Every Monday, we'll show you how to do something new and simple with Apple's built-in command line application. You don't need any fancy software, or a knowledge of coding to do any of these. All you need is a keyboard to type 'em out!

We’ve covered alternative terminal emulators in the past, but we recently ran across a tweak for the standard OS X Terminal app that will improve your productivity when using the CLI (command line interface) on your Mac. TotalTerminal makes the standard Terminal app a hot-key activated terminal that’s available systemwide. Simply activate it by pressing a keyboard shortcut, then enter your commands. Read on, and we’ll show you how to install and get running with this plugin.

1. Installing

Installing TotalTerminal is just as easy as installing any other 3rd Party Mac app. Simply head over to the developer’s website to download the free TotalTerminal application.

First, you’ll want to close any Terminal windows that you currently have opened, before you quit the Terminal application. Next, launch the installer that was downloaded from the Total Terminal website.

Continue through the installer to finish installing the TotalTerminal plugin for the OS X Terminal application. Once installation is complete, the Terminal application will launch.

2. Tweaking the Settings

After installation, a new pane will be added to the Terminal preferences (access by going to Terminal > Preferences; or, by pressing Command + comma).

By default, the keyboard shortcut for TotalTerminal is Control + tilde key (`). However, you can alter the keyboard combination to your liking in this preference section. In addition, you can set other helpful preferences for the default OS X Terminal application.

3. Activating and using TotalTerminal

The Terminal application will function just like normal (open multiple windows by pressing Command + N; or new tabs by pressing Command + T), except when it’s running, you now have the ability to press the hot key to have a “visor” animate down from the top of your screen.

The visor acts just like any other Terminal window, allowing you to type in commands, etc. However, you can press the hot key again to hide the visor. When hidden, all of your commands will happily continue to run.

Cory Bohon is a freelance technology writer, indie Mac and iOS developer, and amateur photographer. Follow this article's author on Twitter.