REQUEST: Easier ways to clear search filter

[brihanrohan 5]

If I choose a notebook in the favorites bar and then a tag in the sidebar I can get a manageable list of notes to browse. Clearing a tag feels a little unintuitive though. As a casual user I forget how to clear a tag and always attempt to do the following (in this order):

1) Find the list of filters (breadcrumbs?) applied and click on the little 'close' button to clear the tag I don't want any more. Problem: These have been taken away in the new interface.

2) Go up to the favorites bar to the "Tags" section to see what tags are currently applied. Problem: If you didn't choose your tags there then this is always empty.

3) Go to the "Tags" list in the sidebar. Click on an empty bit of the tree in an attempt to clear any selections. Doesn't work.

3b) Click "Show all tags". Problem: This clears my "Hide unassigned tags" preference. Now I have an unwieldy list of hundreds of tags. So undo.

3c) Resort to the keyboard. Try combinations of "Alt + Click" "Shift + click" "Cmd + click" until I finally rediscover how to deselect a tag.

In my playing, I also find that the "Back button" works to clear my most recently selected tag, but it depends on the order that I filtered and so isn't the most graceful method of browsing. It also doesn't graphically show you what you are doing. You have to look at the sidebar, favorites panel, and list of notes to guess what is being 'undone'.

All in all, I feel that far too much brainpower is required in Evernote's navigation method. I think that the following would help:

1: Tie the favorites searches and the sidebar selections together so that clicking on something in one will also select it in the other.

2: Allow a single click on any selected item to deselect it.

Please consider my requests.

[brianliddell 2]

I too find Evernote's tag filter selection behavior very confusing, clumsy and limiting.

In the absence of a true hierarchial structure I tend to set up tags as children of specific notebooks.

So if I have a notebook called 'Fruit' I might assign tags to notes in it such as 'apple', 'orange' and 'pear'. Evernote's option to 'hide unassigned tags' potentially works very well for this, so that if I click on 'Fruit' then only the 'apple', 'orange' and 'pear' tags are listed below.

But if I next click on 'apple' then the other two tags immediately disappear from the tag list below (unless several tags have been assigned to one note).

To me this is unexpected behaviour. I expect the 'assigned' tags list to continue to show all the tags assigned to the selected NOTEBOOK, but Evernote's behavior is to list only tags assigned to the NOTES selected so far. And because the filter list display bar has been dropped from Evernote (in favour of the Favorites bar) the selection criteria becomes hidden.

As the OP observes, 'clearing' this selection is quite difficult. If I want to look at each of the fruit tags in succession (a very common usage scenario I'd suspect) I'm forced through a clumsy and non-intuitive 'clear selection' process.

My best way of doing this is to click on another random notebook briefly to clear the tag selection, and to then click back on the original notebook.

Surely it would be much better if Evernote displayed a fixed and unchanging list of all tags assigned to the selected NOTEBOOK, and then allowed each tag(s) then selected to clear any previously selected tag(s)?

[jefito 5,589]

Surely it would be much better if Evernote displayed a fixed and unchanging list of all tags assigned to the selected NOTEBOOK, and then allowed each tag(s) then selected to clear any previously selected tag(s)?

Unfortunately, there's no "surely" about it. Judging by past commentary in the forums, there are many people who rely on the current behavior; i.e., that the tags displayed when "Hide unassigned tags" is enabled are the tags that are in the notes that result from the filter selection. If I recall correctly, they went through a number of iterations on the behavior, and this is the final result (or most recent); it's been in place for awhile now. I have to admit that it doesn't really affect me one way or another, as I don't use the tag tree for filtering my notes; indeed, I usually just have it closed altogether. The other mitigating factor for me is that I use the Windows client, and we still have the search info available -- I'm hoping that it doesn't get taken away, because I rely on it.

[dlu 628]

We've gone back and forth on this a few times. Might revisit it again

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Please restore the Search Info bar on the Mac client.

As noted below, not having it causes major problems.

Many have requested having it restored.

I don't recall anyone (except Evernote) who advocates NOT having it.

If you think it may take up too much space, then just provide an option to Show/Hide, like you do with the other Panels in the EN Win client.

If I choose a notebook in the favorites bar and then a tag in the sidebar I can get a manageable list of notes to browse. Clearing a tag feels a little unintuitive though. As a casual user I forget how to clear a tag and always attempt to do the following (in this order):

1) Find the list of filters (breadcrumbs?) applied and click on the little 'close' button to clear the tag I don't want any more. Problem: These [search Info bar] have been taken away in the new interface.

