Locator 2.0.0: Innovative table of contents and search plugin (any field as tags; visual filter builder; mindmap)

[bimlas]

Dear all,

It seems that 2020 will be the year of renewal of the table of contents, as many of you present new, innovative solutions in this area. Here's mine.

I wanted to finish this release for Christmas, but every time I used the version under development, I felt the features were incomplete, so I haven't released the newest version yet. I think the plugin now meets most of my requirements, so I'd like you to give it a try. The older version was "cryptic" in some ways, I hope this one is easy to understand for everyone.

What is the Locator exactly?

Before I explain, let's clarify a few things about TiddlyWiki:

• Tiddlers can contain any data (notes, tasks, phone numbers, photos, music videos, recipes, products, family members, ...)
• Tiddlers can have tags
• Tags can be used to "label" tiddlers to categorize them (just like hashtags)
• Tags can be used to create hierarchies, trees (table of contents) by adding the parent tiddler as a tag to the current tiddler
• Tiddlers can have fields
• Fields can contain arbitrary data (date, numeric value, text, even a list of other tiddlers) which characterize the tiddler
• Tags are stored in tags field of tiddler
• Because tags is no different from the other fields, any field can be used as tags
• The links in the text also form a tree

Locator provides a universal interface for navigating between your tiddlers and searching, filtering them without the need to write filter expressions. The plugin contains a table of contents widget and an enhanced search engine that contains a visual filter builder to filter results by tags and field values. You can organize the tiddlers to any number of trees, even by custom fields or links in text. Unlike classic Table of Contents, standard search, filter search and list of tags, this plugin handles these functions organically.

Demo + install: https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/

If you have used the previous version, be sure to check changelog for incompatible changes.

[Mohammad]

Hi bimlas,

Many thanks for sharing Locator 2.0.0 and all your efforts.

The TableOfContent widget is just a wonderful piece of work and put this TOC widget one level higher!

Still reading and digging into the concept of Locator is difficult for a normal user (like me) but I am trying to get the core concept and see

how effectively I can use it in other scenarios.

I may propose to divide the tutorial and demo into two parts. The landing page starts with simple description and quick small examples and then

a page with advanced or more examples go further into the details and more use cases.

I love your work.

-- Mohammad

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

Thanks for the tip, I split the description into smaller units and added a very basic quickstart.

The video is intended to briefly illustrate some of the capabilities of the plugin. Not clear enough? How can I fix it?

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

see how effectively I can use it in other scenarios

https://kookma.github.io/TW-Scripts/ is a good example of an application because it uses many fields, so the field value search feature ("Fields" search tab) can be well utilized. 

[Mohammad]

bimlas,

Yep, this is a good start! I have not watched it before.

By the way simple examples at first look are quite helpful.

Thank you

[Mohammad]

That's true! the three main fields are responder, keywords and tags. Lets give a try!

[TonyM]

Bimlas,,

Once again you seem to have produced an elegant solution. Having being involved in a number of conversations on these very matters you have made a very powerful interface into the details of tiddlers and their relationships. Despite my involvement I see I need to take a conceptual leap to use locator. I see that the user needs to realise how comprehensive your solution is then use their imagination to explore the possibilities, not to mention use it to explore the Wiki it is installed on.

Your new introduction and video go a long way to helping, thanks for your excellent work. 

• Is the video silent? 

My feedback right now is "Wow, great", but it needs a little something to make it perfect. 

If I may suggest some ideas to consider,

• "Locator" works, but something like  "Content Locatorer" "Content Explorer" would be more meaningful. 
• One way to help with this is to include along with the name a short descriptor
• eg; Locator, your whole of Wiki content locator.
• There is something upside down about the interface in the tab, I see why, but I have a hunch there is another way
• Also this is so powerful at least on a desktop you could have an open in story, open in new window or modal then you would not need to be so minimalist
• Having a more verbose interface available, may make it easier to learn to use the sidebar locator once someone has learned how to use it

I need to spend more time within to give more useful suggestions, but have a couple of deadlines today. I would like to provide a little more feedback because I really appreciate what you have done here, I particularly like your systematic approach to dealing with the complexity possible in tiddlywiki. I think all you need to make it perfect is a little more of an intuitive interface, perhaps with the use of some appropriate key terms, and info icons. Another effective way is to find an appropriate metaphor, perhaps one that relates to content. 

