Adam J. Richman

Explain the problem as you see it

Is there a reason why I can't click and drag nodes between groupings? The groupings are essentially always just a field's option form the list? Why can't I drag nodes between groups to set the field in one go? Why do I have to open the nodes and select the field?

Was watching @Ev Chapman spend a few minutes on her timeblocking video making buttons to move nodes between groupings (great video as usual, btw) and was thinking to myself... "Wait, can't I just drag these?" — then tried myself on some related content that I have set to groups (not timeblocking, but rather project stage) and realized I couldn't. Feels like expected behavior.

Also, related to groups and dragging, highlighting this other Idea: https://ideas.tana.inc/posts/210-view-list-draggable-collapsable-group-headers

Why is this a problem for you?

Pain in the butt to change the status... I have to... open a node!? or... make a command button!?

Suggest a solution

Let me just drag and drop nodes between group headings and by doing so, update the node's field.

Explain the problem as you see it

The panels and docks are fine, but having a global TAB interface, like a browser, would be really useful. I could pin tabs to the top, jump to them via keyboard shortcut, and have multiple tabs within each panel or pane or dock (or whatever it's called) and really build an amazing multifaceted interface. Or, just keep things simple and use tabs-only for all navigation (so I could keep Tana in a nice thin window all day).

Also good would be to have a window switcher shortcut, similar to CMD+K or CMD+S that pop up a lil window, but something that pops me up to what is currently open in tabs. Like CMD+SHIFT+A in Brave, and whatever the Arc shortcut is that lets you jump to whatever open tab there is.

Why is this a problem for you?

The current window management within the app leaves a lot to be desired, and is quite clunky when you try to open more than one other thing at once. I'd like to have many things open, and be able to jump back and forth between them with ease.

Suggest a solution

Add tabs at the top as a way to view nodes. Allow us to have as many tabs as we want within each panel.

Explain the problem as you see it

There's no straightforward easy way to get data into Tana from someone who doesn't use Tana.

I want a link I can send to a potential client that is formatted beautifully (that I can customize) that allows them to fill in field data (matching a preconfigured supertag). There's no native way to simply send a form to someone and get data into Tana.

Why is this a problem for you?

We need this for client intake, among other use cases. We used to be able to, in basically one-click, convert a table in Airtable into a form and share it publicly, allowing one-way access to adding data. No way to do this in Tana.

Suggest a solution

Similar to Publish, we need a way to publish a supertag as a form that folks can fill out. We should be able to make multiple forms in different styles with different fields for each supertag, not just one. For some links, we may not need all the data, for others, we will definitely want that. But we don't want to make a bunch of supertags just to deal with hiding and showing public fields. And the descriptions for each field should be customizable and be different than what the fields' descriptions are within the editor interface. Again, fully customizable for the public forms. And then when we send it, they should populate directly into the supertag, and then we can run on-add commands and stuff to them to automate other processes.

Explain the problem as you see it

Currently, LINKS TO only supports deriving content from the first attached node in a Parent's fields. I need it to attach to ALL nodes that are listed within that field.

Why is this a problem for you?

Suggest a solution

Allow linking (perhaps via an option or toggle) to the contents of all attached nodes.

Explain the problem as you see it

Right now the only way to be able to sort a table view is by "Ascending" or "Descending" but I also want a way to sort it manually based on however I've ordered the nodes in that particular field's set of options.

Why is this a problem for you?

The sort function isn't useful to me at all for statuses without adding "1. ____" 2. ____" or purposefully using words that alpha-sort themselves. Coming from Airtable, where you can custom sort every field, it's a big issue with transitioning data into Tana that you'd expect to be able to sort one way or another. It's also especially frustrating with emojis (whose sort can often feel random).

Suggest a solution

Allow custom sorting based on the order the nodes are in, easily, and on a per-field level.

Explain the problem as you see it

I'd like to have a more emoji-focused series of Supertags and Fields so as to not take up as much visual space with text characters (which can clutter the screen). I already have a long-standing and pre-established system of emojis. Example: represents "Tasks" and all tasks gets that emoji applied. It's impossible to search for emojis quickly when filling applying a Tag (it requires pulling up Raycast and searching, which is inefficient), but it's easy to search for the word "Tasks."

Right now I have a hacky solution for this that involves CSS replacing supertag text with what's found in the description (a single emoji). It works well enough, but a native solution (especially also for Fields) would be ideal.

Why is this a problem for you?

Again a desire for a cleaner aesthetic that is more emoji/graphic/icon oriented than text oriented.

