What exactly is the inbox and where is it?

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#1

So, I just downloaded Dynalist and am trying to understand its features. I currently have the 2 week Dynalist Pro trial.

  • So my inbox is simply the document I’m working on?

  • And that assigned in settings?

  • Does that mean I have to go to settings each time to change my inbox location depending on which document I’m working on?

Also, I don’t seem to have the “Email to inbox” section under the “Dynalist Pro” Settings:

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Thanks.

#2

No, no. In fact, some users only have 1 document total, since a document is already an infinite size, infinite depth, bulleted list of items.

Inbox is an optional feature, for those who want to add notes without Dynalist being open. Generally you choose an item to be your inbox, some item you create somewhere within the bullets, and you generally don’t change it. It’s like you triage center where unorganized ideas come in. Sometimes ideas come to mind on a walk, and you want to jot it down without fumbling through the structure of the giant nested list. It’s the default bullet things go under automatically when you’re feeling lazy.

For example, you can minimize Dynalist for desktop, and press the Capture to Inbox hotkey, type “buy milk”, and be done with the matter. More advanced users can send ideas to their inbox via Alexa, “Alexa, add milk”, without their computer even being on. It is technically possible to use these advanced methods to create multiple inboxes, since the API supports inserting items to a specified node ID, but most people stick to one inbox since it’s easier.

Personally, I go thru my inbox every morning and clear it out, using the “move” hotkey, to send it elsewhere in my list. Personally, my list is categories and priority levels at the highest level, and personally, I nest each lower priority level deeper into the category. However, each user is a very unique - it’s a freeform list after all.

There are many other ways to send an idea to the inbox too, including the Email to Dynalist (Email to Inbox) address. Anything you email to that address automatically shows up under the inbox item.

What does your Dynalist Pro tab look like? Scroll down it again, maybe you missed the email part?

#3

Thank you so much for such a detailed and clearly written response.

So, many people simply have one document with multiple lists? I’ll have to see how to efficiently navigate that kind of setup.

Basically, I was looking for a program to do things like:

  1. Constructing a plan on how I’m going to tackle (insert task/project)
  2. Jotting down notes as I’m reading or watching something
  3. Simple lists of things to buy (though I’d probably use Things for that)

Interestingly, since writing my initial post, I had to restart my computer. I’ve just opened Dynalist again and the Pro settings contain the “Email to Inbox” section.

Thanks again.

#4

Yeah, that’s the power of these outliner apps, you can nest lists deeper and deeper with no limit.

Dynalist was based off Workflowy. In workflowy, there is no concept of a document - the whole universe is one deeply branching tree. Dynalist added a lot of features, including the document paradigm. Some people wanted their spheres of life more separate, so multiple Dynalist documents is the same as multiple accounts on Workflowy.

It might help to see some demo trees

Yeah, outliners are great for that, I think most people here are doing those same things mainly.