The Preferences dialog is the main interface for configuring Directory Opus. Almost all the options that control how Opus looks and behaves can be found in here.
The first time you go into Preferences a short tutorial will step you through the key elements of the dialog.
The Search field at the bottom-left of the dialog can be used to filter Preferences for those pages and options that match what you type. To use the search filter, click on it (or press F3) and start typing.
In the screen shot below, we searched for colors:
Any pages and items on those pages that match the search term are highlighted.
To clear the filter and display all pages again, click the little X button at the right of the search field, or activate the field and press the Escape key.
Most pages in Preferences require you to click OK or Apply, in the bottom right, before their changes take effect.
A few pages are different, where changes on them take effect immediately. These tend to be pages which modify cosmetic options, such as Colors and Fonts. When on those pages, there will be a Save button instead of an Apply button.
You can identify those pages by the symbol at the top-right of the window.
Whichever type of page you are on, you can always click Cancel to revert any changes you have made since you last clicked Apply or Save. The Preferences Menu, discussed below, also give you more granular choices for reverting changes to some or all Preferences pages.
Pages you use a lot can be favorited, which puts a gold star next to them and adds a shortcut to them in the special Starred category at the top of the list.
A page's favorite status can be toggled by clicking the star next to its name when the mouse is over it, or via the context menu when you right-click a page in the list.
At the very top-right of the Preferences dialog is the button, which opens the menu. This contains a number of useful commands:
Some Preferences pages also add additional items to the top of the menu.
Right-click the page list for a small menu of options:
If a page is right-clicked, these items are also included: