Missing Features from the plugin/kanban

[benlau]

Hello,

I just noticed that the old Kanban plugin for Joplin has been deprecated, as mentioned in [this issue](joplin/plugin-kanban#57).

If there are certain features that you needed in the current plugin but are missing in YesYouKan, please create an issue on the YesYouKan repository.

As a user still relying on the old plugin, there are specific reasons preventing me from migrating to the new plugin. I’d like to suggest the following features for consideration in the new plugin:

1. Using Notes as Cards

I use the Kanban plugin to manage various notes. Each note serves as a task (like a ticket in an issue tracker) or a reference article. This feature is crucial for my workflow.

2. Displaying Kanban in the Side Panel

Another important feature is the ability to display the Kanban board in a side panel. This allows me to use the Markdown editor and the Kanban board simultaneously.

For example, I often organize tasks in a backlog, WIP (Work in Progress), and completed columns. Each day, I open the Kanban board, drag tasks from the backlog to WIP, and move them to the completed column once finished. I typically keep the Kanban board open without closing it while working.

I hope these suggestions can be considered for future updates to YesYouKan. Thank you!

[laurent22]

1. Using Notes as Cards

Couldn't that be achieved by adding a link to a note instead a card?

[migichen]

1. Using Notes as Cards

Couldn't that be achieved by adding a link to a note instead a card?

Per the functionality of notes as cards, there are more advantages by the "old" Kanban:

• If all cards on the kanban are meant to grow with more details, creating notes as cards is more convenient for users (you don't have to copy links every time after you create a card)
• Notes have tags by nature
• Notes have create/update time by nature

To allow more sophisticated Kanban like Notion or Trello, I think the old Kanban is in the correct direction. However, I've just used plugin/Kanban for less than one month (but still love its way of organization) so maybe I am not qualified to judge which way is right.

It seems to me that by design YesYouKan goes the other way (all in single note) so I don't expect that what the OP wants will happen. So a suggestion is to keep the old Kanban and hoping someone else will devote the time to keep it alive.

[laurent22]

Another important feature is the ability to display the Kanban board in a side panel. This allows me to use the Markdown editor and the Kanban board simultaneously.

@benlau, would opening the kanban panel in a new window be a workaround (now that we support multiple windows)?

It seems to me that by design YesYouKan goes the other way (all in single note) so I don't expect that what the OP wants will happen. So a suggestion is to keep the old Kanban and hoping someone else will devote the time to keep it alive.

@migichen, no I would like to provide some level of support for one card / one note. It's been discussed for example to support links to notes in the card header - I think that would help?

[benlau]

Couldn't that be achieved by adding a link to a note instead a card?

A bit troublesome as the link won't be updated when the title of the note changed. But I think it could be a workaround solution.

Another important feature is the ability to display the Kanban board in a side panel. This allows me to use the Markdown editor and the Kanban board simultaneously.

@benlau, would opening the kanban panel in a new window be a workaround (now that we support multiple windows)?

oh.. I just know this feature.. but seem that it can't be used as workaround:

Issue 1.
Open a note in a new window , switch to kanban mode.
Open another note in the main window, the kanban mode in another window closed

Issue 2.
Open a note in a new window , switch to kanban mode.
Click on a link inside the Kanban. The kanban mode closed.

It seems to me that by design YesYouKan goes the other way (all in single note) so I don't expect that what the OP wants will happen. So a suggestion is to keep the old Kanban and hoping someone else will devote the time to keep it alive.

yes, the YesYouKan goes into another direction so it will be difficult to cover the original kanban usecases.

In fact, I am thinking about to fork the old kanban. (Not to maintain the old repo as I could decide the features to be added)

[laurent22]

A bit troublesome as the link won't be updated when the title of the note changed. But I think it could be a workaround solution.

We could potentially have proper integration and support of note links, so the title would be updated too.

oh.. I just know this feature.. but seem that it can't be use it as workaround:

Issue 1 sounds like a bug - I will open a new issue. Issue 2 I'm not sure we will support, but TBD

[migichen]

It seems to me that by design YesYouKan goes the other way (all in single note) so I don't expect that what the OP wants will happen. So a suggestion is to keep the old Kanban and hoping someone else will devote the time to keep it alive.

@migichen, no I would like to provide some level of support for one card / one note. It's been discussed for example to support links to notes in the card header - I think that would help?

Yes it will if link feature is integrated in. However I believe it's not just integrating a link on the Kanban. Sooner later people will want more. For example, below useful scenarios are all supported by the original Kanban (see its doc):

• Show tags of the linked notes on the Kanban cards.
• When you move a note from one column to another on the Kanban, if a column is associated to a tag, the note's tag will be updated.
• When you move a TODO note to a "Done" column, you can configure Kanban so that the TODO note will be auto checked. Vice versa if you move the note out of the column.
• Filter the cards by the notes' tag/path/completed on Kanban

These are extra features that will be wanted when cards are external notes. If all implemented, you will start to wonder whether this plugin should be split into two. One for same-note update for its simplicity, and the other for external notes. I believe either way has its lovers.

In all, thanks for the consideration of my replies, Laurent. I believe with your blessing YesYouKan will shine whatever way it goes.

[migichen]

yes, the YesYouKan goes into another direction so it will be difficult to cover the original kanban usecases.

In fact, I am thinking about to fork the old kanban. (Not to maintain the old repo as I could decide the features to be added)

Thank you, @benlau. Even without any update I think the current Kanban is fully functional, just with some minor glitches.

