How do you organize your CC?

[dnilecosplayer]

I was wondering if anyone has a good way of organizing all the crap in their downloads folder. Or if someone knows of a program that will somewhat sort it for you. (Like all clothes, hacks, ect. in separate folders). I personally try to keep it to something short of downloads/-insert date I put in downloads folders-/clothes (or name of site)/ (then clothes). I thought that was a good way just in case I put something in there that almost implodes my game. I could just do it day by day instead of 50%, 50%, 50% ect.... But I'm also a very unorganized person so somethings end up in the wrong folder....

So what do you do?

[jolrei]

Haven't we played this game already a while ago?

I just have separate folders for hacks, hair, clothes, meshes, and objects.  Nothing remarkably special.  I use Wardrobe Wrangler to sort/delete clothing and meshes I don't want anymore and keep things tidy.  Actually, I rarely use the Wrangler at all to keep anything tidy unless there is a glaring problem that I can no longer ignore.  My laziness; let me show you it.

[keirra]

I have main folders like Bodyshop, Game objects, Build Items, Hacks, etc., inside those folders I have subfolders. Clothing, Defaults, LivingRoom, etc.. Inside those folders there are more folders. Everything is broken down. I have pictures of everything inside the folders.

I'm really anal about my downloads folder. It makes it very easy to delete the stuff I don't want when I get sick of it.

[Blech]

After my total meltdown a couple of weeks ago, due to my former system of just dumping crap in my downloads folder as I found it, I adopted a new system that is working out quite well. I deleted the entire folder and then went in and made sub-folders that match the catalog in-game. So, it goes "Buy Mode", "Comfort", then subfolders "Dining Chairs", "Recliners", etc. Each sub-folder under Buy Mode has another sub-folder which is only for Maxis recolors. I have a separate folder for all hacks, with subfolders for what kind of hack and then more subfolders for who made it or what site it came from. I also have a folder called "CAS" with subfolders for Hair, Clothing, Skintones, etc, separated by more subfolders for gender, and for clothing, by which category it shows up under. To counteract my laziness (which I am working on, I promise!) and to save myself another meltdown, there is a main folder called "New Stuff Here, Tard", where I put freshly downloaded CC until I can test it in game and categorize it. So far, I've been doing pretty well at keeping that one up to date.

I actually only found this site because in the midst of my meltdown, as I was futilely trying to track down and identify all 5000 files in my folder, one by one, a Google search for a filename led me here. I don't remember what it was or if I even found it, because that was the same day I gave up in a fit of rage. Funny story, the CC that caused all this was a very, very ugly hairstyle that had taken over all my hoods, almost all new townies were spawning with it, male and female, although it was obviously supposed to be for females. After my Reformation, I actually downloaded it again. At least this time I found it right away, and got rid of it, without losing everything else too.

[JennyJenny]

For those that sub-folder the heck out their downloads (by this I mean separate folders for different types of seating, separate folders for clothing genders and categories, etc.) when do you do this? As you download the items, or later on?

Related question: Does anyone extract from the .zip or .rar into the appropriate folder? Does this make it easier to stay uber-organised?

Right now I have folders for the major categories (clothes, genetics, haxx, objects, etc.) then within these I either have them separated by creator (If I have a substantial amount by a specific person) or if they are a creator I am not familiar with it goes in the appropriate category then into a catch-all called "It Could Be Crap"; if I find I like it, it goes into "It Wasn't Crap!". 3rd party recolors of a creation go into the main folder with the object it recolored. So far (for the past year or so) this has served me fairly well. My biggest pet peeve is when I download a lot that comes with a bunch of CC, because it initially gets dumped into the Downloads folder with few clues as to what the .package file is, and therefore where it should go.

(PS- I used a semi-colon in this post, did I do it correctly?)

[keirra]

For those that sub-folder the heck out their downloads (by this I mean separate folders for different types of seating, separate folders for clothing genders and categories, etc.) when do you do this? As you download the items, or later on?

Related question: Does anyone extract from the .zip or .rar into the appropriate folder? Does this make it easier to stay uber-organised?

Yes, and yes.

I have 1815 files in 262 folders. When I download something I make a folder just for it and put that folder inside the appropriate folder. I got tired of having orphaned meshes in my game.

