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Add tags for notes #299
Description
I know that in Nextcloud Notes I can use Categories that are subfolders,
but I would find it more convenient to have Tags.
I have this functionnality with QownNotes but it can't synchronize with Nextcloud Notes keeping tags.
I first started an issue on QownNotes (pbek/QOwnNotes#953) but here's what they answered:
@makayabou It appears that the Nextcloud notes app supports "categories", which is actually subdirectory, but does not support tags. Since tags are apparently in use and supported as a client-side feature for multiple clients of the Nextcloud notes app, lack of support for tags could be considered a design limitation in the notes app. Have you considered submitting a feature request to that project? The developers may have considered it redundant with categories, but if it is useful to the user base, they may want to know.
If it is implemented, it could be simply supported by the API using the "Get all notes" call, which returns to the client a list of notes and their attributes, which could be augmented to include a list of tags for each note (see Notes API 0.2). Support in QOwnNotes would be possible if, the developers are interested in adding it. Although it would require a few design changes in QOwnNotes to talk directly the the notes app, it would not require a separate request for each note to synchronize state.
What do you think of it ?
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korelstar commentedon Mar 13, 2019
Yes, we decided to use categories (based on sub-folders), see #8. We also decided to realize only one type (i.e. categories OR tags) in order to keep the app simple.
However, I will leave this issue open in order to allow a discussion about this aspect. But I don't think that we will change the roadmap in this aspect soon.
MFODEVHUB commentedon Apr 15, 2019
The subfolder/category-based method is very "rigid", the "tags" would be a lot more flexible and easy to use ! I mean, each of my notes could be in 2 or 3 categories (or tags)... Moreover, the integration with QOwnNotes is not full because of that, tags are the "modern categorisation method".
Is there any chance that you change your mind about that roadmap ?
petitminion commentedon Jun 17, 2019
zotero use both method (tags and folder) and it's very usefull :D
sunjam commentedon Sep 12, 2019
Tags are already possible when accessing a note as txt/md via the Files app.
However, you cannot see or access those tags from inside the notes app itself. The only options you see pertaining to the note are Favorite, current Category and Delete.
Perhaps tags could become accessible from the Notes app, similar to how categories can be defined. A combination of tags and nesting covers many use cases, plus is a default design I'm used to from Evernote.
francuss commentedon Nov 9, 2019
I tried to follow @makayabou suggestion to put a bounty on this issue, but:
1, I could not register to bountysource, it redirects me to CanWork. Should I register with CanWork instead?
2. How much is a reasonable bounty to get this issue solved, considering that developers do not seem to have much interest for this issue?
3. Also how Android could integrate with this? It seem in another thread @stefan-niedermann asked for API to do some integration, so perhaps solving this issue would mean also producing proper API.
Also, considering the huge amount of work involved in taking hundreds or thousands of notes, I would like to stress the importance of finding the single note you are searching, when you need it. If you are unable to find it, then the whole purpose of all your note taking work is wasted. The power to put multiple tags on a single note is critical in this sense.
Thanks for reading
best
korelstar commentedon Nov 21, 2019
JadeVane commentedon Jan 10, 2020
I have the same request now. Categories is a very important feature to manage notes, but tags are more useful to me than categories, notes with several tags at the same time are easier to search and read, BTW, I do NOT think it will be not simple if Notes support labeling notes while categorizing them.
g-work commentedon Feb 3, 2020
g-work commentedon Feb 3, 2020
By the way: I totally support the request for tags. I don't think it's tags OR categories; they support different use-cases. The ability of tags to be assigned to multiple notes is very important for me (and others, I think).
[-]Add tags for notes[/-][+]Add tags for notes [$50][/+]carbontracking commentedon Dec 10, 2020
stefan-niedermann commentedon Dec 10, 2020
@carbontracking Please use GitHub reactions 👍 to show that you are affected by the same issue. Please don't comment if you have no new or relevant information to add.
As explained multiple times we want to keep a folder & files based approach to avoid a vendor lock-in and allow simple export of the notes as well as synchronizing them with every WebDAV client and the Nextcloud Desktop sync client.
