XYplorer 26.00 has been released on 21-May-2024. Here’s a quick introduction to the main new features:

• Rapid Access Folders
• Preview with Rounded Corners
• Grayscale Preview
• Path Column Drop
• Quick Audio Preview
• Many Other Improvements

• Rapid Access Folders. Rapid Access Folders let you focus on the areas of your file system that are important to you by moving them to the top of the folder tree. With just a few drags and drops, you can see distant locations up close and side-by-side, and create your own customized folder tree with only the branches you need, in the order you want. Shorter paths, less scrolling, no more irrelevant information cluttering your view. Makes your daily file management a whole lot easier.

  You already know about the system-wide so-called special folders Desktop, Documents, Downloads, etc, which are just short versions of real paths, placed at the top of the folder tree for quick access. For example, Desktop usually points to "C:\Users\[username]\Desktop". Rapid Access Folders (RAF) work exactly the same way, only that you can decide which paths you want to have rapid access to. For example, you could have "Config" point to "C:\Users\Donald\AppData\Roaming\XYplorer". In this case, the RAF path for "C:\Users\Donald\AppData\Roaming\XYplorer\Scripts" would be "Config\Scripts".

  Once the Rapid Access Folders are set up, you can close the This PC node. You probably won't need it anymore for a while:

  

  The Rapid Access section with a few folders, peaceful and relaxing.

  Creating Rapid Access Folders

  First, make sure Rapid Access is visible in the folder tree by checking it in Configuration | General | Tree and List | Items in Tree and List | Select Items....

  If you are using Mini Tree, you can add the folder by going to %rapidaccess% via the address bar.

  There are several ways to create a Rapid Access Folder. Probably the most intuitive one is to drag a folder onto the Rapid Access node in the tree:

  

  Dragging a folder onto the Rapid Access node.

  The folder is automatically added to the bottom of the RAF section, and "Rock" can be used here and anywhere else in the application as a shorthand for "C:\Users\Donald\Pictures\Screen\Rock":

  

  Now "Rock" is a Rapid Access Folder.

  Inside the Rapid Access section you can dive down into subfolders just like normal:

  

  Going down.

  Other ways are pasting from the clipboard or using commands in the right-click menu of Rapid Access. See the Help for details.

  Removing Rapid Access Folders

  To remove a Rapid Access Folder, just select it and press DEL. Of course, this does not remove anything from the file system, it just removes the Rapid Access Mapping.

  

  About to remove three Rapid Access Folders.

  Managing Rapid Access Folders

  The right-click menu of the Rapid Access node offers a Manage Rapid Access Folders... command. Here you can fine-tune, rename, and rearrange your RAF.

  

  RAF Management.

  Further Remarks

  • Rapid Access Folders can point to local paths, network paths, paper folders, and virtual folders.
  • Rapid Access Folders support environment variables (e.g. %TEMP%) and XYplorer native variables (e.g. <xydata>).
  • The folders under the Rapid Access node are not sorted, so you have full control over their order (via menu Tools | List Management).
  • The Rapid Access Folders can be inline-renamed in Tree and List.
  • The Rapid Access Folders can be removed directly from Tree or List by pressing DEL. You can also remove them via their context menu or via Tools | List Management | Rapid Access Folders...
  • The number of Rapid Access Folders is not limited.
  • The toolbar offers a "Rapid Access" button. Clicking it takes you to "Rapid Access", the right-click menu has some useful stuff.
  • There is a scripting command raf() that lets you automate RAF management.

  What's in the Clipboard Now

  By the way, the Clipboard Items virtual folder (pointing to vi:<clipboard>) you see in the screenshots above, will list the items currently in the clipboard when selected. Actually, you don't have to select it, a Hover Box will do:

  

  What's in the clipboard now.

• Preview with Rounded Corners. Now you can add rounded corners to images previewed in the Hover Box for a little retro touch.

  Press U while the Hover Box is displayed to toggle sharp/rounded corners.

  

  Sharp.

  

  Round.

  If you haven't already done so, enable the Hover Box here: Configuration | Information | File Info Tips & Hover Box | Show Hover Box.

• Grayscale Preview. Now you can have a grayscale version of the images previewed in the Hover Box for an even more retro touch.

  Press G while the Hover Box is displayed to toggle colored/grayscale preview.

  

  Colored.

  

  Gray.

  If you haven't already done so, enable the Hover Box here: Configuration | Information | File Info Tips & Hover Box | Show Hover Box.

• Path Column Drop. Now you can drag and drop items directly into the subfolders listed in the Path column. Pretty cool.

  You have to do nothing. It just works. Oh, where do you have Path columns anyway? In recursive search results and in the Branch View (a view that shows all files in all subfolders in one list).

  

  Dropping onto the Path column in a Branch View.

• Quick Audio Preview. Now you can easily and intuitively change the playback position and volume using mouse gestures in the 2D plane. Probably the coolest audio preview on the market.

  First enable Quick Audio Preview here: Configuration | Preview | Mouse Down Blow Up | Mouse Down on Thumbnails and Icons | Audio preview. The rest is easy: Click and hold the left or right mouse button on the audio file icon to start the preview: Moving the mouse up/down changes the volume, moving the mouse left/right changes the position. Enjoy.

  

  Probably the coolest audio preview on the market.

• Many Other Improvements. See change log (about 1.5 MB).