Collections and smart collections

Gather files from different folders in one place without moving them: pick them by hand, or let rules such as a tag or a date pick them for you.

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A collection gathers files from different folders in one place, without moving them. A file can sit in the folder of its client and, at the same time, in your collection "To send to the accountant".

There are two kinds:

  • a manual collection holds the files you pick yourself;
  • a smart collection fills itself with every file that matches your rules, for example "tagged Unpaid" or "PDF changed in the last 30 days". It stays up to date as your files change.

Open Collections in the sidebar to see and create them.

Create a manual collection

  1. Click New collection.
  2. Type a Name, and a Description if you like, then click Create.
  3. Open the collection and click Add files.
  4. Tick the files you want, from any folder, then click Add (the button shows how many files you picked).

The files stay where they are. To take a file out of the collection, select it in the collection and click Remove: it leaves the collection, not its folder.

Create a smart collection

  1. Click Smart collection.
  2. Give it a name.
  3. Under Rules, choose the Logic: All conditions (AND) keeps the files that match every rule, At least one condition (OR) keeps those that match one of them.
  4. In the rule line, choose what to look at, then how to compare, then the value.
  1. Click Add a rule to add more.
  2. If you like, set Sort by, Order and Limit (optional) under Sort and limit.
  3. Click Create.

For example, to gather every unpaid invoice: choose Tags, then has at least one, then type Unpaid. Several values go in the same field, separated by commas.

The collection opens with the files that match. At the top, a line recalls its rules, and Edit rules lets you change them.

What a rule can look at

FieldWays to compare
File name, Descriptioncontains, does not contain, starts with, ends with, equals, is empty. File name also offers matches (regex)
Extension, Typeequals, does not equal, is in list
Sizeis greater than, is less than, between (in bytes)
Created on, Modified onwithin last (with the quick choices 24h, 7 days, 30 days, 90 days, 1 year), between, is greater than, is less than
Tagshas at least one, has all, is empty, is not empty
Is favoriteyes, no

Extension takes the extension without the dot: pdf, not .pdf. Type compares the technical type of the file, such as application/pdf or image/jpeg: to gather PDF files, Extension is simpler.

The list also offers Folder and Content. For now, rules on these two fields match no file: build your collection with the other fields, a tag for example.

Export, duplicate or delete

  • Export, inside a collection, saves the list of its files as JSON or CSV. It exports the list, not the files themselves.
  • On the Collections page, right-click a collection to Duplicate or Delete it.

Deleting a collection never deletes its files: only the grouping goes away.