Walkthrough: Creating Your First Dock

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When you start LaunchBar Commander for the first time, it may start out completely empty, with no docks defined.

 

You can create almost everything by right clicking in the node tree window on the left hand side of the configuration window.

 

You will start out with a blank new unnamed file. All dock configurations will be stored in this file.  You can have multiple docks in one file, and even multiple files open and running at the same time(!).

 

Ok, let's add your first dock:

 

·Select the file node and either right click and add a new child node of the Dock type, or choose Add Node -> Child Dock from menu, or the add child node button from toolbar.  This will create a new unnamed, empty dock.
·There is no icon yet for the dock, let's pick one.  Click the first folder button next to the icon line and choose a fun icon.
·Give the dock a nicer name, like "My Dock"
·We'll leave the other options at their defaults for now.

 

Now you have a dock, but there's nothing on it yet.  Let's start by adding a button that acts as virtual copy of your Start Menu:

 

·Select the new Dock node, and add a Child Folder node.
·Give it a nice name like "My Start Menu"
·Choose a nice icon for it as we did before.
·Go to the "Root Folder to Display" field and select "AllStartMenu" (make sure not to choose "AllStartupMenu", that's different).
·Click the "Save Changes" button to save your changes.

 

Now hit the save button to save your new configuration file.  You'll be asked to name the file since this is a new file.

 

Ok now close the configuration display by hitting the close button at the top right.  Only then will the launchbar be created.

 

Your first dock will start out as a free floating box probably of the wrong size.  Don't panic!

 

Just resize the window to best display your buttons, and then drag the window titlebar to one side of your monitor to dock it. Right-click on the dock to un-dock it.  Or chose to minimize it to tray.  You can reconfigure it at any time by choosing "Preferences" from a right click in the dock (or clicking in empty area).

 

Remember that you can go back at any time to the configuration display to reorganize your entries, and change how the toolbar is displayed.  You may use multiple columns of tiny icons, or use large icons with full text labels.