Benjamin L. Stewart

Properties1
tagscapacities

4 min read

Lesson Plan Tutorial Query

  • Overall Query Instrutions

    At present, Capacities’ bulk actions do not include changing an arbitrary property such as your Status label. You can bulk-change object types, collections, and tags, but not a label property like Status. (Capacities Documentation)

    Best workaround inside Capacities

    Use a tag as the bulk-editable workflow marker:

    1. Open the Modules object type.

    2. Click the … menu and choose Select multiple objects.

      • On Linux, you can also use Ctrl + Shift + click to select objects.

    3. Select the lessons.

    4. Click the tag action.

    5. Add a tag such as Planning, Ready, Taught, or Archived.

    Tags can be added to or removed from multiple objects simultaneously. (Capacities Documentation)

    You could then filter the query by:

    Tagged with → Ready

    or exclude archived lessons using:

    Exclude tag → Archived

    My recommendation

    Keep your existing Status property for precise, single-object workflow management, but use an Archived tag for bulk archiving. This avoids redesigning your whole system and gives you an easy bulk action.

    For assigning many modules to InBox, Planning, or Ready, the alternative is to update each Status cell directly in the table. There currently does not appear to be a native “set Status for all selected objects” command. Labels are best for structured filtering within one object type, while tags provide broader and more bulk-friendly categorization. (Capacities Documentation)

  • Embedded Queries

    Embed both views in your Lesson Module Dashboard

    The easiest method is to create each query directly inside the dashboard page. Typing /query inside any object creates a query whose results are already embedded there. (Capacities Documentation)

    1. Create “Lessons to Prepare”

    1. Open Lesson Module Dashboard.

    2. Click below the existing content to create a new block.

    3. Type:

      ## 🛠️ Lessons to Prepare

    4. Press Enter, type /query, and select Query.

    5. Choose Object Type Query.

    6. Under Return all, select Modules.

    2. Restrict it to the current semester

    Use whichever method matches your setup:

    • Click Filter collections and select your Aug–Dec 2026 module collections, such as:

      • Listening I Modules

      • Writing I Modules

      • Academic Writing Modules

      • Discourse Analysis Modules

      • Thesis Seminar Modules

    Or, when you add a Semester property:

    • Click Filter by properties

    • Select Semester

    • Choose Aug–Dec 2026

    Queries are intended for rule-based lists that update automatically as object properties change. (Capacities Documentation)

    3. Add the preparation-status filter

    1. Click + Filter by properties.

    2. Select Status.

    3. Choose the appropriate operator, such as is, is any of, or contains any of.

    4. Select:

      InBox
Planning

    This makes the query represent lessons that still require preparation.

    If Capacities permits only one status value in that filter, I recommend creating one status called To Prepare rather than adding two separate Status filters. Two separate filters may be treated as simultaneous conditions and return no results.

    4. Sort and limit the results

    Add:

    • Sort → Date → Oldest first

    • Optionally, Limit results → 10

    This places the nearest lessons at the top. Close the editor when the results look correct.

    Create “Ready to Teach”

    Below the first embedded query:

    1. Add the heading:

      ## ✅ Ready to Teach

    2. On the next line, type /query.

    3. Choose Object Type Query.

    4. Select Modules.

    5. Apply the same current-semester collection or Semester filter.

    6. Click Filter by properties → Status.

    7. Select:

      Ready

    8. Add:

      • Sort → Date → Oldest first

      • Optionally, Limit results → 8

    9. Close the query editor.

    Your dashboard will now update automatically: changing a module from Planning to Ready will remove it from the first embedded query and place it in the second. Queries remain live and display newly matching objects automatically. (Capacities Documentation)

    # Lesson Module Dashboard
## 🛠️ Lessons to Prepare
[Embedded query: Status = InBox or Planning]
## ✅ Ready to Teach
[Embedded query: Status = Ready]
## 📝 Recently Taught
[Optional embedded query: Status = Taught]

    Embedding queries you created separately

    For an existing standalone query:

    1. Open the dashboard.

    2. Type @ followed by the query name, such as @Lessons to Prepare.

    3. Select the query.

    4. Open the link block’s … menu.

    5. Choose Change view → Embed.

    Capacities specifically supports linking to a saved query by name and changing its link view to Embed. (Capacities Documentation)

Graph View