Here is a simple info Icon I use often

<$button tooltip="A small informational piece of text" class="tc-btn-invisible">
{{$:/core/images/info-button}}
</$button>

It is only a tooltip

But a set of the above could be toggled on and off as needed.

Love your work

Please keep up this valuable contribution

Thank and Regards

Tony

[bimlas]

TonyM,

I see that the user needs to realise how comprehensive your solution is then use their imagination to explore the possibilities, not to mention use it to explore the Wiki it is installed on.

My feeling is that what I created is easy to use and really useful. However, most of the time the problem is that I can't present the essence of my creature to the users, so they don't understand what it is and it's like I haven't done anything. That is why I welcome any advice that helps express.

 

• Is the video silent? 

Yes. As you know, I'm not good at English, and my pronunciation is certainly worse. That's why I found it better to express myself with "pantomime", pointing with the mouse.

• "Locator" works, but something like  "Content Locatorer" "Content Explorer" would be more meaningful. 
• One way to help with this is to include along with the name a short descriptor
• eg; Locator, your whole of Wiki content locator.

I don't think it's a good idea to change the name because it would also change the links. Although (if I'm guessing right) GitLab can handle this by redirecting. I'm not sure I will follow this advice, but if I find a really expressive name, then I might have change it. But what word could describe it? "Filter Builder"? "Ultimate Navigator"? "Organizer"? "Organize By Any Field And Filter As You Want (a.k.a. OBAFAFAYW)"? The names referring to "Content" remind me of the text of the tiddler, though the plugin is more related to the fields.

• There is something upside down about the interface in the tab, I see why, but I have a hunch there is another way

Explain this, please. 

• Also this is so powerful at least on a desktop you could have an open in story, open in new window or modal then you would not need to be so minimalist

Because the goal is to quickly find what you're looking for, this should always be at hand, so I think the sidebar is a good idea. We also use standard search for searching, although AdvancedSearch has the same functionality (and more). However, I have repeatedly seen a solution to put AdvancedSearch (or a similar interface) in the sidebar for easy access.

In fact, the Locator only becomes space-intensive if we change the template for context items to, for example, "Transclusion". For that cases, a button that opens Locator in  the story river would be nice.

• Having a more verbose interface available, may make it easier to learn to use the sidebar locator once someone has learned how to use it

What could be more verbose? Should I display the text next to the buttons instead of the tooltip? I do not quite understand this point, please elaborate.

 

I think all you need to make it perfect is a little more of an intuitive interface, perhaps with the use of some appropriate key terms, and info icons. Another effective way is to find an appropriate metaphor, perhaps one that relates to content. 

Here is a simple info Icon I use often

<$button tooltip="A small informational piece of text" class="tc-btn-invisible">
{{$:/core/images/info-button}}
</$button>

 I like this solution! Simple but clever. :) What kind of text would you recommend for it? For example, the sidebar would have such an info-tooltip, what would it say?

Anyway, thank you for the constructive comment!

[Mohammad]

bimlas,

 I pushed an update of TW-Scripts with Locator plugin!

But I don't know how effectively one can use Locator with TW-Scripts.

Have a look and let me know if any adjustment or change needed.

See it here:  https://kookma.github.io/TW-Scripts/

--Mohammad

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

 I pushed an update of TW-Scripts with Locator plugin!

Thanks for trying it out. :)

 

But I don't know how effectively one can use Locator with TW-Scripts.

Since TW-Scripts is not table of contents based, I would delete the sidebar. There's no use in that case.

When filtering to a field value, the list of results is so small that it is unnecessary to further narrow down with text search: You can also drop Locator Search.

The only really usable interface is Locator Fields, which in its current state is not fully usable. Now I see one thing missing from the tutorial: setting up fields.

