I have notes which cover multiple projects, for example meeting notes where several projects are discussed. If I want to view all notes regarding a certain project I can’t use the project map because I will miss the meeting notes. I guess the only ways to solve this are global a search for a project or using tags. But it kind of makes seperate project maps less useful for me. I might as well do a search at all times when I want all my notes about a certain project (and store the notes of all my projects in a single map).
Or does anyone have a smart solution which I haven’t thought of?
One solution is to create an “index” note where you add links to the various notes relating to the same topics. For example while developing the iOS version of Agenda I would have a pinned notes with links to other notes like "Sidebar, Related Panel, Preferences etc).
I have this problem. I’d love the ability for a note to belong to more than one project. (Ie it is in more than one folder, as an ‘alias, not a copy)
While I would also like to see subfolders, that will actually make the need for a solution to this problem more acute!
In the absence of that solution, I guess one could use tags, which would make the notes appear in the related side bar. But without a tag chooser or tag-autocompleter (yet?), I find it impossible to remember on the fly what tag names I’m already using! (Facilitation or facilitator; facilitator or facilitators; workshop or event; etc)
Yes, agreed, there’s no magical solution, it’s how far you go and how much energy you put in organising your notes. Plus finding a system that works for you. Agenda should have the basic building blocks to help you, though we’re the first to agree that we can still further improve things (e.g. the tag browser and auto-completion are a good example).
A tag chooser would definitely be a valuable thing, as I have exactly the same problem with remembering which ones I’ve set so I end up with a bunch of slight variations which need to be analgamated! I have an Organizing section where I’ve started listing them before they get completely out of hand @mekentosj
One week user of Agenda, loving it but missing some things—tags list among that bc, as you say, it is hard to remember what tags have been created. I started a note called AGENDA TAGS and have to remember every time I add one—which makes me hesitant to use them freely. There is a solution out there, hopefully within my year of upgrades! Meanwhile, realizing that I do not go to Dynalist or Zenkit NEARLY as often now I’m using Agenda.
I’m experimenting with an almost mirror alternative to the index note idea:
a single “journal” project contains all of my notes
each note in the journal is linked to its associated project(s)
#1, the journal, provides a single place for review and introspection; #2, projects, provides a single place to see only notes associated with a specific initiative/project
The ability to associate a note with multiple projects enables this simple (in my opinion) approach without the overhead of maintaining (and additional abstraction required by) index notes.
Right now I am working around the 1:1 note:project constraint by manually copying/pasting the note and Agenda Link from the Journal to a new note in the associated project(s).
Eliminating this manual activity with the ability to associate a note with multiple projects would provide a productivity boost and make using Agenda the way I want to use it much easier — so +1!
I’m sure, as @mekentosj stated, that the implementation of a 1:many relationship between notes and projects carries additional complexity, so I know it isn’t as easy as it may appear; but I would definitely welcome the capability.
As always, I’m grateful for Agenda, the awesome support and the opportunity to share ideas with two smart, thoughtful human beings who make my life better. Thank you .
Hello @mekentosj, just following up on this: any thoughts on the possibility/likelihood/timeline of enhancing Agenda to support assigning a note to multiple (or at least 2) projects?
It’s very unlikely we will ever support this I’m afraid. The workaround is to use Agenda links to point from within one note to another, optionally creating an “index note” in the second project who’s main purpose is to serve as an alias to the note in the first project.
Thanks for the responsiveness and candor Alex. The suggested workaround, while functional, adds a layer of manual activity that breaks my flow. I was hoping this might be alleviated by an enhancement to support multi-project note association; but I respect your development priorities.
Hi Alex, I recently opened a discussion with the exact same request. Searching for alternate ideas helped me run into this thread.
I like your idea where you suggest having Agenda links point from one note to another. However, within a certain project that would mean having a flurry of links that one has to click into and back out of to get an overview of the progression of a project.
I was thinking that having the option of adding linked notes but have them appear in a “full width” mode (in an expanded mode, if you will) would resolve the issue. It would work just like attaching images - where one gets the option to simply have a link (inline), thumbnail or full width. Links could be inserted inline (as they currently are in a blue font), or be inserted in a full-width mode where one can read (-only) the linked note.
If I am able to link to meeting notes and have them be previewed inline in full-width, that’ll let the project have meaning in its own without having to click in and out. Does that sound implementable? Let me know and I would be happy to file a feature request!
Not sure notes inside notes is a good idea. We have some ideas how to make this flow better, which might come close to the solution you are proposing. Having said that, often when you find yourself having notes that kind of belong to multiple projects you might consider re-thinking the hierarchy or setup of your projects.
For example, depending on the situation it might make sense to split a note into multiple notes, each put in the appropriate project, while each can be linked to say the same meeting calendar event. The event then automatically acts like your “index card” for the meeting. Sometimes it might also make sense to focus the products on teams rather than products/topics, for example by having a dedicated project for the weekly team meeting, etc.
Follow up request based on your suggested workflow -
Now, I end up having about 4-5 notes under a certain meeting. The way to navigate to those notes is somewhat cumbersome at the moment. For each note, I have to
Click the meeting
Click “Go to Linked Note”
Choose the appropriate note (all typically having the same title)
Here’s what I have been doing now. Ahead of a meeting, I create the agenda with multiple notes and even re-title the notes to avoid confusion. However, during the meeting, I have found that switching notes/contexts is hard (have to go through the 3 step process listed above for each note).
It would be cool if there was an option to
Click the meeting
2 Click “Go to linked note”
Select a new option “All notes”. When clicked, all the notes linked to that meeting will appear one under another in the main pane. Thus, during a meeting, one wouldn’t have to click around and have everything showing on the main pane.
Apologies if I’ve not fully understood what you’re trying to achieve, but tags could be helpful. I used people tags a lot, and clicking on the tag in a note gives the option to search on all notes with that tag.
This allows me to see all notes across all projects with a particular persons tag in it. I find it really useful before a phone call or meeting with the person to show me all interactions etc that I’ve recorded.
You could use company name as a tag for example.
I’m waiting for a tag browser and autocompletion before making much more use of tags, without these there’s too much risk of creating duplicate tags and getting in a mess, eg #film#films#movies#movie!
Here are some bad mockups (see Imgur link below… click on it … there are 4 images) to explain what I’m talking about
The Imgur link has explanations of how it works currently - have to select notes one by one - vs. the proposed solution of seeing all meeting minutes in one go.
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