Tags, Unsupported Filetypes, and the Finder

Michael,

As a longtime DevonThink user (and a trier of just about every other info management/snippit grabber/outliner program out there), I thought I would check EagleFiler out, and here are some initial (if rambling) thoughts and questions:

The tagging feature is great, and I’m suprised that the big names in this area are still telling up to stick “tags” in the comments field. However, I can’t seem to search for tags in the search box (or from Spotlight) which seemed like a natural thing to do. I’m also not sure of the usefulness of the the tag symbols that appear in the 3-pane view (beyond the standard sort that appear in a mail program). It seems like I would eventually get overwhelmed by tag symbols or, more likely, ignore them altogether. I would rather have a tags column (at the end of each row) that actually listed the tag words instead).

Along with the tagging feature, the integration with the Finder is a strong feature not seen in other programs. I especially like how labels in both the Finder and Eaglefiler sync up. Would it be possible to sync up tags as well, perhaps putting them into the Comments box of each item in the Finder? This would solve searching for tags in Spotlight as mentioned above. I like the idea of EagleFiler as another window into my Finder data. To build on this idea, it would be great if EagleFiler would accept any filetype, even one it couldn’t view (e.g., a PowerPoint file or a JPEG). That way I could tag it and label it, and open it in PowerPoint when I wanted to view it.

Speaking of JPEGs, it would be great if EagleFiler could store (and view) standard graphics files (image and multimedia support are factors that keep me coming back to DevonThink).

Finally, I would add the need for Smart Folders. It seems a natural, and I imagine you have it on your to-do list.

All in all, EagleFiler seems like a strong start. I’ll be keeping my eye on it. Thanks for listening.

Doug

Hi Doug,

That’s right. I plan to address both those issues.

Noted, thanks. Some people really like the abbreviations, and depending on the number of tags you have (and which ones you assign symbols to) they can work great.

Right. Syncing tags into comments is possible today if you write an AppleScript, and I’m looking at ways of having EagleFiler do it automatically.

Agreed.

EagleFiler can do this today. It supports images, movies, and sounds.

Yup.

As of EagleFiler 1.1, it is now possible to search by tag.

EagleFiler 1.2 adds this feature.