If you search for "tiddler" in Locator Fields and see what your Keywords are, you will see that they are not treated as words, but interpreted as one sentence. This is of little use because you cannot combine keywords in filters. To interpret words separately, open Fields Settings with the gear icon at the top of Locator Fields, select the "keywords" field, and set "Field type" to "List". If you look at the results of "tiddler" again, you can see that the keywords are listed separately, so you can combine them. You can hide fields that you deem unnecessary for search (eg "type", "color") by setting "Show in fields filter".

[Mohammad]

Hi bimlas,

Okay, I go for fields and make the adjustment to see how everything goes!

--Mohammad 

[Mohammad]

I did the adjustment! Locator shows only 7 keywords

But if you create a tiddler in TW-Scripts with below contents

<$wikify name=keys text="""<$list filter="[all[tiddlers]each[keywords]get[keywords]]"><<currentTiddler>> </$list>""">
''Total keywords: <$count filter="[enlist<keys>]"/>''<br>
<ol><$list filter="[enlist<keys>sort[]]"><li><$text text=<<currentTiddler>>/></li></$list></ol>
</$wikift>

You see there is  428 unique keywords!

What is wrong here?

--Mohammad

On Tuesday, February 11, 2020 at 10:19:23 AM UTC+3:30, bimlas wrote:

[bimlas]

Did you uploaded the latest version? I do not see the changes.

In the current online version, it looks like the list is already filtered for "batch" tags, which is why it shows so few hits.

[Mohammad]

That's right! it was fields were filtered by batch tags!

Look to the latest update and see if it works and adjustments are correct.

--Mohammad

[bimlas]

I think that's good. But I don't know how to clear active filters from the wiki on saving - should I use "temp" tiddlers instead of "state" (the "batch" tag is still active)?

I'd even like to change the "responder" field from a comma-separated list to a title list (and change the field settings accordingly), but this is not the job of the Locator, but rather of Tiddler Commander. ;)

Anyway, what do you think of the plugin?

[Mohammad]

A test case

• I clicked on responder in keywords tree
• I selected then (by clicking on x) bimlas, TonyM
• at the bottom of tree I see many tiddlers while onle one of them has a field: responder with value: bimlas, TonyM

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

• I clicked on responder in keywords tree
• I selected then (by clicking on x) bimlas, TonyM
• at the bottom of tree I see many tiddlers while onle one of them has a field: responder with value: bimlas, TonyM

X means "filter to tiddlers does not have this value". For example, if you search for a tag that is linked to a lot of tiddlers, you can also narrow the list with this condition.

Let's say you're looking for those tiddlers that have "example" but don't have "regexp-tutorial" tag ([tag[example]![regexp-tutorial]]): Find the "example" tag, filter for it with +, look for the "regexp-tutorial" tag, press X to exclude tiddlers having "regexp-tutorial". 

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

I think I have found one of the most important missing parts of the tutorial:

How the plugin is building filter expressions? Please read and tell me if this shows how it works.

http://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#Quickstart%2C%20how%20to%20build%20the%20filter%20expression%20graphically

[Mohammad]

bimlas,

to make TW-Scripts work with Locator the following change were made

1. solution plugin updated to support responder field as title list
2. all responder fileds were space separated with [[]] for titles with spaces using Commander
3. in Locator, the responder filed was set as a list field
4. filtered searches in Locator were reset
5. the new release pushed to https://github.com/kookma/TW-Scripts

Now it seems Locator Field works fine! a description is needed to teach how Locator should be used here in TW-Scripts.

It may also worth to create a TOC based structure in TW-Scripts!

One minor comment: how can I filter tiddlers have responder as Mrxsal OR bimlas

--Mohammad

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

I'm completely done with this section and it includes almost all the features of the plugin. Do you think this can be understood by the average user, or is there anything else to improve? Thanks for all the help! 

[Mohammad]

This is much better and I think this could acts as starting point! Lets see other user feedback.

p.s: In overall starting use of locator has some barriers need users to elaborate more!

the concept is a little advanced!

