InfoQube IM - Community

Submitted by Tom on 2009/04/06 10:20

I've only started really using the inbox lately so I'm curious about people's workflow for moving stuff from inbox to other grids

I've created a form with most of the grid source (yes/no) fields, also I have a bunch of the more commonly used ones of these displayed in the inbox grid.

The next step seems to me to be how to sort the items in their new grids.
Obviously this depend on how items are organised in grids.

It would be very interesting if people could give a rough idea of how they go about this (the workflow, and, why not, how they organise grids too)

Currently in most grids, I keep all items below TLI's - i.e. I'm grouping items hierarchically (to one level at least).

When I move items from inbox to a grid like this, they are dispersed throughout the grid which is not ideal - here's a made up example

Afghan Hound
Alaskan Husky
CATs
-- Maine Coon
-- Egyptian
Chihuahua
Chinook
Dalmatian
DOGs
-- Border Collie
-- Irish Setter
English Cocker Spaniel
Golden Retriever

I'd like to display unsorted items at the bottom of the grid like this (below), so I can sort them easier.

CATs
-- Maine Coon
-- Egyptian

DOGs
-- Border Collie
-- Irish Setter

Afghan Hound
Alaskan Husky

Chihuahua
Chinook
Dalmatian

English Cocker Spaniel
Golden Retriever

Obviously there's many ways of doing this.

Marking parent items in some way (e.g. as Done -although that's not necessarily ideal- I could make a "Sorted" field!) and sorting first by that, then by item, or

simply adding a full-stop before each parent item to force the desired sort.

But really it just got me wondering about your workflow (and structuring) in terms of shifting stuff from inbox and organising it all.

Comments

[quote=Tom]

I'd like to display unsorted items at the bottom of the grid like this (below), so I can sort them easier.

[/quote]

You could sort by either

nbparents Desc
itemcreated

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

[quote=Tom]

I'd like to display unsorted items at the bottom of the grid like this (below), so I can sort them easier.

[/quote]

You could sort by either

nbparents Desc
itemcreated

[/quote] unfortunately itemcreated doesnt work cause I'm adding new parent items as necessary so some are already more recent than the items in the inbox

I'm just after trying "nbparents Desc" and dont see any logic to the sort -

I tried expanding all items and thought it would work then, but all the parentless items are in the middle of the sort for some strange reason (& I checked - they dont have parents elsewhere - something that would complicate this method if moving stuff that has already been displayed in other grids)

- I get the same unexpected result in two grids

> You could sort by either

nbparents Desc
itemcreated

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pierre -

I'm going to be like a dog with a bone here
as I say the nbparents sorting probably isnt suitable at times and doesnt seem to work anyway (?)

Is it possible to sort items by formatting? (I usually make parent top level items bold)

I'm just trying to think of some way I could easily apply to many different grids ... so far I think I'll have to go with making a yes/no field for the TL parent items.

I find that unintuitive but not a big deal at the same time

You can sort on font properties. To do so, create a new field:

ItemIsBold:

Type: Yes/No
Options: <source>SELECT InStr([ItemFont],"|B|") AS tmp, ¯qItemFont.ItemID, [tmp]<>0 AS ItemIsBold
FROM ¯qItemFont
WHERE (((InStr([ItemFont],"|B|"))>0));
</source>

You can then sort by this field

[quote=Pierre_Admin]

ItemIsBold:

Type: Yes/No
Options: <source>SELECT InStr([ItemFont],"|B|") AS tmp, ¯qItemFont.ItemID, [tmp]<>0 AS ItemIsBold
FROM ¯qItemFont
WHERE (((InStr([ItemFont],"|B|"))>0));
</source>

You can then sort by this field

[/quote]

thanks Pierre - you're a star !

