Categorization [$125 awarded]

[Henni]

continued discussion regarding owncloud/notes#2

First steps in #6
Will be implemented with subdirectories.

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[korelstar]

The old discussion has shown, that such a feature is very popular. However, there were disagreement how or even what to realize. Therefore, I give an overview, of what was discussed:

Categories (or "groups" or "folders")

• Relationship: 1:m (a note can belong to 1 category)
• Implementation: Using subfolders (category name is name of subfolder)
• Pros:
  • has a direct connection to the file paradigma
  • every file sync client is able to do all necessary operations (create/edit category, move notes between categories)
  • allow for a clear user interface
• Cons:
  • restricted approach (a note can belong to 1 category only)

Tags

• Relationship: n:m (a note can be tagged with multiple tags)
• Implementation: There were some suggestions, such as using a meta file, using an extended mark down notation inside the note, use an external database; but in my personal opinion, the only reasonable implementation is using the existing TagManager of owncloud/nextcloud. I used it for the favorite/star feature and it would be no problem to use it for a full tagging support.
• Pros:
  • very flexible approach
• Cons:
  • UI will be more complex

[korelstar]

Personally, I'm not sure, what's the best way. For me, the categories approach would be sufficient. But I understand people, who argue for the tags approach. However, the tags will definitely make the UI (a little bit) more complex than using categories, and I'm perceiving that simplicity was an important design goal of this app.

I would like to cite @dasmaetthes from the old discussion:

Since 2013 you discuss if sub-folders or tags. Like this you will never go on and other's can't help with implementation.
Just decide what will be the simplest one to implement and do it!

👍

[Henni]

@korelstar thanks for summing up the old discussion thread.
Let's go for subdirectories for now. I'm already working on it and I believe that this should suffice for most of the use cases.

[spoorun]

It's a shame, because the benefit of tags are they represent a more modern approach to managing date (folders only existed because tagging was not possible with paper documents!)
Also the nextcloud tagging framework and user interface could be used to give a more consistent approach. Users can more easily use tags across apps, and have the same set of tags without needing a different set of folders for each app.
Other apps use tagging categories more than folder categories.
It is appreciated that the code is more complex, but the most functional and streamline way is tagging.
Subfolders and indents also look less aesthetically pleasing it could be argued.

[korelstar]

Another open question is how the categories should be integrated in the user interface. @Henni, do you have any concrete ideas how to integrate the categories into the existing sidebar (as you wrote in #6 (comment))? My approach would orient on the contacts app design (i.e. the sidebar is a list of categories, the main window a list of notes and the editing area are can be a big overlay or take the right half of the viewport).

[Henni]

I'd like to keep it out of the way. Adding an additional column just for categories would add to much noise in my opinion.
I have discussed this with @jancborchardt and an idea we came up with was to keep the structure as it is, but show the directories in small text below each note. Let's see, maybe I'll come around to create a mock-up for this or do you wan't to create a sketch, @jancborchardt ?

[korelstar]

Okay, sounds interesting. But an important feature for people with many notes is the possibility to easily filter notes by category. Please consider that, too!

[stefan-niedermann]

May i propose to get some inspiration from the Nextcloud News App?

They have some kind of folder management, too. Of course the icons for the feeds are not needed, but some things like the "Starred" view could be adopted to provide a better cross-app-UX since the News-App seems to be very popular at Nextcloud.

[jancborchardt]

@stefan-niedermann yes, we considered that of course. :) The big problem with the folder tree is that the simplicity of »most recently edited files are up top« falls away.

And favorites are always sorted at the top anyway, just like @ryanwr did for the server nextcloud/server#1860 – this is the best seamless integration of favorites.

[spoorun]

1. Having a collapsible category menu to the left would be ideal. Users who categorise items generally want to see a list of categories to click on for search, or to drag items to. They don't want to, or can't, use their memories, that defeats the point of the computer :s Also, without categories in the left-hand column, moving notes around becomes an unnecessary ordeal - requiring far more steps than a simple drag-n-drop (of one or more selected notes).

2. It's hard to see why people think fixed subdirectory categories are better than tag categories?

From a user perspective, tags are superior, and can use an almost identical interface, but just have more flexibility for those who need it. Also, other apps all use (or are planning to use) tags not subdirectories (tasks, contacts, events). It's unwise to break the Users' expected interface.

For example, why does a user need to decide, and remember, whether a finance note for their park project is tagged under park or finance? That's seriously old skool; a throwback from when it was essential with paper files.