--Mohammad

[HC Haase]

Hi Bimlas

You have pushed your plugin in several threats and I finally got around to look at it again. This is really great.

I am not sure why, but I still find it a little cryptic and I had to invest some time to understand it. But I think it is a really powerful tool.

The video helps a lot. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

I think this is a big improvement from the last version. Great work. I like:

• The filter options. The old showing of tags took up a lot of space and the new feature of sorting by any field you want, powerful!
• context setting/show links instead of tag - great way to see more connections
• context settings/show fields/transclusion etc. this is also nice to have the control in one place, but hard to use with a narrow sidebar (like in the demopage)

problems

• colors. if you use a bit darker themes the text is hard to read some palces ( see screenshot). if you (and every plugin) could choose colors that follows the theme (like primary, links etc) instad of hardcoding the colors, it would be great.
•  maybe I did something wrong but I get a limitd search result in locator. how come (see screenshot)?
  
• context settings/show fields/transclusion etc. is not that usefull if you have a narrow sidebar. maybe you could make a button to pup out the view in a tiddler in the story river or something
• you write you can use it to "Create mindmaps". That sound exiting but  I dont realy understand how. could you maybe give sime examples?
  

screenshot. see text and the limited search result

same search in normal search

[HC Haase]

It seems that 2020 will be the year of renewal of the table of contents, as many of you present new, innovative solutions in this area. Here's mine.

Indeed it seems, and thanks for mentioning my plugin in your demo page :). At some point, maybe we should make an effort to combine different plugins / find duplicates / consider if some plugin features could be included in the core??

[HC Haase]

Bimlas

My plugin TOC counting do not work on your locator view. Could you give me some pointers, so I can modify it to work with the locator plugin?

the TOC counting l plugin adds a counter to the $:/core/macros/toc macro.

thanks

[Mohammad]

On Monday, February 10, 2020 at 5:34:33 PM UTC+3:30, bimlas wrote:

Dear all,

It seems that 2020 will be the year of renewal of the table of contents, as many of you present new, innovative solutions in this area. Here's mine.

One comment is when you click a title (entry) from TOC it get highlighted so in reading long text one can find where he/she has started and continue.

A similar approach is used by Eric Shulman and PMario.

[bimlas]

HC Haase,

I'll answer everything later.

Everybody,

Many of you wrote that you had to get used to the plugin before you could really use it. What was it that made it unusual? Which operation was difficult to understand? I wish I could make the plugin clearer, but I can't see what's wrong with it because I can't look at it completely objectively. I would appreciate any ideas that make it easy to use.

Thanks for all the comments!

[David Gifford]

Hi bimlas

I added the Locator plugin to the TiddlyWiki toolmap, under "Navigation - Tables of contents and outliners" (https://dynalist.io/d/zUP-nIWu2FFoXH-oM7L7d9DM). It looks like someone else also added it under the category "searching tools".

This looks like it could be really useful. Like everyone else, it is taking me some time to figure it out. For example, the arrow next to 'Table of contents' doesn't do anything when pressed. Nor do the two middle icons to the right of 'Filter by fields'. The rest of the confusion is that it is all new and I have only begun to read the documentation.

At first I missed the link to the tutorial because it was right above the video surrouned by bold text. There is a LOT of bold text, which is "noisy". Maybe you could separate the link to the tutorial visually from the rest so it stands out.

I am not clear on what the following means: "This sidebar is hidden when the focus is on the search entry to increase responsiveness - see Locator view for the code." What sidebar are you referring to?

Anyway, those are not criticisms, but meant to help. I will need time to play with this for a while, so I am not yet ready to have a longer conversation about this.

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

 

One comment is when you click a title (entry) from TOC it get highlighted so in reading long text one can find where he/she has started and continue.

I think I've realized your idea, please check if you thought so.

I've attached the JSON plugin, DEVELOPER VERSION, DO NOT USE IN REAL WIKI, etc.

[Mohammad]

bimlas,

 Yep, it works great! I love it

 Now this make TW linear, when one likes read a long text from table of contents like a novel with many chapters.

