EagleFiler: Productivity and File Management

C-Command, the makers of the excellent Spam filtering software, SpamSieve, have released an app called EagleFiler. This app seems to have existed under the radar for a little while now, but I thought it was time to give it a try. I’m now a die-hard user. Here’s why…

I had actually been trying to create a file organization system based around manual folder creation and the archive features of iGTD. It was working, but was not convenient enough to keep up with when things got hectic. I needed an “inbox” for my files. EagleFiler provides that and much more. EagleFiler stores your files as real files in a folder system, but with lots of metadata, including notes, titles and tags. Its interface allows for previews of many filetypes and can launch all of your favorite editors. But it can also handle email and web page archiving as well! You can use it to archive web receipts, important web pages, etc., with tags and important information. And here’s the best part for me: it works with iGTD. An F5 from EagleFiler will insert a link directly to the EagleFiler record as a task in iGTD, or a link directly to the file in the filesystem can be copied and pasted.

So how am I using it? It’s a lot like my task system. I now save all new files to my desktop, which functions as my inbox. When my desktop/inbox has a few items in it (or more than a few), I take a minute and import them into EagleFiler. A lot of them will go into existing folders, sometimes new folders. EagleFiler will copy the files into the correct directory structure, with integrity verification, and then I can delete the files on the desktop. The new files in EagleFiler are marked as “unread”. This allows me to quickly sort through what’s new and add tags for projects and individually important files. The tagging system allows for mass tagging of selection, which makes the job go quickly.

There are also other ways of adding to EagleFiler, including a hotkey and a floating drop pad. I began using it by importing my entire existing working directory and verifying that. Once I was sure that EagleFiler had done a great job of creating a new copy of my precious data, I used its export command to export the entire directory, with metadata, to an external hard drive. Then I just began working on it. If I’m editing a file that exists, I can do it right from EagleFiler. If I create a new file, it goes to the desktop for filing. EagleFiler doesn’t like surprise files showing up in its “database”.

EagleFiler also allows for multiple libraries for further organization. You can even have multiple libraries open at the same time, in separate windows. I’m finding EagleFiler to be the file organization system that I’ve needed to keep track of my work and client files. In combination with iGTD, it provides a fast, secure system for conveniently organizing my files and associating them with projects.