Using the Desktop Client Shortcut Bar

The Aptify Desktop client Shortcut Bar displays shortcut links to items in your profile (that are accessible from the Navigation Bar or Folder List). It also may contain shortcut groups, which let you organize the shortcuts into categories. The Shortcut Bar is the gray area on the left side of the Desktop client.

Shortcuts in the Shortcut Bar link to items in your profile. If you delete or unsubscribe to an item, any corresponding shortcuts will no longer function properly. Instead, a message appears stating that the shortcut's target does not exist.

This topic contains the following sub-topics that describe how to work with shortcuts:

• Adding Shortcuts to the Shortcut Bar
• About the Shortcut Types
• Creating Shortcut Groups
• Organizing Shortcuts and Shortcuts Groups
• Deleting Shortcuts and Shortcut Groups
• Changing Shortcut Icon Size
• Showing and Hiding the Shortcut Bar

Adding Shortcuts to the Shortcut Bar

A shortcut lets you open frequently accessed locations within Aptify, including views, folders, services, and applications, with a single mouse click. Regardless of the item that is open in the Display Window, clicking one of the shortcuts opens the specified location and displays its corresponding details in the Display Window.

Follow these steps to add a shortcut to the Shortcut Bar:

1. Select the group in the Shortcut Bar area to which you want to add the shortcut (if applicable).
2. Add the item as a shortcut using one of the following methods:
   • Add a view as a shortcut by right clicking a view in the Navigation Bar and selecting Add to Shortcut Bar from the pop-up menu.
   • Right-click the Group heading in the Shortcut Bar and select Add Item from the pop-up menu. This opens a Find Items dialog so you can identify a view that you want to add to the Service. See the Using the Find Dialog for information on how to use the Find Items dialog. Note that the Find dialog automatically filters the results so that it displays only the views that appear in the current user's profile.
   • Select any item from the Folder List and drag it to the Shortcut Bar. You may need to add the Folder List to your desktop first.
     • Note that views cannot be dropped from the Navigation Bar.
       
       
   • Right-click on a view in the Folder List and select Add to Shortcut Bar from the pop-up menu.
     

The item's name appears below its shortcut icon in the Shortcut Bar. Note that if you remove an item from your profile that has an associated shortcut link, an error message will display when you click on that link in the Shortcut Bar. The error indicates that the Shortcut Target does not exist and is no longer available.

About the Shortcut Types

To display an item which has been added to the Aptify Desktop client shortcut bar, click the item's shortcut icon. The item becomes selected in the Navigation Bar (and Folder List) and its corresponding details appear in the Display Window, as described below:

• Home: Clicking a shortcut to this location opens the main dashboard in the Display Window. This is the same as clicking the Home tab in the Aptify ribbon.
• Application: Clicking an application shortcut opens that application's dashboard in the Display Window. See Using the Desktop Client Display Window for more information. This is the same as clicking an Application's tab in the Aptify ribbon.
• Service: Clicking a service shortcut opens the selected service's information window. See Viewing Service and View Information for more information.
• Folder: Clicking a folder shortcut opens the selected folder's information screen in the Display Window (this screen displays the list of views and sub-folders stored in the folder).
• View: Clicking a view shortcut opens the selected view in the Display Window.

Creating Shortcut Groups

To further facilitate easy access to views, you can categorize shortcuts into groups on the Shortcut Bar. Aptify provides a General group by default. You can add shortcuts to the General group or to custom groups that you create yourself. The Meeting Shortcuts group, shown in the figure below is an example of a custom group.

Follow these steps to create a custom Shortcut Group in the Aptify Desktop client:

1. Right-click in the Shortcut Bar and select Add Group from the pop-up menu.
   
2. Enter a name for the new group in the Create Group dialog.
3. Click OK. A heading for the new group appears at the bottom of the Shortcut Bar.
4. Click the new Shortcut Group's heading. The new Group's heading moves to the top of the Shortcut Bar.

To open any group on the Shortcut Bar, click the appropriate heading; this displays all of the shortcuts contained in that group. 

Organizing Shortcuts and Shortcuts Groups

To quickly and easily access the Aptify Desktop client Shortcut Bar items that you use most frequently, you can organize your shortcut and Shortcut Groups in an order that best fits your needs.

