Author Topic: 1 free PageFour license (and one only) (Read 19667 times)

Curt · « **on:** March 11, 2009, 09:41 AM »

I have been given an extra license for one copy of PageFour. ~~If you are going to write a book and will like to use a free copy of PageFour for the purpose, please PM me.~~ The offer has been taken

PageFour - Outliner and Tabbed Word Processor for Writers
For use on Windows XP/Vista/2000/98/ME.
© 2005-2009 Bad Wolf Software

40hz · « **Reply #1 on:** March 11, 2009, 11:31 AM »

Would you care to do a review about PageFour for us?

I'm always looking for new writing/idea tools. (It's a hobby of mine.)

Curt · « **Reply #2 on:** March 11, 2009, 12:11 PM »

- actually I was thinking about this some time ago. However, I have come to realize that other people are using this kind of programs for many different purposes / in many different ways, also very different from what I use it for, and how, and after all so different that I won't try do it.

But maybe it would pay out to put a pressure on tomos? He received the license in question...

tomos · « **Reply #3 on:** March 11, 2009, 12:41 PM »

But maybe it would pay out to put a pressure on tomos? He received the license in question...
-Curt (March 11, 2009, 12:11 PM)

I have to put in a disclaimer now - I'm not writing a novel

I'll see about a mini-review at some stage or I could start by posting some comments here when I get to try it out a bit

40hz · « **Reply #4 on:** March 14, 2009, 11:15 PM »

Well, I wasn't expecting one of those in-depth 8-page things.

How about just sharing some impressions based on what you're using it for..whether or not the interface is nice...the menus well organized...if it locks up or crashes... y'know, that sort of thing.

Curt · « **Reply #5 on:** March 15, 2009, 02:48 AM »

Screenshots: http://www.softwaref...com/screenshots.html

For sure, the program is stable
- and easy to use.

The only set-back I can think of right now, besides the lack of horns and bells, is the that there are two types of back-up. One is the short-term memory, (="save changes?"), the other a genuine backup. The set-back is that you have to deal with this at all. Once the settings have been done, a genuine back-up really should be performed every once in a while AND every time you close the program, I think.

Also I find that I have to double-click a little too often.

Other than that the program is stable, well organized, fairly nice, and easy.

tomos · « **Reply #6 on:** March 15, 2009, 08:17 AM »

Would you care to do a review about PageFour for us?

I'm always looking for new writing/idea tools. (It's a hobby of mine.)
-40hz (March 11, 2009, 11:31 AM)

40hz
you can download a time-UN-limited trial (there's a limitation on the number of "Notebooks" (three I think) and pages in each (30))
That's enough though to give you a good sense of the programme I reckon. There's a quite positive review of it by Tom Colvin here (and he's a real writer, not like us

)

The tabs are nice to have, there's lots of keyboard shortcuts (unfortunately not customisable - Ctrl+Z on a german keyboard is not easy

). There some nice options for spelling/correction.

I already have a list of requests/suggestions to the developers, most interface related - I'll wait till I've used it a bit (more) before sending on.

There's the equivalent of an outline on the left - well, it works like a folder tree with "pages" instead of files. You have to double click a page to display it (ouch), although I guess it's mimicking explorer there which is logical e.g. if you want to move a page to a different location you dont want it to open on first click: but, a bit of a pain as Curt says.

Importing:
to import word document you need Word 2000 or newer (ouch agin). I use Softmaker Office 2008 ...
You can import individual files or you can select a folder and filetype (doc if you have word, rtf and txt) and it will import all files of selected types.

Exporting:
only in "Notebook" format (havent looked at that yet). For something that's aiming at writers, I really dont understand this - surely they will want to pass on their work (+ formatting even) to someone else? Review linked above says:
PageFour maintains its files in Rich Text Format, or RTF, the format which I think should be preferred by writers - so maybe there is some way to export or convert but it's not explained in the help file ...Hah, they are RTF files - now why didnt they say that in the first place

Personally, what I'm looking for is somewhere that I can organise my growing collection of notes/ideas about various topics (which often overlap) and where I can then actually produce something from them - I'm still not sure what exactly and maybe that's part of my problem - I'm not sure if PageFour is the programme for this but I'm gonna try it.