This is not crucial but may be interesting

• you clicked on an entry, it gets highlighted in the TOC
• then you clicked a link in the open tiddler which navigate to an item it is again an entry in the TOC
• do you think it worth TOC smartly scroll to that item?
• please keep simplicity the first priority

Another small goodies

• a button to expand all
• a button to close all

--Mohammad

[Mohammad]

One of the complexity comes from the concept. As a usual user, I work with tags and fields differently. I got used to tags to categorize things. Locator says there is no difference between tags and other fields, while this is correct, when I work with Locator I still stuck with what I learnt from vanilla TW.

The other comes from logic, the example of Henry Ford family tree makes logic a bit clear! NOTE that your plugin itself is not that ambiguous, this is the logic and understanding it makes locator difficult to use plugin!

I recommend to start with small simple examples. (You added already a quick start part) and each feature taught through several examples. For now I partially mastered how use Fields in TW-Scripts and I found it quite powerful.

 

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

One minor comment: how can I filter tiddlers have responder as Mrxsal OR bimlas

Sorry, but I just noticed this message.

There is no "OR" connection and although I feel its lack, this would complicate the interface: probably I would have to put a drop down menu where we can select the type of connection ("AND", "OR"). It could be solved by using Shift + click as an "OR" connection, but that wouldn't work on the phone, so I'm not thinking about it.

In another thread once I said it's not a good idea to do a graphical filter builder (although I did) because Locator is good for finding fixed values, for example, but if I want to filter by date ranges, I have to add new input fields (start and end dates). If I were to look for what I changed in February of any year, it would require a different input field (month selector). So basic filtering can be done graphically, but the more complex the filtering we want to perform, the harder it will be to create the right interface. 

I am afraid that the plugin can only perform simple filtering, more complex conditions can be added in AdvancedSearch. 

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

This is not crucial but may be interesting

• you clicked on an entry, it gets highlighted in the TOC
• then you clicked a link in the open tiddler which navigate to an item it is again an entry in the TOC
• do you think it worth TOC smartly scroll to that item?
• please keep simplicity the first priority

I'll see if it's feasible, but if the ToC is so long that it's not visible on one screen, you might need to split it into several sections (drag-n-drop works in Locator). But I understand the essence of the need and try to fulfill it. 

• a button to expand all
• a button to close all

 I do not understand. Do you imagine, as in classic ToC, that you open all branches at once? The Locator only shows a single level of a single branch because it practically works like a ListWidget.

[bimlas]

HC Haase,

The video helps a lot. Thanks for taking the time to make it.

It seems like I should focus on the videos instead of the hard-to-read texts, because everyone understands that. :D 

• colors. if you use a bit darker themes the text is hard to read some palces ( see screenshot). if you (and every plugin) could choose colors that follows the theme (like primary, links etc) instad of hardcoding the colors, it would be great.

 Occasionally it uses the colors of the theme. :) Try changing the palette in the demo: "Filter by fields" uses the same color as the page subtitle (just the sidebar's default text color).

•  maybe I did something wrong but I get a limitd search result in locator. how come (see screenshot)?
  

o_O Woah... I haven't seen such a case yet. What's interesting is that the counter in the Locator shows more elements than it displays. Is there anything special about these tiddlers? Do they have a caption field, these are system tiddlers?

• context settings/show fields/transclusion etc. is not that usefull if you have a narrow sidebar. maybe you could make a button to pup out the view in a tiddler in the story river or something

As many of you have indicated this, I have to find a solution. 

• you write you can use it to "Create mindmaps". That sound exiting but  I dont realy understand how. could you maybe give sime examples?

 Doesn't this description tell you properly? (no offense, just hard to express myself in english) If it's not clear how can I improve it? https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#TiddlyMap%20Activities%20example

[bimlas]

HC Haase,

At some point, maybe we should make an effort to combine different plugins / find duplicates / consider if some plugin features could be included in the core??

I'm afraid the core is very conservative. But it's laudable - if all the sudden ideas were put in, it could easily collapse in a few years. I can fully understand Jeremy doing so and appreciate him!

