topbanner_forum
  *

avatar image

Welcome, Guest. Please login or register.
Did you miss your activation email?

Login with username, password and session length
  • Thursday March 28, 2024, 4:12 am
  • Proudly celebrating 15+ years online.
  • Donate now to become a lifetime supporting member of the site and get a non-expiring license key for all of our programs.
  • donate

Last post Author Topic: IDEA: Notes Snippet organizer  (Read 30505 times)

Josh

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Points: 45
  • Posts: 3,411
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
IDEA: Notes Snippet organizer
« on: January 29, 2006, 09:57 PM »
Would anyone be willing to develop a snippet organizer that can contain various things such as html links, text, pictures, etc about various different things that can be assigned a category and searched? Sorta like a note organizer. I find myself finding lots of little hints around the web and I find myself bookmarking them. Well, instead of a bookmarking system, I would like to have the links, or at times the entire article including pictures and video, etc, organized into a single application where I can search for the title of a note or search based on category. I would also like the notes to be displayed in a hierchal tree style view. Anyone know what I am trying to say here?
« Last Edit: February 18, 2006, 02:44 AM by brotherS »

nudone

  • Cody's Creator
  • Columnist
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 4,119
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2006, 02:35 AM »

f0dder

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 9,153
  • [Well, THAT escalated quickly!]
    • View Profile
    • f0dder's place
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2006, 04:17 AM »
You could perhaps check out the FireFox scrapbook plugin - I find it very nice.
- carpe noctem

allen

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2006
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,206
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2006, 06:51 AM »
If you were an Opera user, you'd have that built right into your browser from the git-go ;)

Most clipboard enhancers basically do what you're looking for -- ClipMate is the most robust out there--storing everything from text to viewable html to images.  AceText is good for text-only operations -- and there's also Clipboard Help + Spell, developed by Mouser.

You might also want to consider a bookmarking service like spurl.net -- Bookmarks are stored in a hierarchal structure, can also have tags/keywords assigned, you can save a comment/description and snippet of the website in question and, with the exception of huge pages, it automatically saves a copy of the page so you can full-search text and veiw the page even if the actual page ceases to exist.  The downside to that is it wouldn't help you with text you wanted to jot down that wasn't associated with a website.

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2006, 09:06 AM »
Would anyone be willing to develop a snippet organizer that can contain various things such as html links, text, pictures, etc about various different

Wouldn't Keynote (freeware) do, at least to start with?  It's not ideal for graphics because it's RTF, but should do everything you seem to want, and can be used as a clipboard enhancer as well.
http://www.tranglos....om/free/keynote.html

There's plenty of other similar things, most of them payware.  Take a look at John Buckman's outdated but still useful survey at http://john.redmood.com/organizers.html
A much larger number are mentioned at  http://www.fredshack.com/docs/pim.html  but the comments are terse.

app103

  • That scary taskbar girl
  • Global Moderator
  • Joined in 2006
  • *****
  • Posts: 5,884
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #5 on: January 30, 2006, 11:51 AM »
I found this one when I was looking for something similar. Links are not clickable in your saved text, and it has no search functions.....but for every entry you add, you can also attach a file and an image.

It was supposed to be geared more towards programmers and has syntax hilighting for a few languages but you can select plain text for your snips instead.

I liked the idea of attaching files to entries.

http://www.softforal...rganizer08110121.htm

tsaint

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 497
  • Hi from the a*** end of the earth
    • View Profile
    • Read more about this member.
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #6 on: January 30, 2006, 03:32 PM »
You could try the free version of net snippets at http://www.netsnippe....com/basic/index.htm
Tony

Josh

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Points: 45
  • Posts: 3,411
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #7 on: January 30, 2006, 08:21 PM »
Is it true keynotes was discontinued and has there been any continuations of it from its source?

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #8 on: February 01, 2006, 07:58 AM »
Josh,

For more on Keynote's closing;
https://www.donation...dex.php?topic=1312.0

It's a popular application and still seems to be the best-liked and most powerful freeware of its type.

kfitting

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #9 on: February 01, 2006, 08:21 AM »
Yeah, if you go to the Keynote forums (http://www.tranglos.com/forums/phpBB2/) you can read more.  I've been keeping close tabs on the guy (Jalepeno on the keynote forums) who claims to be making his own version of a notes type program and it is VERY impressive.  I will be the first to admit it's current status is vaporware (with 2 screenshots!), but from just some of the preliminary discussion it sounds like it will be a worthy replacement to Keynote.  Here is the forum for that program http://novolibera.proboards80.com/  Take a look.  Another interesting project that I've been watching is neomem.  Go to neomem.org and then check the blog and the forum for the latest news.  Hope this helps