For info about PageFour and some other writer's software see the SOFTWARE page on Tom Colvin's blog (Becoming A Writer Seriously)

40hz · « **Reply #7 on:** March 16, 2009, 09:36 PM »

Personally, what I'm looking for is somewhere that I can organise my growing collection of notes/ideas about various topics (which often overlap) and where I can then actually produce something from them - I'm still not sure what exactly and maybe that's part of my problem -
-tomos (March 15, 2009, 08:17 AM)

You might want to look at askSam :

https://www.asksam.com/brochure.asp

askSam is the ideal application to organize your information. askSam is a different kind of database - a free-form database designed for users rather than programmers. askSam makes it easy to turn anything into a searchable database: email messages, word processing documents, text files, spreadsheets, addresses, Web pages, and more.

askSam gives you the power of a database without the complexity. No need to program or learn a complicated query language. With askSam, you simply import or enter information, and you're ready to search. askSam users range from individuals organizing email, addresses, and research notes to corporations and government organizations managing meeting minutes, regulations, policy manuals, and corporate databases.

askSam has been around for years (now at version 7) and has a very devoted following. I have a few writer/journalist type friends that swear by it for organizing piles of overlapping textual information. There are some articles and stories up on the website by people who are using this product on live projects:

http://www.asksam.com/researchers.asp

A little pricey @ US $149 for the "standard edition." But there's a 30-day full feature trial available for download.

Curt · « **Reply #8 on:** March 17, 2009, 07:56 AM »

- really weird to see that askSam needs $245 extra for indexing the text!

askSam Standard 7 $ 149.95
The World's Most Popular Free-Form Database! Imagine a database flexible enough to organize a decade of email, testimony from court cases, research notes, or simple names and addresses. askSam is used by researchers, students, investigators, and businesses around the world to organize and search all sorts of information.

askSam Professional 7 $ 395.00
askSam Pro includes all the great features of askSam plus full text indexing to give you lightning-fast searches.
-askSam

wraith808 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 17, 2009, 08:37 AM »

Can PageFour be used portably?

tomos · « **Reply #10 on:** March 17, 2009, 08:46 AM »

Can PageFour be used portably?
-wraith808 (March 17, 2009, 08:37 AM)

I dont know
There's no mention of the possibility on install or in the help file - there's no search on the website so I guess that leaves contacting the author unless someone else here knows

gpetrant · « **Reply #11 on:** March 17, 2009, 09:18 AM »

You might want to look at askSam :

https://www.asksam.com/brochure.asp
-40hz

I recently purchased the latest edition at a discount (flagged earlier in this forum). What attracted me was its open format. I'm a note/text file/document scatterer, and although I don't mind doing some database programming as needed, I don't find Access, MySQL, etc, conducive to the kind of flexibility I want in a down and dirty ready-to-use database. So far, askSam gets a thumbs up from me.

PhilB66 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 17, 2009, 09:22 AM »

Can PageFour be used portably?
-wraith808 (March 17, 2009, 08:37 AM)

Unixtracted the PageFour_1.70.exe, deleted unnecessary stuff and ran nbk.exe. PageFour creates IMBT folder in the user's Application Data folder (location can be changed under "Miscellaneous Options") and writes to the registry @

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Imbt\PageFour\Addictive
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Imbt\PageFour\Find
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Imbt\PageFour\Previous
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Imbt\PageFour\Rb
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Imbt\PageFour

I guess you could make it portable.

tomos · « **Reply #13 on:** March 17, 2009, 10:13 AM »

What attracted me was its open format.
-gpetrant (March 17, 2009, 09:18 AM)

any chance you could tell us a bit more there

Is it a chuck everything in there and search programme

It's hard to get a decent idea of it from it's home page and I hate having to look at videos (will do at some stage if there's no other choice but now not a great time)
ah they do have a list of features page (hidden in a drop-down list $:-\$ ) but that's not very helpful either.
https://www.asksam.c...;b=askSam%20Features...

