“Focus on Tag” feature (workspace-like workflow)

[matteo]

Hello folks!

Workspaces are one of the most requested features in Bear; the ability to separate notes into distinct environments, like keeping work and personal notes separated.

We’ve thought carefully about how to approach this. Rather than building a traditional workspaces system, we’re exploring an idea that solves the same need while staying true to how Bear already works. We’re calling it Focus on Tag.

Many of you already organize notes with top-level tags like:

#work
#work/projectA
#work/projectB
#personal
#personal/health
#personal/travel

With Focus on Tag, Bear would scope the entire experience to one of those tags. For example, focusing on #work would:

• Show only notes tagged #work (and its subtags)
• Limit search and other features to that subset
• Replace the sidebar with only #work and its subtags
• Make Bear feel like a dedicated workspace for that context
• Avoid exposing personal notes or titles when working in a coffee shop, at the office, or sharing your screen

The goal is a workspace-like experience without new structures or complexity, relying entirely on the tag system you’re already using.

Unlike traditional workspaces, Focus on Tag is completely ad-hoc. You don’t need to decide upfront what counts as a workspace, you already have. Depending on the moment, you can work across all your notes, focus on #work, or narrow all the way down to #work/projectA when meeting with a specific client, without risking exposing notes from other projects. And since it builds on tags rather than separate containers, a note tagged #work and #personal will naturally appear in both focuses; something traditional workspaces can’t do!

One thing we’d need to get right is making the focused state obvious, so you never wonder “where did my notes go?”. We have some ideas, but we’re curious what would feel clear to you.

Before we go further, a few things we’d love to know:

1. Does limiting search to the focused tag work for you, or do you often need to also search across everything?
2. How often do you switch between contexts; many times a day, or do you mostly stay in one?
3. Is there something important you think this approach would miss?

This is an early exploration, and what you tell us will directly shape whether and how we build it. Thanks for taking the time, your input on features like this genuinely makes a difference.

[bolive]

At first glance this seems like a really good idea. It seems to address the workspace issue while keeping Bear working as it does now. Seems like a tag filter system?

• When in this mode I am assuming (and hoping) the tag structure would be maintained. Not how Archive is done with a big list.
• Addressing one of your questions is to how to switch between the “workspaces”. It would seem a good location would be just below the Trash folder. A separated space between the top area and the tag list. Something easy to just click/select to quickly see these views.
• Also, how about removing the current Archive and including it in a “built in” workspace? The Archive is similar to workspace and could achieve the same result. The only reason I do t use the Archive is the tag structure is gone.

[JTMG]

same for me with the archive. I use an extra tag called “archive” to keep my exisiting structure even when archived. So I can use the PARA-System better

[mlw]

Hmmm,

I don’t like this ideia.

Tags are different than folders not only in the sense that each note can be in more than one tag, but that they allow unions.

So I work with multiple hierarchies at the same time.

EG
work→project
personal→project
type→person.

All tags about people, regardless if it’s a work person or a personal person get the same type tag, avoiding tag multiplication. So a note about a person related to a work project would get tagged as #work/projectA #type/person. If this person is related to work AND personal, it would also be tagged with the appropriate personal project tag ie #personal/projectB. Three tags in total.

I dont have to create #work/projectA and work/type/person and personal/type/person. This avoids tag multiplication in creation (ie the number of tags needed) and in use (the number of tags I need to apply to each note). In my example, I would have to tag the person note with `#work/projectA` `#work/type/person` `#personal/projectB` `#personal/type/person` to have the same effect.

The proposed solution would not be compatible with this basic tag architecture, unless the sidebar showed all tags in outside hierarchies that are currently applied to notes that have the filtered tag (there have been some feature requests for this over time). IE if focused on work, it would also show the type/person tag if any note tagged work also had this tag applied to it.

This can get worse if we also think about topic tags. Suppose I work professionally with the law, but that I also have a side hustle in the same field. Do I have to create duplicate hierarchies beneath work and side-hustle and tag each note with these parallel taxonomies? The alternative is that if I try to focus on work, I loose all the topical tags.

[trix180]

If I understand your example correctly I wonder if any type of workspace/notebook not including all your 3 root tags can work.

[mlw]

Thinking about it, I think you are right.

Except if the filtered sidebar includes tags used in notes tagged with the focused workspace/tag, I don’t see a solution.

This is kinda inherent in the workspace feature. In other apps the implementation is even greater, as one workspace has no idea about the notes in the others. In everyone of them I would have different tag taxonomies in each space.

In DEVONthink, different databases know of the others tags, but just to allow the autocomplete. If I change a tag in DB.A it doesn’t change the corresponding tag in DB.B.

So in second thought, if showing the tags of other hierarchies is not something the devs want to implement, the suggested implementation is fine. In fact it’s better then in most other apps.

[Angel101]

I like this more than the idea of workspaces. My use case is as a student, then work and personal secondary so the ability to zoom in on my CIS tag vs zooming in on my MGMT tag sounds like something I would use. The search everything vs search this tag aspect I am unsure as I think I’d prefer search across all or maybe the ability to use a modifier or specific search term to limit scope to tag vs universal search in that case.