Kevin

AbteriX

  • Charter Honorary Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 1,149
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #10 on: February 01, 2006, 08:35 AM »
Just found this on our german freeware board:
http://www.essential...72e90a73d087be0c724b

Name: SEO Note
Grösse: 1.5 MB
Homepage: http://www.seonote.com/
Downloadlink: http://www.seonote.com/download.php
Lizenz: Freeware
Screenshot: http://www.seonote.c...eenshots/seonote.gif
Standalone? Nein

SEO Note is one of the best freeware personal and business information manager for MicrosoftTM WindowsTM XP, 2000, NT, 98 and 95 systems.

Save all your personal and business notes in a single file, easily organise them and make your life easier. Stop spending your life searching for phone numbers, names, plans and ideas!

Our mission is to help you to be successful in your life and business, hobbies and education, cooperation and personal relations.

SEO Note is freeware. It means that you can use it for free, send it to your friends, colleagues,
neighbours and relatives. It contains no adware, spyware or other harmful pieces of code.
We respect your privacy!

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #11 on: February 02, 2006, 08:52 AM »
kfitting,

Another interesting project that I've been watching is neomem.  Go to neomem.org and then check the blog and the forum for the latest news.

Does NeoMem have good I/O features?  It would be nice if it could import Treepad Lite/Keynote files, for example, and export things in properly indented format, and/or some way of marking nodes and their levels so that other programs could pick them up.  Nicer still if it was possible to make a "universal" file-format converter for these things...

And, I'd really like an indexed (for fast searching) program with good Boolean logic (for precise searching).  No end to wishful thinking <sigh>

kfitting

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #12 on: February 02, 2006, 09:42 AM »
I dont use Neomem for it's current lack of I/O features.  However, the author is working on this for his next release (well, export first, import next) and I know it's high on the priority list for the future in any event.  Not using Neomem, I am not able to comment on how it works currently...

Right now is an interesting time for this type of program.  Many people are realizing their value and adding different features.  Unfortunately finding one with all the features you want is tough. 

Add TreeDBNotes to the list of Keynote replacements.  I took a look at this one and if "Novo Libero" or Neomem do not take off, I am seriously considering it.  The pro version comes with a highly accurate Keynote import.  Basically it's Keynote with table and hyperlink support and a database backend.  Unfortunately, they dont take the database to its logical next step which is the use of nodes as filters and make notes have properties.  This is what I'm waiting for!  (http://www.mytreedb.com/)

Kevin

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #13 on: February 03, 2006, 04:40 AM »
Right now is an interesting time for this type of program.  Many people are realizing their value and adding different features.  Unfortunately finding one with all the features you want is tough. 

The downside is going to be too many similar programs all with different and incompatible file formats, so once you're committed, it will be very hard to change.

Add TreeDBNotes to the list of Keynote replacements. 

Both a "lite" free version and a (presumably freely-distributable) viewer, too.  That's good; I'd prefer something that was all-free, partly because of cost to me, especially if I want to have copies at home and at work, but a free viewer would be a help if the program isn't itself free.  I see Maple has that, too.

I took a look at this one and if "Novo Libero" or Neomem do not take off, I am

It looks too early to commit to either of those, especially "Novo Libero!"

which is the use of nodes as filters and make notes have properties.

I don't understand those features, which probably means I don't need them  ;)

Have you tried the SEO Note that Stefan mentioned, and if so, how does it compare with the others?

There's also a free "lite" version of Action Outline now, but it looks too "lite" to be very useful.  If I read it correctly, nodes can only have up to seven child nodes.  Better viewed as an unlimited-time trial, perhaps.

Really, I don't need an organiser so much as a free-text database.  But those are rare, expensive, and complex.


m_s

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 433
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #14 on: February 03, 2006, 05:00 AM »
Nobody has mentioned the possibility of using some kind of Wiki, either online or locally...  For some reason I'm finding it impossible to run Instiki on either of my machines, though they claim it's really easy - I guess I've not given it the right kind of attention yet, but when I run it and try to access localhost:2500 nothing happens...  But I have used PBWiki, which runs online, and gives free accounts - that's working quite well for me to store things I might need access to from anywhere.  And then I use Tom Revell's Stickies (www.zhornsoftware.co.uk) for all the myriad little notes I type as I go, and the Firefox Scrapbook extension for webpages.  Stickies is really worth a look - I used it a few years ago and dumped it, but it's come along so far now!  I think it's great.

