Tags and search

Search takes over the whole screen rather than sitting in a corner of the list. Open it and the list clears to make space; close it and you are back exactly where you were.

Searching

Type anything and Float matches titles, notes and tags as you go. Results appear as cards. Tap one and Float takes you to that todo in the list, in place, so you can see what is above and below it.

Done todos are searchable too, after the rest; each one shows its tick and the day you finished it. Todos in the Trash are left out unless you type is:trash; then they appear under Trash, below the Done ones.

On an iPhone Duo, folded or opened out on its side, the search button at the top of the column turns into a cross, which closes search again. Opened out on its side, search takes the left-hand page, and a result you tap opens on the right-hand page instead, with search still up, so the next one is a tap away. While it is open the other results dim, and the todo's float, surface, sink and anchor buttons take the cross's place until you put it down. Fold the phone or turn it upright while one is open and it is put down, with search still up and its cross back. A result in Done or the Trash still takes you to it.

Narrowing a search

A few words typed into search are filters rather than text to look for. Each one narrows the results to todos that match it, and you can combine them with each other and with ordinary words:

  • is:floated shows only floated todos.
  • is:anchored shows only todos in the anchored band.
  • is:due shows todos due today, and is:overdue those past their date.
  • is:trash brings in todos in the Trash, which search otherwise leaves out.
  • tag:work, or #work, shows only todos with that exact tag. Once Float recognises the tag, it turns into the same chip you get by tapping it below. For a tag with a space in it, use quotes: tag:"long term".

So is:overdue #work report finds overdue todos tagged work that mention a report. A filter you have only half typed, like is: on its own, is ignored until it is complete.

Browsing by tag

Before you have typed anything, search shows your tags instead of an empty screen. That is deliberate: the most useful thing an empty search can do is show you what there is to look for.

Only tags with something still to do are shown, in alphabetical order. When you finish the last todo with a tag, the tag slips out of the list, and it comes back when one of its todos does. It is still a tag: type # and its name to find everything you did with it.

Tap a tag to narrow the list to it, and it moves up into the search box. It is one tag at a time: tap the small mark on it to clear it, and your tags come back to pick another.

Tags are just words

There is no nesting, no colours, no ordering, and no tag a todo has to have. A tag is a word you typed on a todo, and its only job is helping you find it again. If you are looking for a filing system, Float is not one. See How Float works.

Add tags by opening a todo. Start typing and Float offers the tags you already have, plus Create for the one you are typing.

Renaming, merging and deleting tags

From the tag list in search:

  • Rename a tag and every todo using it follows.
  • Rename it to a name that already exists and Float offers to merge the two, telling you how many todos will move. Merging cannot be undone.
  • Delete Tag… takes the tag off every todo that has it. The todos themselves are not touched. This cannot be undone, and Float tells you how many todos are affected before you confirm.