Feature request: easier smart group set up for keywords

[justing]

I'm a recent migrant from Sente. One thing I loved with Sente was how easy it was to set up a new smart group by keyword (or tag). In Bookends, I have to write out the title of the group (rather than the title automatically filling in from the tag I wanted to sort references into that group), and then I have to use a rather clunky way of getting references to sort into that group by keyword. It would be nice for smart group sorting if there was a quick, simple option to sort by keyword and then a drop down list should appear of all keywords, and then the title of the group should autofill with that keyword.

I understand that Bookends wants us to use the tag cloud for all this sorting but it's cumbersome to do it over and over when I frequently return to the similar groups. I'd also love the ability to have sub-groups under groups for more refined sorting, like in Sente. Again, I know that's what tag cloud is for, but I have to do the same tag cloud procedure every time I want a specific set of keywords sorted. I should be able to make permanent smart groups with sub groups that I can add to.

[Jon]

You're using the word "sorting" in a way that I don't understand -- I'm assuming you mean something like finding, right? Actually, the tag cloud is not meant for this purpose at all. It's a tool for exploring your library, perhaps giving you unexpected connections. It's not intended for repetitive searching of the library (although nothing stops one from using it for that).

For smart groups, we ask for a group name because it's often (usually) not a single keyword (or author, or whatever). So the name is descriptive. If you just want to search for single keywords you can use the Keyword Term List, which contains a list of all keywords in the library (including the number of times they appear). Finally, it's easy to have subgroups in groups (as many levels as you want) using folders (dumb or smart, or a combination). That, and metatags, give you a lot of flexibility.

Jon
Sonny Software

[arouner]

I think what justing is alluding to is something like this in Sente:

[img]

sente_quick_tags.gif (97.93 KiB) Viewed 5243 times

[/img]

I just logged onto the user forum trying to look up something just like this. I created several categories of reference that I want to browse as groups often in Sente. I added these Quick Tags as meta fields in BE to be able to organize the similarly, and having a menu where they're always available like this would be great.

[Jon]

The first image doesn't come through.

Why can't you do this in Bookends with metatags?

Jon
Sonny Software

[GJPhD]

Dropping in here, because this is an 'issue' I have as well. I loved how Sente was able to create sublevel tags, and I have yet to figure out how this is done in Bookends....

[Jon]

Click on the Tags tab in preferences and see the section on Metatags. They are similar, but not identical to, Sente Quick Tags. You can read up on their use in the user guide (Help menu).

Jon
Sonny Software

[arouner]

Thanks Jon,

There is only the one image.

I thought I could do this with metatags, but haven't found exactly how to do this. If you could point me to the right place in the manual to set this up, I'd appreciate it.

Andrew

[Jon]

I don't see an image for this

sente_quick_tags.gif

Search the User Guide for "metatags". Start by reading p. 282 and then explore the others.

Jon
Sonny Software