Very important issue with file explorer

Feature archive
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1

Better File Explorer

There should be more keyboard functionality for the file explorer and there should be an option to have a different view from the current one in the settings, to make it more like the File explorer of windows or an operating system like mac or linux. Where you can click to go to the next section, you and don’t have to see everything irrelevant once you’ve already gone into your desired folder with a bunch of clutter and aiming and shooting like an FPS target practice. Have (an option, so everyone is happy) things more horizontal rather than vertical so when you enlarge the sidebar by dragging it, it can be used like a normal file explorer or split into columns so its not all one narrow vertical list. For example, simply drag on the side bar to make it bigger, or even better have a hotkey to make it wide, have all your folders shown there, click one/ navigate with keyboard the same way you would on windows (even press a letter to jump to the same letter) and press enter to go in your folder, and ONLY see the folders inside, with a keyboard back button or using the mouse back button.I have A LOT of folders! inside folders inside folders with documents in each of them. Some of you may not have a lot of folders so you don’t experience this issue but if you have a lot of folders it’s an issue. The plugin quick explorer somewhat alleviates this but this really needs to be in the core of the program in the way i am mentioning. Some of you may say argue and say it’s not necessary, but whatever your argument is, it should be an option for those who want to have a more traditional, more horizontal file explorer. The current file explorer is very bad for many folders inside folders inside folders. And you can say “just use the quick switcher to search what you want!” But it should be an option to do it the way I am describing. Maybe you’re not searching for a specific document, maybe you just want to look at every file you have in your knowledge base. Maybe you don’t know what you’re looking for. Maybe you think visually and want to see everything and organize it that way. This is a huge feature missing for me, and if there wasnt the plugin I found called quick explorer, I would have uninstalled this program. Quick explorer somewhat alleviates but is not ideal. It’s too small and at the top of the screen, you cant drag things into it. It is simply not good if you have many many folders. And this “regular file view” should be a core option! If you don’t want to use obsidian that way, fine, but it should be an option for those who do. Many people prefer the regular file explorer system that is intuitive and works fine in our operating systems, and if you’d like to achieve mass adoption you can’t force people to try to fit a square peg in a round hole. Technology should mold to people’s desires, not vice versa. If people wish to view files in the standard way operating system way, it should be an option. Simply go in the settings and toggle 1 switch. Everyone is happy. I’m making all these arguments as a preventative measure for people who will say it’s already perfect the way it is. If it was perfect, I wouldn’t have this issue. You can call me the issue, but I can tell you straight up, if there wasn’t the plugin and if I didn’t have some hope of this program advancing in the future, I would have deleted it. I’m giving it a chance and making this suggestion as I can see it’s only one year old, and it has A LOT of potential, just some things need to be improved. I’m using the quick explorer as a band-aid, but I will only continue to use this program if the file explorer is improved in the near future for certain. Thank you!

On a related file exploration note, so this doesn’t get deleted :

Different graph view

Have an option to have the graph view like a family tree rather than a bunch of circles. So you can see all your documents and what folder they are in then just click it, or navigate with the keyboard and expand/collapse, or “Go to” the desired location with your keyboard.
→ Different “Graph” views!

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As WhiteNoise noted in the other thread, one feature request per thread. You seem to have many. Moreover, they have already been requested by others. You must add your support to those threads instead of creating new ones.

For example:

Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but we have a system for managing requests for a reason. If you don’t follow the system, your ideas will likely be lost.

4

It’s one problem and I am just saying multiple solutions to it and multiple things about it. I am only requesting the one feature here and saying different things about it and different solutions, as was suggested to do. I did try to search, but I didn’t see anything. Hopefully I add some important points and this topic can be brought to the surface with my post.

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Also I do strongly believe what I wrote here is very different than the two posts you showed for reference. The first one asks for keyboard funcitonality, the second one a tree. I am saying to have a full screen file explorer like windows among other things. I don’t see the issue, so I’d appreciate it if you could un archive it. or at least tell me specifically where to repost my ideas so they are seen, because posting this in those threads wouldn’t fit.

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As the other moderators have mentioned, please do so in individual posts using the template. I can’t stress enough how important both the template and individual, atomic features are.

I’m afraid the wall of text you just wrote will be hard for others to parse. Remember that your audience are not only the devs, but other users who should support your request should this be implemented (popularity of a FR plays a role) and plugin developers that might take up the challenge. You’ll have more chances of this feature being picked up by someone if you follow the template, stick to the essentials and get support from other users.

Here I see two features, one of them linked on the post above by Ryan:

This is another one, also linked above:

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