[antux]

Here's a hot take that most people here won't agree with but the query commands for sorting is hard to use because it forces me to remember them. If I forget, I have to reread the paragraph which slows me down.

This is bad UX because it's increasing my cognitive load to use the interface instead of reducing it. It's much better to offer toggle buttons for sorting.

[amadeuspagel]

I thought about that and actually had toggle buttons before. But there are some advantages to the "syntax" UI:

- You can use the keyboard. Couldn't you use keyboard shortcuts? Not that easy in the browser, because most shortcuts are already taken, and though you can override them, that also confuses people.

- You always see in the searchfield what search mode you're in. The buttons would have to be in the sidebar, which isn't always visible, depending on how wide the window is. And even if it's visible, you still have to look there, whereas you're already looking at the searchfield.

And it's not that hard to remember, it's kind of mnemonic: Exclamation mark to sort by priority, because you use an exclamation mark at the end of a sentence to mark it as important. Star to sort by changes, because when you change a file in a terminal text editor, you see a star next to the name. I should probably explain this in the app.

ThinkType also has a kind of help UI. If you hit F1, you see the keyboard shortcuts in the sidebar. (Only works if the sidebar is visible.) Should also explain the query syntax there.

[smilekzs]

> I should search my todo app and my notes app.

> What magic character did I have to type again?

> I should press F1 to figure out.

> What was the thought again?

[amadeuspagel]

You don't have to type any magic characters to search. You only have to type magic characters if you want your results sorted differently.