[Blech]

For those that sub-folder the heck out their downloads (by this I mean separate folders for different types of seating, separate folders for clothing genders and categories, etc.) when do you do this? As you download the items, or later on?

Related question: Does anyone extract from the .zip or .rar into the appropriate folder? Does this make it easier to stay uber-organised?

I made all of my sub-folders immediately, before I started re-downloading. For the second question, I have a folder on my desktop that I extract files to, from there they go to "New Crap Here", or if it is something by someone very, very trusted (like Nouk for hair, any hacks from here) it goes directly to it's proper place. For example, I have a sub-folder called "More Awesome", and anything I get from here goes directly into that.

[fff]

My way of sorting is to open the 'Downloads' folder and chuck everything in there. That's it. I don't have enough time to play as it is, let alone fuck around with mutiple folders. One day it will probably all blow up in my face, but eh, that's life on the edge for you.

In my defence, I do have a separate folder for hacks. I'm not that much of a philistine... 

[squish]

When I download something I make a folder just for it and put that folder inside the appropriate folder. I got tired of having orphaned meshes in my game.

That's what I do. I recently deleted my downloads folder and started again. Everything is in main folders by type (clothes, hair, skins etc.) and then I split it up by site/creator and then everything by them is split up by mesh/set. Every piece of clothing I download goes through the WW so i can make sure it's in the right bins, all hairs I rebin myself and then rename with the name of the mesh. I do it all as i go along so I can remember who made it so I know where to put it. My last downloads folder ended up being a mess because i could never remember who made what.

[Bugger]

I don't even want to think about the contents of my DL folder now.  Uhg... you are all reminding me just how unruly it is.  I used to have it all tidy (as I am sort of OCD about nearly everything), with subfolders and all the necessary schtuff.

Now it's just a giant pile of miscellaneous hacks, recolors, meshes, and all sorts of shit that I can't even figure out.  I keep putting off the reorganization of it since I have a lot going on outside of my sim world.  But, I suppose I need to get on it or I will only be able to blame myself when it turns into a BFBVFS.... and I rather be able to put the blame somewhere else - like EAxis.   

[Millie]

I used to just have a downloads folder and that was it. I had a seperate folder for hacks within there, but I used to download all sorts of stuff and just mass extract them to the downloads folder.
I have a bad memory, and so hacks were finding their way into the downloads folder with everything else, and I had conflicts going on - plus because they weren't in the hacks folder, I forgot they were there at all, and didn't get the updates as required.
I've now got AL, and I binned my downloads folder completely.
I had so much stuff in there that I didn't want, from downloaded lots, and sims, etc.
I am not downloading either of these from now on, and when I have downloaded something (since finding PMDB and here, I've become a bit of a downloads snob) I immediately place it in a subfolder, in it's own folder with a picture for ease of deletion, should it not be up to par.
Before I joined the community, I would use the facility in game for deleting stuff, which I didn't realise could mess your game up.

So now, I have downloads, and within that Bodyshop with subfolders of male/female hair. Within those, further subfolders depending on where they came from, and within that, a subfolder containing that particular type of hair and a picture.
Further subfolders within the bodyshop one are, Make up - eyes/blush/lipstick/eyeliner etc.
I have a similar set up for clothing, and when I put objects back in, will do the same there, too.

I also have a seperate folder for default replacements (due to me downloading and installing other defaults   )

It pays to be organised. It really does.


Simbliss, if you've recently updated to AL, it might be worth you doing as I've just done. Mine was a mess and caused all sorts of borkage. It's virtually impossible to put them all into folders when it's such a tangled mess, and a big job. Far better to just start from scratch again.

[spaceface]

I took it all out whan I installed AL, and am only putting back the stuff I really need or miss. I have different folders for different types of CC and also for different creators. It's great having a small DL folder because the game loads much faster so I try to keep it that way.

[maxon]

I have main folders like Bodyshop, Game objects, Build Items, Hacks, etc., inside those folders I have subfolders. Clothing, Defaults, LivingRoom, etc.. Inside those folders there are more folders. Everything is broken down. I have pictures of everything inside the folders.

I'm really anal about my downloads folder. It makes it very easy to delete the stuff I don't want when I get sick of it.

