Apr 27 2009
Teaching SlashDock 2.0 to pick up MacMerc.com headlines
By: Rick Yaeger
The release of Mac OS X brought many changes not the least of which was the Dock. The Dock was designed to help users navigate and organize their system, and give instant access to your most frequently used applications, folders, and minimized windows but it was also given the option for a new type of expandability ó the dockling.
This is where SlashDock comes in… err… well… it used to. You see, back in version 1.0, SlashDock was a dockling but in version 2.0 the developer saw fit to make it a stand alone application. Many devoted SlashDock users are already grieving this decision and I doubt that it will be long before we see SlashDock waddling its butt back into dockling status.
For those of you who haven’t used SlashDock before, it is a free Mac-OS-X-only application that grabs headlines from slashdot-compatible and RSS-compatible sites like MacMerc.com. In version 2.0 you are able to specify how often automatic updates are made and how SlashDock behaves when new headlines are found. To check on the headlines and read articles, simply click on SlashDock in you dock and choose your favorite site from the menu and then pick a headline. Selecting that headline will take you directly to that article in your preferred web browser. Very cool but MacMerc.com is not one of the default sites SlashDock checks. Don’t worry, we’re gonna fix that.
Setting SlashDock to read MacMerc.com
Assuming you have installed and launched SlashDock as described on the developer’s site, select Preferences… under the SlashDock menu. With the Sites tab selected, enter http://www.macmerc.com/backend.php in the field marked URL and click the + button. SlashDock will now automatically grab all of MacMerc.com’s information and add it to your “subscription list.” You will probably want to click on MacMerc.com in the list and drag it to the top where it belongs ó I’ll leave that up to you.
Making SlashDock Launch at Startup
One of the problems with SlashDock no longer being a dockling is that you have to go track it down and launch it if you haven’t got your System Preferences set to do it automatically. That is easy enough to fix.
Select your Apple Menu and choose System Preferences…. From your System Preferences window, click on Login and click the Login Items tab. If you click the Add… button and navigate your way to the SlashDock application and click Open, you will have SlashDock launching and grabbing the latest MacMerc.com headlines at every startup. Life is good.
As a break from all the CES iPod gadgetry overload you may be feeling, I thought I’d post a few simple apps that might brighten your day.