I have several short files of lists and reminders that I want to update throughout the day, or have in front of me as guidelines. But I also like the idea of having these in DT instead of a bunch of individual text files and stickies on my desktop.
I’d like to request/suggest adding a desktop “pad” or “cubbyhole” to DT. If you had an RTF document all safely filed and organized in DT, you could check a box or something to say it also was on the “pad”.
This "pad" would live on your desktop and you could flip through it at any time to update your lists and reminders.
I’ve been thinking almost the same lines, but in my case I would like to have some kind of working space inside DT. For example I’m very tempted by NoteBook and similar programs because they have some visual aspects that I miss in DT … but in every other respect they aren’t as good as DT.
So I would like to have some "working desks" inside DT which I quickly can switch between. These desks would allow me to have "current" documents/notes visible for me, my problem is that these documents/notes much to often disappear in the hierarchical grouping in DT.
Good ideas! If DT could support more nifty features like these it would become more economical and pleasant to use. But in the meantime there is Quicksilver, which is about as nifty as it gets… blacktree.com/apps/quicksilver/
I was thinking more in terms of a supplementry way of searching and managing files - and don’t forget QS’s shelf feature which allows you to drop almost any kind of object in it as a temporary “way station”.
Naturally QS can’t search within the DT database. Which brings me to note that in spite of improvements, integrating DT within the rest of the computing environment is still a complicated process - for example, since there is still no sync option one is in effect forced to maintain two filing systems, one in DT and one in the Finder.
I feel DT would benefit by allowing ways to flag files, etc. such as labels, especially since one cannot yet search for terms across fields (both name and content at once) - which makes it inconvenient at times to find a particular content within the folder hierarchy.
Sounds similar to smart groups (aka "agents") that Christian says will be added in version 2.0.
I’d prefer being less structured with DT group hierarchies for content organization. I’d rather use a small number of general DT groups/databases ("libraries") that can be searched/categorized using different criteria into virtual groups ("playlists"). Group hierarchies can be a dynamic, ephemeral way of organizing data collections, not a rigid constraint.
For now you could Replicate items and move them to a "pad" group.
I have a few groups containing large numbers of items (my "libraries"), then replicate items into other groups (my "playlists"). It’s a bit awkward with DT’s interface but so far the best strategy I’ve come up with for managing a wide diversity of information without letting myself become overly fixated with group hierarchies. I can shuffle the "replicant playlists" around knowing there’s a copy of items in the "master library".
Thanks to everyone for their ideas - they’ve gotten me thinking ! Could this possibly be solved by the planned feature of “synchronization”? I could keep a folder of frequently used items outside the DT database, and access them with Quicksilver. Meanwhile, they’d be synchronized back to DT.
They wouldn’t even have to all be in the same folder in DT, I could just use the “folder of replicants” trick. The folder of replicants would be synchronized to the desktop, and the individual items in turn would be updated in their “real” folders.
Somebody let me know if I’m being overly optimistic here. :
These strategies sound workable, but still too complicated for my liking. Not only do I have to manage DT integration with the Finder, I must also sync the reference data from these two with an Endnote bibliographic database, not to mention changes in the data and metadata in the many other applications in use. Sometimes it’s just easier to dump materials in the finder without worrying about importing and organising… But then I miss the features of DT!
???
As the next release will provide a hierarchy panel (displaying only groups in a small floating window), the idea of creating "pads" by using one or more dedicated groups containing replicants of your working material might become more useful.
E.g. you could create some groups like To-Do, Work, Personal, Websites etc. and use the panel to open a browser window displaying only the contents of those groups (you can even use different views for different groups, e.g. "Icon View" for pictures, "Note Pad" view for Internet links, "List View" for creating some basic to-do lists etc.).
Finally, synchronization, searching for both name and content and labels will be added to v1.9, "smart groups" to v2.0.