Agreed - this is more or less what I do.  Everything is sub-foldered to death but it means there are only a limited number of files in each sub-folder and this makes it easy to spot the culprit.  I also test everything before it is allowed in the main folders.  Generally, the only problems I have are with hacks - because I want SO many fixes and added gameplay and such.  There are, of course, conflicts but that's usually easily dealt with.  

And yes JennyJenny, I have a system and things get shoved into the right folders as I go - as soon as they are out of testing.  Any download consisting of more than one or two files also has it's own sub-folder where all the files sit together.  My only exception is meshes for clothes which are all together, sorted by type, age and gender.  This can be a problem if I want to get rid of an outfit and I think I should find an alternative system.  All hairs are sorted by mesh with recolours in the same folder.  Maybe I should do that.

I extract zips and rars into a holding folder and transfer them manually - then I can see exactly where everything is going and can weed out unnecessary files (RTFMs, pictures etc.).

I have 1815 files in 262 folders. When I download something I make a folder just for it and put that folder inside the appropriate folder. I got tired of having orphaned meshes in my game.

10,141 in 592 folders - oh dear, oh dear.

[Zazazu]

I'm sure I have a lot of orphaned recolors right now. I got pissed at all of my Sunair stuff, plus random bits and bobbles from elsewhere, and just deleted them in-game. Delphy's Organizer won't work for me as I've compressorized. I need to take a weekend and just redownload from sites and fix my partially organized folders (hacks are great; everything else is a right mess). 

One big suggestion: organize clothing by age/sex first, then subfolder further if it suites you. So many creators don't set tool tips that it can be nigh on impossible to find what mesh you are missing.

[eevilcat]

I store all my downloaded CC separate from the downloads folder. It's categorised by type and organised into sub-folders. The lowest level of organisation is by mesh and associated recolours so the sub-folder will have the mesh name and where it came from e.g. bodyshop\hair\MTS2NoukAndreHair, BodyShop\Clothes\AdultFemale\Casual\Outfits\LianaMesh117 or Buy\ByRoom\Living\HolySimolyPhoenixLiving. I also store an image of each recolour as I know I won't remember what it is 6 months down the line. If I see something and think I might use it at some point then I will download it. This means I have gigabytes of downloaded CC but only copy across to my downloads folder things I will actually use in game at that time. The downloads folder in my game mirrors the sub-folders in my storage area so that I can easily add/remove/update content.

[Blech]

That's a really good idea, I thought about doing that, but I figured I would forget to put things back in when I wanted to use them. I bet it speeds up loading time, though.

[Annette]

I wish I had thought to download pictures with the zips. It would make life so much easier. Especially if you use anything from WDS, the file names there are impossible.

[tamwilliams]

My organization method is similar to a few of you. In the Downloads folder I have these main folders:
Fashion, Hair, Game Meshes, Game Recolors, Makeup Eye Colors, Make, vehicles, Accessories, Skintones, Hacks & Mods. Within each folder, the objects are separated by the Site Name, then another folder under the set name. For example:

In my GAME - Meshes folder I organize the meshes like this: 4Eversimfantasy\Livingrooms\Living2(c). The (c) means there is a collection file for the set. I also add a picture for each set I download. The GAME - Recolors folder is set up in the same fashion: 4Eversimfantasy\Livingrooms\Living2

My Fashion folder is set up like this: Meshes (All clothes meshes go into the Meshes folder by site), Female - Adult & YA, Female - Bodybuilder, Female - Teen, Female-Child and so on. There are site name folders under each of these folders as well. I do have pictures of each clothing set I download.

Everything is always backed up to my external harddrive and I add dates to the folders so I know when I last updated it:  GAMES - Meshes (9.04.08)

-Tam

[Samethana]

Yes to both. I also combine all my package files. Say I get a dress with a mesh and four recolours, I use SimPE to combine all four files into one. It makes it so much easier and there are no abandoned meshes (plus a lot less files to muddle through. I do the same with hair and multiple recolours of maxis objects etc.  I have 735 (probably without combining it would be over 2000) files in 55 folders.

Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to do this? I'm a maniac when it comes to my downloadfolder, and this seems to be the perfect solution for the headaches it gives me sometimes.

[HeyYeah]

Once upon a time, I had dial-up and it took forever and a day (by which I mean a quarter of an hour plus) to download pretty much anything except hacks, so the only bodyshop stuff I had was crap I made or what came with selfsims, so it all ended up unorganized in the Saved Sims folder. Quite frankly, it still is because I haven't really downloaded anything new since. I did rename things so I knew what they were. I might organize it better if I ever download more.

