Do I need the DIM and the Content Manager?

UHF

I have no idea what these things do. There is no description of what they do or what value they offer.

DIM? Downloading all my files would be great. Installing any of it, would be a horrifically bad idea to be avoided at all costs.

I have no clue what the Content Manager is, but it threatens that Daz performance would suffer horribly if its uninstalled. Why? What does it do?

Just so you know... I never ever ever use databases to sort files. Because you now have a to maintain a database, as well as your files. If one is lost... you're hooped. So I'm not surprised to see description in Database Reset.
https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/entries/23025332-Using-the-Content-DB-Maintenance-Dialogue

Since my early days of Daz Studio I learned a hard lesson. Never download and install into default locations. Its freaking all over the place. Content was largely poser back then The Daz side of the world was better but not hugely so. (Co-locating models, figures, and materials makes more sense to me.)

I have continued in the same vain ever since those early days. I install files into a test directory, organize them in a useful fashion or both Daz and the Poser side of things. I copy the Test Library to My Library.

In no way do I want something probing in My Library or gasp installing. There have been many cases (admittedly a long time ago) of bad installs that had to be manually fixed.

Is it safe to delete Content Manager? How exactly does it help Daz? Keep in mind that I strictly use directories to locate my content. So.. I'm not finding it challenging at all to locate exactly what I want when I want it.

Scott Livingston

I find DIM to be enormously helpful both for downloading and installing, but it is possible to use it for downloading only if you want to install everything manually.

If you use Smart Content, or Categories, or the Products list in the Content Library pane, then you need the content management service. Otherwise, as far as I'm aware, you should be fine without it. The current database system is (in my own experience, and based on what I've heard from others) a lot more stable than the system used in the past. More information on the database can be found here: https://helpdaz.zendesk.com/entries/45231914-PostgreSQL-FAQ

fixmypcmike

DIM can also install to non-default locations, or even to dummy locations if you want to rearrange the files afterwards.

CMS also is needed to have files labeled with the type of item (not a problem for most older formats, but .duf files all have the .duf filetype regardless of type), to add your own tags or categories, to apply fit-to automatically when you click on an item, etc., but it isn't essential.

jestmart

DIM will not install automatically after download if you don't have that option box checked.