Some thoughts / feature requests re. tags:
Tag wrapping
Sometimes I add a lot of tags to an item, too many to fit on the
single line provided. This results in a view of the item that doesn't
display all the tags I have assigned it (unless I use the inspector,
which I tend not to have open). Ideally the tags line for each note
could wrap onto two or more lines when required just as they do in
the inspector panel.
Double-click tag search
This is related to the above - often when viewing a note I'll glance
at the tags line to see what tags I've given it and then perform a
search on one or more tags to find related stuff. This could be
nicely speeded up if i could simply double-click on the tag to
perform a search for that tag - this would populate the search field
with the tag name, pre-select 'search tag', and display the results
as normal. (I can see that 'pre-select search tag' bit has the
potential for some minor user confusion but I doubt anything
significant, or insurmountable)
Tag collection grouping
OK, hopefully no one thinks I'm trying to pull a fast one and change
the name of the game from 'nested folders' but on reviewing the
previous threads again I think the debate gets sidetracked into one
of hierarchy vs. tagging - a fine debate in it's own right but not
really what I'm after as a feature request. I'm really very happy
with tag & search approach for many things, but for quick reference
and ad-hoc corralling of tagged information I use tag collections
extensively. I have a lot of them, too many to be easily reviewable
in one long multi-page scrolling list - not (I'll pre-empt the
inevitable response) in some vain attempt to re-impose an old
fashioned hierarchy, but simply to take advantage of the benefits of
tagging for the purposes of browsing (as opposed to searching). It is
a pain to only be able to sort these tag collections alphabetically
(even with alpha-numeric prefixes) in one long list.
The long and short of it is that, for whatever reason, i have a lot
of tag collections, all I really need is a more control over how they
are organised and presented, a single level of grouping would do just
fine. I can see how this could cause ambiguity leading to an
impression of support for deep hierarchy but i doubt this is
insurmountable - perhaps some judicious use of naming to conceptually
divorce 'tag collections' from 'collections' and a visually distinct
icon to further distinguish the concepts might overcome this problem?
Or maybe separating smart collections, collections, and tag
collections with sub-titles in the sidebar as iTunes does would do
the trick?
Tag reference
I'll come clean, I'm lazy - a very large part of my long list of tag-
collections is made up of single tags simply because it is far
quicker to click on what is in effect a pre-defined search than to
perform that same search each and every time I want to see that
particular subset of information. I very much doubt I'm alone in
adopting this tactic. I think the fact I do this reflects a
shortcoming in Yojimbo's tag implementation and I would love a better
way to make use of and manage my tags.
One problem with tagging is remembering what tags you have used for
what and I am frequently coming across examples where I have similar
but different tags for the same topic because my memory has failed
me. This can often result in missing relevant items when it comes to
searching by tag. I prefer a neat and consistent tagging schema and a
handy reference somewhere other than in preferences would be superb
to help with this. Two options spring to mind:
A. An (optional) folder just below 'library' entitled 'tags' which
when opened would display the list of all tags currently only visible
in the preferences pane (as far as I'm aware). This does have the
drawback of presenting the user with a potentially very long list of
tags in a scrolling sidebar, so maybe…
B. A floating 'Tags' panel (like the Inspector panel). This would
have the advantage of being able to present the tags in a more
compact manner (exactly as they currently appear for each item in the
inspector) rather than a lengthy single list (it would also lend
itself to the easy management of tag-bundles a-la delicious via drag
& drop - another useful, but perhaps non-essential feature)
Both options could be enhanced by the ability to drag and drop items
onto a tag to add the tag to the item, or to drag a tag onto an item
in the main window to do the same. The same principle would work
nicely for tag collections incidentally - if I have a tag collection
set up for 'Easter', 'recipes' and 'bunnies' already, it'd be great
just to drop a new addition onto that collection to give it all three
tags in one action.
Enhanced tag collections
I'm told this has cropped up before but I'll be darned if I can find
it (see next point!), so: Tag collections would offer far greater
utility where it possible to do more than add tags together. An
updated feature allowing iTunes 'smart-playlist'-like functionality
to allow me to, say, group all files that are tagged 'to read' and
'design' but not 'work' or 'tutorial', that are PDF's or Web-archives
created in the past month... would rock.
Something other than this darned mailing list!
Am i the only one who finds the list archive a pain in the arse to
browse and review…? Just trying to make head or tail of the previous
nested folder debate is pretty hard work… any reason why BB can't go
with one of those new-fangled 'forum' thingies…? Or at least search
out an archive tool with a better UI and feature set.
So whadaya reckon?
T.
