How do I create a new Category?

lazybones
lazybones
Community Member

Hi, I cranked up a trial run of 4.4.3 as I still use Mavericks. While I hope to eventually use 1Password for internet, right now I need a manager for other kinds of sensitive data. I posted about this previously, but am now in the trenches, actually testing 1Password.

My first objective is to corral a slew of passwords for encrypted disk images, both active and archived. Have mercy.

IPassword's user guide (which is for Yosemite, not Mavericks) says I can add custom categories. I'd very much like to do so, assuming this means I can create a new-item template for the disk images, and not have to modify the new-item form every time I add another disk image to the category.

If instructions are online, could you please point me to them? I have searched and searched and now concede defeat in trying to figure it out myself. Can you help me with creating a new template/category, please?


1Password Version: 4.4.3
Extension Version: Not Provided
OS Version: OS X 10.95.5
Sync Type: Not Provided

Comments

  • hawkmoth
    hawkmoth
    Community Member

    I'm not sure what instruction you are reading, but at present you cannot add custom Categories. You can, however, add custom fields within Categories. The guide for adding custom fields are online. Click the link.

    The ability to customize Categories is one of the most frequently requested feature. The developers have acknowledge that request and understand that many people want that ability.mtheir practice always is to not promise new features or proved a timeline for their implementation.

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @lazybones,

    Hawkmoth is correct, it's not currently possible to create new item categories in 1Password. Is it possible you had seen the guide for adding custom fields (i.e. the link from hawkmoth's email)? If you saw something else that you thought meant you could add custom categories, please let us know where (a link would be helpful) so we can help to clear up the confusion.

    For now, we usually suggest storing data in Secure Notes if there's not a more suitable category - although you can certainly use a different item type if you want. Hopefully we'll come up with a better solution the future.

    I hope that helps, but please let us know if you have more questions. Thanks!

  • Norbert
    Norbert
    Community Member

    I need to create my one categories. How to do it?


    1Password Version: Not Provided
    Extension Version: Not Provided
    OS Version: Not Provided
    Sync Type: Not Provided

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni
    edited August 2015

    Hi @Norbert,

    I've merged your post with a similar thread, with previous replies from @hawkmoth and @Drew_AG, to help answer your question.

    Also, @littlebobbytables mentioned:

    This has long been requested but because of how categories are hardcoded throughout the code and the storage formats it's not an easy one to change. Will it eventually happen? I would be surprised if it doesn't but I can't make any guarantees or promises. I've added your voice to the very large choir now though so fingers crossed!

    Your voice has now been added to that choir, too. :)

    And here's a comment and suggestion from @MrC:

    1Password does not have the ability to create new Categories. However, you can either use Folders or Tags to accomplish what you're after. See this section in the manual for help.

    Forum search results for keywords like new category will reveal numerous other related discussions and suggestions.

    If you've still got questions about this please don't hesitate to ask. Cheers! :)

    ref: OPM-1643

  • jpartain89
    jpartain89
    Community Member

    They're should be the better ability to add non-standard categories into 1password.

    I am - or rather, was - finding myself frequently trying/wanting to create random, non-standard entries into 1password on the iOS and Mac apps, for items that didn't correspond with the categories currently listed.

    Sadly, at this time, since I was unable to create these items when I tried and I didn't have time to jot the ideas down or enter the info here, I can't currently think of any ideas or references...

    I'm sure there are other people here though, that might agree or have the same train of thought and can help me out!!

    Thanks guys!!

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @jpartain89,

    Thanks for the "Free-Form Non-Standard 1pass items" request, which I've moved from Mac Beta into this related discussion over in Mac. Being able to create new/custom categories in 1Password is a popular request and now yours has also been counted. :)

    I hope the earlier replies here about this are helpful. Please feel free to post any other feedback or questions you have!

  • Maurice
    Maurice
    Community Member

    Dowloaded the app a month ago but just got the time to populate it and....while the app is easy and intuitive, it is also a major disappointment that after paying a premium for the app, one finds that the categories are "fixed". The category titles are restricted, "frozen" to a few titles, and cannot be changed to represent, let's say, "Utilities" (to access an electricity or gas provider website), or other desperately desirable custom configuration. In my opinion the price does not justify the ultimate utility of the app. There are many other much less expensive apps that while somewhat less capable at automatically handling some tasks, will let you customize everything so that you can arrive at a folder containing "like" items and finding yours in no time at all!
    Please address this issue!

  • littlebobbytables
    littlebobbytables
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Maurice,

    Due to the fixed nature of the categories in both the application and storage formats, as well as reasons of compatibility, it isn't a quick fix. In fact it will be a potentially disruptive one that will kill compatibility completely and require a lot of changes that affect every part of the application. It could have been different but often situations like this will be entrenched in historic decisions.

    We do understand people would like to see it happen.

    Just to add though, the only category that is capable of currently filling in a login page for a website is the Login category. Adding other categories may allow people some organisational control but it isn't to say they would gain abilities present elsewhere, it would likely be they would be more like Secure Notes in functionality. Again, going back to historic decisions this is why different categories have certain default (and un-deleteable) fields. These are the only fields we assume exist and we use the contents of these fields when we attempt to fill using a Login, Credit Card or Identity item.

    If you want to organise your Login items could our Folders and Tags be of use to you? You can create any tags you wish for any purpose and apply them to as many items as you want.

  • Kurt_S
    Kurt_S
    Community Member

    Hi @littlebobbytables,

    Thanks for your January 2016 reply to this thread. I apologize for reopening a 2-month old thread, but it seems to be the most relevant and fresh one with respect to the feature request of self-created categories.