It would be great if you could give us even a vague idea of how it can be used

40hz · « **Reply #14 on:** March 17, 2009, 07:56 PM »

- really weird to see that askSam needs $245 extra for indexing the text!
-Curt (March 17, 2009, 07:56 AM)

Thanks Curt! Now I know I'm not the only person who thought that the premium for full text indexing was a little on the steep side.

They must be awfully proud of that feature.

gpetrant · « **Reply #15 on:** March 18, 2009, 09:39 AM »

What attracted me was its open format.
-gpetrant (March 17, 2009, 09:18 AM)

any chance you could tell us a bit more there
Is it a chuck everything in there and search programme
It's hard to get a decent idea of it from it's home page and I hate having to look at videos (will do at some stage if there's no other choice but now not a great time)
ah they do have a list of features page (hidden in a drop-down list $:-\$ ) but that's not very helpful either.
https://www.asksam.c...;b=askSam%20Features...

It would be great if you could give us even a vague idea of how it can be used
-tomos (March 17, 2009, 10:13 AM)

Yes, it's a chuck everything in there and search program (a lot like my apartment and girlfriend's purse). It's a user friendly wizard-driven database which accepts almost everything but the kitchen sink: MS Office docs, PDFs, pictures, text files, emails, etc. Its search facility reminds me a lot of Archivarius in function: fast once indexed.

It's the perfect database for someone who has no inclination to code or to organize all his/her docs into neat categorized folders like normal people do. For instance, as a writer, I have different document formats scattered and strewn all over my hard drive. Using an askSam wizard, I can import them all without disturbing the sublime beauty of my disorder. Now centralized in a searchable database, they're at my fingertips.

Another use: again using askSam's import wizard, I imported all my email. I can now empty all my OE folders (yes, they're backed up, but they're not very convenient to access in their archived format, plus the fact I hate OE's search facility), and should I need to retrieve an old message, it's as simple as calling up askSam, and do an Archivarius-like search.

Draw backs: I don't think askSam would be suitable as a back-end for a desktop/web app, although the pro version does ship with an ActiveX control which you can use in your VB/ASP app (but I mean, really, with a name like askSam, what enterprise database programmer would take it seriously?). Also, the undiscounted price is prohibitive, imo. In fact, I don't think I would've shelled out for the pro version without the hefty 70% discount (now expired, I think) flagged earlier in this forum.

Summation: It's a Jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none database for the rest of us. I like it a lot for that reason. Hope this was helpful.

tomos · « **Reply #16 on:** March 18, 2009, 11:24 AM »

thanks for the info gpetrant

sounds like the indexing is a very important aspect ... makes it v.expensive, as you say: without that 70% off!
So when you import something - does that create a link to the original, and, (pro version) index the contents
or does it actually make a copy of imported file in the database?
Must make for a very big database either way though - do you bother with incremental backups or does the programme itself have any sort of backup system?
I've been using dropbox for backing up my IQ (SQLNotes) database (it saves revisions but only saves the difference to the file) - it's under 30mb but before dropbox I was making a few backups per day and managed to have a lot of gigabytes of backup before I noticed. Havent had to restore the dropbox revisions so not sure how dependable it is for this ..

wraith808 · « **Reply #17 on:** March 18, 2009, 12:00 PM »

I'm actually using BenuBird Pro for the same sort of thing as askSam. Any idea of what advantages askSam has over Benubird Pro? (BTW, that link is to the current discount for members. It was supposed to end yesterday, but you can try it and see if it still works)

gpetrant · « **Reply #18 on:** March 18, 2009, 01:58 PM »

thanks for the info gpetrant

sounds like the indexing is a very important aspect ... makes it v.expensive, as you say: without that 70% off!
So when you import something - does that create a link to the original, and, (pro version) index the contents
or does it actually make a copy of imported file in the database?
Must make for a very big database either way though - do you bother with incremental backups or does the programme itself have any sort of backup system?
I've been using dropbox for backing up my IQ (SQLNotes) database (it saves revisions but only saves the difference to the file) - it's under 30mb but before dropbox I was making a few backups per day and managed to have a lot of gigabytes of backup before I noticed. Havent had to restore the dropbox revisions so not sure how dependable it is for this ..
-tomos (March 18, 2009, 11:24 AM)