I also made an ItemIsUnderlined field

Type: Yes/No
Options: <source>SELECT InStr([ItemFont],"|U|") AS tmp, ¯qItemFont.ItemID, [tmp]<>0 AS ItemIsUnderlined
FROM ¯qItemFont
WHERE (((InStr([ItemFont],"|U|"))>0));
</source>

both are working well (and sorting of course). One could even group fields like this (by formatting) -

like the colouring option ( item color) - which I had completely forgotten about as an option for this thread

but as it happens, it wouldn't have suited ...

Great!

If you want, you can hide these specialized field in sections of the properties pane (so it doesn't get too crowded):

Hide in Info. Pane
Hide in Available fields

You can still show the field in forms and in grids

I've streamlined the syntax and created a blog post on this subject: Smart Fields (aka smart folders)

Tom, I really don't use my Inbox on a day-2-day basis. When I'm importing data, I assign Inbox for safety + another grid. If I can't find an item for some reason I can always go to the Inbox or All Items & do a search of some kind.

But I also have created two list fields:

Category

Subcategory

So for example,

category might be house

subcategory might be service or construction, etc

You could also substitute the category list with TLI like House, Personal etc.

Then you could focus on one of those TLI & create a tagged list which you then turn into sub-items of the TLI

or you could use Wikitags to categorize your items.

I do this every once in a while when I have time.

HTH

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

Wow Jan... you're really getting good at IQ. Congrats

Sounded good, huh? Maybe I was taking dictation from someone who knows something.

My Bouviers are very smart.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

Thanks a lot Jan

even though I've been using IQ a long time I use it in very limited ways mostly - I'm a low-key user really !

The category and sub-category idea is interesting, and I tend to forget about the other tagging for moving stuff ..

Just thinking out loud here:

Me, I think I will eventually use tags (wiki) for this stuff (notes about various topics, many overlapping), but I also like a certain amount of hierarchical organisation (one level anyway)

then,

I can see my group of notes related to topic "X" underneath item X and that I can see an overlapping group of notes about topic "Y" under item Y (using multiple parents)

This may not be ideal in the long run but gives me a chance to figure things out as I go along - in terms of structure or tagging or both

Also, it does not pre-clude the use of wiki as the tagging is only temporary until you get things in order, i.e. you have to clear the list (there is no way to save it) between groups. I imagine you could wiki an item from Topic "X" & a seemingly disparate item from Topix "Y", likewise for "Z" and then you could pull them all together via a wiki view.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-1

I've got my inbox out of control once more. What I came up with today is to set up this way: the inbox in tab group, and open up several of my grids in the other tab group. Then I've been drag-dropping from the

inbox over to the appropriate grid. It seems to work pretty well so far.

Hi KeithB.

I hope I'm not misunderstanding your dilemma

By design I don't think you should worry about your overflowing Inbox as it's just a great big bucket. IQ will sort it out for you.

What you have set up will work but it seems to me you are doing a lot of work for what IQ should be doing for you on an automatic basis.

This is what I've done

First step was to create a # of grids with different filters.

I usually create forms for those grids which require regular usage, Ex: Contacts, GTD, Appts, Email

Each grid contains certain fields / columns -- Ex: pending, priority, follow up, Due date

How you filter for the appropriate data for each grid depends on your style, i.e. could be source and / or filters.

As I described before, my 'Inbox' and 'Journal' view are one & the same (i.e. I've assigned inbox to the journal view) so if all else fails I know my data is there.

My Journal / Inbox view is filtered by date so I don't get overwhelmed looking @ massive amounts of data.

Sometimes I only look @ a week's worth or a month's worth or even a day's worth of data.

But as I clip data I add one (or more) field assignments to the data in clipping dialog.

This automatically places the item in another grid, i.e. any grid that filters or is sourced for that field.

Ideally this means that there is no item in my Journal / Inbox that isn't already assigned to another grid from the beginning.

Are there a few stray items? Sure, but who cares? IQ can find them via advanced / quick search @ a moment's notice

Alternatively, when I find them I can assign fields to them via the fields pane so they appear in the proper grids

If you have specific questions about something I'm doing, pls ask & I'll do my best to explain.

