Entity Definitions
User-facing definitions of YYNote’s 9 core entities. Style: Functional overview, not exhaustive detail (details are handled by platform-specific UI docs).
1. Sticky Note
Section titled “1. Sticky Note”What It Is A piece of content (plain text) that the user jots down casually — the lightest-weight recording unit.
States
| State | User Perception | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Normal | Default state | Displayed in the sticky note list |
| Archived | Removed from the sticky note list, moved to the “Archive” area | One-click recoverable, not deletion |
Available Operations
- Create, edit
- Pin, unpin
- Archive, restore from archive (move from archive area back to sticky note list)
- Delete (true deletion, irrecoverable)
What It’s For Recording fleeting thoughts, temporary information, reading notes, excerpts, and other content that doesn’t need to be “done.”
Relationships with Other Entities
- Matched via “tags,” presented in different sticky note lists (one sticky note can appear in multiple sticky note lists simultaneously)
- No reminder functionality (use to-dos for reminders)
2. To-Do
Section titled “2. To-Do”What It Is Something the user needs to complete or pay attention to. In YYNote, to-dos have 3 forms, determined by “whether a target date / start-end time is set”:
| Form | Characteristics | Typical Scenario |
|---|---|---|
| Plain To-Do | Only content | ”Call Mr. Zhang back” |
| Countdown | Has a target date | ”3 days until rent is due” |
| Schedule | Has a start-end time | ”Meeting today 14:00-16:00” |
Users don’t need to actively choose a “form” — setting the corresponding field automatically turns it into that form. All 3 forms are the same type of data (all are “to-dos”).
States
| State | User Perception | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Incomplete | Default state | Displayed in the to-do list |
| Completed | Moved to “Completed” area | One-click recoverable back to incomplete |
| Deleted | True deletion | Irrecoverable |
Available Operations
- Create, edit
- Pin, unpin
- Complete, restore (from completed back to incomplete)
- Delete (true deletion, irrecoverable)
- Set reminders (pop up notification at the specified time)
What It’s For Moving things you need to do from your head into YYNote, checking them off when done, so nothing slips through the cracks.
Relationships with Other Entities
- Matched via “tags,” presented in different to-do lists
- Can set “reminders” (sticky notes cannot)
- Can be auto-generated by “recurring to-do rules”
- Can be associated with “third-party calendar events” (display only, not editable)
3. Tag
Section titled “3. Tag”What It Is A label applied to sticky notes or to-dos for cross-list categorization and lookup.
Available Operations
- Create, rename
- Delete (only removes the association — sticky notes and to-dos content is preserved)
What It’s For For example, tag items with “work,” “life,” “important” — mark to-dos across different lists with “important,” then tap the “important” tag to see all important things.
Relationships with Other Entities
- Tags are independent entities, not owned by any list
- One sticky note/to-do can have multiple tags
- One tag can be applied to any number of sticky notes/to-dos (many-to-many)
4. To-Do List
Section titled “4. To-Do List”What It Is A “tag-filtered to-do view” — the lists in the user’s “Lists” sidebar that hold to-dos are to-do lists.
What It Contains
- Only to-dos (no sticky notes)
- Content source: All incomplete to-dos under the account, filtered and presented according to this list’s “tag filtering rules”
- The same to-do can appear in multiple to-do lists simultaneously (because it may match multiple lists’ tag rules)
Available Operations
- Create, rename, delete to-do lists
- Configure list display settings (see below)
List Display Settings (each to-do list can be independently configured)
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Week Start Day | Which day of the week the list starts on |
| Show Holidays | Whether to mark holidays in the list |
| Show Lunar Calendar | Whether to display lunar dates in the list |
| Show Weather | Whether to display weather in the list |
| Weather Address | Which location’s weather to display |
| Sort Order | Sorting rule for to-dos within the list |
| Hide Countdown | Whether to hide “countdown” form to-dos in the list view |
| Hide Schedule | Whether to hide “schedule” form to-dos in the list view |
| Timeline Start/End Hours | Time range for the schedule view (default 8:00-20:00) |
Relationships with Other Entities
- Filters to-dos belonging to it from all to-dos via “tag” matching
- A separate, independent type of list from “sticky note lists” — they do not affect each other
5. Sticky Note List
Section titled “5. Sticky Note List”What It Is A “tag-filtered sticky note view” — the lists in the user’s “Lists” sidebar that hold sticky notes are sticky note lists.
What It Contains
- Only sticky notes (no to-dos)
- Content source: All normal sticky notes under the account, filtered and presented according to this list’s “tag filtering rules”
- The same sticky note can appear in multiple sticky note lists simultaneously
Available Operations
- Create, rename, delete sticky note lists
- Configure list display settings (see below)
List Display Settings (each sticky note list can be independently configured)
| Setting | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hide Sticky Note Time | Whether to display the time of sticky notes in the list view |
| Hide Sticky Note Tags | Whether to display the tags of sticky notes in the list view |
| Sort Order | Sorting rule for sticky notes within the list |
Relationships with Other Entities
- Filters sticky notes belonging to it from all sticky notes via “tag” matching
- A separate, independent type of list from “to-do lists” — they do not affect each other
6. Recurring To-Do
Section titled “6. Recurring To-Do”What It Is A rule that automatically generates to-dos on a periodic basis. The user creates one rule, and the system automatically creates a specific to-do in the designated to-do list when the time comes.
