Feature Suggestions
Posted: Sat Jun 19, 2021 2:26 amOK, I'm really starting to get a lot deeper into Hazel and WOW...it's so powerful! I've started creating some very detailed and complex rules with 2-3 nested levels of All>Any>All>Any type nesting logic. During the course of usage, I have thought of a couple of usability features that I would find really useful for complex rulesets.
1. Comment Condition type - this allows you to insert a condition that doesn't affect the rule - it's just literally a COMMENT on that line in the ruleset...like commenting in code as opposed to a condition that examines the "Comment" field of a file or folder. This could even show a different default colour (like commened code in a code editor), but it would be useful as it's own line and could use for something like "The below 3 conditions determine Biller name, due date and amount owing"
2. Comment action type - same as above but for actions
3. In-line Comment fields - it would be really useful to have comment fields at the Condition and Action level, not just the rule level. Different to above, these are just a field (and could be hover) where you can add a comment about that specific condition or action
4. Collapsable nested rulesets - in my mind this would just be something like the little arrow to the left of Mac OS folders in Finder list view where the arrow points right when "collapsed" and points down when the view is expanded to show subfolders & files
5. Colour categorization - this might not be to everyone's taste, but I like colours as a way of organizing. If there was an option to colour conditions (replace the light grey background), I'd definitely use this. An attribute of the rule itself, this would be visual only and not affect logic or behaviour.
Alternative to no 5 instead of colour, use a Tag or keyword. Bonus feature: Ability to filter rulesets in view (not from logic/behaviour) by the tag/category!!
1. Comment Condition type - this allows you to insert a condition that doesn't affect the rule - it's just literally a COMMENT on that line in the ruleset...like commenting in code as opposed to a condition that examines the "Comment" field of a file or folder. This could even show a different default colour (like commened code in a code editor), but it would be useful as it's own line and could use for something like "The below 3 conditions determine Biller name, due date and amount owing"
2. Comment action type - same as above but for actions
3. In-line Comment fields - it would be really useful to have comment fields at the Condition and Action level, not just the rule level. Different to above, these are just a field (and could be hover) where you can add a comment about that specific condition or action
4. Collapsable nested rulesets - in my mind this would just be something like the little arrow to the left of Mac OS folders in Finder list view where the arrow points right when "collapsed" and points down when the view is expanded to show subfolders & files
5. Colour categorization - this might not be to everyone's taste, but I like colours as a way of organizing. If there was an option to colour conditions (replace the light grey background), I'd definitely use this. An attribute of the rule itself, this would be visual only and not affect logic or behaviour.
Alternative to no 5 instead of colour, use a Tag or keyword. Bonus feature: Ability to filter rulesets in view (not from logic/behaviour) by the tag/category!!