HTH

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

I used to work like you, Jan, but I found it more effective to not have everything marked "inbox". I actually only have a few things in my my inbox (which means : unsorted stuff), if I do my weekly review appropriately.

To do that I just have , for each relevant source / field (usually Boolean fields corresponding to specific grids), an autoassign rule which goes like :

A:inbox=

1- I open the inbox grid, leave the properties pane open

2- use a form in which I have all my important fields grouped, or... I just type the first few letter of a field to get to it (search as you type -- this is usually what I do as it's almost as quick and I'm too lazy to open my form which is never up to date ;) ),

3- and just hit space bar to check the field ... And if the field was displayed in the inbox (because it had the inbox field = true (checked)), it will disappear on the next refresh because of the auto-assign rule above mentioned.

I also have a few relevant columns in the inbox grid to assign due dates, project names, etc.

I sometimes work like Keith when I do need to move items as children, etc. which is not possible using only the properties pane and forms.

That's it... Well, I left a few unimportant details about coloring, etc.

And usually I know where something is going from the start : I assign the right field from the "Add item" dialog and it never gets into the inbox... I know this is NOT pure GTD, but it helps not having an "out of control" inbox. I prefer to see many not well defined tasks in my task list (easy to recognize as they don't all have their parameters set right) and not forget that they exist, than have them buried in the inbox until the weekly review... :)

I can give more details about how I organize info (in general) if you want.

[quote=Armando]

To do that I just have , for each relevant source / field (usually Boolean fields corresponding to specific grids), an autoassign rule which goes like :

A:inbox=

1- I open the inbox grid, leave the properties pane open

I'm not sure I understand this but I'll play around & see if I can catch up. I think -- on the whole -- you are a much more sophisticated IQ user than I am. I may be wasting energy the way I do it but it doesn't feel like it. However, I'm always open to new / more clever ways of storing / sorting data because I'm a real pack rat.

Thanks

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

It's probably because I didn't explain it properly.

Basically, I just set my different grid source fields (field properties dialog) so that in their auto assignment rule section there is :

A:inbox=

What that does is that when one of these source field is ticked, it'll remove the the data from the inbox field and so the item won't be displayed in the inbox grid anymore.

I.e : the logic is : because the item has been read, treated, classified ("in" a field/source) , it doesn't belong to the inbox anymore.

=================

I usually organize my stuff in 5 categories corresponding to current preoccupations : references, tasks, projects, IQRequests, Software. But there are several others, of course.

A- Sometimes I organize right from the add item dialog :

win-n -->

1- I write the item text

2- alt-w : I enter a few tags/categories (I have my own system for that, which prevents me from creating to many Boolean fields)

3- alt-d : I enter a due date if it's a task

4- alt-f : I enter the Boolean fields I want to assign to the item. (F2 shows the drop down menu. I then use the search as you type feature and press space bar everytime I want to check a field. I also sometimes just type them in the text box -- coma separated.)

B-Sometimes I don't organize anything from the add item dialog and just send everything to the inbox...

================

What i put in the WikiTag field follows a pretty rigorous systems. I think I explained it at some point -- But I might have used the "category " term and not wikitag

Thanks everybody for the ideas.

I now work similarly, but I wanted to finally give my database a good cleaning--it has a lot of junk, such as duplicates, hundreds of items without any grids assigned, etc. Once it's "clean" it should be easy to keep it clean.

[quote=Armando]

It's probably because I didn't explain it properly.

Basically, I just set my different grid source fields (field properties dialog) so that in their auto assignment rule section there is :

A:inbox=

What that does is that when one of these source field is ticked, it'll remove the the data from the inbox field and so the item won't be displayed in the inbox grid anymore.

I.e : the logic is : because the item has been read, treated, classified ("in" a field/source) , it doesn't belong to the inbox anymore. [snip] [/quote]

Thanks for explaining, Armando. I see the logic of your approach. It seems that your view of the 'inbox' starts from a different place than I do.

For me, the Inbox is a big barrel thru which everything is filtered.

