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FolderOrganizer - A Beginners Guide

Eris Ed

Android Expert
Jul 20, 2010
979
248
Manchester, UK
UPDATE 28 OCTOBER 2010: FolderOrganizer has recently been completely overhauled by the developer and has a new user interface (which I really like!). I'm working on an update to this guide but until then the screen shots below are out of date. However, the information and steps to perform actions are still practically the same.

FolderOrganizer is an app that lets you change icons for Apps, Bookmarks, Contacts and Shortcuts, and create custom folders containing anything you want. The next few posts are a guide to getting started with FolderOrganizer, based on what I've learned so far. It is by no means a complete user guide, but it will show you how to do the most common tasks.

Here's a link to the Developer's Website for FolderOrganizer. A link to this thread was kindly added to the site so I'm returning the favor ;)

FolderOrganiser App

There are two versions of FolderOrganizer on Android Market. The free 'Lite' version is the same as the full paid version, where the lite is supported by advertising. The full version only costs a couple of $ and it's well worth upgrading if you find it useful.

Download FolderOrganizer and open the app. Here's a brief description of what you see on the screen:

'Labels' tab

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You first see a default list of Labels. Labels can be assigned to anything on your phone, like a 'tag'. You can then use labels to create custom folders containing everything assigned to the Label. For example, you could create a Label called "Games" and assign all your game apps to the Games Label and add the Label to your Homescreen. Selecting it will open a folder containing shortcuts to all your games, instead of having a separate icon for each game filling your Homescreen.

'Apps' tab

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The Apps tab shows a list of all apps on your phone. From here, you can change the app icon, rename it, and assign it to a Label.

'Bookmarks' tab

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This is a list of Internet bookmarks saved using the default internet browser and you can assign a Label and change the icon from here.

'Contacts' tab

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This is a list of your phone contacts. The icon is set as the contact picture, and you can assign a Label from here.

'Shortcuts' tab

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You can create custom shortcuts from here. These can be internet bookmarks not included in your stock internet browser, Android system settings, Direct Dial or Direct Message a phone contact, plus many other things. Each Shortcut can be renamed, assigned to a Label and the icon can be changed.

So, that's a brief intruduction to the FolderOrganizer main screen. Now I'll explain how to do the most common tasks.
 
A Brief Guide To LABELS

Labels let you group together common items on your phone, or create custom folders that can be accessed using a single icon on your Homescreen. The best way to explain Labels is to show you an example of a Label I created for my maps and navigation apps.

(1) From the Labels tab, select Menu > New Label and enter the name "Maps". make sure "Manually choose items" is checked.

(2) Select the Apps tab. Scroll down the list and look for all your map apps. I selected Google Maps, Orange Maps, Navigation, Compass, Latitude, Google Sky Map and Footprints.

(3) Press the drop-down menu arrow at the right side of each map application and select 'Labels'. Select the "Maps" label too assign the app to the Maps Label. Do this for all applications that you want to assign to the Maps Label.

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(4) Exit FolderOrganizer.

(5) Now you need to add the Label shortcut to your Homescreen. Long press an empty space on any Homescreen and select Shortcuts > FolderOrganizer label. Scroll down the list and select the "Maps" Label. You now have a new icon on your Homescreen, and selecting it opens a folder containing links to all the apps assigned to the Maps Label.

There are a number of default Labels in FolderOrganiser. You can use these or create your own, it's up to you.

EDIT: good tip mentioned by snowmobile about FolderOrganizer widgets:

Long press on a space on your Homescreen and select Widgets > FolderOrganizer label > Label name. The widgets are available in different sizes and will display the Label/folder contents on your Homescreen. Tap the Settings icon in the top right corner of the widget to open the widget settings menu. From here you can remove the text, enable scrolling and a few other custom options.

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The image above shows the Maps Medium Widget (Add > Widgets > FolderOrganizer Medium Widget > Maps), with the short cut to the Maps Label with custom icon at the top of the screen (Add > Shortcut > FolderOrganizer Label > Maps). These are 2 of the ways you can access FolderOrganizer Labels.

