I absolutely want to second this! I think you need to provide a way to have the tags shown in the task detail tab so we can just click on them to toggle them on or off for a given task. That way we don’t have to start typing the tag and then click it from the list. This current workflow is painful especially when you are blocking out a bunch of tasks that require the same tag.
Just my 2cents
Great to hear that you agree with me!
For me personally it’s definitely the thing I want most.
But how would you suggest that GTDNext actually implement this?
I suggest: We click on the triangle to show inline filters and then Shift-click (or control-click or alt-click?) on the Tag you want to add to the current task. Obviously it should toggle on-off with successive clicks.
J
I think that would be a reasonable way to make it work, but I would propose that you have a duplicate of the inline filters, but it would always be shown in the task details area and you would then click on the tag(s) you want to have active for that task. A subsequent click would untoggle the tag.
With this implementation, you wouldn’t confuse users who are used to the way the inline tag filtering at the top of the screen currently works.
Just a thought. Either way, I do hope this could gain some good traction and become a feature sooner rather than later. Along with a calendar view, but that’s a topic for another thread 
Sounds broadly reasonable although I only half understand what you mean. Any chance you could do a mock-up screenshot to show what you mean, as it sounds potentially like a waste of precious screen ‘real estate’, particularly for those of us who have a large number of Tags…
I’ve been thinking about this.
I’m not sure if this is what you mean @jweed71, but I suggest it would be great if we could “Paint” a Tag onto our tasks?
i.e.
You click (or control/shift click?) on a Tag name (somewhere!)
==> that loads up the Tag into in effect a sort of pasting buffer
You click (or control/shift click?) on the tasks you want to apply the Tag to, one at a time. And each task you click on gets the Tag applied to it (but toggles on and off with successive clicks)
You do something [not sure what - hit Escape maybe?] to turn the pasting of the Tag off.
Background
For me, when moving quickly, the applying tags is a serious “pain point”. It just takes too long. And in practice I often don’t bother. But of course without Tags my whole GTD Context system starts to break down! For simple tasks I actually find it quicker to use the hierarchy i.e. Folders for Contexts, but that then fights with the subject area hierarchy (e.g. larger projects) etc etc
This has been requested several times (by both of us) but unfortunately nothing happening it seems:
What I would love to see is like what I have mocked up in the image where created Tags auto populate a region in the task area where a user can just click to toggle them on or off and they change color to indicate if they are on.
Yes I hear you @jweed71, and yes, personally I would be fine with that. I think new users would love it too.
My slight concern is that you are starting to waste precious screen real estate, and for the more advanced user wouldn’t it be a better use of space to use the inline filters at the top of the screen? My suggestion is that the user could hold down a modifier key (e.g. Shift or Control or Shift+Control or Shift+Alt?? etc) and then click on the tag name at the top of the screen.
It would be less obvious and thereby have a steeper learning curve but would create a more powerful interface, no?
To me, either option would be a BIG improvement.
PS As a general principle, for the advanced user it tends to be MUCH faster to enter things just using the keyboard, rather than by mouse.
With this in mind what do you make of the idea of adding (& removing) Tags with user-defined hotkeys?
Here is a mockup:
J
EDIT: Bump: @James ?
I’ve been enjoying watching this thread. @sergio and I are thinking about what we could do in this area to make things easier to assign tags. Keep the ideas flowing!
To get clear, easier adding of tags is my absolute top priority for GTDNext.
Here is a list of the solutions we have discussed so far. I have put them into order of priority:
#1. User-defined hotkeys (my personal favourite solution!)
Advantages:
- No need to take your hands off they keyboard ==> much, MUCH faster entry!
- Saves precious screen space
Disadvantages:
- Less obvious to new users.
- User would need to set up and learn their own shortcuts
==> Steeper learning curve
#2. ‘Paint’ tags onto tasks
Advantage:
Easy to apply one tag onto multiple tasks
Disadvantages:
Unusual and less obvious.
User might keep painting by mistake ==> would need to make sure the paint mode can be turned off easily (e.g. hit Esc?)
#3. Modifier key + click on inline filters
Advantage:
- Saves screen space
Disadvantage:
- Requires use of mouse ==> slower than #1
- Slightly slower because you have use the mouse
- Less obvious so steeper learning curve
#4. Drag tag name onto a task
Advantage:
- Saves screen space
- Slightly more obvious than #2
Disadvantages:
- Requires use of mouse ==> slower than #1
- Slightly slower because you have use the mouse
- Less obvious so steeper learning curve
#5. @jweed71’s additional buttons
Advantage:
- Very obvious, so obvious & easy to learn
Disadvantages:
- Wastes precious screen space
- Requires the use of a mouse, so slower than #1
Summary
I have put the above into priority order with #1 being my personal favourite solution, and #5 being my least favourite solution. I hope that makes sense.
J
Thanks - that is crystal clear.
How about typing tags inline, would that be a possibility? I think Toodledo has solved this very well with their “/”-modifier that pops ups a list of tags that you can choose from with the keyboard.
Excellent suggestion. I suggest:
A) To be able to type the absolute minimum number of characters that uniquely defines the tag from my list of tags.
e.g. suppose I had the tags:
“Eats”
“Errands”
“Evenings”
“PC”
Then a task title containing “/Ev” would get transformed into “Evenings”
And a task containing “/P” would get turned into “PC”
And “E” take the first in the alphabetical list i.e. “Eats”
B) Given that I normally add my tasks directly rather than using the Inbox, I would firmly vote for GTDNext to parse existing titles in this way, rather than just have this functionality work in the “Inbox”
Questions:
Given that GTDNext already displays tags by inserting a “#” character, then maybe “#” would be a more intuitive character to use instead of “/” ??
Personally I like the convention of starting with “@” for most of my tags but I can live with any almost escape character so long as slightly obscure.
How are you suggesting that this be best implemented?
Are you suggesting that it would work best as an instant pop-up or only once the user hits enter or what?
EDIT: For me I’d still vote for the user defined hotkey for tags as being my to priority, partly because they would also toggle tags on and off. But for me it would be about #2 or #3, mainly because it would mean less use of the mouse.
Hey Everybody!
I personally like the idea of adding tags inline.
I think character # would be fine for it
Hi @sergio
Given the limited development resources for GTDNext, how highly would you rank it vs. the other possible Tag facilities being discussed?
J
Hi @ship69
From the usability point of view this looks most attractive.
Wouldn’t want to compromise on that.
Fair enough, but how are you suggesting that this be best implemented? (see above)
eg:
Hi All
This is just me dropping in to see what’s been going on.
The truth is that the issue raised in the thread became a deal-breaker for me. Without having a way that is seriously easy to add Contexts, I was finding that I kept failing to add contexts to all my tasks, and my whole GTD approach kept breaking as a result.
I have moved my life to a different platform MLO - which in many ways I still rather hate - but it does allow for very easy, fluid capture of tasks. And in particular, you can add/remove your Contexts using keyboard shortcuts.
e.g.
Control+Shift+E toggles on/off my @Errands context.
Control+Shift+C toggles on/off my @Calls context.
etc
I gotta tell you that this single feature transformed my GTD life!
Cheers
J
Hi “ship”
Good to hear from you. Back to MLO (again)! It’s hard to find something that is perfect, that is for sure.
Thanks again for your feedback and request on the easy to assign tags!
Take care
James