[krssno]

To be honest, I have to say that I am disappointed with this implementation. I would appreciate the feature itself within a workspace because it would allow me to filter my tag structure according to specific criteria. For example in a recipe collection I could focus on a tag such as #recipe/Italian and other areas of the tag structure (#ingredients/… would only display matching entries. It’s a wonderful feature in itself. But it has nothing to do with workspaces!

@matteo

Many of you already organize notes with top-level tags like:

#work
#work/projectA
#work/projectB
#personal
#personal/health
#personal/travel

If you organise with top-level tags, it is because there is no organisation with the help of workspaces. The very first reason for an appropriate implementation of workspaces that is worthy of the name is that you are not forced to use top-level tags and thus longer tags (deeper hierarchy). The second and equally important reason is that workspaces are NOT ONLY used to separate notes that belong to different areas. The crucial point is that different areas require DIFFERENT tag systems: in one area a PARA system may be appropriate, in another perhaps Johny Decimal and for recipes something simpler. Without focusing on a tag you end up with a wild jumble of individual substructures of various tag concepts. The absurd thing is that a feature is supposed to fix a mess that could only arise because no sensible workspaces are available.

@matteo

The goal is a workspace-like experience without new structures or complexity, relying entirely on the tag system you’re already using

From what I remember of various posts by many users, I can say that there are many workarounds: some use top-level tags out of conviction, but others do so because they have no other choice. Still others simply use multiple apps. I don’t know what is supposed to be more complex about workspaces that can be selected via a drop-down menu than the proposed implementation of focusing on a tag. On the contrary you are now forced to make sure you set a top-level tag for every note. And that’s for me the greatest bummer.

@matteo

You don’t need to decide upfront what counts as a workspace, you already have. Depending on the moment, you can work across all your notes, focus on #work, or narrow all the way down to #work/projectA when meeting with a specific client, without risking exposing notes from other projects. And since it builds on tags rather than separate containers, a note tagged #work and #personal will naturally appear in both focuses; something traditional workspaces can’t do!

As I said, the feature in itself is great. Every single point in the praise of this feature is completely convincing and I’m already eager to get my hands on it. Filtering my tag tree based on a specific tag was one of my first major requests by the way. Only I suggested a much less elegant implementation: I seriously suggested displaying a tag structure for the notes in the notes list via the search function. Focus on tag is clearly the better implementation.

In summary: bring on the feature, but I fear that the demands for workspaces will not end there. For me it means having one more great feature in Bear in the future and with Panda an app that offers real workspaces.

@matteo

• Does limiting search to the focused tag work for you, or do you often need to also search across everything?
• How often do you switch between contexts; many times a day, or do you mostly stay in one?
• Is there something important you think this approach would miss?

To answer the questions: If focused on a tag I would expect a limited search; I would switch often a day; don’t mean to sound passive aggressive, but I would say workspaces are missing

[krssno]

@matteo

Replace the sidebar with only #work and its subtags

For my understanding: Other tags are also displayed in the left sidebar if they are contained in the same notes that also contain the focused tag?

@mlw

Except if the filtered sidebar includes tags used in notes tagged with the focused workspace/tag, I don’t see a solution.

Do you mean you don’t want to see those tags? If so, I don’t understand why as that would be senseless to me?

[Raph]

I like this idea a lot, and I would be willing to reorganize my tagging structure around this. However, I also wonder if it would be better to allow the user to have multiple active focus tags, or perhaps even “ignore” tags.

For instance, an “ignore” focus might be something like: -#work -#people/colleagues. And an “include” focus might be something like #personal #people. Or maybe even mix the two: -#work -#people/colleagues #personal #people.

[matteo]

@bolive

At first glance this seems like a really good idea. It seems to address the workspace issue while keeping Bear working as it does now. Seems like a tag filter system?

Yes! It scopes the whole app starting from a tag.

@bolive

When in this mode I am assuming (and hoping) the tag structure would be maintained. Not how Archive is done with a big list.

Correct!

@bolive

Also, how about removing the current Archive and including it in a “built in” workspace? The Archive is similar to workspace and could achieve the same result. The only reason I do t use the Archive is the tag structure is gone.

The archive is meant for notes you want to keep around but not see every day. Tags are hidden here by design. If you need to look for a note using tags/search, it’s probably better off outside the archive.

[matteo]

@mlw

The proposed solution would not be compatible with this basic tag architecture, unless the sidebar showed all tags in outside hierarchies that are currently applied to notes that have the filtered tag (there have been some feature requests for this over time). IE if focused on work, it would also show the type/person tag if any note tagged work also had this tag applied to it.

This can get worse if we also think about topic tags. Suppose I work professionally with the law, but that I also have a side hustle in the same field. Do I have to create duplicate hierarchies beneath work and side-hustle and tag each note with these parallel taxonomies? The alternative is that if I try to focus on work, I loose all the topical tags.

This is a great point and something we’ve been debating internally since day one (debating is a generous word, let’s say passionately disagreeing ).

