Inventory Management - Meta tags instead of folders

Everyone complains about how hard the folders are to use. So how about getting rid of them? A folder is an antiquated concept anyway. An inventory item is just some data stored somewhere, why does it have to be physically located in only one place? Plus, cleaning up inventory is one thing, finding things is another. Even after I've gone through all loose items and stashed them somewhere, I still have trouble finding anything. I never know what items are called, or which of several appropriate folders I would have put it under. Should I put stone03.tga in the "Organic" or "Building" category?

I think meta tags would be a boon to help finding things in your inventory. Your stone03.tga texture could go under Organic, Building, Gray and Stone categories, without being limited to just one. This helps when you're looking for gray textures and don't care what the material is. And your new no-copy shirt can go in five different outfit categories.

We would need:
* Ability to easily label items, and to re-use labels
* Ability to use filters or a simple search field to quickly find them

Also, some meta labels should be added automatically, like permissions, date and item type (object, animation, sound, etc.).

this is actually one of the best ideas i've heard in a while

but why do away with the folders? how bout we just attach the metadata to each inventory type that already exists? and add a search function (that actually works, outside of open folders)

One example of why I wouldn't want folders:

Say I'm working on a project that needs scripts, objects and textures. I give them all labels of "Project X" and use the search/filter to show them all at once. If they lived in different folders I'd have to open them all to see all my Project X assets.

Ah yes, good for you to post about this again.

I point to Gmail as a shining example of organizing mass amounts of information. Not only do they have the renowned Google searchbar integrated into the interface, but Labels -- which are conceptually the same as your "metatags".

Sure!

Yes! Like google mail's sorting.

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This is a good idea and how about if we could drag more than one item at a time, boy I'd love that!

Yes!

this would be a reason to repair my inventory finally