Preferences

Clicking on the "Prefs…" button will bring up the options dialog shown below.  Default Folder's settings are grouped into several sections.  To move between these sections, use the pop-up menu at the top of the dialog.

File Dialog Menu

Put pop-up menu in file dialogs.  
Check this box to include the Default Folder pop-up menu in file dialogs.  The remaining options in this section pertain to various aspects of the pop-up menu.

Auto-remove deleted folders from menu.  
Before a file dialog comes up, Default Folder can check to see if all the folders in its menu still exist.  If any have been deleted, it removes them from the pop-up menu.  This is very friendly, but may be slower, especially on a network.  Unchecking this box will defeat this feature, making the file dialogs appear more rapidly.  You may, however, occasionally end up with nonexistent folders in the menu.  This does no harm, but will result in a warning message if you try to use the folder.

Include … recently used folders in menu.  
This option tracks folders as you use them and displays them as items in the pop-up folder menu.  This allows you to go back to a folder you recently used when saving or opening a file.  Clicking on the small arrows changes the number of folders that are shown in the menu.

Allow moving files to the Trash.  
When turned on, this feature adds a menu item to Default Folder's folder menu that moves the file or folder selected in the file dialog to the Trash.  If novice users or small children are using your Mac, you may want to keep this turned off.

Provide "Get Info" command.  
This option adds a menu to the folder menu that shows various information about the selected file or folder in a file dialog.  

Clicking the "Novice" button will let you view the file or folder's creation and modification dates, size, type, and creator.  It also allows you to edit the file name, which can be very handy if you accidentally hit a wrong key while typing a file name and don't realize it before clicking "OK."

"Expert" mode allows you to edit the characteristics of the file as well as view them.  Note that this can be dangerous -- use this feature with caution!  Changing a file's type, creator, or Finder information can render it un-openable or completely invisible!  More details about the meaning of the fields and Finder flags can be found in the "Advanced Topics" chapter of this document.

Allow link set switching from the menu.  
Checking this option gives you a pop-up menu in file dialogs that allows you to switch between Link Sets, lock new folders in the folder pop-up menu, and add or change the link for the current application.  Note that you can also delete folders from the locked list by holding down the option key when you select them.

Show available disk space in disk menu.  
This option displays the amount of space free on each disk in the disk menu.

Command Keys

This pane of the preferences dialog allows you to associate command key equivalents with the major functions in the pop-up menus.  Simply click in the box you want to change, then type the new key.

Note that Default Folder also provides keys for switching between the permanent and recently used folders in the folder menu:

Option-Left Arrow:
Go to the previous permanently locked folder.

Option-Right Arrow:
Switch to the next permanently locked folder.

Option-Up Arrow:
Move to the previous recently used folder.

Option-Down Arrow:
Switch to the next most recently used folder.

Use command key without pop-up menu.  
This feature allows you to use the command keys even when you've turned off Default Folder's pop-up menus (see the "File Dialog Menu" section, above).

General Settings

Show Default Folder cursor during disk access.  
Default Folder needs to access the disk each time you change settings in the control panel or when you use the "Remove deleted folders from menu" option.  Checking the "Show cursor" box will instruct Default Folder to display a cursor while it is doing disk access.  This feature is useful as a means of determining how much time Default Folder requires to accomplish these operations.

Rebound to last selected file.  
This turns on a feature that remembers the last file you selected in an application's file dialog box, and reselects it the next time you use a file dialog.

Turn off pretty icons in file dialogs.  
With the release of System Update 3.0 for System 7.1, and later in System 7.5, Apple began displaying the actual document icons in the file lists within Open and Save dialogs.  While this can give you a much faster visual cue about which files are which, it can slow down the display of the file list, especially across slower networks or when you're using Appletalk Remote Access (ARA).  Clicking this checkbox disables this feature.

When a file already exists, make "Replace" the default button instead of "Cancel".  
If you're trying to save a file and you give it the same name as a file that already exists, the system will ask if you want to replace the existing one.  When it asks, it puts up a dialog with "Cancel" as the default button (i.e. if you hit the return key, it will click "Cancel" for you).  This is certainly the safer option, but can get irritating when you need to do this over and over again.  Turning on this option makes the "Replace" button the default instead.

Folder Switching

Note:  The following settings are usually only useful when managing Macintoshes that are used by more than one person, such as those in classrooms or public computer clusters.  On a Macintosh dedicated to a single user, they will generally make life more difficult.

Switch to an application's default folder every time a file dialog is used.  
If checked, this feature forces Default Folder to switch to an application's default folder every time a file dialog comes up.  For Mac managers trying to keep users from saving files on a server or in application folders, this can be useful as an additional deterrent.

Switch to an application's default folder the first time after starting with a document.  
If checked, this feature forces Default Folder to switch to an application's default folder even when the application is launched by double-clicking on a document.  This feature is primarily useful to network administrators who use stationery documents as a means of letting users start applications.