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General brainstorming for Note-taking software
superboyac:
Hi urlwolf, I just wanted to comment a little bit on the direction of your post. I agree with the things you are saying about the features you are talking about, but I want to point out the big, general perspective here. Regarding your point about Vim Outliner and it's efficiency, I agree that it is a nice, efficient system. However, it wouldn't make sense to have that be the text input engine for a general purpose notetaking program, where people are going to be expecting the typical and somewhat standard rtf text toolbar set (font, font size, bold, italic, alignment, bulleted list, etc.). So to deviate from that right from the beginning would be quirky and unfamiliar to the general base of users, even if it truly is a better way to do it.
I've been intrigued by different text editors in recent years, but a lot of them are very quirky, and wouldn't be practical to put into a general use application.
PS I also love Locate 3 (from brotherS's recommendation). What would make it even better is if it had the search-as-you-type filter. But it's still great.
urlwolf:
yeah, I'm not thinking on a final monster-application that borrows from each of these... I'm just posting what I do right now, in case it is of any use. I just don't care about rtf, images, etc, that's why a text-only outliner with lots of shortcuts works for me.
Actually, with my 'system' in place, I don't feel the need to test any of the applications described. Do you think I'm missing any fundamental functionality?
superboyac:
yeah, I'm not thinking on a final monster-application that borrows from each of these... I'm just posting what I do right now, in case it is of any use. I just don't care about rtf, images, etc, that's why a text-only outliner with lots of shortcuts works for me.
Actually, with my 'system' in place, I don't feel the need to test any of the applications described. Do you think I'm missing any fundamental functionality?
-urlwolf (May 25, 2006, 04:09 AM)
--- End quote ---
Not really, sounds like your system covers pretty much all the bases. I'm also using a mixture of software (including Locate), as part of my own system.
If you read my posts in the beginning of this thread, you'll see that part of my goal was to see if we could come up with a complete notetaking solution in one program, but after all these discussions, you can see how complicated it actually is.
Jimdoria:
It's definitely non-trivial. :-\
Hi, Urlwolf, welcome to the thread. Your comment about text notes bing all you need is the perfect illustration of how hard this problem is. What works for you would never work for me. I use OneNote and find its layout and drawing capabilities restrictive because it doesn't have full set of drawing tools the way Word does.
I think the idea of rolling a file-management system into the app is the bank safe that breaks the camel's back. Sure it's doable - but I think realistically the cost is too high. Better to stay focused on the core principles. My personal version of these would be:
* Speed - The app must be highly usable for both mouse-centtric and keyboard-centric users. Extra keystrokes and mouse clicks must be all but eliminated. Common functions must be riduculously easy to access.
* Flexibility - The app must be highly configurable, to the point where it can actually have different UIs for different users. This is the only way you are going to come up with something that will satisfy everyone form the "text only" users to the "lots of pictures and layout" users. Ideally, the app should make it possible to visualize information in ways that are not possible with existing tools or even UI metaphors. The idea of templates or canned designs must be part of this, though, so you don't have to assmble the app prior to using it. The UI should allow tweaking and refinement over time.
* Interoperability - Nobody uses ONLY a note taking program, and the program shouldn't act as though it's alone in the world. Other apps should be able to access its metadata. It should play well with the OS. It should not require a proprietary API to get working with other tools.
* Portability / shareability / synchronizability - If I use the app at home and at work, there should be some smart way to move my info around without creating headaches. If I want everyone in my office to run the app, users should be able to share data without a lot of headaches.
I think the last item, while desirable, is a pretty tough nut. We might want to wait a LONG while before adding it in (Version 4?) but the architecture of the app should be in place to support it from the beginning.
BTW - I'm all in favor of using old-fashoned concepts wherever possible. F'rinstance, I'd like to see a substantial set of command line parameters for the app, almost to the point of it being like its own API. This would solve a lot of problems. If you could pass the app a unique ID on the CL and have that note come up, you could easily make desktop shortcuts to individual notes, gaining a lot of file system functionality for very little cost. If the app could return detailed information based on CL queries (or via a scripting library) it would be that much easier to make it interoperable with existing tools.
actitrend:
WE NEED A TEST RULES...
As the discussion goes here (and I saw the discuusions in the other forums) I can suggest a test rules.... To understand better what application is better we need to test them by same criteria (test points)..... Anyone could suggest these points to test.... then we can build a whole test.... then run it on different applications to see how good they are.... What about it?
All these words (Speed, Flexibility, Interoperability, Portability / shareability / synchronizability).... are just words.... they can not be used as a judge criteria.... I believe it's better to provide real-life, frequently used tasks to understand what is good and what is bad in particular application....
Personally I am the author of TaoNotes http://actitrend.fre3.com and I want it to be tested as well.....
Vadim
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