When I worked w Zoot & smart folders, all assigned items would be moved out of inbox like what you describe but for some reason since I started working w IQ, my concept for the inbox changed & I don't care how many items it contains as i rarely refer it except in the case that all else fails -- hard to do in IQ :)

I'll have to re-think to see if there is an advantage to having a clean electronic inbox as there is w a paper inbox. At the moment, in IQ, I think I have the best of both worlds -- an inbox that contains the sum total of my activities in one place + the ability to see all that data in more refined views / grids...... the magic of IQ.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

[quote=jan_rifkinson]
I'll have to re-think to see if there is an advantage to having a clean electronic inbox as there is w a paper inbox. At the moment, in IQ, I think I have the best of both worlds -- an inbox that contains the sum total of my activities in one place + the ability to see all that data in more refined views / grids...... the magic of IQ.

[/quote]

The thing is, all items can always be seen in any grid without a source/filter, so using an "inbox" grid to view all items seems a bit unnecessary to me (ie : items don,t need to have any special field assignation to all appear in a single grid). Actually the journal grid could serve this purpose. I have a grid which I created for that ("All"), when Pierre didn't include a Journal grid in the default config. And before that -- and even now, sometimes -- I just used the scratch grid.

So, IMO, an inbox grid, to serve auseful GTD like purpose, shouldn't by default display all items.

[quote=Armando][snip]

Actually, Armando, in my case I assigned the inbox function to my journal grid.

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

Hi Jan, Keith,

[I wrote this before Armando made last two posts - hi Armando!]

Jan,

I have a couple of minor queries/comments:

1) Why do you bother adding new stuff to the inbox grid if you've already assigned it another grid ? (I can think of reasons but always good to hear how others work)

2) it sounds like you do this with all new items - I used to do it with only some items, the problem there being that I would forget about it and the next 10 items would have the same grid wrongly assigned (I must ask Pierre to change that behaviour).

Recently,

I've been trying to use a key word at the start of the item field - e.g. I recently upgraded to Directory Opus 9 (file manager)

That involved a bit of research, a few bug reports etc.

So I started all the related clippings/new-items with DOpus

Then I started adding more specific info e.g.

DOpus - Req - [Request]

DOpus - Bug -

DOpus - Ref - [Reference]

If you sort by item you have instantly grouped items which can be easily selected, moved, have fields assigned etc.

I considered adding the main grid name that would need to be assigned (Software in above example) e.g.

Soft - DOpus - Request -

but one would then have to do that for all items in that grid & it seems to much . .

[quote=Tom] [snip] 1) Why do you bother adding new stuff to the inbox grid if you've already assigned it another grid ? [/snip] [/quote]

In the event I do what you suggested in #2 & mis-assign / lose them, I always know where I can find them. Also in the event I erase from a grid & then want it back. Also should I want to review my activities for a given day I can filter for that.

[quote=Tom] [snip]2) it sounds like you do this with all new items - I used to do it with only some items, the problem there being that I would forget about it and the next 10 items would have the same grid wrongly assigned [snip] [/quote]

I do this w every item as I have found that despite the best dB's, it's good develop some mimimal discipline in how one enters data.

Sometimes I do as you suggest & add a note @ the head of an item as you suggest. Mine look like this

IQ Tip ->

But it's not often I worry about this sort of detail.

I used to use Directory Opus but found it to be a howitzer when all I really needed was a fly swatter. Maybe I didn't invest the time altho I did pay for a couple of licenses

However, as for using Directory Opus w IQ data -- which I inferred from your post -- doesn't that sort of belong in the dept of redundancy dept? i.e. IQ fast / advanced search should be sufficient for IQ data

Jan Rifkinson

Ridgefield CT USA

HP Blackbird Vista Ultimate SP-2

Jan, clarification:

Dopus was just an example - it was the subject of many new IQ items while trying to figure the beggar out

[quote=Tom]hi Armando!][/quote]

Hi Tom :)