For fields especially, the way they're displayed makes it really challenging to use Tana in a "thin" window, often pushing the content of the fields underneath the name of the field. If instead the Field names were all emojis or icons, that first column could be quite thin, leaving more room for the Field's content. And while you currently can set Fields up with emojis, it then becomes very hard to search for and re-use them.

Suggest a solution

Add the following new top-level field (next to Name and Description) for all Tags and Fields: Emoji or Icon.

Emojis are preferred since they're universal, but it would also be nice to support other icon libraries like Font Awesome icons for folx that want a monochrome aesthetic. Separate the Emojis and Icons by source and then by category, allow the toggling on and off of different libraries, and include a search feature for this pop-up (that uses the same Emoji descriptions as found in Raycast, and the same Font Awesome descriptors as found on their website).

Thanks!

Explain the problem as you see it

Right now the Move To command is pretty useless. I can only move things to pre-defined nodes, which is altogether that useful as it requires a bunch of extra setup.

Why is this a problem for you?

I'm used to being able to Move To... a node anywhere in my graph (in Workflowy). The fact that I can't is a big disruption to my daily workflow. I like to jot a quick list of items down on my Daily node and the move to the future where I'll handle them later. In Workflowy, this is super straightforward and simple. I write them down, I choose the Move To... command and start typing the name of the node or parent node I want, then I navigate and drill-down to where I want it, hit enter, and keep moving. In Tana, I can't do this at all. I just get hit with a wall when I invoke the command.

Suggest a solution

Allow the ability to move nodes to anywhere in the graph with an inline navigator that pops up. Allow a Date Picker to appear when moving items to dated entries.

Explain the problem as you see it

To use Tana everyday, I would want it always visible on the left 1/3 of the screen with all other windows taking up the right 2/3. This is how I've used Workflowy for years. In Tana, random things will open up a horizontal sidebar when I'm not expecting it. For example, CMD+K > Go to Today. Or the Supertag edit area. This makes for a horrible viewing experience at the width that I keep Tana. Further, even if I mouse my way over and choose to dock above/below, it doesn't remember my preference and opens the next thing to the right again.

Why is this a problem for you?

It makes having more than one panel open at a time unusable and requires the mouse to interact and fix the problem.

Suggest a solution

Simply have an option to disable panels, or for vertical-only whereby all new panels are opened above or below the currently visible panel. And/or if a user clicks any panel to move it there, remember that setting globally going forward.

Explain the problem as you see it

Currently the Search Bar acts as a "Jump To" menu, not a true Search. I expect the Search Bar to Search and Filter my graph (based on where I am in the node structure) and show only nodes containing that text. Currently, it shows the most likely node I want to jump to, and allows me to hit enter to jump to that node. This is not Search, it is Jump To. There is no way to see a structured view of where information lives in the graph without creating a search node (and even then, you can't easily see the relationship hierarchy).

See example from Workflowy. The search bar filters the tree from the currently visible node:

The Jump To menu in Workflowy, accessible via CMD+K is more akin to how Tana's Search function curreCntly works. It filters the node list and allows me to jump it.

Why is this a problem for you?

Context is everything. I want to see the entire tree of where the text is living in my graph when I search for something. There's no way to do this in Tana right now. It means I can't have the same experience of being able to see/understand where ideas live in context in an easy way at a glance. And I can't quickly search down the tree I'm in to find a specific word or piece of context by filtering the view I'm in to show me only that thing. I have to rely on something like expanding every node and using the browser's built in Find command, which is clunky.

Suggest a solution

Move the current functionality of Search into the CMD+K menu as a "Jump To" command and allow a keyboard shortcut for it, ie: CMD+J. Add the functionality to dynamically filter the view of the graph to see where the search terms are in context.

Explain the problem as you see it

There's no way to get myself to a future or past date node easily with search. I can't search using natural language and have it find the dates, even if they exist. I have to know the day and the date together. I can't simply search for "Mon" and find all the Mondays, or "May 8" to find the May 8th node. In Workflowy, by comparison, I can use the jump menu to go to either — I can find all future Mondays, or I can find May 8 regardless of knowing whether it's a Monday or Tuesday or whatever.

Why is this a problem for you?

Being able to move around the calendar without friction is an essential part of using an outliner for me. It's something I do fluidly in Workflowy all day, and it seems impossible to do without 10x'ing the steps in Tana. ##

Suggest a solution

The @ menu allows for finding dates in great ways. I can search as expected. This, unfortunately, just generates a node that I have to click or arrow+enter into and then leaves a trail of unneeded node references that I have to go back and delete. Simply moving the same search criteria to the search menu and the CMD+K menu would be ideal.