In the Workplace Shell, almost every object has a properties notebook associated with it where you can look at and possibly change the object's characteristics.

Depending on the object's class, the notebook has several pages. To switch between the pages, click on the colored tabs at the top of the notebook. Each page in turn has a "Help" button where you can find out more about what the page does.

To open the properties notebook for an object, first click on the object's icon with mouse button 2 to open its &popmenu;. Then select the "Properties" menu item.

You can also select the object and then press the Alt+Enter keys as a keyboard shortcut to achieve this result.

To open the properties notebook for a folder, you can also open the folder's &popmenu; by clicking with mouse button 2 in an empty area of an open folder window, where you will find the "Properties" menu item as well. See folder views for details.