When we built Staction we decided that all information should be flat. One single long linear line of posts. No hierarchy, no clicking to get to nested folders of information. It’s the simplest paradigm of navigation, and everyone gets it instantly.

But this left us with a problem. How do you see groups of related posts that occurred at different times on the same screen? The project tags that are at the heart of Staction were the first step, but we thought we could push it further.

What’s a project in Staction?

A “project” in Staction is really just a collection of posts with the same meta information. When you click on a project, Staction does the equivalent of searching all posts and showing you only the ones that meet the criteria: having the selected project tag.

So in effect, all “projects” are just virtual collections of posts plucked out of their chronology and presented together. Admittedly we do treat projects just a bit differently on the backend, so that we can pull reports on time, manage permissions, and prepare for some possible future updates- but the effect is the same to the user.

Once we visualized a project as just a virtual collection of posts, we thought we could take it further.

Enter “Saved Views”

If we could present projects as virtual collections based simply on meta information, it seemed like an easy next step to create all sorts of virtual collections. Every virtual collection consists of any unique combination of the following attributes:

• Which project(s) does your post relate to?
• Who created the post?
• Who was the post sent to?
• When was the post created?
• What type of post is it? Todo (incomplete, or complete), Time entry, or a post that has a file attached,
• Plus, you can search for terms, and have them included as a criteria.

There’s a lot of power hidden beneath those simple criteria. After experimenting with it, we realized we could create several incredibly useful views:

• All my time entries from today/this week.
• All the todo’s I’ve assigned but that are not yet complete.
• X coworkers’ posts for the day.
• All the time entries today for x coworker.
• All the posts with a file attached on a specific project.

These basic views recreate virtually all the various pages that most project management applications hard code. Instead of navigating to sections, and sub sections, you just resort to your stack of posts to see what you need.

We’ve talked before about how we used our apps a long time internally before releasing them to the public. Staction was an extreme case. We used it for a very long time and went through several incarnations and a long beta before launching it. During that time, we learned more about the real power of Saved Views.

We learned that simply emulating the concrete collections of information in other project management applications virtually was not the true power of Saved Views. The true power occurs in how you can extend your criteria to see all sorts of views that are impossible within other applications. Being able to see disparate types of information caroused multiple projects on one screen let us see our workflow in all sorts of new ways.

Enter Tagging

We had a phase two plan to implement another level of superficial tagging. In fact, if you type non-project tags in the meta box in Staction now, they still work in searches, even though they’re not added to the auto-completer. But as we experimented with Staction and became increasingly creative with our own workflow, we started instinctively using #hashtags like in Twitter. Not within the meta box, but within the body of the post itself. Pretty soon we were using all sorts of additional tags to track our workflow.

• #done
• #logins
• #ideas
• #jobcost

To name a few. The combination of searching for a #hashtag and combining it with other search criteria opened up even more doors for us.

• See all the projects finished today (marked #done) that have files attached. A great way to review work as an art director, or project manager.
• See all projects with a #jobcost tag this month. Great for end of the month billing.
• Show all posts marked as #ideas on a specific project.
A simple and easy way to go back to old ideas on a project.

So How Do You Do It?

Saved views are weaved throughout the interface. There are lots of ways to run into them. The first and foremost way to interact with them is with the “Sort this view” slider located at the top of the stream.

This is the primary way to create a new Saved View. By clicking the link, you can get access to this panel:

This panel lets you add as many search criteria as you would like. Simply select your criteria via the drop-downs, and use the +/- tools to keep adding and subtracting criteria. The really cool thing is that as you select criteria, the stream below is updated live based on what you select. It’s an incredibly powerful way to search.

The “Saved” part of Saved views happens when you give the criteria you selected a name, and press “save.” After pressing “save” your view will be updated, and you’ll be taken to the virtual Saved View you just created. Instead of “Full Stream” being at the top of the stream, you’ll see the name of your Saved View to let you know you’re viewing a subset of the full stream.

You’ll still have access to the “Sort this view” button, but this time when pressed, it will show you the criteria this view is based on preselected. You’ll also have a brand new button labeled “Close” that is essentially a shortcut to get out of the Saved View, and get back to the Full Stream.

Something else subtle you might notice is the little “Project View” indicator that’s now located next to the name of the view.

These little indicators, if you’re not familiar, are links to a special consolidated project view. Just like with a regular project, any Saved View can become a virtual project worksheet showing you quickly, and easily all the most relevant information about your view including:

• incomplete/complete todo’s
• Attached files
• Time entries
• Who’s participating

Another very important thing happened when you created your new Saved View. It was added to your sidebar underneath the “Saved Views” slider.

This is the easy way to always return to your virtual view of your workflow. With one click you can re-sort the stack based on your pre-selected criteria.

We mentioned earlier that you can combine Saved Views with Search for even more powerful sorting. To do this, first perform a search using the Search field at the top of your sidebar.

Once you press enter, or click “go” the stream will be sorted based on your search term being found in either the meta information of the post, or the post itself. When the stream refreshes based on your search, you’ll see that the stream is now referred to as “Full Stream – Searching whatever you searched for“

You’ll also notice that the “Sort this view” link is still available. Which means that you can add additional criteria on top of the search. More powerful still, you can store that view of combined search, and post parameters into a new Saved View.

Something you might not know, even as an advanced user, is that the same is true in reverse. If you have selected a Saved View, you can search within the Saved View. In fact, the Search box is always context specific to whatever you’re looking at- even on the Projects, and People pages.

Wrapping Up

Lots of things make Staction different from traditional project management apps. The concentration on chronological recording of information rather than putting information in predefined pockets. The concentration on being on one main screen, and interface. The fact that the entire app is built on only a few simple rules. But the thing that makes Staction truly unique is the way you can sort your information and see it in virtually any way you choose.

Staction is not an application for the type of person that requires blanks to fill in, or needs the comfort of predefined structure. Staction is built for the people who need the speed and flexibility other applications simply cannot provide within their more rigid structures. The flexibility of Staction, and its true power lies in the user’s ability to create virtual collections of information in any way they see fit. That power lies in the ability to create Saved Views.