Larger Discussion on Built in Object Types in Library

[sambouwer]

Hi all,

This post was inspired by Opinion after some months by @Rafael.

I hope I’m not the only one that thinks the number of Object Types that are predefined/built-in in Anytype is too high and that many Object Types don’t really make sense to have as a separate Object Type. I understand that it is a way to showcase all the features Anytype has to offer, but I feel it clutters Anytype more than it adds at this point.

I’ve no idea whether this is useful to anyone, but these are my two cents on the different Object Types. Feel free to add your own ideas on keeping or removing Object Types, or other comments you have.

Edit: oops, forgot to make this a wiki…

Object Type	Keep	Remove	@sambouwer
Action Plan	@sambouwer		Combine with “Daily Plan” and “Weekly Plan” into “Plan” with Templates to differentiate between different kind of plans (Action Plan, Daily Plan, Weekly Plan, Project Plan
Article	@sambouwer
Audio	@sambouwer		See remark on Files
Book	@sambouwer
Bug (Software)	@sambouwer		See remark on “Feature”. Could be generalized to “Issue” if it is not related to software
Class Note		@sambouwer	See remark on “Note”
Company	@sambouwer
Contact	@sambouwer
Daily Plan		@sambouwer	Combine with “Weekly Plan” and “Action Plan” into “Plan” and use Templates to differentiate
Daily Reflection	@sambouwer		Combine with “Diary Entry” into “Reflection” or “Thought” with Templates to differentiate between different kinds of thoughts (Reflection, Diary, Though)
Date	@sambouwer
Diary Entry		@sambouwer	See comment on “Daily Reflection”
Document		@sambouwer	Everything is a document, and we already have “Page” for anything that does not fit any other Object Type
Feature	@sambouwer		Should be “Feature (Software)” to stay in the style of “Bug (Software)”. Could be generalized into “Request” to also capture requests or questions from others that are not immediate tasks for you.
File	@sambouwer		Audio, Image, Video are also Files. Should this become “File (Other)”? Probably depends on file system integration
Goal	@sambouwer		See comment on “Habit Track”
Habit Track	@sambouwer		I have not made up my mind on how I would like to see these Object Types transition from one “stage” to the next: Idea > Goal > Plan > Task > Tracker. Should be renamed to “Habit Tracker”
Idea	@sambouwer		See comment on “Habit Track”
Image	@sambouwer		See remark on Files
Invoice	@sambouwer
Meeting Note		@sambouwer	See remark on “Note”
Movie	@sambouwer
Note	@sambouwer		I feel there should be one kind of “Note” Object Type with different Templates to differentiate. People can still create their own custom Note Object Types if they want, but this would be a great example to showcase the power of Templates
Page	@sambouwer
Human	@sambouwer		Rename to “Person”?
Project	@sambouwer
Recipe	@sambouwer
Task	@sambouwer
Video	@sambouwer		See remark on Files
Weekly Plan		@sambouwer	Combine with “Daily Plan” and “Action Plan” into “Plan” and again use Templates to differentiate

[Kerstie]

Putting this here since it sounds related:

• I think the Artist type should be an object, not a short text by default. I’ve created an object type Artist for my use case since I have comics objects and those tend to have the same author and artist.

• Default types should be editable, to avoid redundancy (like what I did above). Why not just add some editing history on the type’s page inside the library? Like below:
Created by: Anytype
Edited by: [username]

• When adding relations, I think it would help to have the profile icon shown beside it as well, so we know what we’re selecting — if it’s a user-created or not — even if we’re outside the library.

• Would love to have a Location type for future-proofing.

[Jason_Eleazar]

this is a great discussion.

I just wanted to mention a few points.
I think we must first define some universal truth about this topic so the best decisions can be made.

There seem to be 2 different categories of people out there when it comes to this topic it.

1 - those who want a blank canvas without any default objects or sets.
2 - Those who do not want to even think about creating an “object” or “set” but just want to use something that is already been made.

I believe if AnyType can make it so both can exist then that will be the answer and best way to handle this.
That is one thing I like about notion is that there is a “community place for templates” so if you don’t want to build it yourself, you can just use a template.

AnyType is there for, just building a tool and a platform for the community. Kinda like Photoshop and Facebook. They are tools & platforms to build on or just use as is.

[isle9]

The default types and relations aren’t a problem as long as you can delete them (and also import them back).

[isle9]

Related: Why do tasks and goals use the action template, while projects use the basic layout?