Sonny Software

I wonder what people think about these two proposals to revise keyword management. I think the way it works now requires too many operations to accomplish simple stuff (such as removing or renaming a keyword, or even assigning keywords).

I present minimalist and maximalist proposals. The minimalist simply revises the Extra/Term Lists/Keywords to make it easier to work with keywords in the existing framework. The maximalist would make keywords act like groups and would allow managing keywords through the Groups Pane (now renamed Keywords and Groups pane?)

MINIMALIST

The current window has two modes: one (I'll call it action mode) shows the keywords and four actions (find, update, etc); the other mode ("exploration mode") is activated with a tiny arrow and shows the entries for each keyword. I think that the division in the two modes is artificial. The user probably needs (I do for sure) to perform actions but after exploring the entries or even after accessing the entries, which is much better accomplished in the "Exploration" mode. Also, the set of actions is rather limited. So my suggestions are:

1) Put the four actions (find, update, etc) in the toolbar (as icons or buttons), so that a user can perform these actions in either mode.
2) Make the tiny arrow (that switches between modes) more visible in the toolbar, probably an icon such as in the List View.
3) Expand the set of actions to:
-- rename Keyword (two slow clicks as is common in OSX?)
-- delete Keyword
-- Perhaps have a "search" action (in addition to Find) to avoid creating a new hits list but simply showing results in the List View.
-- I find the double clicking action confusing (it assigns the keyword to the currently selected entry). I propose instead to either perform a search (as described above) or activate the other mode.


MAXIMALIST

Make keywords behave like groups. In fact, the Groups pane can transform into a sort of iTunes-like collection pane: Library, Hits, Groups, Keywords (each with collapsing arrows).
Keywords in this way would behave like groups. You can delete & rename them directly from the pane, drag entries to the keyword, etc etc

Some may say that one can use Groups to this end, but groups serve (at least in my use) to the purpose of building collections (e.g. refereces useful to prepare a certain class; references I'm using for a certain article; etc), which are intrinsically different from Keyword management.

Besides iTunes, I can think of Bibdesk as having an approach to managing keywords that is similar to my proposal (although I haven't used bibdesk for a very long time now, I don't think they have changed this feature).

PS-- I see that by mistake I didn't add the option to vote for the "maximalist" proposal...

A few comments.

The ability to rename or delete keywords is available in Global Change -> Find/Replace. It could be integrated in the Term List window, but it would be the same thing in a not-so-obvious interface.

Secondly, the search is already there -- clicking on the keyword searches the db and displays all the matching references in the right pane. And just like in the groups pane, you can create virtual searches by selecting more than one keyword and using the AND/OR popup menu.

Jon
Sonny Software

The ability to rename or delete keywords is available in Global Change -> Find/Replace. It could be integrated in the Term List window, but it would be the same thing in a not-so-obvious interface.

Yes, but it would be easier (and more intuititive at least to me) to have it available through the keywords management window (even if it internally invokes a SQL script to do the change). One of the reasons it's important is if you have complex keywords: say, "Race and Class" and "Race." I may want to change the latter to Ethnicity but keep Race and Class as it is. It's doable through Find/Replace but takes several steps.

Secondly, the search is already there -- clicking on the keyword searches the db and displays all the matching references in the right pane. And just like in the groups pane, you can create virtual searches by selecting more than one keyword and using the AND/OR popup menu.

Yes, but once you have the search in the right pane you lose access to the action buttons. I need the Update button all the time on, because that's what I'm primarily doing when I'm in the keyword window, editing keywords.

So the workflow to delete/rename a keyword now is:
1) open the keyword terms window (extras-term lists-keywords)
2) screen one keyword that needs editing/removal
(Aside: at this point I typically double click wrongly assuming this would select the references, but that's my fault!)
3) click on the little arrow to see the cases (or hit Find and then enter to retrieve cases in the Lists window)
4a) If it's a limited number of cases, I double click in each reference in the right pane to delete/rename the keyword in question.
4b) If it's a long list, I use Find/Replace
(Aside: hitting delete on the keyword prompts a dialog window: "you can't delete a keyword from the term list. want to update?" Hitting OK doesn't delete the reference, but gets you back at the top of the list)
5) After deleting/renaming, go back to Terms list, click the tiny arrow, click on Update, list updates and goes back to the top, so navigate back to the point I left.

My minimalist proposal involves:
1) Open Keyword Terms window, click on the tiny arrow (hopefully a big icon in the reformed window
2) screen the keyword
3) click alt-enter (standard OSX keybinding for editing) or delete to rename/delete the keyword
4) if the list doesn't automatically update, then hit the Update icon/button in the toolbar (i.e. without clicking again on the tiny arrow)

The change is minimal, but keeps the user centered in the same window, and there's more direct access to operations that the user is likely to perform using that window.

In any case, I strongly recommend taking a look at Bibdesk to see how other software approaches keyword management. I think it's quite intuitive and functional (at least when I was using it a couple of years ago!).

aechallu wrote:
Yes, but once you have the search in the right pane you lose access to the action buttons. I need the Update button all the time on, because that's what I'm primarily doing when I'm in the keyword window, editing keywords.

Hi,

You don't need the update button. Press Delete -- Bookends will offer to update all Term Lists for you when you do this. There really is little reason to use the Term List in the "compact" mode -- it's mostly a vestige of the way it used to work before there was the enhanced view.

Jon
Sonny Software

I have a very modest request concerning keywords - could we have the command+= keystroke back to insert a keyword in a next release of BE? I now have to climb into the menu to activate the keyword-pane, which is cumbersome. As for the keyword-pane itself, I think it is fine (vote submitted)

Hi,

Could you explain a bit more, please? How would you like the keyboard shortcut to act?

Jon
Sonny Software

Just as it used to function in earlier versions of BE - cannot say for sure when it disappeared, just noted at a sudden point that it is no longer there. Its functionality was quite simple - with the insertion point in the keywords field the keystroke would bring up the Keywords term-list from which I would pick the necessary keyword(s) and they would be pasted into the keyword field. Now I have to manually go to the Extra menu and select the keywords-term list menu item, which is more cumbersome.

Yes, of course.

Jon
Sonny Software