Notes improvement

I had really high hopes that the notes section would finally have an update in this latest version. I would like an organizational structure within notes itself, not in favorites. For instance, I would like to have all my notes for Romans in one folder with a subfolder for each chapter. I would also like to be able to organize within a notebook, similar to what I can do in passage list. I would like to have the anchored items in a note and then drag them up or down to prioritize the anchors for that note. It would also be nice to be able to add heading above or below the anchors like we have the option to do in the passage list. Additionally, being able to move the anchor from one note to another would be amazing, if we decide to restructure the particular notes it is under.

There is so much potential for the notes section of Logos Bible Software and I really hope someone is listening and improvements will be made. I looked at the roadmap site and there are suggestions for these things going back years with several in agreement that this needs to happen. The whole idea being stated for subscription based model is for these type of improvements and updates to be an option, so let's get it going please.

If there are any of the developers who want to talk this through I am more than willing to do that.

Thanks!

Justin Walker

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Justin Gatlin

Hi Justin,

I'm not a developer, just another user named Justin, but I do have some workarounds for some of your frustrations that might improve your quality of life while you wait.

I had really high hopes that the notes section would finally have an update in this latest version. I would like an organizational structure within notes itself, not in favorites. For instance, I would like to have all my notes for Romans in one folder with a subfolder for each chapter.

Tags and subfolders are functionally interchangeable. Highlight all of your Romans notes and tag them as Romans, tag all of your Romans 1 notes as "Romans 1" etc, and then you can click through the tags in filters like you would for subfolders. In practice, there is no difference between this and subfolders except that you can skip immediately to a lower level.

[quote]

I would also like to be able to organize within a notebook, similar to what I can do in passage list.

This isn't really possible, but you can create an "Index" notebook and make notes that are just full of links to other notes, so that then you can sort them and add headings to your heart's content. It would be nice if it were possible, but the current setup sorts by creation date or reference, and there are some weird UI things to consider. If I am sorting by creation date and try to drag and drop, I don't want to overwrite my existing custom order, and I don't want to lose the ability to sort easily by date later. Here is a made-up example of how to fake it

[quote]I would like to have the anchored items in a note and then drag them up or down to prioritize the anchors for that note. It would also be nice to be able to add heading above or below the anchors like we have the option to do in the passage list. Additionally, being able to move the anchor from one note to another would be amazing, if we decide to restructure the particular notes it is under.

I have never wanted to rearrange my anchors, but it does seem like a common-sense feature.

It does seem like maybe part of your frustration is that you are using anchors in a way that is a little unusual. In the example that you provided, I think Logos intends for you to make your anchor Romans 1:10, and then to copy and paste those references into the note itself. They will not be anchors, but will be part of the note, including hyperlinks to the original source. Then you can arrange those within the note document however you want, with whatever headings you want. You can move those from note to note by copying and pasting as normal. The note will show up in commentaries that are tagged for that verse, so I don't really see the advantage to making a bunch of lengthy anchors.

Justin Walker

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1321638#Comment_1321638

Hey Justin, thanks for the detailed reply.

It does seem like maybe part of your frustration is that you are using anchors in a way that is a little unusual. In the example that you provided, I think Logos intends for you to make your anchor Romans 1:10, and then to copy and paste those references into the note itself. They will not be anchors, but will be part of the note, including hyperlinks to the original source. Then you can arrange those within the note document however you want, with whatever headings you want. You can move those from note to note by copying and pasting as normal. The note will show up in commentaries that are tagged for that verse, so I don't really see the advantage to making a bunch of lengthy anchors.

Maybe I am using the notes in a way that wasn't intended, but in the way that makes sense to me. I may try and give it a shot anchoring the text of scripture, It is just the reverse of the way my brain has thought things through. I have been using the section you would copy into for my writing based on scripture and research so it keeps it separate from the work and thoughts of others.

Tags and subfolders are functionally interchangeable. Highlight all of your Romans notes and tag them as Romans, tag all of your Romans 1 notes as "Romans 1" etc, and then you can click through the tags in filters like you would for subfolders. In practice, there is no difference between this and subfolders except that you can skip immediately to a lower level.

I have used tags but don't like the function of them. Maybe it is my age but my thought process is always folder and subfolders and that's what makes the most sense after years and years of doing things like that. All I see visually (in my mind) is a bunch of disorganized items floating out in the middle of nowhere and I have to then differentiate based on the tag rather than a folder with chapter and verse or verse range folder inside the book folder.

In summary I guess I have expectations that aren't intended but it appears based on the roadmap site there are many others that are wanting the same, regarding subfolders at least.

Thanks again for the reply.

Justin

Justin Gatlin

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1321682#Comment_1321682

I definitely understand and think your ideas are good. Just trying to give some ideas for the meantime.

I also use the note section for writing notes, and occasionally will anchor a single passage from another book. But I think that if you give it a try, you will find that the ability to paste in the commentary and then to write your thoughts, and then paste the next, etc., will work pretty well.

You might be able to simulate from folders a little better if you name your top folders things like 0-Romans, 0-Matthew, etc, so that when you look at tags you will see only your top hierarchy. Then call your subfolders 1-Romans 1, 1- Matthew 24, etc. For me, it is much easier to just type Romans 1 in the filter box and get all my Romans 1 notes, but at 32 I'm probably right on the directory/tag bubble.

xnman

https://community.logos.com/discussion/comment/1321682#Comment_1321682

I have used tags but don't like the function of them. Maybe it is my age but my thought process is always folder and subfolders and that's what makes the most sense after years and years of doing things like that. All I see visually (in my mind) is a bunch of disorganized items floating out in the middle of nowhere and I have to then differentiate based on the tag rather than a folder with chapter and verse or verse range folder inside the book folder.

In summary I guess I have expectations that aren't intended but it appears based on the roadmap site there are many others that are wanting the same, regarding subfolders at least.

Thanks again for the reply.

I have many Notes and I use the "tags" functions in Notes to help... When I want to see my Notes on a topic (i.e. Holy Spirit) I use Search with "mytag:Holy Spirit" and that gives me all those Notes. You could do, as was suggested, to have say "Romans1" or "Romans 1" as a tag on the Notes for Romans 1 and use Search in the same way, i.e. Search "mytag:Romans1" to list all your Notes you have in Romans chapter 1. I think this works pretty slick. It may be just a thing to get used to for you.

Edit: For the above to work... you have to Search Docs. It won't work in other fields. [8-|]