Custom views (custom search filters + result appearance and order)

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nod5
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:12 pm

Custom views (custom search filters + result appearance and order)

Post by nod5 »

Add a custom views feature
The custom search filter feature is already very useful. But I'd like to be able to customize both the results and the view, appearance and order of the results and other features of the window.

Each custom view could include any of these:
1 custom search filter parameters (filter title, match options, custom search string, keyboard shortcuts) or whole existing custom search filters
2 column visibility, order and widths
3 sort order
4 other view settings: statusbar? details/thumbnails? zoom setting? window styles
5 colors

For example the user could create a view named "desktop backgrounds" that (1) filters the search to image files that match a particular folder pattern, (2) applies the large thumbnails view, (3) Shows only columns Name and Date Modified, (4) sorts result in ascending order of date modified, (5) uses a light green background color (as a visual cue to the user for which view is in use) and shows the window borderless.

Like with custom search filters users can choose a keyboard shortcut or macro name for a view.

There would also be need for a main view, which Everything should default to when new search windows are opened and when the everything process is restarted. That is, a custom view only applies to a single window until that window is closes, or another view is selected. (There could be options to toggle a view sticky for a whole session or whatever, but the basic rule should be that views are temporary and Everything falls back to the main view.)

The idea is inspired by Airtable's powerful views feature.

Yes, I realize this is a big feature request :) But I think it is one that fits well with several of the customization features already on the Everything todo list in this forum, and its give users a way to to combine and quickly use many such features.
void
Developer
Posts: 15096
Joined: Fri Oct 16, 2009 11:31 pm

Re: Custom views (custom search filters + result appearance and order)

Post by void »

Columns and view (details/thumbnails) for filters is in development.

Changing the sort order via the search is in development, so you could include something like the following in your filter's search:
sort:size-descending

Columns, details/thumbnails and other view information for Bookmarks is also in development.

I'll consider sort order, and other settings for filters and bookmarks.
Thanks for the suggestions and powerful views feature..
nod5
Posts: 36
Joined: Fri Aug 19, 2016 9:12 pm

Re: Custom views (custom search filters + result appearance and order)

Post by nod5 »

Thanks for considering :)
void wrote: Mon Jun 22, 2020 1:56 am Changing the sort order via the search is in development, so you could include something like the following in your filter's search:
sort:size-descending
Nice. I suppose all the requested features could be implemented into the search syntax. E.g. Text-color:green , column:Name , ...
Advantages:
- easy to use through external scripts
- a quick, easy and self-explanatory way to get back to defaults: just clear the search box
Drawbacks:
- using many such options might clutter the searchbox. But maybe that can be mitigated if the searchbox uses color highlighting so that for example "sort:size-descending" and other view options appear with grey color font, to contrast them to search strings.

My general wish, agnostic on implementation details, is that as Everything gets more customizable (features 2-5) there will also be handy ways to set up and shift between sets of such options and to get back to a default set after temporarily changing some settings for some specific searches. Easy to wish for, hard to get right. :)
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