beautiful but it seems to be very complex. maybe the authors couldnt have time to create such a project. I dont know 
It could be great though. I would love it. 
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It seems to me, similar to the MindMap, this would be a great candidate for alternative views of a document. @Erica I know you had mentioned in the past that one of your goals was alternative views for documents, like the mindmap. I can see a ātableā view of a document being an option as well with Each main bullet on a document being a row, and each sub-bullet being the column for that row, all without the need for special mark-up syntax. Or alternatively each column (including header) being a main bullet with each item under it being a rowās cell.
Even the Card view of Trello or Airtable could be accomplished in the same way by applying āviewsā to data. So the idea of Viewās is still an exciting option to me. Now making them ācustomizableā might be more difficult beyond having a few standard views like mind map etc. But I certainly hope you keep with that early idea you had mentioned in the past and take it beyond just mind maps 
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Thanks for that, @butlermatt, especially about reminding us about our early vision.
I like the idea, itās definitely more work if we set out to make the tables editable (writing an online Excel is no joke), but it solves most of the problem Iāve seen in other proposals. Markdown/WYSIWYG tables lacks structure from the Dynalist perspective, whereas adding columns like OmniOutliner seems to complicate the outline too much.
Thanks again!
3 Likes
This is a fun challenge to noodle on. Dynalist already gets so much of the basics right that @Erica can afford to take the time to think it through properlyā¦
For me, I think the problem weāre trying to solve just visualizing structured data. Outlines (and Dynalist especially) are great for visualizing hierarchies, less so for attributes.
Just like adding a note to a bullet solving a layout problem (you could just type the note in-between parentheses, etc.) maybe adding a column to a bullet is worth exploring. And then new bullets are rows, not sub-bullets. Iād have to design the workflows to make sure Iām not missing something but I think it could work.
I just had another instance where a table would have been handy, but I had another twist on it.
I was trying to make a list of the light fixtures in my house, so when I get to Home Depot Iām not overwhelmed by the world-o-bulbs aisle!
I donāt really need a table. What I really want is a way to column align the parts of each bullet line (row). Like being able to put tabs into the string so things line up vertically.
I know Iāve complained about Dynalistās non-standard Markdown implementation, and Tables or Tabs would be another deviation point. But there is a reference, both Markdown Here and GFM support them.
So I would suggest using the vertical bar, or a double vertical bar (if Dynalist insists), to indicate a tab that should be inserted when the line is formatted.
Thanks,
Similar to Table functionality
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Yes, the Markdown extension would seem to be simplest.
- A | B | C
- 1 | 2 | 3
could make a 2x3 table.
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This is definitely a feature which would warrant itās own View rather than being an inline item. Thereās just so much you could do with a table whilst keeping it Dynalist-speedy and not bulking it down.
When I look at some of the data I wish I could sort into a table like health supplements and travel reviews what Iām really looking at is how I can interact with the table, not just it being in a table format.
I donāt see a feature like defining a column field type (e.g. text, number, image, due date) working well with a small inline table - it needs a full page view to have some ways to interact with the data.
One thing Iām going to do this year is reconsider my Dynalist subscription.
Iām not sure thereās anything better out there, but two things Iām looking for in a light-weight out-liner/to-do list/brain-stormer like Dynalist is
- Column alignment between rows so I can make information more readable (like a table, but I donāt need to sort and filter); and
- Some kind of Gmail add-on (also GCalendar and GDocs ideally).
Of course this makes me think I should just give up and use GTasks, GKeep, and GDocs/Sheets but theyāre either totally lame compared to Dynalist or way overkill (I have a few GSheets that are ideal for Dynalist but I need the info column aligned).
So what Iām saying is I really hope to see movement from Dynalist on the subject of columns/alignment with in items.
Thanks,
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I just discovered I can insert tab characters into a line by holding down the Alt key and then pressing zero and then nine on my number pad.
Copy and pasting that sequence doesnāt work, each tab becomes a space. Even when copy-pasting a whole line the tabs are converted to spaces.
So this is not the solution, but I guess itās a work-around until there is a solution.
Maybe in the item menu, add an option to Make table in the Make checklist section? Or just go with double-bar (||) markdown to indicate column alignment?
Thanks.
6 Likes
I agree.
I tried to replicate this on my Pixelbook Chromebook, but it kept opening Google Photos in a new tab. So strange.
Iām doing this using Comodo Dragon browser (chromium based) on Windows 8. Iāll try my HP Chromebook at home tonight.
I so wish Dynalist would implement tables like this.
Iām using GSheets for a few notes where what I really need is a table in Dynalist. Itās just a few rows of tabular information and I have several tables on the same sheet/page (under different headings and with different dimensions). Iām not interested in sorting, or filtering, or calculations, pivot tables, graphs, or anything like that - just the tabular presentation.
GDocs would be way overkill too. And if it takes so long to open a document then I put it off, and it becomes out of date, and eventually totally useless.
So @Erica a lightweight table in a lightweight app like Dynalist would be ideal!!! Please talk to your developers about it!
Thanks
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Thanks! Iāve been wanting tables and some other Powerpack 3 functionality such as the ability to embed videos, websites and documents as well as panels and popups to be built-in. Powerpack 3, built by the genius @Piotr, tremedously expanded how I see Dynalist and has enabled me to turn it into a digital scrapbook.
Iād love for the ability to sort data in tables alphabetically or by highest and lowest number, if possible.
sorting is a nice to have, but is it necessary, if they are other table like apps for that?
However a horizontal view would still be useful. Ive suggested this a few time ways to to better use the horizontal space but seems according to the roadmap they are other priorities. I will consider notion because it seems to have both outline view and a horizontal trello view in one.
Even though I donāt want to leave Dynalist I have been poking around at a few alternatives last week so I hope someone here provides some insight into their roadmap.
The closest thing Iāve found is Checkvist. It has tables and a kind of Gmail awareness, and also better Markdown support, hardcore keyboard navigation, and an active community. Other aspects Iām not crazy about though.
Iām also checking out GTDNext, since Iām using Dynalist for GTD, but itās hardly a drop-in replacement, and the community isnāt very active so Iām not sure the project is going any where. BUT it is designed for GTD so I donāt have to figure out how to use a generic tool for that specific purpose and it ensures Iām not cheating.
I would love to give Moo.do more consideration but I feel like I would have to give up using Gmail and GCal directly and Iām not sure Iām ready to do that! Plus, they donāt have tables 
Also, Coda.io and Notion.so are awesome, but wouldnāt consider them to replace Dynalist. And, they donāt have simple tables like Iām looking for - only fancy spreadsheet/database tables. Honestly, Google should buy them both, put all their employees on the GDrive team, and finally come up with a worthy successor to Google Notebook (and competitor to OneNote, Evernote, etc).
3 Likes
Any update on when we will get this feature?