[jmtemmos]

First, thanks a lot for your time and work on this great plugin.
I second @benlau about the missing features from the old kanban plugin :

1. add existing note as card
2. markdown formatting in cards (could be a workaround for problem 1. to link an existing note with @@note_name, which is currently not possible and requires to edit the note in editor to add the @@link)
3. use tags to automatically put a card in a given column

To me, 2. is a great feature and workaround for pb 1. since it would enable you to both create a one-shot "quick note" without creating a new note, AND to allow linking to existing note through the quicklinks plugin. Best of two worlds...

Thanks again for your plugin.

Regards

JMT

[laurent22]

Note: please limit the comments to this particular plugin only. If you're making your own plugin that's great but it's not the place to discuss it.

I'll review the above suggestions and new ones at some point and make a list of changes to address the requirements.

[ImperialSquid]

Just wanted to add my voice to the chorus of requesting notes as cards please.

Besides all the above reasons mentioned, I think a desirable feature is that it makes links to that note into links to that card.

So if I wanted to link to a card eg in my journal, I know exactly what I'm talking about. Or if I want to link to it outside Joplin I can. (Or I guess even sharing it, though I don't publish my notes personally).

It effectively turns the note ID into an ID for the card itself which I'll always have a link to, even if I move it into an archive folder so it's not on that kanban board any more.

Compared to the headers as cards method, which would require either not linking to headers and just linking to the board in general, or linking to headers using slugs, which a) Joplin doesn't have easy "copy markdown link"-like UI for compared to notes and b) requires that the header doesn't change lest you break the link...

If I wanted to see all my cards in one note, I could use something like the Note Overview plugin to collect them all, take excerpts and neatly arrange them for me.

[laurent22]

@benlau, a reminder that this repository is not the place to discuss your plugin so please have these discussions on your repository

[benlau]

@laurent22

From the previous discussion, some opinions suggest that the design philosophies of the two plugins are different. Maybe it is not a good idea to implement note as card in YesYouYan. I think we should discuss it, shouldn't we?

If the forked plugin can achieve this, there is no need to force YesYouYan to adopt a requirement that doesn't really fit its roadmap. Alternatively, if users find the forked plugin unsatisfactory, we can learn from its shortcomings and avoid similar issues in YesYouYan.

Could we have some room for discussion rather than deleting my comments?

[laurent22]

there is no need to force YesYouYan to adopt a requirement that doesn't really fit its roadmap

Who said it doesn't? It was one of the first to dos - f9e44e3#diff-b335630551682c19a781afebcf4d07bf978fb1f8ac04c6bf87428ed5106870f5R59

Again I'm not interested in developing this in comparison to something else. It's different from the previous kanban plugin and I want to develop it based on user feedback, not based on what that other plugin (which I don't like) does.

At the end of the day that's my repository so my decision?

Also it's not exactly good etiquette to go on other people's repository to promote your work. That can be tolerated to some extent but you're insisting a bit too much.

[ImperialSquid]

While I'm sympathetic to your viewpoint @laurent22, having your work compared to someone else's is always going to feel bad to some extent, especially if you don't like the thing you're being compared to.

I also think that comparison is just inevitable, like it or not the original plugin was the kanban plugin for Joplin. Before YesYouKan there were literally no other plugins for this kind of functionality. Not to mention it was developed as part of GSoC and so forum users got regular updates about its progress and reminders that it existed. Having unique functionality and effective (for lack of a better word) marketing is bound to give a plugin a monopoly on being that kind of plugin. As such it's inevitable that people will make comparisons when they ask for features or make critiques.

This is absolutely not me saying "please code the original plugin all over again" to you, in any way, shape or form. I 100% agree that you should take your plugin in the direction you approve of, and as I said, I sympathise with the fact that comparisons can be unfair.

This is only to implore you to be lenient on those who bring it up, and to (gently) advice that I think fighting against that is wasted emotional energy in this case...

I hope this comment is taken in the collaborative spirit in which it's written (and if you think I've overstepped do let me know), I look forward to using this plugin in the future hopefully!

(Also, none of this is to say that I think repeatedly bringing up your own plugin on someone else's issues is ok, I agree that it's not good etiquette. @benlau, if you want to discuss things I will gladly do so on an issue in your repo)

[benlau]

@ImperialSquid This post was started because laurent22 leave a message on the achieved board:

If there are certain features that you needed in the current plugin but are missing in YesYouKan, please create an issue on the YesYouKan repository.

It is generally not good etiquette to discuss other software, but this should be an exception since laurent22 advised people to come here to discuss missing features from the old plugin.

[benlau]

there is no need to force YesYouYan to adopt a requirement that doesn't really fit its roadmap

Who said it doesn't? It was one of the first to dos - f9e44e3#diff-b335630551682c19a781afebcf4d07bf978fb1f8ac04c6bf87428ed5106870f5R59

It is great to hear that.

Again I'm not interested in developing this in comparison to something else. It's different from the previous kanban plugin and I want to develop it based on user feedback, not based on what that other plugin (which I don't like) does.

At the end of the day that's my repository so my decision?

Also it's not exactly good etiquette to go on other people's repository to promote your work. That can be tolerated to some extent but you're insisting a bit too much.

Understood. If you view that as a promotion (the second deleted comment), I respect your role as the repository owner and your right to set the rules. I sincerely apologize for any misunderstanding.

[laurent22]

That's ok no need to apologize, and I probably overreacted too. I want to develop separately, so neither as a compatible plugin nor as a complement, so that's why I don't feel the comparison with the old plugin would help that much.

I did look at many other kanban implementations though to find out what's good and what's not - if we make comparisons it's better if it's with high quality, intuitive kanban boards. But thank you in any case for your feedback, eventually this is what helps improve the plugin!

[laurent22]

This feature request is now partially implemented with the support for "notes as cards". For the other feature request, keeping the board visible, I've created a new issue here: #21