However, combining plugins is worth considering. Other open source projects have a lot of development collaboration, but I miss this (common coding) in TiddlyWiki.

[bimlas]

HC Haase,

the TOC counting l plugin adds a counter to the $:/core/macros/toc macro.

As I understand it, this plugin overwrites the ToC macro - the Locator does not use it at all, so overwriting it does not affect my plugin. 

[bimlas]

David Gifford,

For example, the arrow next to 'Table of contents' doesn't do anything when pressed. Nor do the two middle icons to the right of 'Filter by fields'.

The arrow next to context items "opens their context". By default (in the demo) the context of TableOfContents is open, so clicking on the arrow next to it will reopen its context, no change appears. How can this be clarified? Should the arrow not appear next to the last element of the history (ie, the one that is "opened")?

 

At first I missed the link to the tutorial because it was right above the video surrouned by bold text. There is a LOT of bold text, which is "noisy". Maybe you could separate the link to the tutorial visually from the rest so it stands out.

I agree, I'll fix it.

 

I am not clear on what the following means: "This sidebar is hidden when the focus is on the search entry to increase responsiveness - see Locator view for the code." What sidebar are you referring to? 

The Locator sidebar itself, or more precisely its contents. I will clarify the text.

 

Anyway, those are not criticisms, but meant to help.

 

I welcome constructive criticism. :)

[bimlas]

I try to summarize the suggestions:

• Write short, easy-to-understand examples where I do not explain in detail how things work, but just show how the feature works basically. It's even better and easier to understand if I make short videos instead of a description.
  
• The Family Tree of Ford illustrates the plugin better, I use it to explain it.
  
• Use less bold text in the tutorial :)
  
• Find a more talkative name for the plugin (think "GraphicalListWidget" or similar would be appropriate)
  
• The sidebar can also be opened in the story river because of the context item templates
  
• Get more help with the user interface itself ("info buttons")
  
• Refine the text color, "Filter by fields" is not always readable
  
• Explain the mindmap features better
  

[Mohammad]

bimlas,

On Friday, February 14, 2020 at 10:04:46 AM UTC+3:30, bimlas wrote:

Mohammad,

One minor comment: how can I filter tiddlers have responder as Mrxsal OR bimlas

Sorry, but I just noticed this message.

There is no "OR" connection and although I feel its lack, this would complicate the interface: probably I would have to put a drop down menu where we can select the type of connection ("AND", "OR"). It could be solved by using Shift + click as an "OR" connection, but that wouldn't work on the phone, so I'm not thinking about it.

I will go for simplicity and ignore this! I understand it is different from classical TOC.

[Mohammad]

On Friday, February 14, 2020 at 10:09:30 AM UTC+3:30, bimlas wrote:

Mohammad,

This is not crucial but may be interesting

• you clicked on an entry, it gets highlighted in the TOC
• then you clicked a link in the open tiddler which navigate to an item it is again an entry in the TOC
• do you think it worth TOC smartly scroll to that item?
• please keep simplicity the first priority

I'll see if it's feasible, but if the ToC is so long that it's not visible on one screen, you might need to split it into several sections (drag-n-drop works in Locator). But I understand the essence of the need and try to fulfill it. 

If you see, Tiddlywiki vanilla has little extra feature but it is quite fast and easy to use. So again I go here for simplicity and I think the current situation is good enough!

By the way, if you gonna to get a sense of it head over TiddlyTools by Eric Shulman!

 

• a button to expand all
• a button to close all

 I do not understand. Do you imagine, as in classic ToC, that you open all branches at once? The Locator only shows a single level of a single branch because it practically works like a ListWidget.

Yes, I got why there is no expand all like classical TOC. 

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

a button to expand all

a button to close all

I know this is far from perfect, but navigate in the seidebar to the "directory" whose children you want to open and click on the magnifying glass icon. The search will list all related tiddlers (in full depth, so the same effect as opening all branches), type spaces in standard search until the results are displayed. 

[Mohammad]

bimlas,

 This makes sense.  Thank you!

