Virtual Instances of Bullet point
Completed
The way that we use workflowy, we would sometimes like to keep one bullet point in 2 separate locations. For instance, we have a backlog of tasks that need to get done for a large project. Each of those tasks has a significant amount of information indented inside of it. We would like to have a copy of that bullet point in both the backlog of tasks, and make a virtual copy of it to be put into the users individual Todo list for that week.
These "Virtual Instances" could have an orange colored dot, to represent to the user that the information they are working with exists in multiple hiearchies at once.
I guess you have to prevent Virtual instances from being put inside other virtual instances, to prevent weird recursive problems.
If you are looking for other examples of this type of instancing, the project management program Favro allows for something very similar. You can create virtual instances of cards and have the same card exist in multiple locations at once.
Thanks for the great app!
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Hi folk, transclusion is definitely on the roadmap... but we still need to get out reminders, snoozing (currently in beta), colors coding for lists... while transclusion is a big one for us and a select group of users, right now we're focusing on the features that our users are beating down our doors for :-).
Also, just a heads up... I'm going to be deleting posts that refer to WorkFlowy clones where it's stated that a user has moved away from WorkFlowy and using said app exclusively. I don't believe this is the space for that, unfortunately.
~ Frank
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That is not transclusion. This sounds more like links of sorts to bullet points instead of cloned/virtual instances. I believe this is also already present in the windows desktop app, and, not ideal and not what OP and most of us reuqested. You still have to navigate back and forth to edit the original bullet point.
I see this isn't a priority for workflowy and the lack of proper transclusion is a deal breaker for me. I'll be looking elsewhere.
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@Frank: thank you for staying active in this thread and communicating with us about this.
How can we find a list of which features are getting the most requests? What dates are associated with this roadmap? I'm trying to determine whether or not I should just write my own custom client on top of WF so I can get transclusion for my own workflow. If the transclusion feature is more than 6 months away it might be worth it for me to do that, even if it's just for my own use.
The way I want to use workflowy is this:
* I have multiple projects
* Each project has a "plan" node, which consists of a big tree of nested tasks
* At any given time, I can make myself a to-do list. For example I want to make a to-do list for today
* I compose this to-do list from transcluded nodes from my projects. My to-do list might be: (1) write test code for X feature of project A, (2) contact person X as part of setup for project B, (3) do code review on some feature code for project C, etc
Each of those nodes is a subtree of a given project's plan. So I have these big trees that are the definitions of my projects, and I'm a squirrel who's going to run across those branches on a given day. The path I'm going to follow, leaping nimbly-bimbly from tree to tree, is a list of references to nodes on those trees.
Another way to look at it is that my projects aren't linear - they are graphs of large numbers of interconnected nodes.
But my actual work is linear - I can only work on one thing at a time.
Therefore I need to select elements from the graph, and arrange them into a simple line, in order to map my non-linear project space onto my linear workflow.
Currently I'm copy pasting all over the place, and it's violating SSOT and most of my workflowy document is composed of dead (unreliable, redundant) information, specifically because the lack of transclusion forces me to make copies of information if I want to arrange it into a sequence for my own work, and then I end up elaborating on the copies instead of the original and the original (which was well-organized since it's at the project level) is now out of date. -
@frank @william_griffiths
I would love to help William! If it accelerates transclusion I'm willing to learn lol.
Is there a way to adopt a Plugin model for workflowy? The most common comments I see in these forums fall into two categories:
1. I *need* ______ feature because it is critical to my work/life and I'd name my firstborn child WorkFlowy in order to get it!
2. Please don't add more features because bloat and confusion, I don't want anything to change cause I've got something that works perfectly for me!
It seems to me that a Plugin model for WorkFlowy would solve the second issue and opening up plugin development to the community would solve the first. Then the WorkFlowy team could focus on the core functionality of the system. Think "Skyrim level modding for productivity". -
I’ve been asking for Transclusion for more than 2 - years. I still use WorkFlowy, but not as much as I'd like, because complex projects with many nodes are almost impossible to handle without it. Making multiple copies of a note and putting it in many places creates more confusion than help, and tags are just very limited. I saw Jesse say that Transclusion may happen very soon. Can you confirm this? Now THAT would keep this butt anchored in WorkFlowy! I send best wishes to the team. Oh, and don’t forget sorting! Regards, George.
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Reading this thread is like watching the waves on a lake, or a dance or...!
I wanted to add my voice to the clarion for transclusion! I've wanted this for going on a couple of years but have been negligent in clamoring for it. I see the beauty that transclusion would offer my organization. Need it! Officially adding my voice to the call...
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I've been trying to nudge the good folks at WorkFlowy to implement Transclusion for a couple of years now. I see that quite a few users are feeling this need too. Maybe a year ago, there was a glimmer of hope when a WorkFlowy developer hinted strongly that it was on the front burner. Then nothing... so I'm begging, not just for me. This would be the single most decisive thing WorkFlowy could do to distinguish itself clearly from the competition, and to secure WorkFlowy's future. WorkFlowy is indeed less expensive, but that's not much, considering that its stated standout feature is a clean interface. That makes it sound like WorkFlowy is selling less for less. Transclusion would place it far ahead of all all other competitors. I respect that people say they don't want featuritis or clutter. Transclusion wouldn't clutter at all. It would be a simple menu item, unused and unseen by all those who didn't need it or didn't use it. It wouldn't clutter the interface. WorkFlowy is a powerful and attractive concept, which is why I've stayed loyal for a few years. But the moving finger writes...
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Hi George,
We've been planning Transclusion (we're calling it mirroring) for some time and we came out with a prototype on beta.workflowy.com about a week ago. There are several related threads scattered across the forums and so understandably it would not have been easy to see the announcement I made here. BUT... moving forward, if you'd like to join the WorkFlowy Users Group on Slack (where we make early announcements of what we're up to and releasing for testing), please shoot me an email at help@workflowy.com :-)
~Frank
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@George Jardim,
It's live at beta.workflowy.com. Feature is called "mirroring", and you enable it in settings.
I'm not sure if beta features will work in the desktop client, but for now at least I can use the web interface at beta.wf.com for my daily to-do list, and from here on out my daily to-do list is going to be nothing but mirrored nodes!
woohoo!
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