Display parent of container when moving an object #3818

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OVERLORD · 2026-02-05T07:33:34+03:00

OVERLORD commented

2026-02-05 07:33:34 +03:00

Originally created by @matthias4217 on GitHub (May 24, 2023).

Describe the feature you'd like

When moving a book into a shelf, there could be list of the current shelves the book belong to.

When moving a chapter or page, there is a searchable list of potential new parents for this object. Below each of them could be shown the parent of each parent.

For exemple, if chapter foo is contained in book bar, bar would be shown below foo, as it is already done in the search page.

Describe the benefits this would bring to existing BookStack users

Several pages, chapters or even books can have the same name. When navigating via their parent objects, there is no risk of confusing them, neither are there when doing a search as the parents are shown in the search result. However, there is no such indicator when moving an object, which may lead to some confusion.

Can the goal of this request already be achieved via other means?

Not really, except by having a unique name policy, where the name of an object couldn’t be used by any other. However, this would not fit all use cases.

Have you searched for an existing open/closed issue?

I have searched for existing issues and none cover my fundemental request

How long have you been using BookStack?

0 to 6 months

Additional context

No response

Originally created by @matthias4217 on GitHub (May 24, 2023). ### Describe the feature you'd like When moving a book into a shelf, there could be list of the current shelves the book belong to. When moving a chapter or page, there is a searchable list of potential new parents for this object. Below each of them could be shown the parent of each parent. For exemple, if chapter `foo` is contained in book `bar`, `bar` would be shown below `foo`, as it is already done in the search page. ### Describe the benefits this would bring to existing BookStack users Several pages, chapters or even books can have the same name. When navigating via their parent objects, there is no risk of confusing them, neither are there when doing a search as the parents are shown in the search result. However, there is no such indicator when moving an object, which may lead to some confusion. ### Can the goal of this request already be achieved via other means? Not really, except by having a unique name policy, where the name of an object couldn’t be used by any other. However, this would not fit all use cases. ### Have you searched for an existing open/closed issue? - [X] I have searched for existing issues and none cover my fundemental request ### How long have you been using BookStack? 0 to 6 months ### Additional context _No response_

OVERLORD added the 🔨 Feature Request label 2026-02-05 07:33:34 +03:00

OVERLORD closed this issue

2026-02-05 07:33:36 +03:00

OVERLORD commented

2026-02-05 07:33:41 +03:00

@ssddanbrown commented on GitHub (May 25, 2023):

Thanks for the request @matthias4217.
I agree that we should show the parent book for chapters during move/copy operations.
However, Books do not belong to anything, or have a designated parent, like chapters/pages do so I wouldn't look to add parent context for books.

When navigating via their parent objects, there is no risk of confusing them

Technically, you could use the same name for a couple of books and chapters within them, confusing matters, but that will always be the case unless we start exposing system unique elements (IDs/slugs) which I'm not keep on displaying in such lists, and I think it'd generally be bad practice for an instance to have duplicate book names anyway.

@ssddanbrown commented on GitHub (May 25, 2023): Thanks for the request @matthias4217. I agree that we should show the parent book for chapters during move/copy operations. However, Books do not belong to anything, or have a designated parent, like chapters/pages do so I wouldn't look to add parent context for books. > When navigating via their parent objects, there is no risk of confusing them Technically, you could use the same name for a couple of books and chapters within them, confusing matters, but that will always be the case unless we start exposing system unique elements (IDs/slugs) which I'm not keep on displaying in such lists, and I think it'd generally be bad practice for an instance to have duplicate book names anyway.

OVERLORD commented

2026-02-05 07:33:46 +03:00

@ssddanbrown commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2023):

It turns out then when moving/copy a page, you would see the parent chapter book context but only when starting a search. By default it shows the most popular items, and that would not include the parent context.
Have now applied af0b4fa851 to show chapter parent book in these default lists.
Will be part of the next feature release.

@ssddanbrown commented on GitHub (Jun 10, 2023): It turns out then when moving/copy a page, you would see the parent chapter book context but only when starting a search. By default it shows the most popular items, and that would not include the parent context. Have now applied af0b4fa851d8acda52d6176d6e9b2aef2448b499 to show chapter parent book in these default lists. Will be part of the next feature release.

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Reference: starred/BookStack#3818