Multiple inbox locations for fast input on the go / Add items without having to navigate

🌟Features
1

A feature suggestion – let’s see what other users in here think about it.

I really love Dynalist. And I would use it for much more of my stuff if entry would be quicker on iPhone.

Maybe I’m missing something and there already is a solution built-in already for what I’m trying to do.

This scenario:

  1. I’m on the go and a thing pops into my head.
  2. I want to quickly jot down the thing.
  3. When done typing, I want to select where this thing should go (like, my collection of quotes, or my shopping list, or brainstorming for a piece I’m writing – all of which I have in different documents in Dynalist)

As far as I see, currently with Dynalist there are only two ways:

a) Open the app, select the right document, and then select the right branch. Only then can I start typing. This is annoying because it takes my mind off the actual idea. (First there’s all the steps before I can start typing. And then, when opening the app and browsing, I may actually see something that pulls my attention away.)

b) Send the thing to the central inbox, and then move it to the appropriate document and branch later. This would create another to do item for me, and in the meantime, the thing still wouldn’t be showing up in the places where I need them to be, so I don’t particularly like this idea either.

If I could make my own changes to the app, I would do the following:

  1. Allow the user to add an entry point tag to any document in any branch. Any number of such tags can be used, and the user can name them freely. If user uses the same entry point tag in multiple places, then any data sent to this tags address will be received in all of these places.

  2. Have a URL end point like this server.com/inbox?intag=abc&msg=hello, so user can use external apps like Drafts to post data into any precise position within Dynalist. Or have your own lightweight data entry companion app that looks and works similar like the screenshot below (from the Drafts app).

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I don’t know how other people are using Dynalist. So I’d be curious to hear if this is a “problem” other people have, too.

And if someone has a solution, I’d love to hear that, too!

3 Likes
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They way I do it:

Press enter.
Type the wonderful new ideas.
click Move (my hotkey is Ctrl-Alt-M), and click/type the place it needs to go.

For this to work effectively, all the favorite destinations need good short names.

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Hey @Alan, that sounds like a great solution for the desktop. First type, and then select a destination. Thanks for sharing.

For mobile, I’m still looking for a simpler solution.

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4

this was definitely a “problem” for me as well

some times i would go to the document before or after i jot down an idea, but most of the time it was just easier to dump everything into the inbox and then sort it out later (aka months later or never)

the move feature definitely helps in this situation but you have to remember all the different locations you want to sent an item to and the name also has to be unique otherwise it will be hard to find it in the move dialog list

what i did was make an inbox under every item i wanted to send things to and put unique symbols at the start of the inbox’s name like >> inbox or >> tmp so only those locations show when you search >>

(you could also just use two commas or full stops in the name, which would be easier to type on a mobile keyboard since you dont have to hold down any keys)

the reason i send things to a sub-inbox is because i dont want to have symbols showing all over the main items, and if things were being sent to the main list then you would still need to sort them all the time (maybe that would be a good thing). with a sub-inbox theyre out of the way but theyre still close enough to where theyre supposed to be so you dont have to do anything with them right away

on the mobile app there should be a move button on the toolbar. the icon with two boxes with a wheel at the bottom. i cant think of the name of the thing :slight_smile:

2 Likes
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The quick add button/widget with ability to choose which document to add the item to would be really useful on android.

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Leo, i do exactly the same on mobile, there’s a handymove button onscreen

1 Like