like" option to include "don't need" as well.
Infrequently
I do use the menu, but very infrequently. I think Services are a great idea, but there are not enough of them, and they're "too hard" to get at. If the Services menu were available from all contextual (right-click) menus, I'd probably make more use of it.
Services - menu vs. shortcuts
HotService 2.0 from DEVONtechnologies installs a second Services menu in the main menu bar. I think there's some hack that adds it to the contextual menu but I don't remember what it is.
I mostly (and frequently) use shortcuts for accessing items in the Services menu, reassigning them when necessary to avoid conflicts as I described yesterday in another comment. Command-( (Take Rich Note) is invaluable for capturing rich text snippets in DEVONthink. And I can't count how often I use command-F (Spotlight). I'm surprised at the high responses for Never in this poll. Many things I do would be crippled without Services (and are, in apps that don't provide/support them).
IceCoffee does the same thing but it uses APE
It's IceCoffee, but it uses APE. For now I have stayed away from applications that use APE.
IceCoffee does the same thing but it uses APE
no problems with APE, been using it since 10.2 for ClearDock, a necessity in my opinion.
Great Idea
I think your idea is very practical and a darn good one. To take things a step further I think only the services which apply should be visible. For example, if you select text, then you should not see any greyed out services only things that apply like adding the selected text into a new textedit doc. Or perhaps, if you place your cursor over an image let say in Safari, doing a "right click" ----> "services" should show services which only apply to images......I think more people would become aware of services and would therefore use them if your idea was implemented.
too hard
I've pretty much given up on Services after going several OSX releases with the menu broken in Carbon apps and without a GUI to edit them. The Carbon issue may be fixed now, but it's too little too late. Having to manually hack .plist files to disable useless and redundant items and to get a manageable list is just bad implementation. I'd much rather have 10 useful items then slog through 40-50 (really) submenus, and I hate having to clobber entries for programs I don't use like Mail, Safari, and Stickies after every OS update.
too hard?
Have you tried using Keyboard Shortcuts under System Preferences (indirectly referred to in my previous posting) and/or Service Manager instead of manually hacking .plist files?
too hard?
I don't find system-wide keyboard shortcuts to be efficient or safe for anything but the most basic universal operations (cut/copy/paste/open/close), and nothing in the Services menu qualifies as that necessary or frequent. Readily remembered and activated key combos should be reserved for application-specific functions, as that's where the work that pays the bills happens. As for Services Manager, it has access to only a small subset of available Services--not worth bothering with. It isn't capable of killing or modifying the most annoying/useless ones that Apple forces on us. ACP Web Services has a sort-of GUI control, but it cannot manipulate anything but its own items. Still, they're actually implementing some useful functions. Services in the contextual menu are a more sensible from the standpoint of having the GUI efficiently expose this functionality, but the menus are now one layer deeper and just as cluttered.
too hard
I agree whole-heartedly..
never available when i need them
I know this is due to carbon vs cocoa apps, but I find that the services options are never available when i need them...
Grab vs. shortcuts
Have you tried using the various screencapture shortcuts instead of Grab services?
never available when i need them
[i]I know this is due to carbon vs cocoa apps, but I find that the services options are never available when i need them... [/i]
screen captures
Don't bother trying to use Services for making screen captures, just use the keyboard shortcuts that'll work anywhere.
screen captures
That's not the point. I agree with the GP and GGP - I've never once seen a Services option NOT greyed out. I understand there might be a slightly better way to do it, but why bother having a "Grab" menu if it's never enabled? The whole "Services" thing is non-intuitive and extremely frustrating for users.
Should be called disservice instead of service
It is not clear how to use services most of the time. The menu items are gray out for most of them. This is a waste of time and more of a disservice than a service. The best services appear to be those with no sub menus. If they have have sub menus, they are harder to use.
Why those service items are disabled
Most of them operate on a string of selected text. Select any amount of text in a Cocoa app, then look at the Services menu again and you'll see a lot more of them enabled.
Actually, more like once or twice a month
...which wasn't an option. "Never" was closer that a couple times a week, though.
Actually never, takes too long to use them.
For me very little of those services are of actual use to me. Sadly they take WAY to much time to make use of them. Shortcuts cannot be used for most of them, they have a terrifying tendency to conflict with other items/apps so I end up having to use my trackpad. (I'm always on the go with my powerbook and a rodent just unnecessarily adds to my backpack weight.) I'll stick with anything I can access with some shortcuts but having to reach for the trackpad or mouse is a no-go for me.
