Thread: Benubird PDF

Benubird is a document management program that helps users store and manage all sons of documents in an effective manner from a centralised interface. The application allows you to slice and dice documents using several options such as filters, tags, meta data search etc. so that no document is more that a couple of clicks away. A great organisation tool, Benubird can find uses in both an office and home environment. Anyone who has to organise, categorise and manage documents will appreciate the features it has 10 offer. It uses the Microsoft Fluent interface which allows for greater ease of use and an intuitive layoul. Like many media management applications out there, an application help manage documents is a great idea.


Adding files

You can either add single files entire folders to Benubird. To add files simply click onHome > From File. But it's always better to add more than one file. So, to add entire folders to the document manager click on Home> From Folder. This will import files into the application. These file may range from several document formats to presentations, spreadsheets to even videos and images. You can specify the path of the folder and even which types of files you want the application to pick up. Select a collection to add the files to and click OK All files from the specified folder will be added to the Benubird library. In this process, the program actually copies files to the default location c: \Users \username \ AppData \ Roaming \Benubird\Library.


Changing library location

To change the default location of file library or workspace location click on the Benubird Button at the top left corner of the screen. Click on the options button and go to the File Library tab. Here you can specify an alternate location. The workspace is the location where files are temporarily stored when opened from Benubird for editing.


Filter files

You can find files quickly by filtering files as per parameters such as Author,Subject, Category, File type, Date added and more. To filter files check the Navigator button under Show/Hide panel of the Home menu ribbon. In the navigator that will appear in the main screen area you can select one or more properties and the file list below will reflect the files that fit the criteria instantly. On the left pane you will find a single criteria (file type) filter. Browsing files this way is definitely quicker than going through folders in windows explorer.

Use tags for quick retrieval by multiple parameters

To be able to use tags to find files you will first have to tag files. Simply select a file or group of files, right click and move the mouse over Add Tag in the right click context menu. Here you will find twenty or so predefined tags. Tags can be applied even while importing files in bulk. Remember multiple tags can be applied to each file. For example a file can be tagged both 'personal' as well as 'career'. To filter files using tags click on Tabs in the Show/Hide menu of the ribbon. The tags will be displayed in the left column. Click on any of them and the file list will automatically change to show those files. Hold down CRTL and select multiple tags. Click on the radio button below to show files that match any/all of the tabs selected.


Define more tags

Benubird by default has a set of predefined Tags. But at many times the need to create your own tags may arise. To define more tags click on the Library Tags button in the Ribbon. Click Add for adding a single tag to the list or click Add Multiple for adding more than one tag. For multiple tags, define each tag on a separate line and click OK.


Batch process metadata to files

Many times we find that the metadata attached to files such as Title, Author Name, Subject, Category etc. is incomplete. Benubird helps you add this missing data easily and in bulk. This can be done in two ways. The first way is to add meta data to files while importing them into Benubird. To do this simply follow the normal adding procedure and click on the properties button in the Add folder dialog box. Give relevant details and click OK to import. The other way is to select a bunch of files withing Benubird and click on properties.

Zip entire collections

Collections are essentially virtual folders. So if you've added a bunch of files to say a collection called "holidays'" comprising files such as documents (travelogues) and pIctures of all your holidays, you can export them to a zip file. This will help you easily distribute it amongst friends and family. To add collections to a zip archive, right-dick and then go to Export To > Zip Archive. In the dropdown menu you can choose which type of files you want included in the ZIP archive such as only DOC or x|s ete. If you want to encrypt the package with a password, simply check the appropriate box and set a password.


Make a Smart Collection

This is one of the best features of this nifty management tool. Sadly enough it is only available in the Pro version of the software (which is yet to be released). Smart Collections provides a way to create a rule-based method of automatically creating and updating collections. To create a Smart Collection, select the Smart Collections button from the Create panel, which will open the Smart Collections dialog, where you can specify your rules. For example you could give a rule in such a way that Author IS "Digit Team" AND Subject CONTAINS "July Issue" AND File Type is ".doc". Yet the same functionality can be achieved by using the Navigator. Once the files are filtered according to parameters just select all and add to a new collection.


create watched folders

A watched folder is a folder that' a user can specify from where files will automatically be added to the Benubird Library. You can even specify the frequency with which these watched folders will be scanned for new files. The program will add a new process to tasks which will run in the background. As with a regular import you can even specify meta data properties to be added, such as author, subject etc. as well as specify which file types to add and which collection to append files to. To create a watched folder click on the Watched Folders button in the Manage panel of the Ribbon.

Exporting file or collections to folder

Exporting to a folder is essentially like exporting to a zip file. This function comes in handy when you wish to filter out certain file types into folders for sorting. To
do this right click on a file or collection and go to Export To>Folder. Next be sure to select type from drop down menu. Specify output location and click OK.


Adding incomplete properties

It is best to add incomplete properties to files right at the time of importing them into benubird. This way you have better efficiency in filtering and searching for files when you need them. Benubird adds all such files with incomplete properties to the Incomplete Properties smart collection. You can enter properties for each file or select a bunch of files and right click and click on properties. A smart way to add incomplete properties is to let the application automatically generate the required fields. To generate tags and the subject field based on certain parameters go to Benubird Button> Benubird Options>Import. Check the boxes for Automatically generating Tags based on folder hierarchy and generating subject based on containing folder name. This should work because most often we tend to name folders based on these two parameters.

Set keyboard shortcuts

Benubird uses the Fluent interface which allows the added functionality of being able to use keyboard shortcuts. Hovering over any button in the interface will show you the keyboard shortcut for that command. For instance the shortcut for importing files from a folder is [CTRL + L] and attaching files to mails is (CTRL + M). To change these default shortcuts click on the dropdown button next to the Quick Access Toolbar. Click on More Commands>Keyboard Shortcuts Customise. Select various categories of commands and hit the keyboard for new shortcuts. There is a button to reset all if you wish to revert to defaults.

Add buttons to the Quick Access Bar

Adding buttons to the Quick Access Toolbar helps in navigating around in Benubird. To do this click on the dropdown button next to the Quick Access Toolbar>More Commands. Select the required commands and click on the add button to move then to the right column. This will add the buttons to the toolbar. Be sure to add the Benubird Options button since it will be used quite frequently. Alternatively, right clicking on any button in Benubird will bring up the option of adding that command to the toolbar.

Change required properties

You can change which file properties are needed for a file to appear in the incomplete properties collection. To do this in the right panel when any file is selected. But by default this option is not turned on. To turn it check the Preview button in the Quick Access Toolbar. Alternatively you can even hit the keyboard shortcut [ALT + 4].

Change interface colour

Fluent provides for a standard blue colour which frankly can get quite boring in the
long term. To tinker around with the interface colour click on Benubird Button > Benubird Options > Interface. Here you will find three options in the dropdown menu - Blue (default), Black and Silver. Hopefully more options will be added in further updates to the software.