Optimizing and best practices

tedkennedy

<div class="IPBDescription">Cleaning up "mature" installations</div>I have used 1P for quite a long time. I've been through many version updates and upgrades, combined info from numerous browsers and from different computers, always install very upgrade when it is available, and currently have 800+ password entries. It now seems 1P is sort of clogged up with all the changes, different folders, different kinds of data (like logins with no passwords?? Where did they come from?). When I go to some sites I get multiple logins on a drop down when I only want one. A lot of this has sort of developed over time and hasn't been an issue but is now beginning to become a bother. It's become way more complex as my usage has grown. I need some tips on how to clean out my IP database and optimize my use of it.



Is there any document about how best to maintain control over 1P as one's installation becomes more complex with time? Any best practices on setting up your folders and such for maximum efficiency and speed? Any tools or suggestions for cleaning out the files, organizing the folders and data, whatever? Your software is EXCELLENT but I feel I'm not quite getting the most from it that I could. Thanks much in advance!

khad

Thanks Ted! We really appreciate the kind words.



Maintaining clean data (in 1Password and in all areas of computing) is like maintaining a clean house. The longer I let it go without doing anything about it, the longer it takes to get it all cleaned up again. <img src='http://forum.agile.ws/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/skype_sadsmile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':-(' />



Some things you can do are start organizing your items with folders or tags. For most folks, I would not recommend using both at the same time. It can get confusing. Of course, power users find ways to ultra-organize and have intense systems. I am pretty casual about it myself. I use tags which allow you to categorize the same login in two different ways (as opposed to folders which only let you place an item in one at a time). As an example, my bank login, credit and debit cards, checking and saving accounts, etc. are all tagged "bank," but I have a separate "bills" tag that I use for all my bills. The bank login gets both since I pay one of my credit cards (as a bill) on that site. I also have a tag for "pocket" to literally keep track of what credit cards I have in my pocket at any time. I try to keep it slim and change what I carry from time to time, but it mainly serves as a way to know what I need to cancel if I lose the contents of my pocket.



Searching can be useful to find old passwords that need to be updated or duplicate sites, although that might be easier to do by just changing the layout to Traditional (View > Layout > Traditional) and sorting by Location.



Smart folders can come in handy too, but I don't want to overwhelm you so quickly. <img src='http://forum.agile.ws/public/style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/skype_smile.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':-)' />



I hope that helps a bit. Perhaps others will have some tips as well.