KEYWORDS tool without showing hierarchy.

We can find a lot of voices about the need to expand CO with an effective photo management system, especially when it comes to very large collections of photos. Before the CO expands this area, I have an idea for a simple change. I think it would make keyword management easier for some CO users.

BASELINE ASSUMPTIONS - MY PROCESSING:

• I have more than 30,000 photos (RAW) in CO. It is difficult to manage this in one catalog. I create separate catalogs for a selected number of photos. Many people are doing the same.

• For each photo - OK, almost each :) - I saved the keywords in CO.

• Because CO searches by keywords only in one catalog, I need to manage them in another DAM class system.

• Since keywords are not saved in RAW, and CO saves them in its own database, I came up with the following solution: After import of images, editing and keywording in CO, I export all photos including their metadata to small JPG files. E.g. 800 or 1000 px and 72 dpi. It's just a preview for a foreign DAM system that contains metadata. The third-party system automatically updates its database with new images with their keywords.

• If I use hierachical keywords in CO, they will be exported to a JPG file with the hierarchy preserved. And this is very good. I can live with such a process in two systems. I create and assign keywords in CO. The external system is only used for keyword searching in small JPG files.

• But there is one weakness in this whole process in CO:
  
  - There is a lack of clarity in the window for adding keywords. Too many words, because CO shows the entire keyword structure.
  
  - In addition, the task is sometimes made more difficult by the order of words placed away from the structure level.
  
  - When I remove a keyword, the levels of its structure remain in the tool. So sometimes you have to click many times to remove 2 or 3keywords along with the structure.
  
  - You can't quickly type the lowest-order keyword and press Enter, because then CO adds the same word again at the end outside the structure. Instead of pressing Enter, I have to hover over the hint, click on it and only press Enter. I can also hover over the hint with the cursor and press Enter twice. So three keys instead of one Enter.

MY SUGGESTION HOW TO SIMPLIFY IT:

1. Allow only one specific keyword in the entire catalog.
   Such a word will be unique in the entire catalog and there is no need to register the entire hierarchy in the “Keywords” tool. Perhaps someone will want to have the keyword “Eagle” in several categories, but in my opinion this is a very rare case. If someone manages a large database of photos and tags he tends to avoid such situations.

2. In the “Keywords” tool, turn off showing the entire structure.
   In the “Keyword Library” tool, the hierarchical structure must remain, but in the “Keywords” window it is enough to display only the final keyword. If I want to add five keywords that are in five different structures on the second level, it looks like this, for example:
   WHERE > GEOGRAPHY > Spain
   WHERE > PLACE CATEGORY > Mountains
   WHEN > SEASON > Autumn
   WHAT > ANIMAL > Eagle
   WHAT > NATURE > Forest
   
   So many words are hard to watch. After 30 minutes of working with a large number of keywords, it is impossible to continue working.
   A version without the hierarchy would be much better:
   Spain, Mountains, Autumn, Eagle, Forest.

If such a solution would also be helpful for someone, please write about it in the comments.

Greetings to all CO users. 😊