The Journal - 51% Discount at Bits on 1/5/2009

[J-Mac]

If any of you keep a journal, diary, or scrapbook check out The Journal at Bits duJour on January 5, 2009. I have been using this application for over a year (and I paid full price...    ) and it is a great program.

I keep a couple daily journals: one is just a daily record, a diary of sorts. The other is for recording medical information for my disability. But I also created several "notebooks" in The Journal where I keep my blog entries and other specific information, as well as general writing - short stories, etc.

It claims to have appointments, address book, and other PIM-type features but they are extremely rudimentary; do not confuse The Journal for a PIM application. It is a place to collect all of your writings and it does that better than anything else I have tried. You can also configure The Journal to submit your blog entries directly to your blogs, and it has links to most of the commonly used blogging sites.

I highly recommend this program. Check it out on January 5, 2009.

Jim

[Edit - corrected dates ... ]

[johnk]

It is a place to collect all of your writings and it does that better than anything else I have tried.

-J-Mac (December 29, 2008, 08:00 PM)

I agree, and I have tried countless similar programs. The Journal is good software.

As a warning to people like me (i.e. very superficial, prone to instant decisions on software based on the first screenshot) -- do not be put off by the initial appearance of the program. The menus don't use anti-aliased fonts (if you have ClearType enabled) , so they look like something from Windows 9x. It suggests the programs hasn't been updated in years. I almost stopped right there. See, I'm superficial (mind you, someone else has raised the issue in the program's forum, so I'm not the only one).

But I gave it a full trial and I'm glad I did. It's a great writing environment and, critically, the export functions are excellent. Version 5 is on the way, and the developer is friendly and approachable. I use it to draft long pieces of writing, before exporting the material to Word for final presentation work.

For me, the only other program that comes close is Whizfolders, but I think The Journal has the edge for now. PageFour is also nice, but not as powerful or flexible.

PS: For those looking for a journal program -- ignore my comments. I actually don't use the journal component at all, just the notebook part, for general non-journal writing. But for me it's good value even when you don't use its core (journal) component.

[Dormouse]

All a bit academic for me atm as I haven't had access to BdJ for a few days. I've assumed it was server problems/changes so it might be back soon.

[Dormouse]

My preference (so far) is TreeDBNotes where the free version has most of the features. I have tried all the above, but can't clearly remember why I didn't choose The Journal at the time; maybe I'll try it again. I also have Scribe as part of Do-Organiser which I'm now using quite a lot because of its integration with the other components.

[johnk]

All a bit academic for me atm as I haven't had access to BdJ for a few days. I've assumed it was server problems/changes so it might be back soon.

-Dormouse (January 01, 2009, 07:53 AM)

Same for me. No access for the last few days. Getting a "Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)" message at the moment...

My preference (so far) is TreeDBNotes where the free version has most of the features. I have tried all the above, but can't clearly remember why I didn't choose The Journal at the time; maybe I'll try it again. I also have Scribe as part of Do-Organiser which I'm now using quite a lot because of its integration with the other components.

-Dormouse (January 01, 2009, 08:04 AM)

It's the combination of features and attention to detail that appeals in The Journal. As I mentioned before, the excellent export options. The fact that I can move between nodes (and move nodes) without ever leaving the editing window. The range of keyboard shortcuts appeals to the keyboard junkie in me. Powerful features such as "categories" (for automatically applying different formatting/security/templates to different content) and "topics" (a form of tagging). I tried and liked TreeDBNotes, but I do think The Journal is another step up.

[Darwin]

All a bit academic for me atm as I haven't had access to BdJ for a few days. I've assumed it was server problems/changes so it might be back soon.

-Dormouse (January 01, 2009, 07:53 AM)

Same for me. No access for the last few days. Getting a "Bad Request (Invalid Hostname)" message at the moment...

-johnk (January 01, 2009, 08:50 AM)

Me three... 

[Dormouse]

So, I've had another look at The Journal.

Checking it out wasn't helped by its frequently going slow and freezing 5 times within 35 minutes of looking at it while I was also doing other things (no other running programs had any problems at all). Had to end process before restarting.

Seems to me to have far fewer options than TreeDBnotes (or Scribe, if it comes to that) though does have diary related features like timers, time passed markers, reminders etc. Wouldn't let me set up a new Journal without a password (presumably some incompatibility with my system since it presented it as an option). Export options did not seem particularly extensive to me; setting up new tabs etc quite convoluted. Not the most frequently updated prog either.

May well suit keyboard-preferring people if it has lots of keyboard shortcuts (though though didn't seem to be anywhere to edit them) - though it has fewer than TreeDB, but I prefer buttons and right-click options.

I realise you get to know more by using a prog more, but this didn't seem to offer enough gain to me to persevere with looking at it - even if it had been stable on my system.

Seems to me that, even at the discounted price, someone would need a definite need for its particular features to make it more worthwhile than a free alternative. But a lot of the effectiveness of these progs does come down to a good match between the prog and the individual's preferred ways of working and seeing things, so I can see that it might be the ideal prog for some people.