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NoteZilla

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Dormouse:
I don't think it is really accurate to describe Stickies as a light version of NoteZilla. It's more that it has a different feature set.

For instance-
It has a skin design program and 14 pages of skins available for download, not all of them rectangular.
It has a version for PPC & Palm, rather than relying on passing notes through Outlook.
It has an API and an option for other programs to create stickies.
It also has a forum where the developer is very active.
It's alarm is much more eyecatching than NoteZilla.
And it does have a top bar, just with different buttons. And some of the skins have a large number of buttons on the top bar.

What it doesn't have is images in the note (and Tom says they are definitely not on the roadmap).
Nor does it have menuboards.
And no tags.

In effect, Stickies is more of a pure sticky note program than NoteZilla.
And there are things you can do in NoteZilla that you can't do in Stickies. And a lot of ways in which NoteZilla can be developed to do these things better. More of that anon (possibly a day or two).
(btw, I like the NoteZilla way of doing the note title)

Steven Avery:
Hi Folks,

Thanks for the extra info Dormouse.

And to be fair, the Stickies equivalent to the MemoBoard is :

Manage Stickies
http://www.zhornsoftware.co.uk/stickies/ss.html

Based on the pic, there is a lack in not having an equivalent to the "Filter Section" and the rows have less info and sorting.  

This is the main sense in which I was considering Stickies "lighter", from the semi-techie database repository perspective. Grouping, categories, searching and sorting of notes. Simply that more heft exists in the NoteZilla repository .. although NoteZilla was not fulfilling all the hopes you would have from the nice addition of user-defined tags. And some sticky programs have no such note repository at all, and we would consider them as non-starters.

Beyond that, clearly both programs have a number of features ahead of the other and others where the implementations could be compared with a more precise scope. (Internal pictures is simply one of these advantages for one program. A nice surprise to see but actual use will vary tremendously.)  I would be interested in knowing how well the open-API has worked with Stickies, what programs have used this utility.

Note that NoteZilla (from my review thoughts) should try to export for calendar, to cross to another program either through the calendar program's API or some type of semi-automated export-import. If NoteZilla is not given more internal calendar-heft.

I have Stickies loaded at work, so I will try to spend a little time to understand the differences more completely. The default skin left me a tad frustrated (that was my second try of the program), a more dedicated try may make me more appreciative of the Stickies software.  It has been interesting also looking at the specs of other programs, e.g. TurboNote+ has a feature where a screen capture can go directly into a note, a feature that would save a few steps in using NoteZilla for screen captures.

Shalom,
Steven Avery

Dormouse:
The Stickies equivalent of the memoboard isn't really equivalent. It gives the list, but you can only view one sticky at a time on it. Accurately described I think as a Manager for the stickies, just as NoteZilla's use of memoboard is accurate.

Looking at the two as pure text sticky note apps, I'd say Stickies is probably superior. Stickies does have a component that allows other progs to create stickies, so it gives an option for very good import. DoOrganizer appears to use it.

Stickies search is OK, but I wouldn't describe the application as a PIM (though Stickies can be grouped in categories and subcategories), whereas NoteZilla does have the beginnings of development in that area. Stickies can import/export in csv whilst NoteZilla has tab delimited; at a guess, csv gives more options for exporting to calendar programs.

Dormouse:
OK. So, if I think that Stickies is a (slightly) better pure-text sticky note program, what do I use NoteZilla for? And what has it taught me about ways in which it might be improved.

Well, one of things I have to do is to keep track of jobs of a relatively repetitive nature, with multiple processes but without a fixed path. (One example [just for illustration, not what I'm doing] of such jobs would be if running an auto repair business where there is  a tyre/exhaust shop, an engine shop, a body shop and a paint shop.) Many details of each individual job will be needed (customer, task etc), and it will be important to know what stage each job is at - partly to track the job and partly to spot an overload building up in any area.

