Submitted by David_H on 2008/12/13 23:16
So far it seems that IQ can do just about anything Ecco could do and more (with the exception of calendar that is coming soon).  But the one thing not here yet is a pop-up window that allows multiple selections.  Yes, I know this could be accomplished in other ways, but none of them seem practical.  Is there a reason this is not out yet?  Is it (I hope) definitely coming?
 
BTW, I am using Pierre's teminology here.  In Ecoo it was a pop-up box in a column from which one could select one or more entries (depending on how it had been defined).  For example, it might pop up a list of 20 team members, and I could select 3 of them for the task.
 
Refer to this thread from the old forum for a more thorough discssion:
 
Thanks

Comments

I want this too. In a recent post, I asked how to see if one person was on more than one project. The only way to do it now is to drag and drop. This is a much better way to determine if a contract is on more than one project by simply selecting more than one project in the project field. Is this feature actually planned?

Armando

2008/12/14 14:02

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[quote] I want this too. In a recent post, I asked how to see if one person was on more than one project. The only way to do it now is to drag and drop. This is a much better way to determine if a contract is on more than one project by simply selecting more than one project in the project field. Is this feature actually planned?[/quote]
 
 
 What do you mean ? CTRL Drag drop an item  (drag drop would just "move" it) to a grid would only be useful to make that item meet the other grid's source. What it does is only that.
 
If you have an item appearing in the inbox field it's because its "inbox" field  is ticked, and so it's meeting the inbox grid which has the "inbox" field as its source/filter. No more, no less. (Of course, there could be other filters on/off -- but let's keep things simple for now).
 
Now, if you want to see to which project a person/item belongs to, it's another story. First of all : It all depends on how you structured your projects. IQ allow many ways. I.e : if your projects consist of item-parents with subitems-tasks-subprojects, you just need to look at the items parents in the properties pane, OR you could filter your grid for a particular item, and show the context parents, OR.... there are many other ways to see to which parents/projects your item belongs to. But if your projects and people are all defined by individual fields, or if projects all you have to do is to look at those fields.
 
Now, if you meant is "how to put one person in more than one project"... The easiest way is to wait for fields allowing multiple selections. Unless you do things a bit differently -- like I do : I manage projects with keywords put in the "project" field, and these keywords are taken care off with AHK, a scripting application/language.
 
 
[quote] pop-up window that allows multiple selections.
[/quote]
 
Yes, this is definitely coming. You can already see it in action in the add item window (assign to).

ericka

2008/12/14 20:15

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Yes! I want to put one person in more than one project. In my other "How do I?" post: http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/172
 
I asked about having more than one project (say multiple maintenance issues on more than one property) and having an address book of contractors, many of whom will have worked on more than one problem at more than one property. I.e., Joe the Plumber is a contact in my address book and he fixed a toilet in Bldg A Unit 1 and a sink faucet in Building C Unit 7. I did some exercises with drag & drop, and while this "works", it's not what I am looking for.
 
This is also why I asked my other post "Creating an appointment for a contact", so that I can follow up and make sure everything is working properly and make sure the plumber is paid.  When I look up Joe in the address book, I want to be able to see everything he worked on and when. I suppose I can create views for this. I want to be able to see when I called him, when he was paid, etc.  [I believe that if I create a new item under Joe the Plumber in the address book, I could tick appointment in the properties and set an appt. Also, click project in the properties and select a project. That way, I should be able to see the appt in the Appointment grid and see the appt in the Projects grid.]
 
But, additionally, when I look at a project, I want to be able to see who worked on what and also when.
Quote: CTRL Drag drop an item  (drag drop would just "move" it) to a grid would only be useful to make that item meet the other grid's source. What it does is only that.
This is what I mean by linked. (A bi-directional link? UR calls it a link. Zoot calls it shortcut.) The person is linked to the project and the project to the person and I know the person(s) on a project and the project(s) assigned to a person.
 
However, I understand what you are saying and perhaps the way to best do this is to explore more how I set up or manage projects. Do you have a screenshot you can post or email to me?
Quote: I manage projects with keywords put in the "project" field, and these keywords are taken care off with AHK, a scripting application/language.
Finally, you mention you use keywords, and then (I suppose) search on them. I think keywords (I am talking about tags, categories in Outlook) lend themselves to misspellings and have to be typed in everytime because there is no ability to select mutliple fields (yet).
 