Forgotten But Not Gone
I'd use the Services menu more if I remembered it was there.
Best. Service. Ever.
CalcService. I named it.
Get rid of calculators and lousy widgets !
Better than best.
well i think WordService is the best. doing all that caps conversions, or clean up text with hard line ends, or inserting time and date. available in several languages including czech.
indeed
DEVONtechnologies has the knack for producing a higher-than-average number of products that I've continued to use almost every day. No doubt they're one of my favorite Mac developers, for both professional and personal reasons.
indeed
Yeah, I use CalcService many times a day, and the items from WordService a lot too.
My problem with the services menu
My problems with the services menu are:
My problem with the services menu
The fact that it can't be managed is the deal-breaker for me. "Open in Real Player"? "Connect to Quake Server"? Seriously, how often am I going to need to select text and connect to a Quake server with it?
Needed few times a month option
Ok, so I voted in the "Never" category, but I actually use it a few times a month. However I'd second other sentiments here, there are too many items in it, and I can't easily change that.
control pane *does* exist :-)
try
I do love it, and it looks quite reasonable in what it does...
Cool when you need it
There's really only one service I use on any sort of a regular basis, but that one service so perfectly fills a need that I have to say I really like the services.
UnicodeChecker
That "relatively obscure app" is UnicodeChecker. :-)
Unicode info via Character Palette, built in
You can also select and drag any single character into the 'well' of the Character Palette, which will show it among others in a relevant set. Hold the mouse pointer over a highlighted character in the list to see its codes.
Have yet to find a use for it
Really, all that thing does is take up space. As I pull it down right now, there's not a single thing on it that's actually accessible -- all actual entries are grayed. Even stuff that might conceivably be useful, like Grab: Grayed.
I have, but infrequently...
For many of the Services to become available, you must first select something within the application you're using. For example, select some text and you'll be able to make a new sticky from it; create a TextEdit document with it; look it up in the dictionary; send it via e-mail; have the text spoken to you; summarize it; search for the string with Spotlight. Some of the services seem trivial perhaps, but they do function according to the context of your selection.
Tools for services
I am baffled by the responses to this poll. I find services to be one of the most useful features of OS X. While I agree that, by itself, Apple's implementation feels unfinished, frustrating, and disappointing (they are prone to this, are they not?), developers have provided all the tools necessary to realize their potential. These include Service Manager to prune the menu and assign shortcuts, (and perhaps KeyCue to refresh your memory from time to time), Quicksilver, which has a Service Menu Module, ICeCoffEE to make the Services menu a contextual menu item (I use an older version that does not rely on APE), and Hot Service to put a second Services menu in the top level of the menu bar. Finally, you can create your own services with Text Wielder.
Tools for services
I'm interested in the Services Manager you mention. I can't find it. Can you provide a URL?
Tools for services
The url is:
Services Manager
And/or submit feedback to Apple to bundle a services manager with OS X. But lately they seem more interested in wasting time on "frivolous" features like Dashboard. ;-)
Tools for services
I use Services quite frequently too -- especially when browsing macosxhints.com!
Tools for services
Thanks for reminding me to add some shortcuts for those Finder services. :-)
Finder service shorcuts
Foo, that won't work because the service names are too generic -- Open, Reveal, Show Info.
Bleah
NEVER.. Mine's so crowded with useless crap from various apps I've installed (I've done upgrade installs on my iBook since jaguar) that it's impossible to navigate and daunting to try and appreciate.
I use them daily
I used Service Manager to condense/contain the dreaded gray-out phenomena, and leave only the services I actually use and need (Calc Service, Word Service, Dictionary, Text Wrangler's New Window From Selection, and a few others)
need another poll option
how about "hardly ever - I rarely ever think to use it"
Useful for E-Mail
I never refer to the "Application Name > Services > " menu a lot other than sending E-Mails.
How to use Grab Service
As many people still have trouble with this one, here is a how-to use the Grab service:
How to use Grab Service
Oops, forgot to emphasise that it is the *second* point that is the most important - you have to be using an app that can accept images, and you have to have an insertion point for the grabbed image.
How to use Grab Service
Sorry to be dense, but nothing on the grab submenu is _ever_ available. How can I insert something if I haven't grabbed anything?
How to use Grab Service
They're active in TextEdit, like JKT's example describes.
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