Now there are many ways of doing this. Project type software (but high overhead to put stuff in and overkill for the job), and various to-do lists. But though I'm very happy using these in other ways (I use AbstractSpoon's ToDoList a lot - but actually mostly as a database and for tracking other people's progress), I've never sustained any use for tracking my own to-do's. Over time I've come to realise that it is because the way you use them does not match the way I think naturally (a bit of a surprise to me since I find these progs easy to get to grips with and I'm good at using them for other tasks). Some people like a very tidy desk with everything put away. I like a very very big and very messy desk with everything out (either in view or beneath other things that are in view with history deciding its place in the layers); with this I always know exactly where everything is. This suggested a preference for a visual way of thinking (again a surprise because I'm very good verbally).

So I reasoned that a visual analog of my very big messy desk(s) might work better. And it does. Most attempts to do it have been using MindMap type progs, but they have quite a few deficiencies for this approach. And when I first looked at NoteZilla, it came to me that I could use it for this job. I can cut and paste into the note; being able to do images too is important since not all my sources are in text format. Using the example above, I can have one menuboard for the engine shop, one for the body shop etc; and, having a note for each job, just move the note to the board it needs to be in at the time (with all info needed on the note).

And it works very well. I can go to a board and see everything instantly instead of having to read a list. I can move notes around as I decide what to do or do bits of work on those tasks. I can set reminders/alarms if I need. And I could never do this with Stickies because it does not have the menuboards and (to some extent) because it doesn't take images.

What it has also shown though, is lots of ways in which NoteZilla can be improved. And, more generally, how non-visually adept sticky note programs are despite the whole raison d'etre of sticky notes being  visual. What I would like to see (in no particular order):-

* the ability to have different shaped notes; this would be a better/quicker visual trigger to that note's identity; some other sticky note progs (including Stickies) have this; instructions to design own skins would also be good;
* the ability to zoom in and out with the mouse wheel; would make it much easier to work with a large number of notes on a single board;
* furl/unfurl is good but is needed to work for width as well as height (currently notes that are very wide because of containing a wide image are either incredibly long when furled or they have to be shrunk manually);
* to work visually, the categories/tags need to have icons attached and not just be words; and these should be visible on the top menu line;
* it would be nice to be able to move notes to a different board from the note view as well as the note list; if you are working in note view, having to go to the note list to do this wastes time;
* the ability to right click on a top toolbar item and then use the mouse wheel to switch between options would be good (eg this could be tags, note colours/skins etc)
* more control over the size of the board. Wouldn't be a problem if there were zoom, but currently it starts the size of available room in the NoteZilla window and gradually gets longer as new notes are added; doesn't shrink again if a few lines in the middle are moved up to overlap others and can mean having to scroll down past a big empty space;
* a more eyecatching alarm would be good (at least as an option). Stickies alternates border colours and wobbles from side to side when the alarm goes. NoteZilla just sits quietly in the corner. I need something more obvious if it is time to get something out of the oven (and I can't have the sound switched on if everyone else has gone to bed), though at for other events I might prefer not to have my concentration disturbed by something too intrusive;
* it would be good to detach menuboard panels from the browser window and to able to view as many as wanted at the same time
* the sticker view should revert to the last user arranged layout after switching to another view, instead of the original default
* you can mark a note as completed; this strikes through the title on the list of notes; it would be better if it also struck through the title on the note itself.
* the toolbar cuts of with an icon for more buttons; on my monitor this happens only 1/4 of the way across the screen; the bar should autosize to the window
*
* I may add a few more here as they come to mind.
Other things that would make a big difference include
a forum
Properties button (as mentioned by Steven) so that attached items & links are easily seen in list
multi-tagging (as mentioned by Steven)
Adding duration to the reminders would allow proper events and export to ical etc. Would make it much more powerful for todo list.
Allow export of single memoboards with notes filtered

conceptworld:

Hello Everyone,

Thank you so much for the suggestions and feedback.
 
I have read all of them. In needs further analysis and brain-storming, which we will do when we start developing the new version.
 
Let us know how else we can serve you.

Regards,
Gautam Jain

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