Inbox Feature (Set for all unlinked objects)

Feature Requests
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1

WHAT DO YOU RECOMMEND

I would like to have a place to overview all unlinked objects/pages

HOW COULD IT BE DONE

New type INBOX could be provided (Maybe as a Widget?)

REAL WORLD USE CASES

When I create a quick note, I would like to have a kind of INBOX place where I could find all unlinked pages/object which I could review and link to proper set

RECOMMENDED ALTERNATIVES

Another option is to provide ability to create a Set with objects not linked to any other Set

ADDITIONAL CONTEXT

2

I love this idea. I purposefully have unlinked objects, but it would be nice to have them all in once place too, since there is a reason they are unlinked and that, in and of itself, is a property that is important to know.

3

I also need this! I’m wondering what you see as the scope for such an inbox set (for stuff that is not linked elsewhere) as there are several ways to link Objects:

  1. Objects display in a Set, these are NOT linked to another Object in the Graph unless linked in one of these two ways:
  2. Link by Relation, which I believe only links Objects in the Graph if you have selected one Object in the Relation of Type Object in another Objects. I think this requires an example: I have an Object of Type “Human” called “Person 1”. On the page of that Object I add a Relation of Type “Object” called “Sister” and there I select Object of Type “Human” called “Person 2”. Now Person 1 is linked to Person 2 in the Graph with a label “Sister”. (off topic: these Relations are directional, so Person 2 is NOT linked as “Sister” to Person 1 in this example). Linked by Relation in Graph:
    image
  3. Linked by “Link to”: you open an Object and use the / slash menu option “Link to” to link the opened Object to another Object. Linked by “Link to” in the Graph:
    image

I would assume you are interested in all three cases and all three show up as orphans in the Graph, but if you create a Set, those Objects can potentially still be orphans in the Graph if they are not linked using option 2 or 3.

To complicate things further if you are indeed interested in Objects that are not part of any Set: would you count items that should be visible in a Set based on its Object Type or Relations, but are not visible because there is no view that displays them (due to filters) as unlinked Object? :thinking:

4

Firstly, I wouldn’t call this Inbox since this doesn’t really sound like an inbox for me, especially because inboxes are usually supposed to be emptied, and for a lot of objects I just don’t want to link to anything.

Secondly, the way this could be implemented is to add a new system relation which could list all backlinks for that object. The same thing could be done with forward links. That way, users could just create a set and filter these two relations by empty to find all the object that are not linked to anything.

5

All 3 presumably. If it shows up in the flow menu (or the graph), it should show up here.

6

While most people associate an inbox with email, many PKMs have an inbox that is used to collect information before it is processed. One example of this system is GTD (Get things done).

3 Likes
7

+1 for this. I think there’s value to an Inbox function (new FR), but this is something else. Call it Unlinked Items (or Objects, if preferred), but to Inbox

1 Like
8

I think Anytype already coined the term “orphaned Objects” as they don’t have any Relations or Object links that links them to any other Object in the graph.

1 Like
9

That works. Just not “Inbox”

10

I’ve also been looking for this feature.

A way to make a set from a unlinked.

The alternate option, possibly simpler, have an unlinked only option as a switch in the graph. Though, I think creating a set would be easier to manage, giving the ability to sort and filter by tags, etc.

After importing files, I was left with the task of sorting out MANY unlinked items. The only way I found was by searching the graph… Not ideal.

11

We are cooking a big update on so called inbox feature. We will share our ideas and roadmap with community within a couple of months :smiling_imp:

7 Likes
12

Looking forward to hearing more the team’s plans!

A few things that I’m looking for in an Inbox:

  • a quick “new object” button to create a new object directly from the inbox and sidebar widget (though in an ideal world we’d also be able to add a “new object” button to any set or collection widget)
  • the same flexibility to organize objects in the inbox as we have in Collections (custom relations, views, etc).
  • the ability to quickly select type and template when creating a new object from the Inbox
  • the ability to automatically see in the Inbox all unlinked/orphaned objects in the space
1 Like
13

One more thing, not sure if this is outside of the scope of the feature: it would be great to be able to quickly move an object that has already been organized into our space back to the inbox (because it needs work or needs to be reorganized)