--Mohammad

[HC Haase]

FYI

I have updated my TOC counting plugin to function with this wonderful plugin

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/TiddlyWiki/o6z8ig9a3bI

[bimlas]

HC Haase,

I have updated my TOC counting plugin to function with this wonderful plugin

I'm glad you like it and thank you for paying attention when developing your own plugin.

What does $:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_org do? As I see, it only contains the link, not the counter. I think this can be deleted if it is not needed for your plugin to work.

In my opinion, change the caption of the $:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_count template template to "Link (with counter)", for example, because it is not clear how it differs from the original "Link" template.

The "Enable counting of sub-tiddlers in Locator TOC" option is superfluous because the counter will work without any configuration if this template is selected for display in the Locator - it's missing from the documentation.

[HC Haase]

fredag den 14. februar 2020 kl. 19.27.19 UTC+1 skrev bimlas:

HC Haase,

I have updated my TOC counting plugin to function with this wonderful plugin

I'm glad you like it and thank you for paying attention when developing your own plugin.

What does $:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_org do? As I see, it only contains the link, not the counter. I think this can be deleted if it is not needed for your plugin to work.

This is to make the toggle work so you have the option to turn the counting off. It stores the original code from your plugin.

In my opinion, change the caption of the $:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_count template template to "Link (with counter)", for example, because it is not clear how it differs from the original "Link" template.

The "Enable counting of sub-tiddlers in Locator TOC" option is superfluous because the counter will work without any configuration if this template is selected for display in the Locator - it's missing from the documentation.

This is to make it possible to toggle the numbers on/off for different toc's. So one could turn it off in locator and on in clasic toc, or vice versa.

Detaild description.

 The checkbox for  "Enable counting of sub-tiddlers in Locator TOC" change the text field of "$:/plugins/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link" of your plugin. It takes the text of "$:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_count" where I have included the counting. When un-checking the field, the text in "$:/plugins/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link" is replaced with the original text that I store in the "$:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_org" tiddler ("$:/plugins/HCHaase/toc_counting/bimlas/locator/field-templates/link_count" has ben overwritten).

 

[bimlas]

HC Haase,

OK, I've got the idea. I've tried out on Locator demo, it's working fine. Please update the link in the OP, because it points to the old place of the plugin!

[HC Haase]

mandag den 17. februar 2020 kl. 10.24.05 UTC+1 skrev bimlas:

HC Haase,

OK, I've got the idea. I've tried out on Locator demo, it's working fine. Please update the link in the OP, because it points to the old place of the plugin!

ah I see you can choose templates in locator. I did not know. I have updated as you requested and removed tags from my "placeholder tiddlers". It should also work from your template menu now. I have added  a line about it in the doc.

thanks for pointing the link out. It is corrected.

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/TiddlyWiki/o6z8ig9a3bI

[bimlas]

Dear all,

I try to meet the needs and have developed the plugin further.

• Write short, easy-to-understand examples where I do not explain in detail how things work, but just show how the feature works basically. It's even better and easier to understand if I make short videos instead of a description.
  

https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#Very%20quick%20tutorial

What do you think about this? I imagine I will present all features so concisely like this. I've already written these in different ways, so I don't know which one to keep and which one to delete because users won't read it.

• The Family Tree of Ford illustrates the plugin better, I use it to explain it.
  

It seems to be more useful if the user builds the tree himself and then he / she will understand what is happening. 

• Use less bold text in the tutorial :)
  

 I haven't modified the plugin's own tiddler's text yet, but I use less bold on the main page. :)

• Find a more talkative name for the plugin (think "GraphicalListWidget" or similar would be appropriate)
  
• The sidebar can also be opened in the story river because of the context item templates
  
• Get more help with the user interface itself ("info buttons")
  
• Refine the text color, "Filter by fields" is not always readable
  
• Explain the mindmap features better
  

ToDo...

According to David Gifford's comment, I have slightly modified the GUI, I hope it has become clearer (see attachment), please check it out. DO NOT USE IN REAL WIKI, IT'S UNDER DEVELOPMENT as usual.

