Aliases! What they are and how to have fun with them?

Back when System 7 was introduced in 1991, one of its key
features were "aliases". It was a true innovation, but
under-utilized by many users. You can do so much thanks to
aliases, not only personalizing your Apple Menu, but a bunch of
other nifty cool tricks.


What is an "alias"?

Essentially a duplicate file icon that "points" to files,
folders, and disks. If you have an alias of e.g. Netscape on your
desktop, you can double-click it and the Mac will launch the app,
even if it is buried three levels deep in some folder. To create
an alias, simply use the File menu option "Make Alias".


Automatically launch apps when starting

Inside your System Folder is a folder called "Startup Items".
Place an alias of an app you'd like to start when your Mac
finishes booting. It will open automatically.


Auto-mount network devices

Make an alias of a shared folder from another Mac or a file
server after you mounted it. Double­-Clicking the alias will
automatically mount the server or folder in the future; if a
password is required, the AppleShare log-on dialog box will
appear. Very neat if you want to automatically mount e.g. a
shared folder when starting up your Mac. (see above)


Easy network setup

If you're running a home network and push files between your Macs
you can make your life easier by making an alias of the shared
drive and copy it to e.g. a floppy disk. Stick it into the other
Mac, double-click the alias, and you'll connect to your Mac's
hard disk.


Make your main folders appear in the dialog boxes of apps

Keeping a clean desktop without a lot of aliases or folders
cluttering it is a challenge. So how to keep them away from the
desktop while having them visible in an open or save dialog?
Create an alias of each file or folder you want to be listed in
your dialog boxes. Move the aliases to your desktop, and then use
Resedit (or something like DiskTop) to make them invisible. After
a restart, these folders no longer show up on the desktop but
they are listed and accessible from within the dialog boxes of
your apps when you select the desktop.


Load a control panel before an extension

There might be a time when you'd want a control panel to load
before an extension. Thanks to aliases, that's easy. Make an
alias of the control panel, leave the alias in the control panel
folder, then put the "real" control panel into your extensions
folder. This way you get to load the control panel before
everything else rather than having to wait for all the extensions
to finish loading first.


Cramming more aliases onto the desktop

You want all of them on your desktop? Well, you can at least save
some space by using ResEdit. Open the alias in it, copy the small
icon from the ics8, ics4, or ics# resource. Then paste this icon
in as the new icon in the alias's Get Info dialog box. Then give
it a short 3-4 letter name like "apps", "game", "inet" or
something.