Nextcloud "Sorts" release 0.0.1: an app for files tree navigation and advanced files filters

(I’m not familiar with Nextcloud forum Categories, do not hesitate to move my message to another category)

Hi there!
We are particularly happy to present you the first (beta) version of the “Sorts” app.

Sorts is a third party application for Nextcloud that will allow you to :

  1. to navigate in your Nextcloud (web) files within a file tree (= without systematic page reload)
  2. search your files using advanced filters (e.g. “Find me files in .pdf format, that are between 1 and 3Mb, modified less than 15 days ago, that use the “report” tag and that are marked with a star”)

Sorts is in beta version. For obvious security reasons, it doesn’t modify any files (it just offers a shortcut link to the classic Files app). Think of Sorts as a simple app allowing you to view/search your files in an alternative way.

We talked about it here: Looking forward to develop "Sorts", files visualisation improvement and filters

The history of Sorts, its source code, the internship report of the intern who developed it, etc… everything is here: Nextcloud Sorts: a Nextcloud application prototype to navigate your files more easily – Framablog

Video: Nextclouds Sorts Demo - AperiTube

Sorts was developped by @Aeredren on his internship at Framasoft.

[1] Framasoft is a small French non-profit association, specialized in raising awareness about digital issues, and particularly free software. We are notably the creators of the federated free software PeerTube (alternative to YouTube) and Mobilizon (alternative to Facebook events/groups)

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@bug-hunters Sorts app for file tree navigation and advanced file filters is in need of testing as it has reached beta. What a cool app!

I’ve been following this one with interest. I don’t have a Framagit account and it seems they might be rate-limiting, so in the interest of timely feedback:

Search within a sub-folder tree
Not sure if it’s a bug or if I’m expecting a feature that isn’t there, but I don’t see a way to filter results by folder. For example, if I want to search for all PDFs in folder A or its sub-folders, but not in folder B or C.
I see that you can double-click on a folder in the tree view to see only its contents, but when you run a search, it is always for contents of all folders.

Edit/aside: Rate limiting

My GitHub and GitLab accounts are “new” to the Framasoft GitLab instance, since I’ve never signed in there before, so I’d still need to wait for manual approval. Which I will. But here’s feedback in the mean-time. :smile:

All you have to do is login with your Github or Gitlab account.

It cannot be installed from the appstore yet. When will it be available?

It is on the store here, but your instance might not have updated its list of available apps yet. I’m not sure what prompts that, and it seems to be different from checking for new versions of apps you have already installed.
I ended up installing mine manually by unzipping the package into my nextcloud/apps folder. You can download it from the app store, or direct from Framagit.

Yes, I saw it in the appstore but the app list in my instance is still not updated, But thanks for this information, seems to be that there is a delay

Login is no longer required : Framasoft / Nextcloud / Sorts · GitLab :slight_smile:

(Framagit is another project provided by our non-profit. It’s a gitlab forge, but where hosting more than 63,100 projects and about 40,000 users, so we had to put a moderation process to avoid spammers and crypto-miners)

Have you considered entering the best app contest? You will certainly be in the running to win some mentorship and a trip to the conference. :heart:

@JRichelle (sorry for the delay, I’m back from vacations)

Indeed, Sorts is not actively developed anymore. It was really a proof of concept.
Now, the code is available, and it works pretty well for a 0.1 version (I still use it regularly).
See demo here : Nextclouds Sorts Demo - AperiTube

Not sure if @Aeredren is still available to help, but there was a good base for the software to be taken over by others (including his internship report : https://framablog.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/rapport-en-US.pdf (in french : https://framablog.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/rapport.pdf) )

Anyway, it remains to be seen if the demand is strong or not!

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The demand is 100% there. I asked the NC engineers about Sorts at the conference and what I was told is it is extremely awesome, but would have benefited from input from the team in order to be developed with even deeper integration to the Files app. As is, needs a full rewrite afaik.

Also, sounds like it would have been top app at the conference if it had been submitted.

The demand is 100% there. Asked about Sorts at the conference and heard overwhelming praise, but also the desire for it to have been developed more directly with team members so it could even more deeply integrate into Files. Sounds like it will need substantial work to get such integration in the future, but absolutely it is loved. :heart:

If Sorts had been submitted I’m confident it would have been a top choice and won the developer some money for the Best App Contest. Cheers.

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