Please bear with me - I can’t find any documentation about tags (!?) and I’m finding their function varies from other, similar, programs.
If I create a page (itself an object, if I am understanding the structure of Anytype) and then fill it with text (each block of text also being an object), then my aim is to be able to tag blocks of text with tags to help me find those paragraphs again when I need to, e.g., write an essay about a particular topic. This is how tags work in, for example, Tana.
When I edit a block of text in Anytype and then attempt to add a tag, the tag pops out of the block and becomes an object in its own right beneath the text. If I try to add a different tag in another block of text, the property of the first tag changes to be the same as the second tag. I.e., the tag is being applied to the page, the parent object and not to the object I am adding the tag to.
Is this behaviour intentional? I don’t think it fits the paradigm, and for students it makes our life harder than it need be. Can anybody help explain this? And also, any chance of getting tags documented?
The current tag system is indeed not as attractive to other application.
As a non-tag user, may I recommend an alternative using object-supported relation or links. This method empower your tag with the more functions of objects e.g. writing and relations. For example, with #Course001 object, you can use inline set for showing lists of lectures and assignments as well, and give relate the course with your lecturer or colleagues.
Finding tags would still be less user friendly at the current state. In search pane, you would be able to find objects with text of your tag, but when you select, it will only display the location of your first ‘tag’. You will need to go for Search in Object (Cmd+F) to find all your tag locations.
Relevant feature requests
You can expect tag system to be upgraded, as tag as object is listed on roadmap as 2024Q3, which don’t know much yet . This feature request would probably explain more thoroughly why I personally recommend object-supported relation as tag, over the current tag system.
P.S. There are plenty rooms for Anytype to improve in, including but not limited to styling, spacing between horizontal blocks
Thank you. I tried this (though I may have tried it incorrectly), but the relation still attached itself to the page instead of to the text block. As I understand it, EVERYTHING in Anytype is an object, so a text object shouldn’t be treated any differently to a page object - but then, maybe I’m just not getting it - too many technical terms are bandied around - things could be made a LOT easier for users if inclusive terminology was used. Anyway, I understand that Anytype is in beta and that there’s a road map, so I shall stay tuned!
@C.c I don’t get it why you consider your approach as beneficial compared to Tags?
In my opinion both are for different use cases.
For example:
Just today I tagged all my Pages in which a specific Person’s name is somehow mentioned.
Then I created a Set that lists all these Objects.
No matter if I have letters to that person or simply dreamed of her and left a few lines about this dream somewhere etc. - my Set grasps all Objects with her name in the Tag.
That’s easy.
Yeah, the Global search is a still rudimentary, I miss many features there. Also it’s a shame that we can’t tag Blocks inside of an Object.
Nevertheless, Tags do their job for me.
My Set shows me all Objects in which the Person is mentioned, as well as some data about the Object (important for me so see on first glance: the Creation Date).
I can’t see how your approach could be practicable in my use case?
I don’t want to integrate Inline Sets in all my Objects where the person is mentioned.
Or do I get it totally wrong?
Indeed, relation and relation block do attach to the whole page. My suggested method relies quite heavily on @ / mention / /link, as demonstrated in the above screenshot.
Yes ideally, everything is supposed to be object, but it is technically not fully implemented yet. Date as object is also on roadmap 2024Q3. The potential of relations would be further actualised with FR blocks as objects, like the demonstration in the following post’s image.
I wouldn’t say either system is better than the other, but I suspect the application of both system are interchangeable, and the current relation system is more robust in Anytype, thus I suspect we don’t need two separate systems to do the same thing. @Code-Jack You would be better off looking at the following/above mentioned FR, and the discussion there. (I prefer to discuss with the specific points and I am always open to better way to do things too😉)
As far as I know, Tana is the outlier here since it’s an outliner (and every block is pretty much an object in Tana). Most apps don’t seem to have this option of adding tags to specific blocks. For instance, Anytype, Notion, Obsidian, Capacities, etc.
Indeed, that’s my experience too. It also makes Tana far and away the easiest and most useful of these apps for students. Something to bear in mind for your roadmap, I would have thought …
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