When I give a note a tag for instance 3 tags, It will show in the left menu 3 times. Can you make another system where you can do this different. Now the left menu (row) will be very long as it expands because for every tag it duplicates the mentioning.
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Peez Inside
Hi, This is a classic "Information Architecture" problem. When a system uses a flat tagging structure to mimic a folder structure, the sidebar becomes redundant and cluttered because a single item (a card) exists in multiple branches simultaneously.
Here are a few ways Recall.ai could redesign this system to prevent the sidebar from exploding in length.
1. The "Active Path" Isolation (Focus Mode)
Instead of expanding every tag associated with a card, the sidebar should only highlight the card within the specific tag the user clicked to get there.
How it works: If you navigate to a card via the "Health" tag, only the "Health" branch stays open. The "Workout" and "Longevity" tags remain collapsed in the sidebar.
The Benefit: It respects the user's current context. If I am looking for health notes, I don't necessarily need to see my entire workout folder structure expanded at the same time.
2. Multi-Tag Breadcrumbs (Header Navigation)
Move the "multi-location" visualization out of the sidebar and into the note's header.
How it works: The sidebar acts as a simple entry point. Once the card is open, a row of "pills" or breadcrumbs appears at the top of the note showing all its tags (Health > Workout > Cardio).
The Benefit: This keeps the sidebar clean (short) while still providing the "one card lives in many places" functionality that the developers intended.
3. Ghosting / Visual Dimming
If the developers insist on showing the card in multiple places for "discoverability," they can use visual hierarchy to reduce mental load.
How it works: The "Primary" tag (the one you clicked) is highlighted. In all other sidebar categories, the card title is rendered in a faded grey or a smaller font, or hidden behind a " +2 more locations" indicator.
The Benefit: It signals to the user that these are duplicates/aliases without taking up the same amount of visual "weight" as the primary navigation path.
4. Global "Toggle Expansion" Settings
As suggested in your provided feedback thread, a simple UI toggle could solve this for power users.
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Peez Inside
Feature Behavior
Standard Mode Clicking a card expands all associated tag trees (Current).
Strict Mode Clicking a card only expands the current path; others stay collapsed.
Lazy Loading Tags only expand when the user manually clicks the chevron (>)
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Peez Inside
Summary of the Issue
The core frustration is that Recall.ai is treating Tags like Folders. Folders are mutually exclusive (an object is in one place), but Tags are inclusive. Forcing a Tag to act like a Folder in a sidebar will always lead to "Sidebar Bloat."
The most elegant solution is Solution 1: Ensure that clicking a card only triggers an "expand" action on the specific sidebar branch the user is currently interacting with.
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honzikprevratil
I am not the OP, but my understanding of the problem (to which I agree) is following.
Precondition: You have a card, that is in tags, for example "Healt", "Workout" and "Longetivity". You unwrap the tag "Healt" and you click on the card.
Current behavior: All the other associated tags will automatically unwrap. This can make the length of the sidebar pretty big and even confusing, based on how many cards are in all the tags. And it is even worse if these are nested tags - even more stuff appear.
Alternative behavior: Do not unwrap anything. IMHO there is no need to unwrap all the other tags automatically (I see no benefit of this). The unwrap all behaviour could be done for example by click + shift on the card (and this could be in setting for user to decide).
Sankari Nair
Hi Peez, that's sort of the concept is that one card can live in many places, so you don't need to feel like it has to live in a single place. How would you rather have this displayed?
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Peez Inside
Sankari Nair I have replied above. Hope this helps🙏
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Steve Holland
Yes, the length of subjects on the left is overwhelming.