To change the Label icon, find the Maps Label in the Labels list, select "Icon" from the drop-down menu at the right of the screen, and browse to the new icon you wish to use (see the next post for a more detailed guide)

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A Brief Guide To CHANGING ICONS

The Apps tab shows you a list of all applications installed on your phone. This is where you can edit the app names and icon, and assign each app to a Label. You make the changes be selecting the drop-down menu at the right side of each app. I will give you an example of how to change an icon for an app shown on the Apps tab, although the same procedure is followed to change icons for Labels, Bookmarks and Shortcuts.

For this example, I'll show you how to change the Icon for the Facebook app, but the procedure is the same for all other apps.

(1) Download some Icons from the Market. Search the Market for "Icons" and "Icon Packs", most are free and will install on your phone. Most Icon Packs will say you need Bettercut or Open Home to use them, ignore this - they work just fine with FolderOrganizer (and any other app that can change icons)

(2) Optional - Download some icons from the internet. The best way to get icons from the internet to your phone is using a PC and transferring them to your SD card by USB. To do this, create a new folder on your PC called "Icons" or whatever you want to call it. You can create a new folder with a different name for each set of icons you download, which makes them easier to find later. Connect your phone to your PC using the USB cable and select "Disk Drive". Open your SD card on your PC using Explorer and copy your Icons folder to the SD card (don't put it inside an existing folder on your SD card, just add it to the top level directory). When the copy is complete, unplug the USB cable and the phone will scan the SD card and find your new icons. (Note: an alternative method is to connect your phone to your PC as a Disk Drive before you start, create a new icons folder on your SD card and download the icons directly to your SD card - just select the icon folder on the SD card as the save location)

(3) Open FolderOrganizer and select the Apps tab, Scroll down the list and find the Facebook app.

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(4) Open the drop-down menu to the right of the app and select Icon from the list. The list that opens lets you choose where to look for the new icon:

"Default Icons" - the icons than come with Android
"Android Image Gallery" - opens image galleries you have created, camera phone albums, downloaded content, etc.
"AndExplorer" - Android explorer lets you look at icons supplied with other applications
"Icon Packs" - icons downloaded from the Market, grouped by pack name.

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(5) Select your new icon from an Icon Pack or Android Image Gallery. If you downloaded icons to your PC and copied the icon folder to your SD card, the folder will appear in the Image Gallery list.

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(6) This is where most people get confused. FolderOrganizer has created a copy of the original shortcut and you have changed the icon on this shortcut. You have not changed the original app icon. The Facebook icon on your Homescreen will not have changed yet. To change it, drag the exsitsing Facebook icon off your Homescreen, long press an empty space on the Homescreen and select Shortcuts > FolderOrganizer item > Apps > Facebook. Your new Icon will appear on your Homescreen, and selecting it will open Facebook exactly as the stock icon does.

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The same procedure is used to change icons for any item that appears in a list within FolderOrganizer. You can change icons as much as you like, and if you no longer want the custom icon you can add the original app to your Homescreen again instead of the FolderOrganizer item.
 
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DIRECT DIAL and DIRECT MESSAGE Shortcuts

You can use FolderOrganizer to create custom direct dial and direct message shortcuts on your Homescreen:

Open FolderOrganizer and then....

Shortcuts > Menu > New Shortcut > Direct Dial > [select contact] > [select number]

Then, you can add a custom icon or contact picture using the procedure further up this thread. You can also rename the shortcut, like "Call Bob" for example.

You do the same to create direct message shortcuts by choosing 'Direct Message' instead of 'Direct Dial' in the example above.

After you have created the shortcut, add them to your Homescreen:

Longpress empty space > Shortcuts > FolderOrganizer Item > Shortcuts > [shortcut name]


INTERNET BOOKMARK Shortcuts

You can use FolderOrganizer to create custom Bookmark shortcuts with your own label and icon. I'll give you 2 examples of how to do this using the stock browser and the Dolphin browser:

STOCK: Open FolderOrganizer > Shortuts tab > Menu > New Shortcut > Bookmark.

Select the bookmark that you have saved in the stock browser and it will appear in the Shortcuts tab in FolderOrganizer, where you can change the icon, label, etc.

