"Link to a related item" available only when editing existing item, not when creating a new item.

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1Passworder1
1Passworder1
Community Member

When I'm creating a new item in any category, I don't get the "Link to a related item" option.

I get that option only while editing any existing item.

Because of this, I have to create an item first, then edit it immediately afterwards to add related item; unnecessarily making it a two step process.

I'm guessing that's a bug and not by design. Can you please make it so that "Link to a related item" is available at "New item" window too?


1Password Version: 1Password for Windows 8.9.12 (80912004)
Extension Version: 2.5.1
OS Version: Windows 11 22H2
Browser:_ Chrome

Comments

  • Hi there @1Passworder1

    This is by design. The item you're creating is only a draft until it's saved and so doesn't have a UUID (universally unique identifier), which is what 1Password uses to refer to your items internally. When you save the item, it then has an identifier, and so the link can be made.

    It's like trying to make a shortcut to a file on your computer that you haven't yet saved. If you started writing a document in your word processor but hadn't saved it yet, the file wouldn't be on disk and you wouldn't be able to make a shortcut to it.

    Hope that explains it, but let me know if you have any questions. :)

    — Grey

  • 1Passworder1
    1Passworder1
    Community Member
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    Hi @GreyM1P . I think your analogy is revers of actual situation. I'm creating a new item and trying to link to an existing item from it. That existing item already has an UUID.

    For example, I created an item for "Citi Credit Card". 1P assigned it an UUID. Then I'm creating a new item for "Citi Bank Login", and while creating it, I don't get an option of "Link to a related item" and thus can't link the previously created "Citi Credit Card". "Citi Credit Card" already has an UUID at this point and I think I should be able to link to it from this "draft" of "Citi Bank Login".

    It's like starting to write a new blog post ("Citi Bank Login" in the example) and adding a hyperlink to other previous existing blog post ("Citi Credit Card" in the example) in it. The blog post I'm currently writing doesn't have a permalink / url, but the previous post I want to link to has. So, I can create that hyperlink. I don't see why that can't happen technically.

    It's like trying to make a shortcut to a file on your computer that you haven't yet saved.

    But the item I'm trying to link to is already saved. ("Citi Credit Card" in the example)

    Hope I was able to explain it properly. :)

  • GreyM1P
    edited January 2023
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    @1Passworder1 – I think we both agree on the makeup of the problem at hand: you're making an item and want to use "Link to a related item" before saving it. In this case, it's the item you're creating that doesn't yet have a UUID, and that's why it must be saved first. The link is essentially "the item with [this UUID] is linked to the item with [that UUID]". Because both of those aren't yet known (given that one of them doesn't exist yet), the link can't be created.

    I'll pass your feedback on to the product team, however. Maybe with some work in the future it'll be possible to link to an item while in a "draft" state. I don't know when (or even if) that change would be made, it must be said, but I'll add an internal note explaining your preferred workflow.

    ref: 29838681

  • 1Passworder1
    1Passworder1
    Community Member
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    The link is essentially "the item with [this UUID] is linked to the item with [that UUID]". Because both of those aren't yet known (given that one of them doesn't exist yet), the link can't be created.

    It's a one-way link though. Only the source item links to the destination item; the destination item doesn't link back to the source item. (Though, it'd have been great if it did. Right now, I'm having to create the link manually in both entries. i.e. link from item 1 to item 2, and then link from item 2 to item 1.)

    Anyway, if the app is coded in such a way that it needs to know source item UUID before creating the link, one way of dealing with that would be - giving the draft item a temp UUID while it is being created. The link can be Temp UUID -> Item 2 UUID. Once the draft item is saved, that temp can be replaced with the actual assigned UUID, including in the link.

    Thank you for taking the time to read my post, explaining the technicality and willing to pass this on.

  • Hello @1passworder,

    On behalf of @GreyM1P, you're most welcome.

    As always, don't hesitate to contact us if you ever have any other questions - we'll be here to help.

    Jermaine

This discussion has been closed.