Attachments – There must be a better way

reck
reck
Community Member

Attachments have been a pain for me in 1Password for a long time.

Ideally attachments would work how I think most people would expect them to work. You go the item that you want to attach a file to, click an 'add attachment' button and you're done.

Instead we have this convoluted process of uploading files to a documents area initially and then you go and find the item that you want to attach to. You click the link button and then go through a list of every item you’ve ever uploaded to find the thing you want (hint: type to jump down the list) to link it to.

This two step process of adding attachments and having two lists to look at, the 1Password items (logins, secure notes etc) and then separately this documents area adds extra complication and clicks when a more straight forward and simpler approach could be used.

However the absolute worst aspect of this whole setup is the fact you have no idea what attachments are used where. If I click that documents list I just get a whole load of files that have been uploaded with no idea where they're linked them to. Short of coming up with some kind of filing system to make it more obvious where everything links to I can’t think of use for the documents view.

There is only one benefit I can think of for this kind of setup and that is that you can link one attachment to multiple items but in all the years i've used 1Password I don't think i've ever needed to do this. I'd much rather simply attach a file directly to an item and be done with it and get rid of the documents concept completely.

Searching back through the forum I see other members have expressed the same frustrations as me and I wonder if any improvements have been made in this area since these posts were made?

Here’s a couple from 2018.

https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/87822/attachments-in-1password-7
“Why don't you embed a file into the note, instead of sublinking to an entire new section (Documents). It's confusing having the same data two places. And when deleting a Document, it's just a dead link inside the Note. In 1Password 7 Beta the "File attachment" in Notes is still kinda bulky. “

https://discussions.agilebits.com/discussion/90849/1password7-attachments-and-1password-com
“It is most unfortunate, how 1Password.com handles attached documents.”
“Why on earth AgileBits would force these documents to be separate from the meta data that describes them I don't know.
That just confuses things enormously. Truly.”

To answer my own question I don’t believe there have any been improvements to what mentioned above since 2018 so to adapt my question slightly, is there anything on the roadmap to improve this area of 1Password at all and if so can we expect to see in the not too distant future, e.g. this year?

Thanks


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Comments

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @reck!

    You click the link button and then go through a list of every item you’ve ever uploaded to find the thing you want (hint: type to jump down the list) to link it to.

    You can also search the document name in the search box so you don't have to scroll down the list. We built it exactly so you can avoid scrolling:

    To answer my own question I don’t believe there have any been improvements to what mentioned above since 2018 so to adapt my question slightly, is there anything on the roadmap to improve this area of 1Password at all and if so can we expect to see in the not too distant future, e.g. this year?

    We don't have anything to share about this at the moment for the near future. However, we are always looking at ways to improve 1Password, so your feedback is very useful :+1:

  • reck
    reck
    Community Member

    OK that's a shame to hear and it's a pity it was never developed further over the last few years.

    The hint I made is similair to what you suggest Ana and it does help us try and work with what we have at the moment but it doesn't really address the fundamental issues I and others have mentioned. The fact we're talking about having to use a search feature to attach a file says a lot.

    If nothing else it's hard to understand why we still can't see where an attachment (document) has been attached. Back in 2018 you might have argued that it was new and that there are plans to improve things in the future and to bear with us but in 2020 we don't seem to be any further along.

    "However, we are always looking at ways to improve 1Password, so your feedback is very useful"

    But these points were made years ago and you say you're looking for way to improve 1P, well they're right here and in the threads that i've linked to.

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @reck:

    If nothing else it's hard to understand why we still can't see where an attachment (document) has been attached.

    You could do this already, although it requires an extra step: after you have linked an item to a document, you can also link the document back to the item, using the same related item feature. Although I understand it's not an ideal process at the moment :(

    But these points were made years ago and you say you're looking for way to improve 1P, well they're right here and in the threads that i've linked to.

    I think it's also a matter of priorities. Our development teams work on several features for each new update, so they have to choose what to work on first. And since 1Password is a password manager first and foremost, rather than a document manager, I can understand the reason behind the choice. But I can see how improvements to the Document feature could be useful to you.

  • reck
    reck
    Community Member

    Hi, yes having to create a second link just to see where the attachment is being used isn’t ideal, especially when you have lots of attachments.

    However it’s good to at least have some kind of workaround until a proper system can be implemented.

    Fingers crossed version 8 fixes this once and for all, no more workarounds required.

    Thanks.

  • ag_ana
    ag_ana
    1Password Alumni

    @reck:

    Thank you for the discussion! If you have any other questions, please feel free to reach out anytime.

    Have a wonderful day :)

This discussion has been closed.