Concepts

Collections

A notes-style home for reference material, not dated work.

A collection gathers items into a two-pane, notes-style view — a list on the left, a full rich-text editor on the right. Where a project is about getting things done by a date, a collection is for material you want to write down and keep.

Screenshot coming soon

A collection — the list on the left, the editor on the right.

When to use a collection#

Use a collection for reference and long-form notes: meeting notes, research, a reading list, a wiki-style page. Use a project for actionable, dated work. A quick way to decide: if it has a when, it's a task in a project; if it's something you want to read later, it's a collection.

How it behaves#

Two layouts — a roomy note layout, or a compact one for shorter items.
Zen mode (⌘;) — expand the editor full-screen to write without distraction.
Markdown — import and export items as Markdown files (see below).

Collection items are notes, not tasks

Moving a task into a collection clears its schedule, completion and recurrence — it becomes a note. Collection items also don't appear in dated views (Today, Upcoming…) or smart lists, because they have no date to file by.

Import & export as Markdown#

Collection items play nicely with Markdown files:

Import — drag .md files onto the collection (you'll see Drop Markdown to import), or choose Import Markdown from the collection's folder menu. Each file becomes one item: the filename becomes its title and the file's contents become the note. You can import several at once.
Export — select an item and choose Export… from its menu to save its note as a .md file, named from the item's title.

Export saves one item's note at a time, not the whole collection. On re-import, an item's title comes from the filename, and Markdown doesn't carry an item's completed state.

Where collections live#

Like projects, collections live inside areas. Add one from the sidebar under the area you want it in.