when is a tree not a tree ...

[engine]

Hoping there's something obvious I've missed ... wouldn't be the first time <g>

It's generally easier, I reckon, to scan a tree and find the branch you want when the tree is sorted by type: that is, folders separate from files. That's what you see in the folder panel of Nautilus. What you seem to get in the tree view, less conveniently, is a ruthless alphabetical sort. Is there any way of persuading the tree view to separate types the way the folder view does?

[engine]

Just in case anyone else hits the same apparent problem, here's the answer: on the Views tab of the file-manager Preferences, right at the bottom, there's a check-box "Show only folders" under the heading Tree view defaults. Even better, it's explained in the on-line help.