Concerning the indexing feature: the search facility in askSam standard is very decent for small database users such as home users, writers, hobbyists, etc, whereas askSam pro's indexing is ideal for larger database users such as small business owners, developers, etc. I only purchased the pro because the discount was too good to miss.

askSam makes copies of the original when importing docs. My needs are very modest so the size of my database is still very manageable. It doesn't have its own fully featured backup system, but does 'pack' your files on demand into backup archives (optimized for space and indexed searches). I don't rely on that feature much, however. I use Genie Backup Manager Pro on a scheduled basis instead. (Haven't tried dropbox. Where can I take a peek at it, and what's your opinion of it as a backup manager?)

Without the discount, I might have been tempted to get the standard, and if I found that I needed the pro features later on, I would've considered purchasing the upgrade ($139 US).

I'm actually using BenuBird Pro for the same sort of thing as askSam. Any idea of what advantages askSam has over Benubird Pro? (BTW, that link is to the current discount for members. It was supposed to end yesterday, but you can try it and see if it still works)
-wraith808 (March 18, 2009, 12:00 PM)

I was all ready to slap down my $50 for Benubird Pro, but being the scatter brain that I am, waited till the last day (March 17) without taking into account the time difference between NA and Europe (so when I tried to purchase it last night, the Donation Coder discount no longer showed up upon check-out). I don't know if askSam has any killer advantage over Benubird Pro; perhaps the breadth of things you can stuff into it and the templates/wizards with which to organize them, making it a PIM, Address Book, Email archiver, Personal Journal, Cataloger, etc, all rolled into one. (If the Benubird Pro discount ever comes around again, I wouldn't be surprised if I purchased it. I really like Benubird's interface and PDF handling abilities.)

wraith808 · « **Reply #19 on:** March 18, 2009, 03:11 PM »

I was all ready to slap down my $50 for Benubird Pro, but being the scatter brain that I am, waited till the last day (March 17) without taking into account the time difference between NA and Europe (so when I tried to purchase it last night, the Donation Coder discount no longer showed up upon check-out). I don't know if askSam has any killer advantage over Benubird Pro; perhaps the breadth of things you can stuff into it and the templates/wizards with which to organize them, making it a PIM, Address Book, Email archiver, Personal Journal, Cataloger, etc, all rolled into one. (If the Benubird Pro discount ever comes around again, I wouldn't be surprised if I purchased it. I really like Benubird's interface and PDF handling abilities.)
-gpetrant (March 18, 2009, 01:58 PM)

The people there are very nice, and I'm sure if you e-mailed them and told them the situation, they'd be willing to give it to you if possible. Worth a try IMO if you were thinking about pulling the trigger. I'm really enjoying it, personally.

gpetrant · « **Reply #20 on:** March 19, 2009, 07:27 AM »

The people there are very nice, and I'm sure if you e-mailed them and told them the situation, they'd be willing to give it to you if possible. Worth a try IMO if you were thinking about pulling the trigger. I'm really enjoying it, personally.
-wraith808 (December 02, 1973, 10:25 PM)

Great suggestion, wraith808. I contacted them, explained the situation, and now am a licensed user of Benubird Pro.

tomos · « **Reply #21 on:** March 21, 2009, 07:37 PM »

The people there are very nice, and I'm sure if you e-mailed them and told them the situation, they'd be willing to give it to you if possible. Worth a try IMO if you were thinking about pulling the trigger. I'm really enjoying it, personally.
-wraith808 (December 02, 1973, 10:25 PM)

Great suggestion, wraith808. I contacted them, explained the situation, and now am a licensed user of Benubird Pro.
-gpetrant (March 19, 2009, 07:27 AM)

due to interest, they've now extended the discount till the end of March