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Are you using the DIM to install? What do you mean they are being moved around to the wrong places? DIM will put them where they are supposed to go.
TIP- and sorry, I don't know your level of expertise, not trying to be insulting- if you go to Content Library and look under Products, they are listed alphabetically and you can usually find them quickly that way.
It really depends on what you want to move. A clearer idea of what you want to do would help.
As Novica says, the easiest way to install content is via DIM which always puts content into the correct folders.
There is a search function at the top of the Content Library pane, which can be set to search by Database or FileName.
Products, alphabetically listed as already mentioned
Categories
And Smart Content as well.
You can also create your own Categories, and arrange you content (without moving anything) the way you find it easiest to work with. It takes a little time, but it may be worth it to you.
Part of the problem, for me, is that "where they are supposed to go" doesn't always make sense. I have tons of architecture in my Environments->Architecture folder (in the My DAZ Studio Library section), but then there are other ones that are under Environment but in their own folder, even though they ARE architecture. And although I have 3D landscapes, the only items that are in the Environment->Landscapes folder are the variants of Multiplane Cyclorama. My forest is placed under "Scenes" (even though it's an environment, not a "scene", IMO), and City Roads are placed under Props. Urban Sprawl, which I personally would also have placed under Environment, is under Props->Stonemason. And then there is my Maple Tree pack, which goes under Props->Plants (logical), but my fir trees which are under Predatron->Nature. If I were doing this myself, ALL the trees would be under ONE category. So now I have to hunt for them. And I know the authors like to keep their own items under one folder, but dude... I don't care who made the item when I am looking for it and I may well not even remember. I just know I want some trees. Why do I have to hunt for them under someone's login name? I have like 20 of these folders with someone's name, and no idea what's in them unless I look inside. "Oh, Fisty created a dining room... and Merlin made a Kenjutsu sword... hm, but what I am really looking for is that fire prop I bought 6 months ago, where is that? Oh it's under Props->Smay, just where I thought it would be."
Thus, there is a wild amount of inconsistency that IMO, I would love to clean up, but I don't think one can, at least not easily, and still use DIM.
I mean, I love DAZ and the DIM works well for the most part, but they really need to do some work on the folder structure and where things are placed. I can't tell you how many times I have bought a bunch of objects and had to use the freaking SEARCH button, or worse, the little icon in DIM that tells you where the thing was installed just so I could find the new items and test them out. That really should not be the case. Everything should have a logical place... And where it will go by default in your directory tree should be listed on the product page. Sadly at this point it is probably too late for DAZ to enforce a more consistent folder scheme on the authors.
I don't see how using the right click option in DIM, using Show Installed Files, is worse than any other way of finding content, if anything, it is much simpler, and they are also clickable links.
To organise content has always been a problem, in Poser as well, but with the option to create your own Categories in DAZ Studio, that problem has been fixed. After creating your own Categories, you can save them so that the work is not lost in any future database corruption. The newer PostgreSQL db gives far fewer problems than it's predecessor Valentina.
If you aren't sure what's safe to move and what isn't. I would advise creating your own Categories -- that way you can organize things the way that makes sense to you, without fear of breaking something by moving a file that shouldn't be moved.
I have considerable sympathy with this. DIM is my installer of choice for files downloaded from Dax, but I have files from numerous other sources (eg Renderosity, Sharecg, etc) for which the DIM doesn't appear to be an option. I have literally hundreds of thing sthat I cannot therefore find in the Content Manager (Products) option, and even worse I seem to have difficulty finding them where I thought they were going. If I search, for example, 'glove', I can find my Daz ones, but not usually others. Is there a way to remedy this?
Incidentally, assume my complete stupidity when responding.....
When installing any non DAZ 3D ZIP file, put it into a temporary folder first. Then look at the format of the ZIP folders, that should tell you where they are going to be installed to. The item should also contain a Readme text file, which may be useful to look through.
Most products from other sites will not have Metadata, so they will not appear in Smart Content, but anything installed should appear in the Content Library pane. Which section it appears under will depend on whether it is in Poser Format or DAZ Studio format. Make sure, by examining the ZIP, where the content will be installed to, and Categorise it yourself once installed.
For content from other places, you can do a "Scan Known Directories For Files" after installing them, and then categorize them so you can find them when you need them (I categorize everything, DAZ 3D content included, using my own categories that make sense to me).
I tried that, but I still can't find the files on my external hard drive.
Are they installed into a library folder, or are they in ZIP files. DS wont find them in ZIPS I believe.
Can you give an example of a freebie that you cannot find, that I can download, and install, to see where these files are actually installed to?
I am probably misleading you. I am downloading as zips, and then extracting to a separate (unzipped) folder (usually naming the specific folder with the name of the download) and then copying an pasting into to My Library (or Runtime) folder as the structure of the vendor's files demands. If I can then remember the individual files - which is not necessarily the case - I can always do a Windows Explorer search to find the files in their structures and then usually follow the same path in Content Manager.
But it doesn't always work and it does presuppose that I have a pretty good idea of the basic name. I would like to see the files in the Smart Content and/or Content Manager listings, but I am becoming increasingly sure that unless the files have the metadata as in Daz files, they remain invisible.
If they are installed in correct locations (i.e. any Data or Runtime folders are directly underneath the content folder) then they should show up in Content Library > DAZ Studio Formats or Content Library > Poser Formats. If they don't have metadata and were not installed with DIM then you need to Scan Known Directories for Files to add them to the database so they can appear in Categories.
Thanks,
When I am able to do so, I will try this.