    It's unfortunate that you have this kind of technical debt, as it seems pretty natural that users would want to create their own categorization schema for stored information. But of course, I also understand that you must tread carefully when making major database changes.

    I'll simply underscore that the ability to create and destroy categories seems natural and necessary from a usability standpoint. Now that you have the wonderful Family edition of 1password, it seems natural to want to put images of insurance cards linked to an insurance card entry, and all of these to be 'categorized' as 'Insurance' or some-such. While allowing this capability might be a disruptive change in terms of the code base and its impact on other future development, I might also suggest that the longer you delay making this change, the larger the disruption is likely to be.

    In any event, I'd like to at least +1 the idea of allowing user-defined categories, rather than forcing reliance on using tags, which I use in a different way, or on using folders, which doesn't seem to be the appropriate solution in our case.

    Thanks.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    @Kurt_S: Thanks for your feedback — and understanding! You make a lot of great points. Although I'm not sure having an entire category for a handful of items (insurance, for example) is great, and I worry that Custom Category Proliferation could become a usability problem in its own right, something we'd really like to do in the future. Hopefully we can come up with a good solution that will make 1Password more customizable without making it less usable. :)

  • Kurt_S
    Kurt_S
    Community Member

    @brenty, so it turns out that there are a number of things that changed when I moved from "me managing my passwords and a few notes" with 1Password to 1Password for Families. Now it's all-the-above PLUS "sharing some passwords and critical data with my spouse" PLUS "sharing some passwords plus a certain amount of family data with the rest of my family". Now 1Password is also a bit like a shared wallet (albeit with no payment forms shared among the whole family).

    So, in this context, I find that custom categories make a certain amount of sense (and it should be noted that I do not have a use case for unlimited categories, but I do have a use case for some custom categories).

    But it also begs the question of why the categories that are there were warranted in the first place. For example, I have a hard time imagining that the global userbase has a pressing need for "outdoor recreation" licenses or whatever that category is. Yet, I can't easily fit in Green Card data, aviation license data, insurance card data (many subtypes exist here), visa info for other countries, and so forth.

    I do think that AgileBits has got the message, so I don't wish to belabor the point. The objective of this post is simply to underscore the fact that my use environment changed very much after the release of 1P for Families. (And it would be rock-on awesome if you would allow us the ability to grant read-only capabilities for others for vaults in 1P for Families. Sometimes I don't want my child modifying a record, and would prefer that those records be immutable from his point of view.)

  • Hi @Kurt_S ,

    Thank you writing back and to tell us about your changing needs. While we have no way of knowing if outdoor license is popular or not, we can say that every category added has come out of a real demand for it. We see a demand for the category types you mentioned as well.

    I do want to confirm that yes, we do have the message, and although there hasn't been much movement on categories lately, we are looking into changes in the future. I wish we could say more now but we can't do that yet.

    Thank you again for your feedback. It really does help and we are considering it carefully.

    Cheers,
    Kevin

  • Ayara Nidajat
    Ayara Nidajat
    Community Member

    Hello.
    Just wanted to add my little voice: I also think a customizable categories would be a welcomed feature.

    I see it's already a quite long time cooking on slow heat.

    Mmmmm.... I need to start looking at my options of going to change.org and create a petition... :)
    How many signatures you need? :)
    Thanks.
    AN

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Ayara Nidajat,

    Thanks so much for sharing your feedback here! Unfortunately, implementing new features is not simply a matter of collecting enough signatures, there are a whole host of other considerations that our developers have to look at when determining what new stuff gets added to the app.

    In the case of custom categories, one of the challenges is fitting them into our current database schema. It’s not quite as simple as we’d like it to be. But, as Kevin mentions, we are considering this carefully, and I’m happy to pass your vote along to our team. :)

  • Ayara Nidajat
    Ayara Nidajat
    Community Member

    Thanks Megan, appreciate that!
    (Wink) I knew the threat of a petition will work!
    :chuffed:

  • Megan
    Megan
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @Ayara Nidajat,

    :chuffed:

  • MikeStorms
    MikeStorms
    Community Member

    I second the comments that expanding your market to 1Password for Families greatly increases the need for category customization. And if you ever expect 1Password for Business to take off, this feature will be essential. I understand the frustration of designing a database schema and realizing later that you should have made some elements relational that you didn't originally. But I think you're going to have to bite the bullet and revise your schema.

  • AGAlumB
    AGAlumB
    1Password Alumni

    Fortunately we've been able to learn from the limitations of our previous designs. Thanks for letting us know custom categories is a feature you'd appreciate. Perhaps we'll be able to grant your wish in the future. ;)

  • lrsmith
    lrsmith
    Community Member
    edited October 2016

    NM. You can I was just looking in the wrong place.
    ---Another option that would be useful is to be able to see the folder in the pull-down, on the Mac 1password bar/agent, which might get around the need to being able to specify custom categories. For me its more of a way to look and select the correct password, out of 100s

  • Drew_AG
    Drew_AG
    1Password Alumni

    Glad to hear it's working correctly and you can see your folders in 1Password mini! If you need anything else, be sure to let us know. Cheers! :)

  • User6
    User6
    Community Member

    If it is too hard to set up a "make your own" category, how about at least one for Hardware info, such as serial numbers, purchase date, model number, etc.?

  • sjk
    sjk
    1Password Alumni

    Hi @User6,

    We'd prefer to allow creation of custom categories, avoiding disagreement over the choice of which new fixed categories to add.

    Have you tried using Secure Notes to "make your own" hardware info category? Simplistic example:

    See this blog post for other ideas:

    Secure all the things in Secure Notes

    Hopefully something like that works for your purposes. :)

This discussion has been closed.