Does anything come easy in this software and why can't working standards of other well known software be applied here as well; for example 'Open folder' or 'Browse folder'? Or an 'Explorer-like folder tree?
The help file/manual shows how to start with 'getting started' and a window pops up and asks where you store your photos. Well why can't one access this same thing later on (a wizard if you will)? I can't find anything similar anywhere and I dont seem to be able to see my photos. There is no 'Open Folder', 'Open Album' or what-have-you. The last time I used this software, It took me a while to get to the "The Main digiKam Window" that shows in the manual. Now it has diappeared. My images are gone (most stored in an external drive). If I go to "Browse" the only needed choice is 'Albums' and yet this 'Albums' choice takes you nowhere. If I go to the 'Album' tab my choice for 'New' asks me to give it a name but does not take me to where I can locate photos (or import or whatever). If I choose "Open in File Manager" I can only open one photo and this takes me to another window (Isn't the digikam itself a 'file manager'? And I can also open in terminal (Why would one want to open a photo in a dos window?). Moving along I have the 'tag' tab, which does not serve my purpose in this case since I still have no pictures to work with. The 'image and 'edit' tabs are also not useful at this point. Ah! OK the 'View' tab may do it? But no, that is not the case either. So we are finally left with the 'import' where I can import from facebook, picassa etc--which is not what I need at this point. nor is importing from my camera. But the 'USB storage Devices' and "Add images" and "Add folders" all appear to be possible good choices but why are they greyed out? The remaining 3 tabs are also of no use at this point so where are my photos? How do i access them? How do I access my folders so I may view the photos within them and tag them or do whatever it is I wanna do with them sine this is what this software is supposed to do no?

Which application are you using here? Digikam?

If so, then you images/photos will be stored on your computer hard disk - in the "Albums" configured in it.

Thanks a lot for your help. I do appreciate it.
Yes, It is Digikam I was referring to--sorry not to mention it I thought this was a digikam forum.
As to 'albums' yes I am aware that that is supposed to be where they should be but nothing showed -even though that is where they were last time I used the software. Hence my wondering how to get back to that folder which originally had the photos in them--and all the points I made because of it and the questions. Also assuming that all was OK there seems to be no place to start a new one--too include another folder or drive.
Anyhow, I uninstalled the software and reinstalled the newer version and that problem was solved though a whole bunch of new problems, like constant crashing, have shown up.
But I should start a new topic for that so I will

thanks again