How to get the most out of the Mac OS X Dashboard (or get rid of it)
Mac OS X has shipped with Dashboard installed and constantly active since OS X 10.4 came out. Dashboard can be an incredibly useful tool, but it can also be a memory hog that some could do without. I’ll tell you how to get more out of Dashboard as well as how to get rid of it if you don’t want to use it.
The magic of F12
Dashboard is always just a click or a keystroke away. You can call it up at any time by hitting F12 or by clicking on the Widget icon in the Dock. This also means that the Widgets are always running and ready to go, taking up some of your valuable memory. If you are a creature of convenience, or if you just think the Dashboard Widgets are cool, by all means leave them active and call them up with a simple tap of your F12 key anytime you want. If you, like others, are not a Dashboard Widget user, then you will want to turn them off.
Moving Widgets
Did you know that you can “detach” your Widgets from the Dashboard? You can, indeed. You just have to go into Dashboard development mode to make it happen. You get there through Terminal, and can detach your Widgets by typing in a command and hitting enter. The command to detach your Widgets is:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode YES
Then you have to tell the Dashboard which Widget, or Widgets, you want unanchored. You do that by clicking F12, then grabbing and dragging the Widget of your choice. While you are still dragging the Widget, click F12 one more time. Just make sure to click F12 the second time while you are still dragging the Widget with your mouse or trackpad! Put the Widget wherever you want it to go on your desktop. To turn off this feature, type this in Terminal and click return (enter):
defaults write com.apple.dashboard devmode NO
Keep in mind you may have to log out and then in again to get some of these Terminal commands to “take”.
Use a Widget to make a … Widget
If you have Mac OS X 10.5 and up, you have a new Widget called WebClip. This Widget is fantastic for letting you make your own Widgets out of web page information, just by dragging and clicking. Note: This only works in Safari right now.
What’s in a Widget
Widgets are made up of HTML (hypertext markup language), CSS (cascading style sheets), image graphics (PNG files), and JavaScript. They are saved as text files encapsulating all of their various elements. If you go to this page, you can get a quick tutorial that is much more programmer-friendly to tell you how to create your own Widgets.
Getting rid of Dashboard
Because this involves using your Terminal application, be careful while disabling widgets. This is a great solution for people who are operating with a Mac that has maxed out RAM capabilities and may have an inadequate amount for your needs. Dashboard Widgets take up RAM, after all.
First, open your Terminal application from your Applications menu. Then, type this:
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean YES
Once your hit enter your changes have been made, but in order to see them take effect you have to do one more thing, restart your Dock. You do that by going back into Terminal and typing this:
killall Dock
After hitting return (enter) to that command your Dock will restart and your Dashboard Widgets will be disabled, saving you RAM (and distraction).
If you change your mind, desperately longing for the F12 key to bring up Dashboard Widgets again, just type this into terminal, hit return after, and start your Dock again (just like you did before):
defaults write com.apple.dashboard mcx-disabled -boolean NO
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January 12th, 2009
If you’re a runner, you might be interested to know how to set up the Nike+ widget in Dashboard, which is a nice alternative to logging into nikeplus.com every time you want to get an update.