Moving notes to tags

[JorgB 5]

Hi, Beta User here...

As Evernote gets more and more portrayed as a GTD app, and people use it to manage their daily tasks, I would like to suggest an easier way to transition between tags in the Android (iOS) app. Assume I select a tag "Today". All my tasks from today are here. However I want to push back on two items to "Later". Now I have to edit tags for each individual item which will be cumbersome.

What if, drag and drop will allow me to drag a task/note to a new tag? This will add the tag. For "moving" one could suggest show a dialog after the drop action which mentions "Move to tag" and "Copy to tag". Similarly, a special selector like a "move" button will do the same as it removes all (multi selected) notes from the current task under view, and add them to the one dropped on.

This will help tremendously for the flow of selecting the next thing to do. I hope a similar system will be implemented for apps soon, as I work mainly from my tablet, and tag manipulation is still a bit of a usability problem there (no tag nesting possible, no nested tags in search window,etc).

With regards,
_ Jorgen

[gazumped 8,298]

Hi.  Evernote can be used for GTD,  as it can for managing a stamp collection or organizing a house move;  but it's in no way a 'GTD app' - there are far more specialized and useful options out there.  I'd support any request for improved tag handling in all apps,  but this is a little too specific to be generally useful,  I think...

[DTLow 5,410]

On 2016-12-13 at 3:10 AM, JorgB said:

What if, drag and drop will allow me to drag a task/note to a new tag?

We have this on the desktop platforms.  It's not something I use much because I have a huge tag list. 

>>Similarly, a special selector like a "move" button will do the same as it removes all (multi selected) notes from the current task under view, and add them to the one dropped on.

We don't have multi-select in IOS.  
It's something I use frequently on the Mac.  
A box also opens allowing mass changes like Notebooks and Tags

[jefito 5,531]

On 12/13/2016 at 6:10 AM, JorgB said:

What if, drag and drop will allow me to drag a task/note to a new tag? This will add the tag. For "moving" one could suggest show a dialog after the drop action which mentions "Move to tag" and "Copy to tag". Similarly, a special selector like a "move" button will do the same as it removes all (multi selected) notes from the current task under view, and add them to the one dropped on.

I'd urge you to not think of tags as containers, that is, something that you can move a note into and out of. Tags are labels that you can add to notes, and you can have more than one tag on a single note. There are no 'move note to tag' or 'copy note to tag' operations.The operations are really 'add tag to note', and 'remove tag tag note', and both of these operations leave other tags already on the note intact.

For Evernote clients that support dragging a note onto a tag (e.g., Windows), that operation just adds the tag to the note, To remove it, you just click on the 'x' button on a tag in the note header. There are no single operations that add a tag to a note while removing its other tags; to accomplish that, you'd need to do them separately.

[JorgB 5]

.. yet the method "The Secret Weapon" which advertises Evernote does it like this. It shows how easy the flow is, by dragging and dropping. I am not thinking tags as containers, but a drag to a tag should add the tag to the note(s).

Similarly, in the app there is a multi edit that removes a tag from selected notes, why shouldn't there be one that adds a tag to one? And why can that not be done with a drag and drop method? Evernote is portrayed as the reverse filesystem structure where a note can be in different places, no folders required... so the same analogy can be assumed where dragging a note to a tag "places" the note in that "containing" tag in this system.

 

[gazumped 8,298]

TSW wasn't written or supported by Evernote (AFAIK) and the app may have diverged considerably from the version used by the author.  I don't think Evernote will necessarily consider bringing the app back into line with the features used by the book as a high priority...  anyone who thinks they should though is welcome to vote here (top left of the page).

[jefito 5,531]

19 hours ago, JorgB said:

I am not thinking tags as containers, but a drag to a tag should add the tag to the note(s).

It does, in the Windows client. It probably should in all clients (though if you have a lot of tags, it's gonna be awkward to use in general). That's different than "move" and "copy" operations, though.

19 hours ago, JorgB said:

Similarly, in the app there is a multi edit that removes a tag from selected notes, why shouldn't there be one that adds a tag to one? And why can that not be done with a drag and drop method?

The Android app has a dialog that allows you to add or remove tags. No drag/drop there, and it's not really needed. To add or remove, you check/uncheck tags in the tag list (being able to filter that list would be really useful if you have a lot of tags, though). Also to remove, you can click on the 'x' button of an existing tag. Clicking a 'x' on a tag is a simpler operation than pressing on a tag and dragging it somewhere. The operations of adding and removing tags don't need to use the same UI operation/metaphor.

19 hours ago, JorgB said:

Evernote is portrayed as the reverse filesystem structure where a note can be in different places, no folders required... so the same analogy can be assumed where dragging a note to a tag "places" the note in that "containing" tag in this system.

I don't know what a "reverse filesystem" is. Evernote has two main organizational facilities: notebooks and tags. Notebooks contain notes (each note belongs to one notebook). And notes may have as many tags as needed. You can use notebooks and not tags (pure file system stuff, albeit a flat one) or tags with only one notebook (there must be at least one notebook in an account if there are any notes). And again, for some clients, dragging a note onto a tag does indeed add the tag to the note. Android, not so much.

[JorgB 5]

Ok, here is the deal. Evernote App on Android is inconsistent, and dragging / dropping would have been a solution, seperate to what flow or method I would choose . But what you suggest adding or removing tags that way, DOES NOT  WORK.

Simple example, select a tag, select two notes in that tag (long press, multiselect). This way a tag can be added. Great. 

Now long press and select the same two notes again, I see no way to delete the previously set tag(s), NOR see I the tags that are set on both notes, if there would be a union e.g. one tag on both notes, I would be happy to delete that one tag that way, but selecting multple notes give you a blank "Add Tag" dialog even when it contains tags, selecting a single note does not.

So to recap, adding a tag on multiple notes, fine. Deletion on multiple notes, nope. So kicking like 30 or more notes out of a tag, requires selecting EVERY SINGLE ONE and removing that tag from that note. And unfortunately I am not a Windows user, hardly a laptop user. So Evernote on the tablet is all I have. The web interface on the tablet royally sucks. It works half-ish, sluggish. So there I am, with an impaired app, paying a monthy fee. 

Now, I do understand "unfinished" or "unsupported now" means that it might be supported in some way or the other in the future, but I feel that I am only defending the reason WHY I want it on Android, and I am not at all interested in what the Windows version can or cannot do. Windows is not the future of mobile computing, it lost the battle a long time ago. And one thing that is killing for a service (and noticably the biggest complaint in most threads here) is inconsistent behaviour on supported platforms, that is why I am now pointing out that the functionality as you describe (deleting a tag from multiple notes at once) does not work as intended.

Therefor, the swift going through tags, staying in your "productivity" flow of adding, removing notes to a tag (or the other way around what is basically the same) is cumbersome on a tabet. 

I will leave it at this, I do not wish to discuss semanthics, or be nitpicked on any small thing. This is what it is. It is inconststent. And I invite all that have an android tablet to check this.

[jefito 5,531]

Ah, you didn't mention tagging of several notes at a time (or at least I didn't pick up on that). OK, you're right -- when they bring up the Tag selection dialog, common tags aren't shown at the top, nor are they shown as selected (I verified it on my Android phone, not my tablet). I'd call that broken. Since you're using a beta product, I'd report that to them on their Hangouts channel (I think that that's where that group is).

Sorry for the confusion.