Is there a way to make a Finder alias to specific folders in Devonthink? I know how to easily save/push content into DT3 from the Finder.
I have a few buckets in DT3 where I put screenshots of “stuff,” one for physical objects, one for apps/site objects, and one for unprocessed advice/tips/information. I clear my inbox but have trouble remembering to check/look at these. My Finder habits are pretty ingrained, so I’m hoping to put DT3 “stuff” in places where I’ll encounter it in the Finder.
I even have a giant Sticky Notes reminder that opens on login but inevitably I’ve closed it when I would normally have time to look at it. Any adjacent advice welcome, too, because at this point I’m ready to just make a bunch of Devonthink.app aliases and Applescript them into my Finder folders!
DEVONthink doesn’t have folders unless you’re talking about indexed Finder folders. DEVONthink has Groups. The distinction matters because the actual folder structure under the hood is very different from the groups you see in the interface. You can’t browse the contents of a DEVONthink group in Finder.
If you want an “alias” in Finder, you can create a bookmark that uses the item link of a group as the URL. Opening the bookmark opens the group in DEVONthink. Since you can add files to Finder’s sidebar, you can even put the bookmark there if you want.
Find the group in DEVONthink.
Right-click and choose Copy Item Link
In the menu, chose Data > New > Bookmark…
Paste the item link into the URL field. Give the bookmark a custom name if you want.
Drag the bookmark from DEVONthink to a location in Finder.
With that said: What does processing these items mean for you?
Inside DEVONthink, you could:
Add the “buckets” you’re talking about to the Favorites section of the sidebar
Add reminders to the groups that periodically prompt you to go through them.
Use tags or labels for workflow status and periodically check “unprocessed” items.
Also, each item already has a default read/unread marker.
For things that don’t need manual review, you can automate a lot.
I put all “unprocessed” stuff in the inbox so I will “process” them at some point in the future. Sometimes the processing is as simple as moving the item somewhere else, but it is still useful that I give the item a second look and confirm it’s worth preserving.
Do you really need to look at them?
YES → Keep them in your Global Inbox or the inbox of a Screenshots database, so you will eventually check them out.
NO → Don’t bother to change your workflow. Organize things only when you need to.