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Fast Network Notetaking...

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davcom:
I often find myself wanting to just jot a very quick note down, sometimes with a "classification" (ie to what the note refers in terms of where, how, who, etc it applies) but there's not a system out there that I am currently aware of that does what I need. I want to be able to make each note by using a single or maybe dual hotkey to bring a single small window into focus on any of my 9 PC's around the house/workshop (so it MUST be networked at least on a LAN to start with), and likely tick a few 'classification" boxes (unclassified, ToDo/bring up today, 7 days, Need to invoice, Need to assign this to a client, Add to Business Contacts, Add to Personal Contacts, Add to "one of my XYZ clubs" Contact Lists, Assign to XYZ person or company, and so on). Complete action may take 15-30-45 seconds tops to get the thought into the system so it's not lost and can be actioned when time permits.

The idea is that it is VERY quick and simple to at least capture an initial thought of an action required or action taken so it is not lost nor breaks the workflow, and at a quieter moment can be inspected and further classifications added, from any station on the network. I feel it would be vital to have an auto-classification system based on keywords typed. It MUST also have "filter and show results AS YOU TYPE" method of searching exactly as Evernote does it. This would be a separate "list" used to locate any item of information in whatever list(s) the note(s) you're after currently resides in (including note maintenance to get rid of dupes, orphans, merge notes, etc)

I noted that several others are still on the hunt for the "right" notetaking system that suits them and was particularly interested in "urlwolfs" comment a few posts ago in another thread that capture and classification are separate and should not disturb the workflow". I tend to agree but further qualify his statement by suggesting that possibly some minimal tickboxes and/OR (more likely) the words used in writing the note can be used to automatically classify which list a note is shown on when sitting down to manage notes many times during the day. That way the note is made and classified simply by the choice of words used, initially. Remember that this is for "bullet point" style of notes, not a complete dissertation on the history and likely future events that may surround the reason for the note).

It is quite possible that such a system could be standalone, maybe use an SQLite db ? but with an API that allows it to be treated as a front end to other information software ?

I have been a big fan of Evernote for a long time, and still am but a bit disappointed with its increasing bloat and cluttered navigation, but Evernote does not have a single small(ish) text window available immediately (as it used to) with absolutely minimum clutter PLUS allow you to set some preliminary note classifications (within a 10 to 15 second window of activity to specify classifications)
I like the idea of Evernotes assigning a classification to a note as that does allow you to have multiple categories/folders watching/assigned to a single note depending on the way you are retrieving info, but even that method of selecting categories is too slow (and yes I have done many auto-categorisations in Evernote based on keywords) Last decent version of Evernote was their v2.1.327, then it went online. (Evernote as my Contact List beats any other system on the planet for finding a contacts multiple details FAST, including ancillary notes.)

I am trialling (free) Sticky Notes (www.sticky-notes.org which is a redirect from http://sticky-notes.net) and while I like the hotkey to call up or hide every note simultaneously (which I am treating as lists that I add to or transfer to a Done list (with a date when actioned)) am finding it unstable with (hotkey) showing or hiding every window if the program does not have focus, and standard text formatting keys (CTRL-I, B, U for eg) are dysfunctional and often have to use highlight with mouse then rightclick for italic/bold/underline which is very clunky (slow!). Notes shared over the LAN are not interactive notes either. While this Sticky-Notes shows a great deal of promise, again, it's not quite right (and yes I know I'm using it as (short) lists instead of an individual note per box.)

I use Lists for all completed actions (Done), plus individual lists for Personal, Now (Clients only as Personal is for my private actions), Later, Friends, Invoicing and some others.

Would like to be able to enter a QUICK note and use the appropriate words to have it appear on the relevant list(s) (as per Evernote an action may be seen from more than one perspective so I might see something for writing out a client invoice appear on both the "Invoicing" and Now (Client Actions) lists. Lists should not appear when a note is entered - the lists need to be called separately by global hotkey. Drag and drop notes between lists once made. Right click a note on a list and select Done (auto date/time as it transfers over to the Done list. Personally I don't like seeing actioned items (with strikethrough) on a list of things yet to be done but do agree for the need to confirm that something was actioned ! Some people like seeing strikethrough notes of completed actions on the same list as items to be actioned but AFAIC that clutters things up.)

