1/ Tana is.... Tana is not...
What is Tana to me?
A lot of buzz about @tana_inc & people patiently (impatiently) waiting for their invite for early access.
Many compare Tana to Notion and Roam, but Tana is its own thing and in its own class. #TfT
What is Tana to me?
A lot of buzz about @tana_inc & people patiently (impatiently) waiting for their invite for early access.
Many compare Tana to Notion and Roam, but Tana is its own thing and in its own class. #TfT
2/ Recently @SantiYounger did this great 9-minute video on what Tana is. Well worth watching. He also calls it a tool that brings in all the features he wants from tools like @todoist, @NotionHQ, @RoamResearch & @logseq.
3/ Also, @jcfischer, the other day, compared Tana to Lotus notes, which is also a great comparison.
Tana is the first tool I have seen that uses an outliner metaphor for collecting data with little structure to as much structure as you want, all built on a real database.
Tana is the first tool I have seen that uses an outliner metaphor for collecting data with little structure to as much structure as you want, all built on a real database.
4/ Tana allows you to, in an ad-hoc way, create data structures with minimal predefined structure or with as much defined structure as you want.
In other words, Tana allows you to grow your workflows, data structures, and processes casually.
In other words, Tana allows you to grow your workflows, data structures, and processes casually.
5/ It allows you to adapt those things and doesn't punish you for making changes to existing workflows later in time.
What is Tana to me?
I am going to NERD out, sorry if I lose any of ya.
What is Tana to me?
I am going to NERD out, sorry if I lose any of ya.
6/ Tana is an approachable user interface layered on top of the powerful concept of a graph database.
Unlike traditional relational databases that work rows & columns, a graph database is well suited for data with endless interconnections (node to node).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_dat…
Unlike traditional relational databases that work rows & columns, a graph database is well suited for data with endless interconnections (node to node).
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graph_dat…
7/ Tana is a graph database. Thus it's ideal for interconnecting thoughts (backlinks, etc). However, this is not to say traditional relational databases are bad, rather they are also powerful.
Tana is a graph database that allows us to create row/column-like data structures.
Tana is a graph database that allows us to create row/column-like data structures.
8/ We get the best of both worlds, both a graph database and relational database functionality.
The graph is for outlining and creating tree-like structures.
Our minds naturally process this conceptual view of data. Image 1 is the structure, 2 is the way we work with it.
The graph is for outlining and creating tree-like structures.
Our minds naturally process this conceptual view of data. Image 1 is the structure, 2 is the way we work with it.
9/ Tana also allows for more traditional database views of data. A supertag in Tana is comparable to a table definition. It has fields, data types, settings & constraints.
The first screenshot is a supertag (table) definition.
The second screenshot is a table definition in MySQL
The first screenshot is a supertag (table) definition.
The second screenshot is a table definition in MySQL
10/ This is super powerful. Data structured in such a way can be viewed from many perspectives. The following pictures represent the same data but transformed into multiple views.
+ Card view (even groupable like with kanban)
+ Tabbed view
+ Table view
+ List view
Mind-blowing!
+ Card view (even groupable like with kanban)
+ Tabbed view
+ Table view
+ List view
Mind-blowing!
11/ the nerd party continues ...
Tana also can be compared to an Object database. Basically, Objects are "things" like: You have a Customer that is a person and you have an employee that is also a person.
They are all persons but have their own unique characteristics.
Tana also can be compared to an Object database. Basically, Objects are "things" like: You have a Customer that is a person and you have an employee that is also a person.
They are all persons but have their own unique characteristics.
12/ So this means, in an object database, you define what a person is (first name, last name, etc), and then from that, you "inherit" all the features of a person and create a Customer object with additional data elements, and then an Employee Object with their unique elements.
13/ Object databases have the concept of inheritance. One object inherits the data elements of another object.
Now get ready for this mind-blowing fact:
In Tana, supertags are objects that have data elements. Supertags can be based on other super tags (inheritance!!!).
Now get ready for this mind-blowing fact:
In Tana, supertags are objects that have data elements. Supertags can be based on other super tags (inheritance!!!).
14/ In these two pictures, the first one is a Project supertag. It has all the base data elements I want for all projects I do. The second screenshot shows a "Budget" project supertag that inherits the data elements from the base Project supertag.
15/ There are many benefits from supertag inheritance:
+ Less work to define new super tags
+ Consistency in the use of field definitions throughout my Tana database
What is cool is I can even query for "Project" and the results can include all supertags that inherit from it.
+ Less work to define new super tags
+ Consistency in the use of field definitions throughout my Tana database
What is cool is I can even query for "Project" and the results can include all supertags that inherit from it.
16/ Tana also makes it easy to work with all these types of data structures you have in your graph, doing so through a powerful query design tool.
17/ So what is Tana? Is it a graph database? A traditional relational database? An Object Database?
In many ways, Tana is all of the above.
So Tana is its own thing. We can compare it to other tools, but I think in 2023, others will be comparing themselves to Tana.
In many ways, Tana is all of the above.
So Tana is its own thing. We can compare it to other tools, but I think in 2023, others will be comparing themselves to Tana.
18/ The reason I am excited about Tana is that as a developer, I understand data models. I see that Tana unlocks a lot of possibilities for the future.
I had hoped other graph-based tools would unlock this future for us, but they don't have the foundation in place. Tana does!
I had hoped other graph-based tools would unlock this future for us, but they don't have the foundation in place. Tana does!
19/ Some may say this is too difficult of a paradigm for the average user. I disagree!
Users are smart.
We often think most people can't learn these concepts. But they can.
The key is to have a user interface like Tana that makes these diverse data concepts accessible.
Users are smart.
We often think most people can't learn these concepts. But they can.
The key is to have a user interface like Tana that makes these diverse data concepts accessible.
20/ If you love outliners and blocks - you are going to love Tana
If you love databases, you are going to love Tana
Having these things combined into one tool is #TfT Nirvana
If you love databases, you are going to love Tana
Having these things combined into one tool is #TfT Nirvana
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