DOLPHIN: Open FolderOrganizer > Shortuts tab > Menu > New Shortcut > Dolphin Bookmark.

Select the bookmark that you have saved in Dolphin and it will appear in the Shortcuts tab in FolderOrganizer, where you can change the icon, label, etc.
 
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Great post :)

I've been thinking for a while that something like this is needed as questions often come up. I did actually post something a while back (although nowehere near as comprehensive as this). Sod's law it was the day when the forums went down and a whole load of posts were never seen again :(

I'd like to make some suggestions for the 'Brief Guide To CHANGING ICONS':

(1) Note that many of the icon packs on the market will state that certain apps are needed in order to use them. This is not the case as they can and do work with FolderOrganizer.

(2) You don't have to put them on your PC first and then copy them to your phone. It works just as well if you have your phone connected as a disk drive to your PC and download the icons straight to your phone's sd card.

Some suggested websites for finding new icons include:
Browse icon sets | Search and download free icons
Browse Icon Packs - FindIcons.com
PNG Icons & Icon Packs Download | IconsPedia - Free Icons

(6) An alternative to adding as a Shortcut is to add as a Widget (i.e. select Widgets > FolderOrganizer item > Apps > ). This method has some advantages:
a. It gives you the option of removing the text from under the icon.
b. If you decide to change the icon again it will automatically update on your home screen without you having to remove and re-add it again.
c. There are some items (such as Messages) which do not seem to allow you to change the icon at all unless you use this method.
 
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oh nice post. thnxxx. i have been using apps organiser till now.
seems like this app does all the functions of 'apps organiser' as well as change icons n stuff too???

Apps Organizer and FolderOrganiser are from the same developer. The main difference is that Apps Organiser will let you customise icons and names on Apps and Labels, while FolderOrganiser will do this and also adds the ability to edit Contacts, Bookmarks and Shortcuts.
 
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Thnkxx. But am i missing something. How to customise icons and names of apps using 'apps organiser'. I could find option to change icon and names of labels.


apps organizer and folderorganiser are from the same developer. The main difference is that apps organiser will let you customise icons and names on apps and labels, while folderorganiser will do this and also adds the ability to edit contacts, bookmarks and shortcuts.
 
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Apps Organizer and FolderOrganiser are from the same developer. The main difference is that Apps Organiser will let you customise icons and names on Apps and Labels, while FolderOrganiser will do this and also adds the ability to edit Contacts, Bookmarks and Shortcuts.

Folder Organizer will also allow scrollable icons inside the widget which is missing in Apps Organizer ...
 
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Having a hard time finding icons for all the stuff I have, been downloading a bunch of open home icon packs

I find this a problem too. I find an icon pack I really like, and there's always a few important icons missing from the list of things I need! There's no real solution unfortunately, its a matter of looking around and trying to find a good match of icons you like.
 
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hi,
I could not find the apps 'camcorder' and 'camera' inside any of the labels in the app 'folder organiser'. or am i missing some area. plz advise. thanks
I had been using 'app organiser' but this one is much better. icons and names of individual apps can be changed in this which I wanted.
 
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hi,
I could not find the apps 'camcorder' and 'camera' inside any of the labels in the app 'folder organiser'. or am i missing some area. plz advise. thanks
I had been using 'app organiser' but this one is much better. icons and names of individual apps can be changed in this which I wanted.

The Camera and Camcorder apps are listed on the "Apps" tab.
 
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Is anyone else having an issue of an application widget showing as deleted after a re-boot? Been doing it for a while and its the same 2 or 3 everytime. I just need to go into FolderOrganizer and it re-analyzes all the apps and its there again but its one of them small things thats getting a little annoying now.

Might just re-install FolderOrganizer but that will be a last resort as will take me ages to set everything up again :(
 
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Yeah there's a few apps that don't show up in FO like youtube, camera, camcorder, settings, etc.

Really?? All my apps show up in on the Apps tab...FolderOrganiser is like an overlay that lets you put a custom 'cover' on all your phone features, there shouldn't be anything missing :thinking:

I thought I had this problem using LauncherPro until I realised that the missing apps and widgets were part of the HTC Sense UI, which is deactivated when you turn on the LauncherPro UI.
 
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