As for hacks, the all go in the folder "Hacks" and subfolders according to the creator after I have played the game with them in the NewShitQuarantine folder once and confirmed the apparent workingness.

[Bugger]

Simbliss, if you've recently updated to AL, it might be worth you doing as I've just done. Mine was a mess and caused all sorts of borkage. It's virtually impossible to put them all into folders when it's such a tangled mess, and a big job. Far better to just start from scratch again.

I did update to AL, but waited after getting ahold of it.  I held off to see what hacks and CC people were posting as problems for the EP.  Then I went through and pulled all of my hacks/globals that I was (luckily) able to identify, slowly adding back in the ones that weren't being listed as incompatible.  So far, no borkage.  I went through and had a good look at my downloads folder:  It appears that at one point in time, I went through with a hack scanner and renamed many many items so I would know what the heck they are.  I still have three other DL folders outside of the TS2 file filled with unrecognizable bits.  I think I will have to just delete them and start over; same goes for the items that weren't renamed in my main DL folder.  *sigh*   

[Lorelei]

I have used a combo platter of Sims2Pack Clean Installer, Delphy's tool thing, Sims2Categorizer from SimWardrobe, and JDirPrint.exe to sort my CC.

After Pets, I made sure to download directly into clearly labeled folders that describe the contents. I also got a lot pickier about my CC. My DLs folder is huge, which is all the more frightening because I was on dialup at the time.

PCs also have a Date Modified column when you view folder contents. My file folders inside my DLs folder can be arranged according to the date I last bunged something into them, which makes finding troublesome content faster and easier when troubleshooting.

I also use a virus scanner like Avast! before decompressing anything I download.

[maxon]

PCs also have a Date Modified column when you view folder contents. My file folders inside my DLs folder can be arranged according to the date I last bunged something into them, which makes finding troublesome content faster and easier when troubleshooting.

Ah, that's just made me think - one way to locate meshes associated with skins.  I will have DL them at the same time so they will have the same date modified label.  Excellent.  I can feel a reorganisation coming on.

[tgcgoddess]

Yes to both. I also combine all my package files. Say I get a dress with a mesh and four recolours, I use SimPE to combine all four files into one. It makes it so much easier and there are no abandoned meshes (plus a lot less files to muddle through. I do the same with hair and multiple recolours of maxis objects etc.  I have 735 (probably without combining it would be over 2000) files in 55 folders.

Is there a tutorial somewhere on how to do this? I'm a maniac when it comes to my downloadfolder, and this seems to be the perfect solution for the headaches it gives me sometimes.

I don't think so I just figured out most of it on my own and what I didn't know I asked the creators that I knew would. I can write out a tut this weekend and pm it to you if you can't find something suitable by then.

Ohh, could you send it to me too?

[nil]

the following is just my personal preferred way listed out just for any potential interest:

1. for lots built for both upload and self-interest, a sub-directory in downloads folder called "build4upload" will be placed alone there. surely, assuming no other package-type of CC in other parts of the custom folder..
2.  for lots built for self-interest and/or game-play, a sub-directory in downloads folder called "build4funs" will be placed there.  the same assumption as the above applies.
3. all mods are in a separate folder called "mods4funs". just move the folder in the custom folder when necessary.  but in deeper, I've grouped mods into "often", "sometimes", "rarely". certainly, unwanted mods are deleted or simply removed from there.
4. for non-mod CC, they can be grouped based on ts2 ui categories, cc creator name listings, and theme listings.
5. the shorter the sub-dir names and the cc names, the faster they got read. so, one can use a copy of categorised folder and then batch-rename them all into simple names for practical usages.  addition and/or removal can be done with original copies.
6. mod the cc... esp those with unnecessary contents (by omission) or those highly compressible like monotonous plain recolours and invisible recolours (by in-game compression with simpe).
just trim away those unnecessaries from most of those huge-sized CC.  those not-so-big files can be ignored due to the overall efficiency.  but surely, obsessive perfection is nothing wrong. generally, I've saved >50% of the HD space used.

btw: for a testing sub-dir, one can simply make a sub template and use a copy in that testing sub.  so if the new cc may be categorised before testing, and that may be helpful for later integration.