An idea waiting for its creator: a list-search plugin with dropdowns to select list filter and list item template

Developers
#1

This might be something especially for @Mohammad , who recently did a list-search macro. But anyway, earlier today, when answering the Notetaking edition thread, I came up with an idea that could be really useful. I am describing it in terms of Tobias’ list-search macro, because I am more familiar with that. But it could be done in the Kookma list-search, too. I don’t have all the time, energy, or all the know how to do this. And I don’t want to have to maintain it like I do with Stroll, which for me is a headache.

Basic idea:

Imagine a list-search with two dropdowns:

  1. A dropdown to choose the criteria within which to search. If the user chooses ‘Has tag x’, there would also be a tag dropdown to choose an existing tag. Some other basic criteria could be ‘is system’ and ‘is shadow’. This is kind of like the Advanced Search > Filter, but with List-search the results are visible from the outset and are reduced by typing.

  2. A dropdown of list item templates, to choose how to view the search results:

a) As links (i.e., $:/core/ui/ListItemTemplate)
b) As details elements with links
c) As details elements with edit-button
d) As simple transclusions in text boxes
e) Others that the user creates.

Advantages:

  1. The criteria makes it easy for new users to create lists of tiddlers by tag, without knowing the workings of the list widget or the list-links macro.
  2. For all users, there would be fewer clicks to get to Advanced search > Filter.
  3. Seeing and live filtering of shadow tiddlers and/or system tiddlers from the story river would be handy.
  4. The list item template dropdown makes it easy to switch between ways of viewing the search results. In particular, the details element with the text field transcluded - see my subsume plugin - would allow viewing the contents while not losing one’s place in the search results.
  5. Could be a nice sidebar tab for editions.

Anyway, I am not emotionally invested in this. I just think it would be a great tool to help new users, and would also have value for experienced users, too. If someone thinks this idea has merit and wants to create a plugin for it (and/or if @Mohammad wants to add it to his Kookma list-search macro), please tag me in TW Talk if and when you make it public.

1 Like
[RFC] Alternative List Items and features on items in a list
#2

Here is a little bit more info to understand the idea above:

  1. When I write “criteria” above, I mean the macro’s filter. When I write “list item template” above, I am referring to the macro’s template.

  2. Basically what I am suggesting is that instead of the user having to type

<<list-search-macro "[!is[system]regexp<term>limit[25]]" template="$:/core/ui/ListItemTemplate" >>

They could type or insert <<list-search-macro>>, and within the macro use dropdowns to choose the filter and template.

#3

Hi David,
Good idea! I just divide this into: Search UI (query part) and Result template (presentation part)
For the search part, @EricShulman has done a great job and I love his PowerSearch.
See FilterGenerators — TiddlyTools: "Small Tools for Big Ideas!" (tm)

I cannot imagine a better solution here!

For presentation part, yes several template can be developed here and used! Like dynamic table I use in the list-search, or The Subsume Plugin — Turn links into sliders!, or simple list like Tobias.

#4

Hi Mohammad!

  1. I hadn’t seen @EricShulman 's PowerSearch. Very nice tool! I am going to grab that for a few things I do.
  2. I was thinking more of a “training wheels” version of this in what I wrote above. For a new user, PowerSearch would present too many options and would be visually cluttered. Less is more. Two sliders with 3 to 5 options each, and the ability to create more, would be better.
  3. For long lists, the list-search function would be preferable to the simple numbered list Eric has at the bottom.

So even though the PowerSearch option is great for advanced users, I think there is still merit in what I described above. What do you think?

#5

Please note that the link provided by @Mohammad is OBSOLETE, and is not being updated. The current version of “PowerSearch” is now here: TiddlyTools/Search/Filters.

This completely re-written search tool is intended as a replacement for the TWCore’s $:/AdvancedSearch Filters tab, and provides a number of extra features:

  • select from saved filters or construct filter syntax from parts (the old “PowerSearch” interface, now called “FilterMaker”)
  • 2nd-level text-pattern (regexp) search in selected fields to further narrow results
  • sort by titles, created/modified dates, tiddler size (bytes)
  • perform “bulk” actions on matching tiddlers: add/remove tags, clone/rename, export, delete
2 Likes
#6

Thank you for the update Eric.

#7

What you ask for would be very helpful and think some of this could be integrated into tiddlywiki not just a standalone solution. In fact we have some great search tools, with sophisticated options where the gap seems to be simpler, “in context searches”.

@DaveGifford do note I raised [RFC] Alternative List Items and features on items in a list with specific view to feedback on alternative list item templates.

  • This was what I was looking for.
  • I have in fact found a very useful mechanism I am happy to share with anyone working on related tools.
  • this solution is intended to result in a subfilter scope as well.

In another approach I obtained inside tiddler wiki and made the macro global, is the show-filter-count then click to search in advanced search, the doco being;

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