Applying label/tag filter to 'suggested documents and groups' inspector

Hi,

I have four different types of items in my database, which are marked by labels.

However, after filtering to show only items of a certain type, the recommended groups and documents inspector still shows items with other labels.

Thinking out loud here: Isn’t it reasonable to assume that users filtering for a certain label also want only items with that label to show as recommended items? Perhaps there could be a general setting to specify, whether filters should be applied in the inspector or not.

For my use case, this would be very useful.

Would you be able to give more specific examples, please, @AW2307?

Ideally with screen shots…

I am far from convinced that that is a reasonable general assumption. I recognise that you are suggesting a setting rather than fixed behaviour (but see here), but I would actually find it surprising if item suggestion was limited to the extent you are suggesting. (And where would it stop? Only items in the same location? With the same tags? What is labels for one user is likely to be tags for another.)

Obviously your request is suited to your work flow, and I neither want to criticise you, nor your workflow, nor discourage you from making requests. I don’t agree that the situation is as clear cut as you make it out to be, though :slight_smile:

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Hi both,

@mksBelper I filter for the blue label (see screenshot 1). However, in the suggested documents in the inspector, documents with a brown label are also shown despite this filter (see screenshot 2).

@Blanc It’s true that my expectation of filters also applying to suggested documents could be related to my specific workflow. The setting I’m imagining would apply the exact same scope of visibility applied to the database to those groups and documents recommended in the inspector.

Screenshot 2021-05-15 223556

Thanks for the screenshot and details.

@Blanc is far better placed to advise than I am.

But may I offer these two thoughts, though, please:

  1. when I followed what I thought must be the same, or similar, procedure to yours, @AW2307, I at first got what ion the surface were puzzling (= ‘mixed’!) results. Whether or not DT ought to be able to do this, for me it did. Looking more closely I saw that every ‘intrusion’ of one or more items with the ‘wrong’ colour - with 100% predictability and certainty - was because they had the wrong Label attached. Each ‘intruder’ with a ‘green’ label was inside (a child of) a Group which was supposed to be Blue - etc. When I corrected that, everything displayed with one (color of) Label only
  2. more to the point, I think, when you say that you have ‘…four different types of items in my database, which are marked by labels…’, I wonder whether that is the best way to group/categorise/label/mark your data? Have you considered tags? You’d add a tag to all your ‘Resources’ items; its name would be ‘Resources’; and one to all your ‘KS Insights’ with that name. Then create a Smart Group whose criteria matched each - and only that one - tag. That would allow you to select and display all… ‘Resources’, ‘KS Insights’ infallibly. If for no other reason than that DT follows macOS Finder’s limitations of a maximum of seven Labels, I don’t believe their use in the way you’re using them is best.

Good luck!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts @mksBelper

RE 1:
Not quite following this to be honest. All of my items have the correct labels. The point is that the filter is not applied to the “suggested items” inspector.

RE 2:
For my use case, labels seem to be the best solution because I want to notice the type of item at a glance when viewing suggested documents (through the label color). With tags there would be no way to visually distinguish the suggested items.
In addition, there really are no more than four fundamentally different types of items in my database, so the limited number of labels has no downside. I do use tags and custom metadata as well.

Filters apply to the item list, not the See Also & Classify inspector.

The request is noted but there’s also the likelihood of missing an unlabeled or mislabeled item with your suggestion. Also, it’s the only request of its kind we’ve seen.

Alright, thanks @bluefrog

You’re welcome. Interesting idea though :slight_smile:

You’re very welcome, @AW2307 :slight_smile: .

I thought all of mine did - until (under what I think are circumstances identical to yours) I examined the (paths to the) individual items which were displaying the apparently inconsistent results which I got (as you did): that is, documents with ‘other labels’ showing in a filter.

To map my double-labelled results onto your arrangement, I had (the equivalent of) some items incorrectly labelled as ‘KS Insights’ inside ‘Resources’, and/or vice versa.

Understood. But I feel you may run into probs down the road - in case:

ever changes.

My apologies for perhaps not understanding you. If you build a Smart Group which only ever returns, say,
'‘Resources’ (rather than filtering for a label), Resources are all you’ll ever see in that Group’s results. I’d have said that’d be even easier.
Good luck in either case :slight_smile: .

Filtering is only applied to the main view (e.g. list or icon view), not to inspectors like the See Also & Classify inspector.