What I really need is tagging - in a true sense. This was the very first question I posted in the forum because I thought wikitagging was tagging. [Clearly it's not and I still have no idea what it means, how to use it and what it is useful for. I know it's cumbersome to input because of the brackets, so whatever they are, I probably won't be using them ever. Unless they will be linked to the help file at some point in the future.]  Also, I want a master tag list that I am going to use for everything including files on my hard drive, my actual, physical file cabinet, books, etc. I want to keep it all in IQ and be able to find things that way. I want everything in my life to be organized, categorized, tagged or keyworded.
 
To put it more simply, I need a way to take random thoughts or items and relate them to each other. If I can't, then I have a program full of sticky notes instead of a box full of them. This is why I refuse to use Outlook, even at work. And the fact that I can not easily schedule/calendar items on in UR or Zoot kept me from fully adopting them, even though I think they are both high-quality programs. So, I need IQ to work the way I think and create some method to my madness! Pierre is insanely responsive and awesome. I realize you are the King Pin of advanced users. I am holding my breath that this will finally be a solution.
 
Sorry for the length, but this is fundamental for me. Ideas?
 

Armando

2008/12/15 01:07

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the combo box (used for taggin or project management, etc)  will help solving many of your problems. Let's hope it comes soon.
 
 
[quote]>Yes! I want to put one person in more than one project. In my other "How do I?" post: http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/172[/quote]
 
You can ctrl drag drop any item under any other item. So you can have people item in as many project as you want, and the reverse is also true.
 
 
[quote]> I asked about having more than one project (say multiple maintenance issues on more than one property) and having an address book of contractors, many of whom will have worked on more than one problem at more than one property. I.e., Joe the Plumber is a contact in my address book and he fixed a toilet in Bldg A Unit 1 and a sink faucet in Building C Unit 7. I did some exercises with drag & drop, and while this "works", it's not what I am looking for.[/quote]
 
Why is it not working ?
 
 
[quote]> This is also why I asked my other post "Creating an appointment for a contact", so that I can follow up and make sure everything is working properly and make sure the plumber is paid.  When I look up Joe in the address book, I want to be able to see everything he worked on and when. I suppose I can create views for this.[/quote]
 
I agree that all the filter business can be a bit hard to grasp.
But you could probably achieve  what you want just by using the right filters in a grid. And show whatever you want.
 
Let's say you have three fields : contacts, appointments, projects. And these fields have inheritance (in the field management window) set to ON. ( You could also have three different grids to view the items sharing these fields.) -- that would mean that all items in your project, contact, or appointment grid would share the same field. Not just the parents. (BTW, Pierre is working on a way to probably make this the default behavior... to be followed).
 
In your project grid (project as the source) you could filter (filter text box) for contacts (with filter applies to subitem  option ON) + a specific project tag (if you were using tags for projects).
That, of course, would work only if you have some contacts under some " project" parents.
 
ex :
source : project
filter :  contact AND (project like "my first project" OR project like "my second project")
 
You'd get to see all contacts involved in these specific projects.
The same process should work in most scenarios.
 
 
[quote]> I want to be able to see when I called him, when he was paid, etc.  [I believe that if I create a new item under Joe the Plumber in the address book, I could tick appointment in the properties and set an appt. Also, click project in the properties and select a project. That way, I should be able to see the appt in the Appointment grid and see the appt in the Projects grid.][/quote]
 
Same logic applies here. It all depends on how you set things. You still have to logically structure your info.
 
 
[quote]> But, additionally, when I look at a project, I want to be able to see who worked on what and also when.
> The person is linked to the project and the project to the person and I know the person(s) on a project and the project(s) assigned to a person.[/quote]
 
 
Hierarchical linking is asymmetrical, but bidirectional. So it should work. I actually use hierarchical linking for (almost) anything. Even for links that are not hierarchical (but this probably abusing the system a bit --- I might stop doing that when Pierre comes up with other type of bidrectional, heterarchical linking).
 
So... What I do is clone/copy" items  (ie : let's say I want to link that item with tht other one because they're loosely related in some ways) under related items using "ctrl drag drop". BUT I don't actually put them loossely there under any item. I always put linked items under items called tgsOln (a tag) -- I have a lot of tgsOln items : they only serve as identifiers to tell me that subitems under them are links.
 
I have a "link" field which, when  selected, it puts the tag "tgsOln" in the item field, and colors the item orange. So the creation of a tgsOln item is pretty automated. like I said : the tgsOln item serves as an identifier that all items that are under it are linked items (ie : they are not main items in the grid, just there because they are related). Hard to visualize, I'm sure.
 
So that it looks like that.
 