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #15 on: February 03, 2006, 05:20 AM »
Nobody has mentioned the possibility of using some kind of Wiki, either online

But then you have to have text in Wiki capitalisation, which might not be so good if you have things like code numbers / serial numbers to deal with.

There's a thing called WikidPad by Jason Horman which is a local personal Wiki.

And then I use Tom Revell's Stickies (www.zhornsoftware.co.uk) for all the myriad little notes I type as I go

What worries me about Stickies is the bit in Options General where it says Keep (x) closed stickies, as if it's going to delete all the other ones.  Maybe I should RTFM  ;)

Also, there doesn't seem to be a global search function, so how do you find scraps of text you've stored as stickies?  A similar program, the cheap-shareware Magic Notes  http://www.magicnotes.com  does have this, though it has a habit of sometimes forgetting its alarm settings on my computer.  That could be just a local issue.
« Last Edit: February 03, 2006, 05:28 AM by rjbull »

m_s

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 433
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #16 on: February 03, 2006, 05:27 AM »
I haven't RTFM (I very seldom do!), but I have found that stickies linger on and on - when I reinstalled it recently, there were all my stickies from the previous version.  You can simply save each sticky into a folder as you create it, but it does backup quite dependably.  And then you can right-click system tray icon, select 'Restore closed stickies', and there's the full list of 'em.

I'm just downloading WikidPad now - I have seen it before, but never tried it...

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #17 on: February 03, 2006, 05:34 AM »
I haven't RTFM (I very seldom do!)

:D

but I have found that stickies linger on and on - when I reinstalled it recently,

Good!

I'm just downloading WikidPad now

I seem to remembetr dropping it like a hot potatoe, I think because the version I tried had no easy way to import pre-existing text (memory faulty here).


kfitting

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #18 on: February 03, 2006, 06:03 AM »
Regarding SEO Note:  I took a very brief look at it and was not impressed with the current version (v1.1).  It's seems like a stripped down version of Keynote.  Furthermore, it doesn't add native table support or true hyperlinks and without those two things you may as well just stick to Keynote as it does everything else extremely well.  The one thing SEO Note has going for it is that it is in current development (I believe).

Regarding formats:  I hear you here.  That's one reason why I'm waiting to see what kind of I/O both of those programs are going to have.  Seo Note does HTML, RTF, and text.  That doesnt help for conversions! 

Regarding Filters etc:  I agree that not all users will immediately see the benefit of this.  My first taste of this type of thinking was with Opera Mail Client M2, and it makes email management much easier.  I think mouser is going to add similar capabilities into FARR so take a look at the next few versions.  But, let me try to describe a quick scenario where Keynote (and any other non-relational manager) leave me gasping for air:  At work I worked on a motion control project.  In the initial phases I was collecting data and didnt know what I knew.  Grabbing random bits of info I would put them where I thought they made sense.  As my understanding improved I realized I needed to change the structure somewhat.  But, what I also realized is that there are different ways of looking at the same data.  Sometimes I want to look at things from a vendors point of view (who manufactures what piece?).  Sometimes I want to look at it from a system point of view (what piece does what action?).  Sometimes I want to look at it from a piece point of view (who makes what piece and what does it do?).  In Keynote, I have to make a different tree for each type of view... very time-consuming to enter data initially and update with new info. 

But, if I can choose different properties for each piece of information as I put it into the Information Manager and change those properties as I find new relationships, it allows me to back away from the micro-management of the data.  If I have a motor from a certain company, I can relate it to that company, the motor's major specs, and the motor's job in the project I am working on.  When I want to view the data in different ways, all I need to do is apply a new filter and the data matching that filter comes into view.  If I edit a piece of data in one view, it is changed in all other views because it's the same piece of data.  As I find new relationships or need to change old ones, I can "reassign" the data new properties.  Now, imagine I am done with the current project.  Suppose that a year down the road, I need to look at motion control stuff again.  I have a repository of information that I can find quickly and remap quickly (some of the data will apply in the new project).  I dont have to worry about where I put information, I dont have to worry about changing various instances of the information, and, best of all, I can mold and shape the way I view the data as I learn how it relates.

Keynote can imitate this with Virtual Nodes.  While powerful, and still valid for certain situations, they are external to the main file.  I like having everything in one place. 

Obviously, there are times when it is good (and quite necessary!) to impose a certain rigid structure on data.  But, often, I find myself wanting to throw data into the mix and then, once I figure out how it relates to different things (projects, concepts, parts, etc) quickly relate it. 

