Search by Tags dialog box keep losing focus and doesnt close when pressing escape - Evernote 10.53.2 - Windows 10

[Anonyme For Liberty 11]

EDIT : I emphasize that I'm a heavy keyboard user. I need to do a notes search with my keyboard only. My notes organization rely heavely on tags, so I need to be able to search and find notes through the filter tags dialog box. If I were to use only my mouse to do the search within the filter tag dialog box, I believe I wouldn't have any issue.
For example, when I want to select multiple tags in my research, I do it one by one by keyboard because : 
first - I type a few letters to filter the tags list
second - I select and validate in the list the choosen tag with my keyboard (key enter to validate)
third - I want to type a few letters to filter again the tags list but I can't because of the issue

You could think that this is not effective to add tag one by one by keyboard instead of using the mouse and check all wanted tags checkbox within the tags list but when Evernote UI is working as expected (specific exception case detailed below), I’m very fast, I can handle a very long tags list thanks to a few keystrokes to build a multiple tags research.

 

2 problems : 
- The dialog box doesn't close if you press the keyboard escape key
- You can't enter multiple tags name in a row one by one because the input focus is automatically moved to the notes list after the first Tag validation

Cause of the issue : focus automatically removed
The issue is due to the fact that the note list gets automatically the focus once you validate the first Tag, and as a consequence, you lose the possibility to add a second tag immediately after that to narrow the search. This is because the focus in not anymore in the input field. As a consequence, I'm forced to press again the key shortcut every time I need to add an other tag to the search box. This is not convenient and effective as often I have to check multiple tags to get the results I want.

An other consequence, is that you can't close the tag filter dialog box by pressing the keyboard escape key even though it is a common behavior for any other dialog box in Evernote. And I believe it is due to the shift focus that happened.

As a powerfull user with keyboard, this bug is problematic. It impacts me everytime I need to do a search note with multiple tags.

 

To reproduce

The input focus should NOT be inside the currently opened note.
Open the search by Tags dialog box, either manually by clicking the add filter button above the note lists or by pressing the keyboard shortcut.

Enter a first tag name, validate it.

Results

you can't add an other tag with your keyboard because the input focus (the typing cursor) was removed from the input field and you can't close the dialog box by pressing the escape key. Basically you are stuck with a dialog box in the middle of your interface and are forced to take back your mouse to get rid of it.

 

Interesting Exception

There is one exception where the dialog box behavior is working as expected.

First, you have to give input focus inside the currently opened note in the notes list page (click on the notes menu then inside the currently opened note). In that particular case , when you open the Search by Tags dialog box, it doesn't remove anymore the focus to give it to the node list. As a consequence, you CAN add multiple Tags in a row one by one and you CAN close the dialog box by pressing the escape key.

In that case, I noted that the first note in the note list has a gray border instead of a blue border. So it is still selected, which allows to update the displayed note in the right panel but it seems to be an other kind of focus as it is not blue.

This is not a good solution, as usually you want to open the search by tags dialog box from anywhere in Evernote using shortcut keyboard.

In the screenshot below : 
I can't add multiple tags in a row
I can't close the dialog box by pressing Escape key

 

Evernote dev, thank you for your work!
Community users, thank you for your help!

Franz

Edited March 7, 2023 by Anonyme For Liberty
Post completion after first help received

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,938]

If I'm following you correctly, I find that when I open the tag filter dialogue I can check the box next to any number of individual tags I may desire, and the displayed list of notes will update automatically to show this set of tags. I don't have to keep typing names. It is true that the filter dialog cannot be closed by Esc; I have to use the mouse to click somewhere outside the dialog. What version of the Evernote app do you have? I have v. 10.53.2.

[Mike P 2,625]

8 hours ago, Anonyme For Liberty said:

To reproduce

Open the search by Tags dialog box, either manually by clicking the add filter button above the note lists or by pressing the keyboard shortcut.

Enter a first tag name, validate it.

Results

you can't add an other tag because focus was removed from the input field and you can't close the dialog box by pressing escape. Basically you are stuck with a dialog box in middle of your interface.

That's not my experience. When I press enter to "validate the tag" my cursur remains in th terxt input box and I can easily then search for another tag.

10.53.2-win-ddl-public (3935)
Editor: v165.2.20482
Service: v1.65.0
© 2019 - 2023 Evernote Corporation. All rights reserved

[Anonyme For Liberty 11]

4 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

If I'm following you correctly, I find that when I open the tag filter dialogue I can check the box next to any number of individual tags I may desire, and the displayed list of notes will update automatically to show this set of tags. I don't have to keep typing names. It is true that the filter dialog cannot be closed by Esc; I have to use the mouse to click somewhere outside the dialog. What version of the Evernote app do you have? I have v. 10.53.2.

Yeah same version (in the title of my post). For others to understand, I do everything by keyboard, even selecting the tags within the list that popup when you start typing a tag name (arrow keys to move selection then enter to add the selected tag into the search input).
I will edit my post to emphasize that I don't use the mouse in whole process of searching by Tags.

