Provide nested notebooks functionality

[ghost]

Hi there,

I've just downloaded the trial and well, awesome work! I really like it and I really would like to purchase a full version.

But there is one thing, that currently prevents me from buying quiver: I need nested Notebooks, which seems not possibly within the current version.

So please provide this functionality and I will buy the full version!

Regards,
Martin

[ylian]

I intentionally kept Quiver's hierarchy very simple: notebooks and notes. Having nested folders isn't the best for managing lots of notes, but adds a lot more UI complexities. For flexible organizing needs, Quiver supports tagging and linked notes. Also, use the full-text search. It's much faster than browsing through folders.

[preflight]

I agree with the minimalistic approach -- I think it helps keep the interface very clean and straightforward. For me personally, one more level of nesting would be ideal, but I certainly understand your decision on this.

[ylian]

I would like to gather some thoughts on this issue.

Should nested notebooks be nested on the file system as well? Or just a visual hierarchy, like groups in Xcode?

[ylian]

I guess the current persistence format of notebooks and notes (https://github.com/HappenApps/Quiver/wiki/Quiver-Data-Format) could support nested notebooks. There are still dangling issues like how to display a notebook with both notes and sub-notebooks. If displayed in the sidebar like Finder, the note list column would not make sense. If displayed in the note list column, that column becomes far more complicated.

[preflight]

I think nested on the file system would be better because it seems like it would be easier to extract a sub-notebook in an export script. I haven't worked with export scripts myself yet though, so others may be able to weigh in on their experience.

Regarding how to display the nesting structure, I definitely think the way to go is to display Notebooks as a row of tabs near the top of the application window. That means Sub-Notebooks would take over the far left column (where Notebooks are now) and Notes would stay where they are.

Thanks for considering adding nesting -- I think it will add a lot of value.

[ylian]

Having nested notebooks on the filesystem seems to be a logical expansion of the current scheme.

If we are going to support nested notebooks, I think we should allow arbitrary depth of nesting. It doesn't make sense to add arbitrary restrictions: if we allow one level of nesting, why not two or three?

In that case, tabs on top won't work. A typical Finder style sidebar will work just fine, and users are familiar with that. So subnotebooks will be listed under the notebook, while notes are in the note list column. This works.

[preflight]

Oh that's great - didn't realize that multiple levels of nesting was a possibility. The Finder-style sidebar seems perfect.

[LeonardoGentile]

👍

[preflight]

Just checking to see if the nested notebooks feature is expected in the next release. Quiver is really great - thanks for continuing to work on improvements.

[ylian]

Maybe. I just finished redesigning the sidebar, paving the way for implementing nested notebooks. I certainly hope to put nested notebooks in the next release.

[preflight]

Looking great - thanks for the update

[asafge]

+1

[deini]

+1 <3

[yaodong]

👍

[hlissner]

+1 It's the only thing holding me back from getting Quiver too!

[yaodong]

Any updates on this?

[ylian]

@yaodong Yes, I think I figured out a good implementation. Come in the next release (3.1, since 3.0.1 is waiting for review).

[ylian]

@justnealpatel Some issue with syncing the nested structure on two devices.

[zachkirsch]

@ylian the dropbox link you posted on 8/7 is no longer valid - is that intentional? Can I download a beta with nested notebook functionality?

[justnealpatel]

@ylian any update on this feature?

[juststevede]

I also can't wait for this feature. Any update or is it possible to provide another test version? I really would love to have this feature for some current projects. :)

Thanks for your continued efforts!

[ylian]

I have a 3.1.0 build that seems to work quite well. Have been testing for a week and if no new bugs are found today, I will submit it tonight.

[juststevede]

This is awesome news! Thank you so much!

[xnxky]

Amazing !!!!

…

On Wed, Oct 18, 2017 at 4:33 AM, just_steve ***@***.***> wrote: This is awesome news! Thank you so much! — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#2 (comment)>, or mute the thread <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/ABdMoLtJJm7egxjF8P58uuMTtgtJnkJmks5steImgaJpZM4DExvi> .