 
 
So you see : I always put true "links" under these tgsOln orange items.
 
tgsOln items creation is also pretty automated. They all share a field called "link".
In the link field this what I have in the Equations--> auto-Assigment rules (in the field management window):
 
A:itemcolor="orange" | A:item=AddKeyword(item, "tgsOln") | E:Item=RemoveKeyword(Item, "tgsOln") | E:itemcolor=
 
 
But, Again, Pierre is/was looking into other ways (pretty sophisticated) of linking. So, if you're patient and don't like hierarchies, maybe in a few months...
 
 
 
[quote]>Finally, you mention you use keywords, and then (I suppose) search on them. I think keywords (I am talking about tags, categories in Outlook) lend themselves to misspellings and have to be typed in everytime because there is no ability to select mutliple fields (yet). [...] Also, I want a master tag list that I am going to use for everything including files on my hard drive, my actual, physical file cabinet, books, etc. I want to keep it all in IQ and be able to find things that way. I want everything in my life to be organized, categorized, tagged or keyworded. [/quote]
 
I use autoHotkey to manage my keywords (But really, any software that has some auto-complete feature could do it.). I wrote a lloooong post about my technique in the other forum.  IMO selecting is longer than typing, especially when you only have to type a few characters and the rest autocompleted (that's what autohotkey does for me).
 
You say that you want a master tag list  that you're going to use for everything ? That'S exactly why I manage my tags in a separated application, but that can use everywhere... So, there you are.
 
 
[quote]> What I really need is tagging - in a true sense. This was the very first question I posted in the forum because I thought wikitagging was tagging. [Clearly it's not and I still have no idea what it means, how to use it and what it is useful for. I know it's cumbersome to input because of the brackets, so whatever they are, I probably won't be using them ever. Unless they will be linked to the help file at some point in the future.]  [/quote]
 
Like it was before : wiki tagging will be redesigned for easier use.
Tagging is also very much a buzzword IMO. InfoQube is actually based on tagging : grids filter info based on pieces of info (that  could be called... tags). Anything can be used for tagging : keywords, fields. I personally don't really need any other tagging feature.... BUT yes, the combo box would facilitate tagging in general, and that's why it's coming... :)

 
 
[quote]>To put it more simply, I need a way to take random thoughts or items and relate them to each other. If I can't, then I have a program full of sticky notes instead of a box full of them. This is why I refuse to use Outlook, even at work. And the fact that I can not easily schedule/calendar items on in UR or Zoot kept me from fully adopting them, even though I think they are both high-quality programs. So, I need IQ to work the way I think and create some method to my madness! [/quote]
 
 
You should already be able to put whatever info in InfoQube and find it : everything is there to allow one to find with great exactitude anything.
 
That said, I do agree though that the "quick search" window (ctrl-f), for instance,  could be more intuitive and responsive. ie : The search by keywords -- in the text box --  should be exactly like EverNote, x1, or other similar software with great searching features. I've asked this for a while, and I think it's VERY important. The most important thing in a database is to be able to find the info you put int there to be able to use it quickly.
 
Same thing for the "named" filter AND filter text box with history list. They would really make the whole filtering/searching/finding business much more quick and less frustrating....with a few other things (some that are a bit more technical), like the grid filters responsiveness and recurrences (because these could be used whether there's a calendar or not), I think that these should be top priority. They might not be top features, but they are essential ones for a better InfoQube experience. Of course, this only my opinion... But the same needs seem to be coming back over and over... Like the call for this tagging combo box... :)

Tom

2008/12/15 05:03

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Erica, you say:-
> I did some exercises with drag & drop, and while this "works", it's not what I am looking for
What had you in mind - how did you visualise tagging (you could have an influence on how it turns out here!)
 
I think it's good to get a good understanding of the programme how it works, how to set up projects
hmmm  How To Set Up Projects
may actually be the most important - challenging I find, mine have evolved more than being setup
 
It's possible you could add everything to the contacts grid (or something like a "Workers" grid containing the relevant contacts) in such a way that jobs will also show in say a "Buildings" Grid
This could be done with tagging but also by ticking the "Buildings" field for Joe's latest job - we still have to figure out a way to show which Unit it relates too
Maybe you (or others) have more ideas there?
 
or you could use a "Drop-down" field (like "Category" or "Project") and simply add the relevant building & unit there - A1 or B7 etc.
You could then filter a grid to show all work related to building A or biulding A, Unit 1 (someone else would have to explain that in more detail though ;-)

ericka

2008/12/16 02:02

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Hi Guys
 
Thanks so much for the advice and details! I have to take a look at this tomorrow and play around a bit. Will post back in a day or two.
 
Between this and my other post, I have to create several more examples.
 
 
I can not find much info on auto-assign but that is next after this and "Creating an Appointment".