You can move a shortcut to another location within the same Shortcut Group or to another Shortcut group by selecting the item you wish to move and dragging it to the new Shortcut Bar location, as shown in the below figure where the Find Person By Name shortcut is moved from the General group to the Most Used Views group.

You can also change the order in which the Shortcut Groups appear in the Shortcut Bar by selecting the Shortcut group you wish to move and dragging it to a new location as shown in the figure below, where the Most Used Views group is moved to above the General group. 

Deleting Shortcuts and Shortcut Groups

To delete a shortcut from the Aptify Desktop client Shortcut Bar, right-click the shortcut and select Remove Item from the pop-up menu. When prompted, click OK to confirm the deletion.

To delete a Shortcut Group, perform the following steps in the Aptify Desktop client:

1. Click the appropriate Group heading so that the group appears at the top of the Shortcut Bar.
2. Right-click within the Group heading and select Remove Group from the pop-up menu. 
3. When prompted, click OK to confirm the deletion. Note that this action also deletes all of the shortcuts contained in the group.
    

A user cannot delete the General shortcut group that appears by default in each user's Shortcut Bar. However, you can add and remove shortcut items from this group as needed. 

Changing Shortcut Icon Size

By default, the Aptify Desktop client Shortcut Bar uses large icons to identify shortcuts. However, if you have a large number of shortcuts in a group, you may want to use smaller icons so more shortcuts fit in available space. You can also configure the shortcuts to include or hide the corresponding text description.

Follow these steps to switch to the smaller icons with text descriptions for a particular group:

1. Click the appropriate Group heading to open the group whose icons you want to change.
2. Right-click within the Group heading and select Small images with text from the menu.
   
   • This removes the check mark from the pop-up menu and changes the icon size.
     
3. Repeat the steps above to switch back to the large icons. Note that your icon selection only applies to the shortcuts in the specified group. 

Showing and Hiding the Shortcut Bar

When a new user launches the Aptify Desktop client, the Shortcut Bar is shown by default, and it is always visible on the Aptify Desktop. A user can change the location and/or position of the Shortcut Bar as desired.

The following sections describe how to show and hide the Shortcut Bar:

• Hiding the Shortcut Bar
• Showing the Shortcut Bar
• Automatically Hiding the Shortcut Bar
• Changing the Location of the Shortcut Bar

Hiding the Shortcut Bar

To hide the Shortcut Bar so that it does not appear on the Desktop client, select the Aptify Button > Shortcuts menu item. 

Showing the Shortcut Bar

If the Shortcut Bar is currently hidden, select the Aptify Button > Shortcuts menu item to add it back to the Desktop client.

Automatically Hiding the Shortcut Bar

By default, the Shortcut Bar is always visible on the Aptify Desktop c;oemt. However, you can enable the auto hide feature to hide it when not in use.

To enable auto hide, click the pin icon in the Shortcut Bar's caption area. To disable the autohide functionality, click the pin icon again, and the Folder List will remain on the desktop. Alternatively, you can toggle the Auto Hide option that appears in the pop-up menu when you right-click within the Shortcuts heading.

When auto hide is enabled, the Shortcut Bar collapses to the left-side of the window when not in use. To expand the Shortcut Bar, hold your cursor over the Shortcuts heading. To collapse it again, hold your cursor over another section of the Aptify Desktop client (for example, hold the cursor over or click within the main Display Window).

Changing the Location of the Shortcut Bar

When Auto Hide is disabled, you can drag the Shortcut Bar to a new location on the Desktop client, as desired.

Follow these steps:

1. Click and hold your mouse cursor in the Shortcut Bar's caption area.
2. While holding down the mouse button, drag the Shortcut Bar to a new location.
   • The Shortcut Bar appears as a gray outline when moving it to a new location.
     

 
You can move the Shortcut Bar to a new location on the Desktop client (such as across the top, similar to what is shown for the Folder List in the example. You can have it float in its own window outside of the Aptify Desktop (similar to what is shown for the Folder List), or you can add it to same area as the Folder List.

You can return a floating Shortcut Bar to its previous location on the Aptify Desktop client by double-clicking within the Shortcuts heading or by toggling the Floating option that appears in the pop-up menu when you right-click within the Shortcuts heading.