How to automatically expand shared notes?

When sending a Dynlist to coworkers, is there a way to make these links automatically expand all the bullet items?

It is awesome that I can send them a link to a sublist, but if they aren’t accustomed to the way that Dynalist works, they won’t understand that there are sub-elements.

5 Likes

I’m moving this to features so it be counted as an “official” feature request :slight_smile:

We used to have an admin-only option for this called “Sync collapsed state”, which was quite a confusing name for it.

The reason is that even when two people share the same document, we want them to be able to collapse and expand different things, if that makes sense. Otherwise if the other guy wants to see the details of something, the collapsed state changes will get synced to your side as well.

Because of this, that option we built only syncs the “snapshot” of the collapsed states to the publicly shared documents. Otherwise if you want the visitors to see the document in a certain state, you can’t change it for yourself either.

The concepts here are quite confusing… let me know if you need more explanation, @LinuxLefty.

1 Like

Ah, so all notes are collapsed by default and there is no way to publicly share are note which is initially expanded?

I’d really like this feature. In WorkFlowy it works like this: you setup the list the way you want it to be seen when it is first shared. Then you share it and the person receiving it sees the list initially the way you made it look. Anything they or you do after that to it, is on each own side.

3 Likes

This needs to be changed. I’m sending shared lists to people and when they see only one or two totally collapsed nodes they get back to me and say “Sorry, it seems I don’t have access to it”. It not clear at all for first timers that they can expand those nodes.

I agree @Jakub_Chodorowicz

Meanwhile, a working workaround on my side has been to include a note on the parent item explaining that and how they can expand all items. I’ve also included a screenshot in that note.

Seems to help

Thanks @ruud - your idea is quite nice as temporary workaround

Update: all items should now be automatically expanded now.

Yes, it works :tada: Thank you so much! Perfect!

1 Like

Hi there!
Huuumm I don’t mean to be annoying but I kinda need the opposite lol
I have created a document that I want to share publicly and embed it on a website. But it appears all expanded which isn’t neat enough for my use and kind of prevent me to using Dynalist (although the tool looks terrific!). In my context, I would prefer using the workaround mention above, the first item of the document being an explanation of how it works.
Is there a way to do this and am I missing something?
Or did you transition from “collapse all” to “expand all”?

If you did, I would suggest to give a choice in the sharing management menu by adding the option to “expand all” or “collapse all” when you share. And that could apply to both “shared via link” or share with collaborator, since I understand what has been said above.
I’m not sure how complicated this is: it would basically replace the action of:

  1. Share the document
  2. Open it and with the menu in front of the title click on “expand all” / “collapse all”

An other option, mentionned previously, would be to show the document in the way “it is first shared”, but that sounds more complicated than adding a shortcut to “expand” or “collapse” directly

“Expand all” and “collapse all” only cover a small amount of cases though, sometimes you may want to customize it a bit more.

What we have in mind right now is to allow syncing the current snapshot of collapsed state to the shared version. It’s basically a button that makes the shared copy exactly as yours right now (new items will still be expanded by default, but you can at least collapse the top level items). This way it’s more flexible for everyone.

Hopefully that would solve you problem too!

2 Likes

Hi!
I’m waiting for this feature too, because the automatic “all expanded” state of my shared documents isn’t appropriate to my usage :frowning: The simple “expand all / collapse all” option would be a nice way to wait for a better solution.

Do you mind explaining a bit more how it’s not appropriate? Is there some performance issue?

In the menu of the top item, there’s an option called “Collapse all”, maybe you can write in the note asking the visitor to collapse things before viewing (only suggesting this as a temporary workaround if there’s urgent need).

I’m with LCMX. I need my shared documents to be collapsed, not expanded. I want to share one link with multiple notes and sub-notes. I don’t want to make my recipients collapse my list every time they access it in order to find what they need.
As soon as shared documents appear in the same style they exist when the documents are created, I’ll quickly make the switch to Dynalist.
By the way, I’m a teacher, and my current shared link in WorkFlowy (davidrhoades.link/assignments) is a growing list of daily assignments organized by class and date. Students and parents access my list all the time. If my requested feature is added in Dynalist and I switch from WorkFlowy, many people will be exposed to your product.

Please, everyone who cares about this, go to this poll to vote: Collapsed state of shared documents

I see good arguments for both sides, so it might be best if we make it an option. Regardless, we’d love to hear your opinions on this!

@David_Rhoades @Fabrice @LCMX @Jakub_Chodorowicz @ruud @LinuxLefty

I read both sides.
Suggestion: Integrating @ruud 's workaround into the window that pops up when I click ‘Share item’.

2 more options could be added-
View the doc[Automatically add a note from Dynalist at the top on how to expand and use the shared the document]
Edit the document[Ditto]

The “From Dynalist team” note could be in red font - with a text explanation and a link to a gif showing it in action.

You could make this the default behaviour of the current View/Edit Sharing(with the facility to turn it off in Advanced settings).

Let’s say I am sharing it with someone who knows how Dynalist works - he/she would just ignore it. Otherwise, they would benefit from it.

Regards.

When you have a large list with many sub bullets under each bullet, it is an absolute nightmare to share this list with ALL BULLETS expanded. It looks so messy, it’s terrible. By default, it should only show the MAIN BULLETS, so that you can choose which one to go into and expand. It just would make the most sense.

Not sure if you read the thread, but the issue with that is some people have no idea the main bullets can be expanded. Not all viewers know how to use Dynalist.

That’s why there’s a poll: Collapsed state of shared documents , participate there! :smiley:

Okay but on the contrary, the ISSUE is that not all people know how to collapse everything and the volume of information can be so overwhelming that they will just close out of it.

People are attracted to short and condensed information that can be expanded as needed which is what Dynalist of course is all about.
Otherwise, I could just send them a link to a Word document where everything is EXPANDED and overwhelming.
The beauty of Dynalist IS: that you can collapse every bullet point that contains sub bullet points. It’s what makes this tool so useful and easy to use and look at.

In the meantime, until this feature is fixed. I would like to provide a workaround:

  1. Go ahead and share your list
  2. Open the list
  3. Click on the magnifying glass in the upper right corner to search
  4. And enter some criteria that only pertains to the MAIN HEADINGS
    It will have to be criteria that ONLY the main headings are using, in my example, it is emojis only used in the main headings.
  5. Make sure you separate the criteria with OR statements

See example here: https://dynalist.io/d/2sfTY9zWidZH1sdZe4PE-KHc#q=⚛️%20OR%20🆔%20OR%20☮️%20OR%20☸️%20OR%20✝️%20OR%20☪️%20OR%20

Only downside? Well, it fills up your search box. So if you want to search, you will either have to clear the box first or manage to squeeze your cursor at the very end and before entering your search term(s).

PS. Just so you don’t get a wrong impression: I absolutely LOVE Dynalist! Thank you so much for all you do!! :slight_smile:

2 Likes