Question related to nested folders

[Jeff]

F-Stop 4.1.0
LG G4 – Android 5.1

I’ve just started using F-Stop Pro and have a few question regarding Nested Folders.

1: In the Folders view I can select a given picture and then “Set as folder thumbnail” to associate it with the folder. However, in the Nested Folders view I cannot do this. If a nested folder is empty or only contains other folders, it shows the folder icon, while if it contains some photos, a random thumbnail is shown as the icon. I would like to be able to add thumbnails for all of the folder icons all the way back up to the top of the tree.

2: Is there any way to change the displayed names of the Folders in F-Stop without changing the actual folder (directory) names in the OS? I would like to be able to rearrange the folders and give some of them more unique names (e.g., Camera, Pictures, etc.) but I cannot find a rename option and the sort function appears only to work on image files, not on the folder names. As an example, at my top folder level, I have:

Camera
external_SD
Pictures

I would like a different ordering (external_SD first) and to give more appropriate names to these
entries so that there is no confusion with the, for example, Pictures folder on the external_SD. This ability to reorder and rename becomes much more important with all of my folders under external_SD.

3: I assume that if I select (long press) a particular nested folder and select delete, this will only delete the folder from F-Stop and not actually delete it from the OS. Is that correct? Does it add the folder to the Excluded folders list?

Thanks.

[Jason Seelye]

1) Folder thumbnails are created from images that are in that folder – not in subfolders. We have discussed improving this because it can be confusing.

2) There isn’t a way to change the folder names. Folders in F-Stop are actual file system folders on your device and F-Stop does not currently support renaming folders (it is planned).

3) No. Deleting a folder deletes all media in that folder from the disk. F-Stop will not delete the folder if it isn’t empty after it deletes media it recognizes in order to avoid deleting other files you may want. There is an option to exclude the folder which does add that folder to the excluded list. If you just don’t want to see the folder in F-Stop, that is the best method.

Regards,
Jason Seelye

[Jeff]

Jason:

Thanks for the feedback. Here are some follow-up comments for future consideration.

Re 1: It would be great to be able to add images to the nested folders in the future. Being able to navigate visually is a big plus for me. However, the real reason that i wanted to use nested folders was so that my hierarchy of picture folders could be preserved instead of presenting them as one long list as is done in the Folder view. Albums are a great way of organizing pictures, but I already have my photos organized into various folders as I like them. If I could create “Folder Albums” where I could add an entire Folder to an album, retaining the folder structure and its sub-contents, then I could get the results I want, but this is pretty much duplicating the function of nested folders, so adding picture icons there would probably be the more logical thing to do.

Re 2: Folder aliases would be similar to symbolic links in UNIX. While this would be nice, I don’t think it is critical. My real problem is with folder sorting. If you could allow for a “Custom” sorting that allowed the user to manually rearrange the order as they saw fit, that would be great.

Re 3: OK concerning actual delete. I ran some tests and wile File Manager is able to create and delete files and folders, F-Stop is unable to do so on the external card (it does work on the internal storage). It asks to give some sort of permission by selecting from the drawer on the left, however there is no content listed for the SD Card. There is a mention that the card needs a “Label”. I’m a UNIX guy and maybe this is a Windows concept. Can you explain what this is and how to go about providing one for the card? Would this resolve the problem of reading and writing?

Regards,
—
Jeff

[Jason Seelye]

Re Re 1: Yes, I see your point with nested folders. I agree this needs to be improved.

Re Re 2: We will look into custom sorting of folders. Do Quick Links get you any closer to your goal?

Re Re 3: So, the issue with not seeing the sd card can be resolved by tapping “Show SD card” from the 3-dot menu. Then select the SD card name and tap “Select”. You can then read and write to the sd card.

[kirk]

Hi! In my case, I would like to have the option that folders never have thumbnails, they always have only the folder icon. This way, I can more easily tell which items are folders, and which items are photos. Thanks!!

[Author]

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