v0.107.0: Removal of the old layout

The New layout is a series of UI/UX changes that were introduced in v0.101.0 that heavily change both existing UI elements, as well as adding some new ones. The goal of this new layout is to modernize the application and to make it more intuitive but at the same time to reduce clutter.

Starting with v0.107.0, the old layout has been completely removed. This page serves as migration instructions to better understand what changed.

Newly introduced features

  • At the bottom of the window there is a new bar called the Status bar. This bar houses multiple items such as the Breadcrumb navigation and information and settings about the current note, such as the content language and Attributes.
  • When a new Text note is created empty, a New note type switcher appears under the title making it easy to switch to a different note type, template or collection.
  • Note badges appear at the right of the note title and indicate states such as read-only, shared notes as well as corresponding actions (temporarily marking a note as editable, viewing the sharing note, etc.). These replace some of the floating buttons.
  • Text Notes have a new inline title which has a bigger text and display the creation and modification dates which collapses back to a smaller title when scrolling.
  • The following sections have been made collapsible and get displayed under the note title:
    • Promoted Attributes
      • The keyboard shortcut previously used to trigger the promoted attributes ribbon tab (which was no longer working) has been repurposed to toggle the promoted attributes instead.
    • Edited Notes (now renamed to Notes edited on this day), which appears for Day Notes is now shown underneath the title.
      • Whether the section is collapsed or not depends on the choice in Options → Appearance.
    • Search Properties, which appears for the full Search and Saved Search.
  • Save status indicator which appears in the Note badges area and indicates when there are unsaved changes.

Changing to the existing layout

Removal of the ribbon

The most significant change is the removal of the ribbon. All the actions and options from the ribbon were integrated in other places in the application.

Here's how all the different tabs that were once part of the ribbon are available in the new layout:

  • “Formatting toolbar” was relocated to the top of the page.
    • Instead of having one per split, now there is a single formatting toolbar per tab. This allows more space for the toolbar items.
  • “Owned attributes” and “Inherited attributes” were merged and moved to the status bar region (displayed one above the other).
  • “Basic Properties” were integrated in the Note menu menu.
    • The only exception here is the Language combo box which can now be found in the status bar (top-right of the screen).
  • “File” and “Image” tabs
    • The buttons were moved to the right of the note title, as dedicated entries in Note menu.
    • The info section has been merged into the Note info section of the status bar.
  • Edited notes
    • Moved underneath the title, displayed under a collapsible area and the notes are represented as badges/chips.
    • Whether the section is expanded or collapsed depends on the Expand “Notes edited on this day” on day notes setting from Options → Appearance → User Interface.
  • Search definition tab
    • Moved underneath the title under a collapsible area.
    • Expanded by default for new searches, collapsed for saved searches.
  • The Note map is now in the Note actions menu.
    • Instead of opening into a panel in the ribbon, the note map now opens in the sidebar, in the Connections tab where it can also be maximized.
  • “Note info” tab was moved to a small icon in the status bar.
  • “Similar notes” tab
    • Instead of opening into a panel in the ribbon, the similar notes are now shown in the sidebar, in the Connections tab.
    • similarNotesWidgetDisabled no longer has any effect.
  • The Collection properties tab were relocated under the note title and grouped into:
    • A combo box to quickly switch between views.
    • Individual settings for the current view in a submenu.
  • Some smaller ribbon tabs were converted to badges that appear near the note title in the breadcrumb section:
    • Original URL indicator for clipped web pages (#pageUrl).
    • SQL and script execute buttons.

Removal of the floating buttons

Most of the buttons were relocated to the right of the note title, in the Note menu area, with the exception of:

  • The Edit button is replaced by the Read-only badge near the note title, which makes the note temporarily editable when clicked.
  • Backlinks are now displayed in the sidebar, in the Connections tab.
    • Alternatively, the backlinks count is displayed in the status bar and when clicked the sidebar opens at the right section.
  • Relation map zoom buttons are now part of the relation map itself.
  • Export image to PNG/SVG are now in the Note actions menu, in the Export as image option.

Changes to the sidebar

The sidebar (also known as the right pane) also received some important changes.

Most importantly, v0.105.0 splits the sidebar into multiple tabs with additional functionality:

  • Outline tab, which gathers the table of contents and highlights lists.
  • Attributes tab, which provides a graphical method of editing labels, relations and (promoted) attribute definitions.
  • A dedicated AI chat tab.
  • Connections tab, which groups together the note map, note paths, backlinks and similar notes.

The previous iteration of the sidebar would appear contextually, depending on whether there are any items to be displayed. This caused occasional content shifts when moving between two panes in a split view. In the new layout, the sidebar acts more like the Note Tree pane, remaining visible even if there is nothing to display.

As such:

  • The Table of Contents card in Text Notes options (minimum number of headings) is gone. The  shows the table of contents whatever the number of headings.
  • #toc / #toc=show / #toc=hide no longer have any effect.
  • #hideHighlightWidget no longer has any effect. The highlight categories are still set globally, from the menu of the Highlights list or Text Notes options, but they can't be hidden for a single note.

In order to toggle the sidebar, there is a new button on the top-right side of the screen, near the window buttons (on Windows and Linux).

Now each section of the sidebar (e.g. “Table of Contents”, “Highlights list”) is individually collapsible and will remember whether it was collapsed.

Some sidebar items also have their own menu in the title. For example, the highlights filter can be adjusted directly from the menu of the Highlights list. 

Custom widgets are still supported. For custom scripts, the menu allows quick navigation to the corresponding script note.