We’re trying to strike a balance between keeping the feature simple and making it genuinely useful, which means figuring out which trade-offs we can live with.

The core use case we keep coming back to is straightforward: hiding notes depending on context: #work vs #personal. And for that, having tags from outside the focused hierarchy “bleed through” might actually feel unexpected or even counterproductive, even if it makes the feature more powerful on paper.

Which is exactly why we’re asking for your input, these are the kinds of decisions that are much easier to get right with real feedback from real users.

[GenuineSalad]

This would also be similar to being able to “save searches / queries“ and use them as a starting point for searches – which is exactly what I’d love to see implemented :))

[krssno]

@matteo

The core use case we keep coming back to is straightforward: hiding notes depending on context: #work vs #personal. And for that, having tags from outside the focused hierarchy “bleed through” might actually feel unexpected or even counterproductive, even if it makes the feature more powerful on paper.

I am not sure what is meant with „outside the hierarchy“. Do you mind explaining what it is about?

[matteo]

@krssno

It’s a wonderful feature in itself. But it has nothing to do with workspaces!

You’re right, and that’s intentional, we’re trying to approximate the most common workspace use case using the tools Bear already has.

@krssno

The crucial point is that different areas require DIFFERENT tag systems: in one area a PARA system may be appropriate, in another perhaps Johny Decimal and for recipes something simpler. Without focusing on a tag you end up with a wild jumble of individual substructures of various tag concepts. The absurd thing is that a feature is supposed to fix a mess that could only arise because no sensible workspaces are available.

This is a valid need, but it’s not something we’re trying to solve here and honestly, it’s not a direction Bear is heading in. What we’re focused on is much more specific: giving you a way to scope your working set of notes so you can hide what’s not relevant to the current moment. Different tag systems per context is a fundamentally different problem, and one that would require a fundamentally different solution.

@krssno

On the contrary you are now forced to make sure you set a top-level tag for every note. And that’s for me the greatest bummer.

I’m sorry that’s bumming you out, but tags are fundamental to how Bear works, and we do encourage users to tag their notes. If anything, we’d see this as a nudge in that direction rather than a constraint.

@krssno

To answer the questions: If focused on a tag I would expect a limited search; I would switch often a day; don’t mean to sound passive aggressive, but I would say workspaces are missing

Traditional workspaces have the same limitation. If you want to search across everything, you’d need to exit the workspace too. So in that sense, Focus on Tag isn’t really losing anything compared to what you’re asking for.

Thank you for taking the time to share such detailed and thoughtful feedback, this kind of conversation is exactly what helps us build better features.

[matteo]

@krssno

For my understanding: Other tags are also displayed in the left sidebar if they are contained in the same notes that also contain the focused tag?

“Focus on Tag” feature (workspace-like workflow)

This is a great point and something we’ve been debating internally since day one (debating is a generous word, let’s say passionately disagreeing ). We’re trying to strike a balance between keeping the feature simple and making it genuinely useful, which means figuring out which trade-offs we can live with. The core use case we keep coming back to is straightforward: hiding notes depending on context: #work vs #personal. And for that, having tags from outside …

[matteo]

@Raph

For instance, an “ignore” focus might be something like: -#work -#people/colleagues. And an “include” focus might be something like #personal #people. Or maybe even mix the two: -#work -#people/colleagues #personal #people.

This is a great idea, but it sounds more like saved searches than Focus on Tag, and the good news is the two could coexist nicely. They’re solving slightly different problems, and we wouldn’t want to conflate them into one feature that tries to do too much.

[matteo]

@krssno

I am not sure what is meant with „outside the hierarchy“. Do you mind explaining what it is about?

By “hierarchy” we mean the nested structure of a tag. So if you focus on #work , the sidebar would only show #work and its children: #work/projectA , #work/projectB , and so on. Anything outside of that tree, like #personal or #recipes , would be hidden while you’re in focus.

[PowerNap]

First, I’d like to express my respect and admiration to the Bear Team for your thoughtful and creative approach to this idea! I genuinely appreciate outside-the-box perspectives and have a lot of respect for the value you place on the user experience.

Regarding:

@matteo

@krssno

On the contrary you are now forced to make sure you set a top-level tag for every note. And that’s for me the greatest bummer.

I’m sorry that’s bumming you out, but tags are fundamental to how Bear works, and we do encourage users to tag their notes. If anything, we’d see this as a nudge in that direction rather than a constraint.

Serious question: At what point do nested tags just effectively become folders, but more-cumbersome? I feel like a lot of the ad-hoc value of using tags gets diminished the more I’m encouraged to use nested tags.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad we have them. But the more I use nested tags to create an organizational structure for my notes, the less incentive I feel to use ad-hoc tags in-line, since doing so messes up my “system” in the sidebar.

This is where proper workspaces might add value.

Case in point: Having a separate “Journal” workspace could allow me to capture more-freely with in-line tags, such as the names of people in my life, without the fear of the sidebar in my “Main” workspace filling up with “Brian”, “Cindy”, “Mark”, etc.