Modify Structure/Hierarchy Of Collections

[BillB]

I have recently learned of and began evaluating PM Plus. It's fantastic to see this functionality come to PM. And, so far, I am a fan of the way it is being implemented.

It appears that, at least at this point, there is no way to alter the structure of a Collection hierarchy. In other words, no way to "move" a collection from one top-level Collection to another, for example. It seems that the only way to make changes to an existing Collections structure is to delete and re-create. Am I missing something?

Regards,
...Bill

[Kirk Baker]

Bill,

I have recently learned of and began evaluating PM Plus. It's fantastic to see this functionality come to PM. And, so far, I am a fan of the way it is being implemented.

It appears that, at least at this point, there is no way to alter the structure of a Collection hierarchy. In other words, no way to "move" a collection from one top-level Collection to another, for example. It seems that the only way to make changes to an existing Collections structure is to delete and re-create. Am I missing something?

No, there is currently no way to rearrange the hierarchy of collections.  Is this something that you need to do frequently (or expect to need to do frequently)?

-Kirk

[BillB]

I would probably not say frequently, but it's one of those things that would seem to popup due to errors, omissions, changes, etc. When you need to adjust the structure, to not be able to at all would be killer, IMHO. Depending on one's scenario, I would think having to create that perfect structure the first time, every time, for all time could be a bit challenging. Once there's a ton of images involved, recreating for a structure adjustment would be a daunting task.

Regards,
...Bill

[syncrasy]

Coming from Media Pro here... I absolutely rely on a manually organized list of Collections ("Catalog Sets" in Media Pro). For example, I use Catalog Sets for 100s of web galleries of wildlife/nature. They are arranged by taxonomic hierarchy to mirror their hierarchy on my web site. I also use nesting with “empty” containers to help organize the Catalog Sets. I can move the Catalog Sets around with drag and drop as needed.

I also rely on manual organization to keep separate different types of galleries (stock vs client vs personal, etc).

Not being able to rearrange the hierarchy of Collections, if not a crippling deal breaker, would make Collections very unfriendly from a usability perspective and create a tremendous headache for me.

[BillB]

I absolutely rely on a manually organized list of Collections

As the eval has progressed, I think think this has become a central issue for me. To have zero flexibility or adaptability with the collection structure is, without a doubt, crippling. In fact, I wonder why it is made possible to have a hierarchy if every entry is to be absolutely fixed. I would be better off staying with a flat table. A data structure that cannot be enhanced/adapted likely has a very short life span, IMHO. Manual control over the organization of the structure is critical.

Not being able to rearrange the hierarchy of Collections, if not a crippling deal breaker, would make Collections very unfriendly from a usability perspective and create a tremendous headache for me.

Good summary. A collection hierarchy that cannot be modified (typically via drag-and-drop) is rapidly killing the hope of the Organizer in PM for me.

...Bill

[syncrasy]

A collection hierarchy that cannot be modified (typically via drag-and-drop) is rapidly killing the hope of the Organizer in PM for me.

Probably should elevate this to the Feature Request section. (I would do it, but I still haven't been able to create a Collection due to an apparent trackball mouse/click bug, so I was delaying writing more about Collections until I fully understand how the existing Collections function is designed. But it sounds like you already know enough that you could go ahead and post your experience/recommendation as a Feature Request.)

[BillB]

Probably should elevate this to the Feature Request section.

As it should be... Thanks for the perspective shift. Believe I will. 

[Kirk Baker]

Just to let everyone know who ends up reading this old topic, but the ability to move collections around was added in beta 16: http://forums.camerabits.com/index.php?topic=13210.0

-Kirk