[Mohammad]

Thanks bimlas!

The start page is now simpler to follow!

A minor comment (update the change log and put a transcluded tiddler show the latest change)

I could not find examples!

--Mohammad

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

A minor comment (update the change log and put a transcluded tiddler show the latest change)

What do you mean by a transcluded tiddler?

 

I could not find examples!

Examples of what? The changes? Sorry, but I don't understand. If you're curious about the changes: https://gitlab.com/bimlas/tw5-locator/compare/master...dev 

[Mohammad]

It seems I caused confusion! Sorry

On Friday, February 21, 2020 at 5:22:37 PM UTC+3:30, bimlas wrote:

Mohammad,

A minor comment (update the change log and put a transcluded tiddler show the latest change)

What do you mean by a transcluded tiddler?

I mean to display the latest changes on the landing page like {{latestChange}}

 

 

I could not find examples!

Examples of what? The changes? Sorry, but I don't understand. If you're curious about the changes: https://gitlab.com/bimlas/tw5-locator/compare/master...dev 

This related to previous comments to add more examples of using locator! 

Thank you for your efforts.

--Mohammad

 

[bimlas]

Mohammad,

 

I mean to display the latest changes on the landing page like {{latestChange}}

Do you think I should include changes to the documentation in changelog? Since the code is modified in the `dev` branch and the documentation is in the` master`, I do not know exactly how to organize the changelog so that it can be changed independently (actuallyr Git can merge the changes).

I've added more descriptions to the "Very quick tutorial". 

[Mohammad Rahmani]

That's fine. You are right. It should be added to release in master branch.

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[bimlas]

Added more examples, but renamed the tiddler, because it's not a "Very quick tutorial" anymore, but a "Walk-through":
https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#Walk-through

Did you think of such short examples? You think those who first see the plugin will understand it based on these (of course, once I've written all the features in the walk-through)?
https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#README:README%20Walk-through%20%5B%5BHow%20to%20build%20the%20filter%20expression%20graphically%5D%5D

I am thinking of deleting these descriptions because they are too talkative and take a long time to read and that is why they are avoided. What do you think?

https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#View%20items%20with%20different%20templates%2C%20mindmap%20features:%5B%5BView%20items%20with%20different%20templates%2C%20mindmap%20features%5D%5D%20%5B%5BLocator%20search%20and%20fields%20tabs%5D%5D%20%5B%5BLocator%20view%3A%20Table%20of%20contents%20macro%5D%5D

[bimlas]

Dear all,

I've added video tutorials to the descriptions. The walk-through is still incomplete, but I hope that this way is understandable. I plan to keep only these, and delete the other descriptions.

https://bimlas.gitlab.io/tw5-locator/#README:README%20Walk-through%20%5B%5BHow%20to%20build%20the%20filter%20expression%20graphically%5D%5D

Do you think this is enough to understand the plugin?

[bimlas]

2.1.0 PRERELEASE version, do not use for anything important (see attachment)

Dear all,

A dear friend of mine helped me to make the UI much clearer:

• Imporved design: the look is more compact and clear, the toolbar buttons are optional
• Show buttons only if they have effect (eg arrow next to last element of history makes no sense as we are already in this context)
• Add "Open in story river" button to locator-view
• Highlight currently opened tiddler in locator-view
• History items was different in behaviour from context items (drag-and-drop behavior, highlighting of current title)

See the "settings/..." tabs of the plugin.

Before it is finally released, I would like to ask your opinion: is it easy to understand? If you don't like something, how would you change it?

[bimlas]

To try it out online, have a look at https://bimlas.gitlab.io/

[Mohammad]

Hi bimlab,

 Many thanks for sharing this!

• The interface is much better now
• I may suggest to use thinner lines for separator (those line acts as top/bottom borders of current item in TOC)
• the highlight item is great! it seems it works based on history not one opened by clicking on TOC entry
• the highlighted item under mouse has not red color, you can override the link color on hover (if you like)

It is better now! 

--Mohammad