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Preference option to turn on/off showing folders from other open databases. IE I only want to see the current database in the list
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Preference option to show full path of a folder in ‘recent destinations’. IE I have several folders which all have ‘Email’ as a sub folder. Before long, ‘Email’, ‘Email’, ‘Email’ are all in my recent destinations but I have no idea which ‘Email’ is in which folder. Makes recent destinations useless.
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Preference option to specify how many recent destinations I want displayed-- 5, 10, etc
That would take at least three additional preferences options. I say ‘at least’, because it might actually take more than three.
I’d rather look in a different direction to achieve the results you wish for.
Let’s look at the HUD that lets one designate the database/group location of new content when Preferences > Import - Destination: Select group is selected.
It displays the names of open databases, with open/close triangles, so that one can ‘unfold’ any part of a hierarchy to the desired level.
During a session of use the HUD will ‘remember’ the ‘unfolded’ databases and hierarchies. That solves your needs to remember recent destinations, and greatly reduces the confusion of subgroups with similar names. It’s highly visual, and one can quickly scroll to a desired location.
This approach is simpler and more intuitive than trying to embellish the existing navigational panel used by ‘Move To’ with preference options. So I would prefer replacing the current display of the ‘Move To’ procedure with one similar to the ‘Select group’ interface.
As you can tell, I really like the functionality of the interface provided by the ‘Select group’ option. And I’m delighted by the ability to create a new group anywhere among my open databases, on the fly.
I also like the functionality of the Groups panel, which has taken on a similar appearance. It would be still better, I think, if I could create a new group in this interface, as well. OK, let’s use this interface for "Move To’ and add the ability to add a new group to that procedure, as well.
That Groups panel has always been a neat feature in DEVONthink. I just opened it, and it displays all my open databases. The display of what’s open can be as simple as a display of a database name in one line, with a black triangle symbol indicating that ‘there’s more here than meets the eye’.
If I click on that triangle symbol, the organizational structure of that database begins to emerge. I can drill down in any part of that structure. If I subsequently close the database display down to one line, then reopen it, my previous ‘drillings’ are remembered.
That’s the kind of interface that I love. It’s simple, yet handles any level of complexity that’s needed. It doesn’t require changing preference options, because it already accommodates a wide range of possibilities. It’s highly visual, providing a great deal of information at a glance. It’s intuitive and easily learned.
I love KISS 
Hi Bill,
I’m not sure your understanding the issues. I’m not suggestion new features, I’m suggesting improvements to existing features such that those features are actually useful in certain (I suspect somewhat common) situations, and simply done with preferences. I understand KISS, and if you really want to apply it, there should be only one way to do a move, not the 4+ that I can count! BUT if you are going to offer functionality (like the contextual menu, like the 4+ ways to move – and I think it’s great that you do) then it would be great if they were friendly.
So let me try and rephrase my thoughts:
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I have multiple databases, say one is work, one is private. When I Contextual -> Move To I don’t want to see the other database (and folders) in that list. One preference option-- checkbox for 'Show other databases in Contextual Move To.
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The Contextual ‘Move To -> Recent’ is useless if you have multiple folders that have the same name. You end up with the same folder name showing multiple times. No way to differentiate. A single checkbox for ‘Show folder paths in Move To -> Recent’ so I can see which ‘Email’ is in which project folder, something like ‘Project 1/Email’
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Finally, a single preference that would allow you to specify the # of recent destinations to show. Keep the list big, keep the list small, your choice, 0, 5, 10, whatever.
You suggestions, like the Group window, don’t work well for me, and I have tried. I’m managing 20 projects, broken into sub projects, each project has a couple of folders, such as Email, Notes, Ref Materials. As I go through to archive emails (which I do multiple times a day), this is where the Move To -> Recent is useful. Using the group window, and having to expand and contract project and sub project folders to archive emails is painful. Yes, I can drag an email onto a project, it will auto-expand, then onto the sub-project, auto-expand, etc, etc, but this is a much slower process then the Recent Contextual menu. Sure I can expand the project/sub-project manually, then move an email or two but that’s even more time because I’m going to have to go close those sooner then later, and archiving 100+ emails a day in any useful manner needs to be as fast as possible!
I should also mention I’m all about KISS, but also about configurable and powerful
Thanks
-J
Yes, I understood the issue.
I don’t drag items over to groups, hold them over a group triangle, wait to have that group unfold, and drill further down that way. It’s a heck of a lot faster to configure the destination in Groups before I drag to it.
Once I’ve configured a destination in that way, the Groups panel will remember it. If I close any higher level group above one of my targets, then reopen it, the target is still displayed. If I close the database to a single line (database name), then reopen it, my target is still remembered. Works for any number of targets, in fact.
I’ve got 5 databases open, each with lots of groups and subgroups.
What I like about the Groups panel, as opposed to the Navigation pane associated with Move To, is the ability to collapse portions of the lists of databases and their groups and subgroups that I’m not using at the moment, so scrolling effort and visual distraction are reduced. And it remembers areas in the structure that I’ve previously used, even after I’ve closed them.
To tell the truth, I don’t prefer dragging and dropping things around to move them. I’d rather use Move To.
But I’ve fallen in love the the HUD for the Preferences > Import - destination: Select group option. I find that I’m doing a lot more on the fly organization of new content than I used to do, because it’s made more convenient. It’s a much more pleasant interface within which to sling things around to a target database/group than is the current navigation panel for Move To, which now feels very clumsy.
Which is why I now use the Groups panel more frequently to move content around among databases than I used to – while waiting for Move To to get a similar navigational interface.
That hoped-for navigational interface wouldn’t need preference options, a display of paths for groups with similar names, etc. But it can easily accommodate repetitive but noncontiguous locations when ‘filing’ items, because of the visual display and structural memory.
I don’t like drag and drop either And I’m glad to hear your waiting for the Move To to be improved. Until then, lets try out the HUD. First, is this Tools -> Show Groups?
Also, I’ve set the import pref to ‘Select group’, but when do I see this? I’m not importing files (yet), only emails… I’m having a hard time visualizing what you are describing.
I’m struggling with (and was noted in one of the other forums), how to best organize- I’m importing email a couple of times a day (pain the the butt-- import and then make notes on, oh well). When I import I’m importing to the inbox-- and then move the content to it’s end folder-- often have 10-15 projects I’m moving content around for-- if I expand the Projects/Project_name folder so I can see the Email folder my Groups list is now a scrolling list-- big pain.
Thoughts?
The tooltips display the location but this will be improved in an upcoming release.
Hey, they do! Thanks for the hint, I’ll be going back to the Contextual menu now 