Suggestions about how to enable tags in this scenario are welcome. While we all understamd the benefits of tags, a plain "I want this" will not solve this issue. Constructive proposals and ideas about how this kind of mapping might look like are welcome contributions, though.
13 remaining items
[-]Add tags for notes [$50][/-][+]Add tags for notes [$100][/+]CyberFoxar commentedon Nov 8, 2022
Another appreach to tagging and handling note metadata might be the addition of a "frontmatter" section to the markdown files. Such sections are becoming increasingly common1 and would help standardize the format and solve a bit of the pain in adding tags inside the files themselves (and thus having to completely extend/change the markdown parser).
Not to mention that there's a wealth of readily available packages and parsers for frontmatter in yaml format that would (almost) transparently go before a markdown parser with minimal work required.
I still fully support the idea of parsing such frontmatter (and the tags therein) and putting them in an easier-to-search and easier-to-index format in a database somewhere else. This might be the biggest sticking point, as far as this feature goes, as well as adapting current Notes ui to handle this change.
Footnotes
See: YAML frontmatter on Jekyll blog's, YAML frontmatter on obsidian, Dendron's summary of frontmatter feature and concepts ↩
cscherrNT commentedon Aug 31, 2023
I would argue that having tags as Hashtags
#sometagis the most practical thing from a user stand point. It avoids having to awkwardly tag each note with some clickable interface. Obsidian also does this, and is IMHO the best note taking app available, doing everything right except being OSS.Tags as hashtags would make shared note pool between nc notes and obsidian (or other apps with similar format) more usable.
viktorix commentedon Sep 13, 2023
+1 on using tags in frontmatter like Obsidian. I'm importing notes from Obsidian, would be nice to have tags.
cscherrNT commentedon Sep 15, 2023
I dindn't really think of frontmatter tags, but that would certainly be useful too. Personally, I prefer having
#tagsanywhere in my notes.ptandler commentedon Mar 16, 2024
Joplin uses frontmatter to export the tags (and other meta-information):
rochelmeyer commentedon Mar 30, 2024
Another vote for tags! They are essential. Would really appreciate seeing them in any further version of this app.
TheNomad11 commentedon Oct 24, 2024
Agree, although they are available, it is a bit hidden and cluncky, you have to click on "share" (dot menu in note title)
[-]Add tags for notes [$100][/-][+]Add tags for notes[/+]DAveShillito commentedon Nov 14, 2024
Thanks for the "Share" workaround @TheNomad11 I will give that a go.
I too came here to ask for tags, if that workaround works I shall give it a go, but it would be good if this were exposed in the UI in a more clear manner.
I have many notes, and the Categories are just not enough (IMHO).
I may have multiple Projects (which I place in a Projects Category), some of which use #Arduino's some use #3DPrint's some may be #Woodwork, and some all 3.
It would be so handy if I could tag them as such and easily find all related projects in the Notes UI.
Also the fact that changing categories cause the file to be moved has made linking to them more difficult in the past, and I seem to recall problems where embedded links to images were lost if I changed the category. A flat folder structure with tags would remove this issue.
CDubs00 commentedon Aug 13, 2025
tags are must for any notable note taking app! Categories serve a purpose, but tags are more flexible and can even replace categories is desired, though I think having both is a great option. Frontmatter tags or inline are both good options but having both increases usability. I don't think tags would add a lot of complexity to the notes app but enhance its usability 1000 times.
ptandler commentedon Aug 15, 2025
I also would like to use tags. I personally like the way that LogSeq is supporting tags: both as frontmatter and as inline
#tagso it would be nice to be compatible there to make the transition easy.jacksbox commentedon Nov 2, 2025
+1 for tags
Folders are for grouping/sorting.
But tags enable adding topics to notes. It's the same as tags in photos. Sure, I sort them in folders by e.g. date or event, but each photo can have multiple tags. So if I want to to find all fotos with dogs, I can just search for the Tag. (Obvious example, but I wanted to show that it should work the same for notes as well)