The other mitigating factor for me is that I use the Windows client, and we still have the search info available -- I'm hoping that it doesn't get taken away, because I rely on it.

[dlu 628]

Please restore the Search Info bar on the Mac client.

As noted below, not having it causes major problems.

Many have requested having it restored.

I don't recall anyone (except Evernote) who advocates NOT having it.

If you think it may take up too much space, then just provide an option to Show/Hide, like you do with the other Panels in the EN Win client.

Noted, but no promises

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Noted, but no promises

Thanks. But shouldn't that be "Evernoted"?

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i am a little confused. is this search information back with the current beta? i think so. i do hope it stays, because i also rely on it as well. it is nice to be able to close certain search items. of course, making this search info as a hide/show toggle option would be ok too

[brianliddell 2]

Judging by past commentary in the forums, there are many people who rely on the current behavior; i.e., that the tags displayed when "Hide unassigned tags" is enabled are the tags that are in the notes that result from the filter selection.

I've not been able to find these previous threads in favor of the current behavior. Can anyone point me to these? I'm still struggling to understand what the advantages are.

[jefito 5,589]

I've not been able to find these previous threads in favor of the current behavior. Can anyone point me to these? I'm still struggling to understand what the advantages are.

They may be a little hard to locate; not exactly sure what to look for that would narrow it down all that much, but I certainly remember conversation on the topic. I'll try to see if I can dig up something.

The advantages are the same as for showing only the tags relevant to a particular notebook, only in this case, the set of notes is denoted by a search filter.

[Ravisankar S 0]

We've gone back and forth on this a few times. Might revisit it again

After hiding unassigned tags, how do I select multiple tags?

After I select one tag, out of 5 tags, how do I unselect that one tag so that I can see the notes for all the 5 tags?

[Another_Ian 0]

This is an old string, but if anybody still has this concern here is the system I have figured out to deal with this issue (and other issues).  I am a new user, so if my system seems crazy and if there is a way easier way to do this, please forgive me (and please tell me!):

 

First the setup:  I have several notebooks.  Potentially when I'm groping around trying to figure out which tags are appropriate when in a particular notebook, I might start selecting tags that really were designed for other notebooks, and things could get squishy.  However I don't want the unused tags to be hidden, because I like all available tags to be visible to jog my memory for appropriate labeling (I just don't want the inapplicable tags to be visible).

 

So, I do this:  I have a set of special tags (which I designate by using Initial-Caps insteal of all-lower-case) and those "Special-Tags" (my own phrase) correspond exactly to the names of my Notebooks.  Each of these Special-Tags is a "parent" to all of the tags that I allow myself to use when in the correspondingly named notebook.  So, I might have a Notebook called Plastic-Things, and another notebook called Stupid-Jokes, and in the Stupid-Jokes notebook I might want to have the tags of knock-knock, dirty and cross-the-road to classify the jokes.  In that situation, I would have a parent tag called Stupid-Jokes (just like the Notebook name) and subordinate (nested) tags would be called "knock-knock" and "dirty" and "cross-the-road".

 

When I am in the Stupid-Jokes notebook, then on the tag-list at the side, I use the disclosure triangle on the Stupid-Jokes tag to reveal the subordinate tags of knock-knock, dirty and cross-the-road.  Conversely, I use the disclosure triangle on the other Special-Tags, such as the Plastic-Things Special-Tag to hide the Plastic-Things subordinate tags (say "cups" and "bowls").  So, in the side bar, the Special-Tags that are twirled-up to conceal their sub-tags, provide me with a handy list of the Notebooks that I am not using (such as "Plastic-Things") but without showing me all the associated clutter of the tags that I use in those other notebooks.  Meanwhile, the sidebar also has the Stupid-Jokes tag twirled down to reveal its sub-tags providing me with a handy list of all the tags (and only the tags) that I allow myself to use in this notebook.

 

One more detail:  I select ALL the notes in a particular notebook and I assign to it the Special-Tag (in addition to any other tags those notes already have).  That way, when I have searched for some sub-set of tags, I can now easily return to seeing everything in the notebook, simply by clicking on the Special-Tag.  So, in the Stupid-Jokes notebook, I select all of the notes, and assign the Stupid-Jokes designation to ALL of them (in addition to knock-knock and/or dirty, etc.).  Then, after I have filtered for only knock-knock jokes, I can easily go back to all jokes, by clicking on my Stupid-Jokes tag.

 

I hope this helps.