# Visual hierarchy and ease of maintenance

**URL:** <https://community.traefik.io/t/visual-hierarchy-and-ease-of-maintenance/19562>\
**Category:** Traefik v2\
**Tags:** docker\
**Created:** [August 20, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.traefik.io/t/visual-hierarchy-and-ease-of-maintenance/19562 "2023-08-20T14:20:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![shot](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.traefik.io/shot/32/2312_2.png) [@shot](https://community.traefik.io/u/shot)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 2:20pm UTC](https://community.traefik.io/t/visual-hierarchy-and-ease-of-maintenance/19562/1 "2023-08-20T14:20:29Z")

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Continuing the discussion from [Dynamic.yml or labels in docker](https://community.traefik.io/t/dynamic-yml-or-labels-in-docker/9329/2):

> [@Dynamic.yml or labels in docker](https://community.traefik.io/t/dynamic-yml-or-labels-in-docker/9329/2):
>
> There are 2 syntaxes for the labels:

I was unaware of the unquoted syntax. That’s nicer (but not by much).

I completely agree with the OP though. For me, both syntaxes are difficult to read and maintain. There are two main problems:

- **They’re flat.**  
It’s much easier for people to interpret / understand hierarchies.
- **They’re highly repetitive.**  
That creates visual clutter, and visual clutter is mind clutter.

I mean, yeah, it’s clever that labels have been leveraged in such a way for dynamic configuration, but why do humans have to suffer because of it? 😕

It would be cool if there was a tool/utility that translated from a hierarchical format to the flat labels format.

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**Author:** ![ldez](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.traefik.io/ldez/32/5_2.png) [@ldez](https://community.traefik.io/u/ldez)\
**Post date:** [August 20, 2023, 2:38pm UTC](https://community.traefik.io/t/visual-hierarchy-and-ease-of-maintenance/19562/2 "2023-08-20T14:38:32Z")

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Hello,

I created this for my personal purpose but there are some limitations because some fields are not allowed by labels and some elements only exist for a specific provider.

Maybe I need to think to open-source an improved version of my tool.

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**Author:** ![shot](https://sea2.discourse-cdn.com/flex020/user_avatar/community.traefik.io/shot/32/2312_2.png) [@shot](https://community.traefik.io/u/shot)\
**Post date:** [August 21, 2023, 12:46am UTC](https://community.traefik.io/t/visual-hierarchy-and-ease-of-maintenance/19562/3 "2023-08-21T00:46:08Z")

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Hey @ldez, that sounds great. I'm glad there are at least a few folks thinking along the same lines. If you decide to OS your tool, please post a notice here in the forums. 🙂