[Anonyme For Liberty 11]

1 hour ago, Mike P said:

That's not my experience. When I press enter to "validate the tag" my cursur remains in th terxt input box and I can easily then search for another tag.

10.53.2-win-ddl-public (3935)
Editor: v165.2.20482
Service: v1.65.0
© 2019 - 2023 Evernote Corporation. All rights reserved

Hi, thank you for testing.
Are you sure you are NOT in the specific case I talked about (interesting exception chapter)  that when you open the filter dialog box, just before the focus for input was inside the currently opened note (that means that if you press your keyboard keys, it will writte what you type in the current opened note) ?

Let's say you first click on the first note in the note list as in my screenshots (the issue happens also if you are elsewhere in the application and press the shortcut keyboard to open the filter tag dialog box. When I do, I'm being redirected to the node list page), it should be surrounded by a blue border line (maybe another color if you are not in the dark mode like me. Then at least not the gray one). That proves that the focus in currently on the notes list and not in the currently opened note in the right panel.

Then you either click on the filter tags icon with your mouse or you use the keyboard shortcut to open it. In both cases, the issue happens. That means the issue happens even if I use the mouse in the middle of the process, it's not because I tend to do everything by keyboard.
Then start typing the letters of your first tag, select it (with mouse or keyboard). Once you have validated the first tag, you will notice that the input cursor disappears from the tag input field, the proposed list of other tags is still opened, it’s true you can select one with your mouse (and scroll if necessary) but you can't type letters with your keyboard again to filter this proposition list to find the second tag you want to add.

When you are a heavy keyboard user like myself (both hands on the keyboard), you don't want to be forced to take back your mouse in your hand to finish your search. Thats why it bothers me.

[Mike P 2,625]

26 minutes ago, Anonyme For Liberty said:

Hi, thank you for testing.
Are you sure you are NOT in the specific case I talked about (interesting exception chapter)  that when you open the filter dialog box, just before the focus for input was inside the current opened note (that means that if you press your keyboard keys, it will writte what you type in the current opened note) ?

Let's say you first click on the first note in the note list as in my screenshots (the issue happens also if you are elsewere in the application and press the shortcut keyboard to open the filter tag dialog box. When I do, I'm being redirected to the node list page), it should be surrounded by a blue border line (maybe another color if you are not in the dark mode like me. Then at least not the gray one). That proves that the focus in currently on the notes list and not in the current opened note in the right panel.

Then you either click on the filter tags icon with your mouse or you use the keyboard shortcut to open it. In both cases, the issue happens. So the issue happens even if I use the mouse in the middle of the process.
Then start typing the letters of your first tag, select it (with mouse or keyboard). Once you have validated the first tag, you will notice that the input cursor disappears from the tag input field, the proposed list of other tags is still opened, it’s true you can select one with your mouse (and scroll if necessary) but you can't type letters with your keyboard again to filter this proposition list to find the second tag you want to add.

When you are a heavy keyboard user like myself (both hands on the keyboard), you don't want to be forced to take back your mouse in your hand to finish your search. Thats why it bothers me.

Having looked at it again I'm getting very inconsistent results. Sometimes the insertion point disappears, sometimes it stays after the last tag. I'm not sure, for me, that I can see a simple set of conditions that leads to one or the other.

I agree that when the insertion point disappears none of the logical things seem bring it back. However, what I have discovered, is that I can bring it back by using the "open tag filter" keyboard shortcut again (Alt+F2) and this doesn't reset what I have already typed.

[Anonyme For Liberty 11]

3 hours ago, Mike P said:

Having looked at it again I'm getting very inconsistent results. Sometimes the insertion point disappears, sometimes it stays after the last tag. I'm not sure, for me, that I can see a simple set of conditions that leads to one or the other.

I agree that when the insertion point disappears none of the logical things seem bring it back. However, what I have discovered, is that I can bring it back by using the "open tag filter" keyboard shortcut again (Alt+F2) and this doesn't reset what I have already typed.

True. That's what I'm using for the time being!

[MvdH 393]

On 3/7/2023 at 10:50 AM, Anonyme For Liberty said:

True. That's what I'm using for the time being!

Seems you are a fellow tag-ninja. I have 15.000 notes, with 5 tags on average on each. I change hundreds of tags every day. I do all that as much as possible with the keyboard. I long for the old select-multiple-notes, open the change notes dialogue, Alt+H for the "hide unused tags" and fire away merging, removing and adding tags by keyboard. Same as with your problem, to add search tags quickly. Aside from the fact that Evernote is much slower than the legacy version. Als I get a lot of racing conditions where I am too fast on the keyboard and Evernote is still processing a prior command, and my keystrokes end up in notes, in other dialogues or get lost. I have to pay attention to work a lot slower than I want. Then things go well, though I need the mouse a lot... But the same as you, Evernote v10 is what I'm using for the time being. 😉  (Sigh,, I still miss sorting notes on the tags column in the main view...)