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wincent Synergy: it changes everything

Synergy links

Macworld 5 mice

MacUser 5 Mice

ATPM Very Nice

AMUG 5 AMUGs

Hot Key preferences

You use the Hot Keys tab to customise the Hot Key assignments that you will use to control iTunes and Synergy. It is recommended that you customise the settings, because the defaults are hardware-dependent and may not work on all keyboards. The available actions are listed in this tab, along with the Hot Key combination currently assigned to each action.

  • Control iTunes and Synergy with global Hot Keys: when checked, you will be able to control Synergy by pressing "global Hot Keys"; these are key combinations of at least one modifier (Command, Control, Option, Shift) plus another key (for example, F1, F2 or F3). New in Synergy 0.6 is the ability to use raw Function Keys without any modifier. Global Hot Keys are useful for quickly and easily triggering actions when you hands are already on the keyboard and you do not want to move to the mouse.
  • Play/Pause: This action sends a "Play/Pause" message to iTunes: if iTunes is not playing, it will start to play; if it is already playing, it will pause. In addition, if iTunes is not running, this action will cause iTunes to launch and start playing. Customise the Hot Key for this action by clicking the "Set..." button.
  • Previous track: This action sends a "Previous track" message to iTunes. Customise the Hot Key for this action by clicking the "Set..." button.
  • Next track: This action sends a "Next track" message to iTunes. Customise the Hot Key for this action by clicking the "Set..." button.
  • Volume down: The reverse of the "Volume up" action.
  • Volume up: This causes the iTunes volume (not the system volume) to increase; a semi-transparent feedback window will be displayed.
  • Toggle mute: This causes iTunes to switch between muted and unmuted states.
  • Toggle shuffle: This will toggle iTunes' shuffle mode on or off; a semi-transparent feedback window will be displayed to show the new shuffle status.
  • Bring iTunes to front/hide iTunes: This will bring iTunes to the front; if iTunes is not running, it will be launched; if it is already running then it will be hidden. In this way you may bring iTunes to the front and then send it back again with two successive presses of the hot key combination.
  • Show/hide Synergy Floater: Pressing this hot key brings the floater immediately to the front; it will fade out after a delay (which you can customise in the general settings tab) or you can dismiss it immediately by pressing the hot key again.
  • Rate as no stars: This sets the rating of the currently playing track to zero (no stars); a feedback window will be displayed confirming the change.
  • Rate as 1 star, Rate as 2 stars, Rate as 3 stars, Rate as 4 stars and Rate as 5 stars: These hot key combinations allow you to set the rating of the currently playing track. To fully benefit from the iTunes song rating system, it is recommended that you enable the display of ratings in the Synergy floater.
  • Set repeat mode: This causes iTunes to cycle through the available repeat modes: "one" (the current track is repeated), "all" (all the tracks in the current playlist are repeated), and "none" (no repeat).
  • Show/hide Synergy menu buttons: This action causes Synergy to temporarily hide its menu bar control buttons, or to show them if they are already hidden. (It is also possible to have Synergy automatically show and hide its buttons, depending on whether iTunes is running; see the Menu Bar settings tab below.) Customise the Hot Key for this action by clicking the "Set..." button.
  • Quit Synergy: This action causes Synergy to quit. It will remove any control buttons from the menu bar, and the global menu (if enabled). In order to restart Synergy, you will need to use the Start/Stop button again in the General tab. Customise the Hot Key for this action by clicking the "Set..." button.

Whenever you click a "Set..." button to customise a Hot Key combination, a sheet will roll down that asks you to press a new combination.

In general, your Hot Key combination must include at least one modifier key (Shift, Command, Option or Control). The exception to this rule is the Function Keys, which can be used without modifiers for even greater speed and convenience. Once you are have pressed your new combination, you can press "OK" to accept it or "Cancel" to dismiss the sheet without making any changes. The "Clear" button clears the Hot Key setting (you will see "(none)" appear in the sheet to indicate that there is no Hot Key setting in effect).

If you choose a duplicate setting that is already in use by another Synergy action, then your new setting will take precedence and the other action will be cleared. This is because Synergy will not allow one Hot Key combination to trigger more than one action.

You should be careful when choosing Hot Key combinations to avoid combinations that might be in use by other applications. Unpredictable results might ensue if you choose a Hot Key that conflicts with another application.