[justnealpatel]

Looks like it's already up on the App Store. Thanks so much!

[juststevede]

Awesome, this is a game changer for Quiver! Thanks!

[LeonardoGentile]

@ylian

Some issue with syncing the nested structure on two devices.

Can you confirm this is fixed? Do we risk to mess up/destroy our valuable notes db?

What happens if a nested structure is created in one device but the other device still uses an old version of quiver that do not provide such functionality? Ka-boom?

[ylian]

@LeonardoGentile The nested structure is saved in a single "meta.json" file under the library folder. When you reorder the notebooks, only this "meta.json" file is updated. So your notes and notebooks are safe.

If a nested structure is created on one device, but the other device still uses an old version of Quiver, the second device will see notebooks in a plain list, exactly like in previous versions.

The only thing that doesn't work at the moment is: If you have two devices both running 3.1.0, and synced up using Dropbox, and you are reordering notebooks on both devices at the same time, the nested structure may get out of sync (in UI only). You would need to reopen Quiver to see the updated nested structure.

[xnxky]

@yilan thanks a lot for adding this feature. That's what I have waiting for for a long time. However, it seems that the only way to add a nested notebook is to create a new one, and drag it to another notebook; Is there any other way to do it like right click, context menu, or things like that?

[ylian]

@xnxky I surely can add an option in the context menu, so right clicking on a notebook -> "Create a new Notebook", and it creates a notebook inside. The result is, of course, exactly the same as creating a new notebook, then drag it to another.

[LeonardoGentile]

@ylian testing this.
I've notices new Notebooks wether nested or not are not automatically re-ordered alphabetically

[ylian]

@LeonardoGentile That's intended. Now it's all manual sorting.

[LeonardoGentile]

Eh, don't like it that much :)
Especially when you have almost 100 notebooks.
This should an option inside the setting, not the only and forced choice.

[ylian]

@LeonardoGentile Maybe an option in the context menu (when right clicking on a parent notebook) to "Sort alphabetically".

[LeonardoGentile]

@ylian yes, that would good.
Not all the notebooks will be nested so besides on the specific Notebook this should be an option on the main Notebook menu (see pic)

When we right click on this there should be an option to sort either cyclically all the notebooks (so first level and nested ones). Or or just the first level notebooks.

In any case this option should be remembered, meaning that new notebooks will automatically be sorted following that option. Specify for each new notebook how it or its children should be sorted is not optimal.

What do you think?

[ylian]

@LeonardoGentile I agree that there should be options to sort alphabetically (either the first level, or recursively) in the context menu when clicking on the Notebooks group.

But I don't think this should be remembered. You create nested notebooks by drag & drop, while drag & drop implicitly implies manual sorting. Imagine drag & drop to reorder some items, only to see them being moved back to alphabetical order because of rule override.

I think having an option in the context menu to sort alphabetically is enough. I can't imagine users creating tons of notebooks all the time.

[xnxky]

@ylian Thanks for the reply; The right click does not have the "Create a new Notebook" option for me? Am I missing something? Thanks.

[ylian]

@xnxky My bad. I meant that I could add such an option.

[xnxky]

Thanks for clarifying. That would be nice !!!

[op1490]

I'm unsubscribing from this thread now the functionality has been added. Thank you so much - this is genuinely life changing ! Now I can fully migrate to quiver! Kind regards, Oliver

…

On 19 Oct 2017, 20:19 +0100, xnxky ***@***.***>, wrote: Thanks for clarifying. That would be nice !!! — You are receiving this because you commented. Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or mute the thread.

[ylian]

I am closing this thread as well. Please open new issues for further improvements of this functionality.

[KimMichaelJones]

Thanks for adding this @ylian. I updated my copy and saw this in the release notes. Unfortunately I can't seem to see how/where I do this. I've searched here and the documentation as well and can't seem to find anything that explains how one creates nested notes/notebooks. Help?!

[ylian]

@kimaldis In the sidebar, just drag one notebook into another. You probably want to create a few new notebooks as parent notebooks.

[KimMichaelJones]

Got it, thanks!