Wikis are weird.  This is partially me just not wanting to change!!  But, I dont see Wiki's as the answer.  Tree structures are great too, but what I would love to see is a program that can combine different ways of looking at the same data with the click of a button.  Flowcharts, trees, block diagram, mindmaps... all these should be able to be used to show the same data.  I dont want to have to retype or copy/paste data between views. 

So... those are some of my thoughts... hopefully I've bored you to death!

Kevin

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #19 on: February 03, 2006, 09:00 AM »
benefit of this.  My first taste of this type of thinking was with Opera Mail Client
...
In the initial phases I was collecting data and didnt know what I knew.  Grabbing random bits of info I would put them where I thought they made sense.  As my understanding improved I realized I needed to change the structure somewhat.  But, what I also realized is that there are different ways of looking at the same data. But, often, I find myself wanting to throw data into the mix and then, once I figure out how it relates to different things (projects, concepts, parts, etc) quickly relate it. 

Isn't this the kind of thing brainstorming tools/mindmappers are meant to help with?  John Buckman's page on these is http://john.redmood....m/brainstorming.html
Looks like Brainstorm  http://www.brainstormsw.com/ and Inspiration  http://www.inspiration.com/
might be worth looking at, also possibly Axon  http://web.singnet.com.sg/~axon2000

Thanks for the detailed explanation.  You sort of want a relational database, without having to know and set up a rigid structure before you start, and being able to change it as you go along...

kfitting

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #20 on: February 03, 2006, 09:18 AM »
Yeah... a relational database with a GUI to set it up!  Basically I want the world and I realize that one program may not do everything I want... but dreaming is nice!!

The problem with every mindmap software I've tried (i've tried a bunch of the under $80 ones) is that they only do mindmaps.  Trees are great for most stuff, I just want more flexible trees.  The other stuff (flowchart, mindmap) stuff is merely where I'd like to get to eventually.  The other problem with these softwares is that their drawing interfaces are very clunky.  I have used other vector graphics programs and the mind mapping softwares go out of there to defy any "standards." 

But, in the end, I would settle for Keynote with:
- true hyperlinks in the editor pane
- true hyperlinks in the tree pane (as nodes)
- picture support (jpg, bmp, gif, png)
- built-in table support
- Filterable nodes
- ** not necessary but nice  ** simple spreadsheet grid nodetype

For all the other stuff, Keynote is absolutely awesome!

Kevin

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #21 on: February 06, 2006, 03:25 AM »
I realize that one program may not do everything I want... but dreaming is nice!!

I was beginning to think that you wanted two diametrically opposite approaches combined in the same program  :)  Well, please let us know if TreeDBNotes eventually does the business.

One more that I don't recall having been mentioned on DC before:
WhizFolders,  http://www.whizfolders.com

« Last Edit: February 06, 2006, 05:00 AM by rjbull »

kfitting

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • Posts: 593
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #22 on: February 06, 2006, 05:36 AM »
I was beginning to think that you wanted two diametrically opposite approaches combined in the same program

Yes, I do want that!  One program program to rule them all and in the darkness bind them!

Kevin

skywalka

  • Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • **
  • Posts: 254
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: IDEA: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #23 on: March 20, 2006, 07:10 PM »
I have been using Take Note http://users.forthne...ograms/takenote.html for a year or two.

I thought it was the only program that saved notes in a tree hierarchy & I love it.  It doesn't save pictures or allow you to click links however.

The biggest problem I've had with this program is rearranging the order of notes - It cannot be done.  I would like to rearrange notes by "drag & drop" & simply arranging alphabetically.  Can any of the other programs mentioned do this?

rjbull

  • Charter Member
  • Joined in 2005
  • ***
  • default avatar
  • Posts: 3,199
    • View Profile
    • Donate to Member
Re: IDEA: Notes Snippet organizer
« Reply #24 on: March 21, 2006, 04:27 AM »
The biggest problem I've had with this program is rearranging the order of notes - It cannot be done.  I would like to rearrange notes by "drag & drop" & simply arranging alphabetically.  Can any of the other programs mentioned do this?

Skywalka,

I've only looked at a few programs, but most of them allow note rearrangement.  Really, that's pretty fundamental.  Take a look at these two freewares to start with;

Treepad Lite
Keynote

Treepad comes in several more advanced payware versions as well as the freeware Lite version.  For more on this whole class of programs, look at this (very long) DonationCoder thread on notetaking software
https://www.donation...pic=2362.0;topicseen