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

[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.