WebNoteHappy Tag Browsing Interface

EagleFiler
1

Hello Michael,

Curious if you would consider a WebNoteHappy style tag browser?

Image: http://www.happyapps.com/images/webnotehappy_tagbrowser_2.png

2

Yes, I would like to add something along those lines.

3

Thanks for the quick reply and encouraging words Michael.

I would be happy to discuss and/or test any such implementations.

Nik

4

Could I add a vote against this format, Michael?

One way of looking at ‘tags’ is as categories that can be ordered hierarchically like a taxonomy and thus susceptible to the display that WNH uses.

But another way of looking at tags (a more useful way, in my view) is as characteristics that have no necessary hierarchy and do not describe a taxonomy but are simply associative.

Associative tag groups create natural sets among the items in the library based on the overlapping sets of tags attributed to each item.

This is more convenient, it seems to me, because it removes the need to remember a taxonomy when tagging an item (or alternately it removes the need to display a navigable hierarchy in the browser window).

I consider it also a more ‘natural’ way of tagging text, since it relies mostly on picking up ‘keywords’ that can be found in the text itself (or familiar synonyms). Something that can be done much more quickly when adding text items to the library than assigning the item a ‘location’ in a set of hierarchical categories.

Finally, a looser arrangment adds to greater ‘serendipity’ in search. Searching for one or two associative tags can cast up surprising / un-remembered associations; links items that add a forgotten or additional perspective.

Best,

Peter

5

What does voting against mean? I’m not planning to remove the tag behavior that’s already there; I’m just considering additional ways to help users browse.

I think you’re misunderstanding the suggestion. It’s not a hierarchy of tags, but rather an interface for browsing records that have more than one tag assigned. Each column represents a logical AND.

6

Michael, eloquently put.

Peter, I would urge you to download a demo copy WNH and experience it for yourself! I work in the UX field and WNH has one of best tag browsing interface I have come across. It’s almost magic, creating a dynamic “hierarchy” as you browse.

Cheers,
Nik