The ranking view, the addition to the tree view (the current only view in workflowy) is a interface suitable for multi-project or life planning.
In this new version of Workflowy, every list node has a rank of a floating point number or of null (no rank).
In the ranking view, every node that has a rank is sorted in either order depending on the user's need.
The user can enter ranking view at any level in the node tree including the root of their Workflowy workspace (just like in tree view).
It's kind of like the line number in Basic.
Set the current node's rank to <number>.
Set the current node and its direct descendants' rank to <number>.
Increase the current node's rank by <number>. Show error if the current node has no rank given by its ancestors.
Decrease the current node's rank by <number>. Show error if the current node has no rank given by its ancestors.
Remove the current node's rank.
Remove the current node and its direct descendants' rank.
Hide in ranking view. (just like what #! does in linux)
Tree view at workspace root
* A #20! (you can combine #<number> with #!)
* B
* C
* D
* E
* F
* G #+1 (something a little more important)
* H #10
* I
* J
* L
* M #99 (urgent)
* N #=30
Ranking view at workspace root, ascending order; ordering among nodes with the same rank are preserved as in tree view
| Node | Rank |
|---|---|
| M | 99 |
| N | 30 |
| G | 21 |
| B | 20 |
| C | 20 |
| H | 10 |
| I | 10 |
Ranking view at workspace root, ascending order, ordering among nodes with the same rank are reversed as in tree view
| Node | Rank |
|---|---|
| M | 99 |
| N | 30 |
| G | 21 |
| C | 20 |
| B | 20 |
| I | 10 |
| H | 10 |
Ranking view at workspace root, descending order; ordering among nodes with the same rank are preserved as in tree view
| Node | Rank |
|---|---|
| I | 10 |
| H | 10 |
| C | 20 |
| B | 20 |
| G | 21 |
| N | 30 |
| M | 99 |
Ranking view with node A as root, descending order; ordering among nodes with the same rank are preserved as in tree view
| Node | Rank |
|---|---|
| G | 21 |
| B | 20 |
| C | 20 |
In the ranking view, the user can
- remove a node
- complete a node
- add #! to hide a node
- zoom to that node in ranking view
- zoom to that node in tree view
- zoom out in ranking view
- edit node content and its descendants' content
- expand / collapse node
- set ranking numbers directly (difficult to program?)
They cannot
- add a node
- reveal (un-hide) a node
- drag to (re)order nodes
Well, I was thinking about using symbolic links in Workflowy. That would solve the same problem of ordering nodes under different branches of the node tree.