Being the default file manager in Gnome and Ubuntu, Nautilus has done its job well. You can add bookmarks to your frequently used folders, view folders in tabs, connect to a remote server, right-click to extract zipped files, synchronize with Ubuntu One and many other useful stuff. However, sometimes you may find that it is a a bit lacking in some areas, like the ability to open folder in terminal, run file as administrators, mount ISO file etc. This is where Nautilus Action Extra comes into action.
Nautilus Action Extra is an action script for Nautilus that adds plenty of useful options to the context menu (the window that pop up when you right-click your mouse). Once installed, you will get feature like “Open file in terminal”, “open file as administrator”, “repair filename”, “check sum” and many other advanced options easily accessible from the context menu.
To install, open a terminal and type the following:
Now, right click on any file/folder and you will see the following:
Some of the options are different, depending on whether you righ-click on a file or folder. For a folder, the “Open in Terminal” option will be visible and when selected, a terminal will open with the file path pointing to the folder location. For a file, you will see “Gedit” instead. When expanded, you have a choice to select whether to edit the file as normal user or with root permission.
For image files, you will also see the option to “Resize image” and “Rotate image”. This is particularly handy when you are managing your photo gallery. What is even better is the Multimedia section that allows you to “upload to ImageShack.us”, “convert to GIF”, “JPG”, “PNG” or “optimize it for web use”.
Some other built-in features include PyRenamer, a script that allows you to mass rename files.
That is not all about Nautilus Action Extra. If you are a control freak who love to customize every single bit of an application, you can also run the following command to access the backend configuration menu of Nautilus Action Extra.
Here is what you will see:
From here, you can configure what show up in the context menu and/or change the commands or behavior associated with each action.
Conclusion
Nautilus Action Extra is definitely a powerful and useful addon for Nautilus. While you may not have use for most of the actions, having a few useful features at your fingertips is enough to improve your productivity and make your life better. What do you think?
Damien Oh started writing tech articles since 2007 and has over 10 years of experience in the tech industry. He is proficient in Windows, Linux, Mac, Android and iOS, and worked as a part time WordPress Developer. He is currently the owner and Editor-in-Chief of Make Tech Easier.
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