5 Types of Periodicity
| Periodicity Type | Meaning | Typical Scenario |
|---|---|---|
| Daily | Repeat every N days | Take medicine every day |
| Weekly | Repeat on specific weekdays every N weeks | Weekly Monday meeting |
| Monthly | Repeat on a specific day every N months | Pay rent on the 1st of every month |
| Gregorian Yearly | Repeat on a specific month and day every N years (Gregorian) | Class reunion on July 15 every year |
| Lunar Yearly | Repeat on a specific lunar month and day every N years | Birthday on the 3rd day of the 3rd lunar month every year |
Trigger Mechanism
- The system scans all “normal” rules daily
- Matches the current day (based on the rule’s periodicity + start date)
- Checks whether a to-do has already been created for this rule today (deduplication)
- If not yet created, it actually creates a to-do in the list (not a virtual display)
Available Operations
- Create, modify rules
- Delete rules (previously generated to-dos will not be cleaned up — they remain in the list; customer service should not promise that “deleting a rule will also remove the generated to-dos”)
Special Notes
| Dimension | Rule Matching | Actually Generated in List |
|---|---|---|
| Gregorian Yearly | Matches by Gregorian month and day | Displays Gregorian date |
| Lunar Yearly | Matches by lunar month and day | Displays Gregorian date (auto-converted) |
| Leap Month | Leap months are merged into the following month (e.g., leap 6th month is not treated as an independent month — a rule matching “6th month” will also trigger on the leap 6th month day) | Displays Gregorian date |
⚠️ Modifying a rule does not affect already-generated to-dos (only affects future generation). Modifying/deleting a rule not cleaning up existing to-dos is not a bug — it’s by design.
7. Third-Party Calendar
Section titled “7. Third-Party Calendar”What It Is Content subscribed from external calendar services (such as Google Calendar, Outlook, Apple Calendar) and displayed within YYNote. It has two layers:
- Calendar itself (subscription source, corresponding to an external calendar account/subscription)
- Calendar events (specific event entries)
Layered Operation Capabilities
| Layer | Can it be created/edited/deleted/viewed within YYNote? |
|---|---|
| Calendar itself (subscription source) | ✅ Yes — can create, delete, modify, view |
| Calendar events | ❌ View-only, cannot be edited (must edit in the original calendar service) |
Third-party calendar events are displayed in YYNote as “read-only” to-dos. Users cannot modify, add, or delete them. Any edits must be made in the original calendar service.
Special Notes
- Third-party calendar events sync normally and receive local notifications during the active membership period; after membership expires, local notifications stop — check the original calendar service instead
Relationships with Other Entities
- Third-party calendar events and YYNote’s own “to-dos” are two independent systems
- They can be viewed simultaneously on the same timeline, but YYNote does not merge them
- Do not participate in YYNote sync (they are one-way pulled display data, not stored in the cloud)
8. Account
Section titled “8. Account”What It Is The identity used to log into YYNote. Login is required to use YYNote’s features.
Important Prerequisite
- YYNote has no “anonymous local use” mode: clicking any feature without logging in will pop up a login dialog
Available Operations
- Log in, log out (local data is preserved, can switch to a different account)
- Delete account (clears all local data, irreversible)
Relationships with Other Entities
- One account can log in on multiple platforms (Windows, iOS, Android, HarmonyOS, etc.) with automatic data sync
- Account and membership are orthogonal: you can register an account without a membership, or register an account and subscribe to a membership
- Get 7-day membership upon registration
9. Membership
Section titled “9. Membership”What It Is YYNote’s paid subscription service. Get 7-day membership upon registration (consistent across all platforms), with access to all features. Membership is an account-level attribute — it follows the account, not the device.
Trial Period (7-Day Membership)
- Get 7-day membership upon registration, all features are fully usable
- No limits on the number of sticky notes, to-dos, tags, lists, etc.
After Expiry
- Membership expiry ≠ data wiped
- Existing data (sticky notes, to-dos, tags, lists, recurring to-dos, etc.) is fully retained (features are locked, data can be exported via PC client)
- The account itself does not become invalid — you can continue to log in
- Data always belongs to the user — after expiry, data can be exported at any time via the PC client (exported as an Excel file to the desktop)
10. Sync
Section titled “10. Sync”What It Is The ability to keep data consistent across multiple devices. Strictly speaking, it is not a “business entity,” but it is a cross-platform universal mechanism.
Trigger Conditions
- Must be logged in (sync is not triggered without login)
Conflict Strategy
- Principle: Later-saved data overwrites earlier-saved data (server-side data overwrites earlier arrivals)
- Protection: If a piece of data has “uncommitted local modifications,” it will not be overwritten during merging, preventing data loss
Scope of Items Excluded from Sync
- Third-party calendar events (one-way pulled display, not stored in the cloud)
- Local settings (independent per device)
- Deleted data: Deletion operations sync bidirectionally (once marked deleted on the server, local follows suit)
Special Notes
- Sync is eventually consistent, not real-time
- “Export deleted records” is a local Excel backup feature — it is not a sync “recycle bin” and does not enable recovery