Has anyone heard of any software that may do this cleanly (I detest cluttered UI's) or has any coder had any thoughts along these lines for a new project ?

barney:
I do much of what you describe - not all, by any means - with CintaNotes.  Mind, I don't aspire to your degree of preliminaries, but the ability to set/define multiple tags on the fly works well for me.  As for replicating across multiple boxes, either Syncless or Beyond Sync (sorry, no links) should resolve that issue - at least it does for me.

Not an ideal solution for your dilemma, but at least a possible start.

P.S.
I quit EverNote when it went cloud  :o >:( ;).

davcom:
Thanks Barney, will check those options out. I may have to bite the bullet and find a coder that can do it "just right" eventually but if I can cobble something together that approximates what I'm after and it's stable without needing constant tweaks then will give it a go. That was a shame about Evernote. Still a neat program but they've munted the simplicity of operation that was its immediate appeal for such a deceptively powerful program and I can see it falling by the wayside for many which is a shame.

I do much of what you describe - not all, by any means - with CintaNotes.  Mind, I don't aspire to your degree of preliminaries, but the ability to set/define multiple tags on the fly works well for me.  As for replicating across multiple boxes, either Syncless or Beyond Sync (sorry, no links) should resolve that issue - at least it does for me.

Not an ideal solution for your dilemma, but at least a possible start.

P.S.
I quit EverNote when it went cloud  :o >:( ;).
-barney (July 16, 2012, 11:24 PM)
--- End quote ---

davcom:
Barney, on looking at CintaNotes it's advising that it can sync across multiple PC's using Dropbox or SugarSync, both of which I run already (and I've just starting using the free FTPbox http://ftpbox.org/ so theres another option yet again).
Looking at how CintaNotes (and Evernote too for that matter) have the single continuous note system it might pay me to revise my expectations and consider using filters within CintaNote to provide the "Action Lists" I'm after. My main concern is that I might lose something in the great mass of info where on separate lists I'd be more focused for that lists specific activity.
Remains to be seen how simple the capture of a note in CintaNotes is. Will provide some feedback here after I've played round with it for a few days. Thanks !

I do much of what you describe - not all, by any means - with CintaNotes.  <snip>  As for replicating across multiple boxes, either Syncless or Beyond Sync (sorry, no links) should resolve that issue - at least it does for me.
<snip>
-barney (July 16, 2012, 11:24 PM)
--- End quote ---

barney:
Barney, on looking at CintaNotes it's advising that it can sync across multiple PC's using Dropbox or SugarSync, both of which I run already (and I've just starting using the free FTPbox http://ftpbox.org/ so theres another option yet again).
Looking at how CintaNotes (and Evernote too for that matter) have the single continuous note system it might pay me to revise my expectations and consider using filters within CintaNote to provide the "Action Lists" I'm after. My main concern is that I might lose something in the great mass of info where on separate lists I'd be more focused for that lists specific activity.
Remains to be seen how simple the capture of a note in CintaNotes is. Will provide some feedback here after I've played round with it for a few days. Thanks !
-davcom (July 17, 2012, 05:23 PM)
--- End quote ---

Yeah, I didn't mention the cloud stuff - neither use nor trust it.  In regard to your Action Lists, one of the things I love about CintaNotes is that when you select - via Shift- or Ctrl-click in Win environments - multiple tags, you see only the notes that have all the selected tags.  Set 'em to sort in date order, and you have a minimal time line.  This has been a virtual life saver for me, as I can fine down to a single note, if I tagged it properly, or just see a list of everything in a less tagged, more extensive selection of notes.  All done on the fly, as it were. 

Oh, yeah, you can maintain separate databases for a more dedicated approach.  As an example, I have one (1) for Win software, one (1) for Win 64-bit software, one (1) for Linux software, one (1) for recipes, ..., and more.  When the recipe database gets too big - and it will  :o! - I can break it down into deserts, appetizers, main dishes, or perhaps veggie, beef, pork, pasta ...  The modification capabilities are near endless.  The only downside, for me, is lack of RTF capabilities in the notes (I like italics, bold, underline, strikethrough, colour, and the like - visual separation works better for these old eyes  :P.).

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