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New Note should optionally use Templates #854

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nicoleise opened this issue May 5, 2022 · 0 comments
Open

New Note should optionally use Templates #854

nicoleise opened this issue May 5, 2022 · 0 comments
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feature request Requests for complete new features needs discussion Need to clarify if and how we should implement this

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@nicoleise
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nicoleise commented May 5, 2022

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
In reality, actual notes often contain a lot of repeated content. This could be true for checklists, meeting notes, etc., where you only want to input the actual information, but you obviously also need to wrap the information in some context such as to make sense.

In Notes however, one must always start from a blank note, despite NextCloud having Template support built in.

Describe the solution you'd like

  1. I'd like Notes to check the NextCloud Template Folder (see Additional Context) for files that are compatible with Notes, which as I gather means having a file extension of .txt or .md
  2. When I add a Note in the Notes app, I'd like to be able to select to either start a blank note or use any compatible templates.
  3. If I choose to use a template, I'd like Notes to copy the file of the template into the Notes folder, so that my template "survives" for next time. From this point on, Notes should treat the created file as it currently does.

Details on item 2:
Ideally, I would like to have a setting in Notes/Settings where I can choose my default new note, which could be blank or any specific compatible file in the Templates folder.

I'd then like the UI changed slightly: "+ New Note" button should instantly create a new note in accordance with the setting mentioned above. Next to it, a much smaller button labelled "•••" should bring up a dialogue where I can select blank or any compatible file in the Template folder.

If I select a blank file, Notes should do what it does today; create a new file in the Notes directory. If I select any template, it should do as outlined in item 3 above.

Describe alternatives you've considered
As a test, I have copied a .md template into the Notes folder and worked on it. This works flawlessly, it opens, edits and saves as expected, and Notes handles moving it when applying categories.

This solution is cumbersome though, particularly on mobile devices, as it involves first copying the template over, which on mobile devices would be done in a separate app. It also consumes the template, which means I would then have to copy a new template over to use for next time, or copy several with consequtive numbering or other form of unique naming. These would then flood the list of notes in the Notes app.

But it does serve to verify that in terms of function, there's nothing preventing this from working.

Additional context
NextCloud offers a Template feature built-in. If you do not have a Template folder, you can (in browser) navigate to NextCloud/Files and click +, Add Template Folder (change the name if you like). This creates a folder that is populated with a number of pre-made templates. Note, that the name/path of the Template folder can be altered, this would need to be taken into account.

If - for some reason - it is difficult to use the Nextcloud Template feature, a reasonable solution would also be for the Notes app to include a Templates folder which holds the Templates used in Notes and otherwise works as described herein, with the addition that the Notes app ignores files in this folder when listing available notes.

I hope the suggestion makes sense, it seems like a fairly common use case, and I - for one - would appreciate the key strokes and time saves creating repetative content in fx Meeting Notes or other notes, like headings, and such. It would also allow for notes that are much more consistent.

Thank you for your consideration.

@nicoleise nicoleise added feature request Requests for complete new features needs discussion Need to clarify if and how we should implement this labels May 5, 2022
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