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Microsoft OneNote - some experiential Tips & Tricks
IainB:
@superboyac:
"...before I study this thread in more detail, let me ask you for some subjects that I'm interested in (in case it hasn't been covered in the earlier posts)."
--- End quote ---
Do read the previous posts, please, into which I have invested considerable cognitive surplus, and which I think you will find probably would have covered some of the points you raised had you read them first.
Like I said in an earlier comment, one really has to "Find out for yourself" (and maybe undertake some training/education in OneNote). I had to overcome an almost instinctive aversion to OneNote and took responsibility for forcing myself to understand the thing, because I could not be sure of its potential use to me until I had done that.
Q1. Do you think Onenote works well as a daily journal? Writing random subjects on a daily basis, searching through them...exporting them later, etc.?
Answer: Most emphatically, Yes. In ON 2007 there was an unofficial add-on or application written by a developer at Microsoft (I think) that did a superbly innovative job of automating the creation and adding to a daily journal. Newer versions of ON broke the app. and it has not been replaced. It is sorely missed by myself and many others.
I still maintain my journal using that tool's approach, but not using the tool itself. Working methods and preferences differ between individuals, so I am unsure whether all users liked the add-on and/or its approach. OneCalendar - a current OneTastic standalone app. - has to be used to appreciate what it does in terms of enabling the user to review their activity (including journal entries).
Q2: Quick Q & A:
Searching? Already covered that to a greater extent.
Import/export capabilities? Not sure what you mean or require by that. Needs more definition.
Printing and print previewing? I don't know as I have never needed to do either with OneNote notes. (I abhor paper output and avoid using it if at all possible.)
Web clipping? Already covered that to a greater extent and suggested the best/better tools that I have used.
IainB:
@superboyac: re Import/Export to/from OneNote.
Specifically, Export from Evernote to OneNote.
Quite coincidentally, I read in Lifehacker about a third-party tool to do this. So I did a search and got this:
IainB:
This might be relevant to optimising the use of OneNote Notebooks (databases).
I just stumbled upon this discussion from 2014 in the DC Forum: Re: For Serious Research: Cadillac of "ClipBoard Managers" vs. "Info/Data Manager"
I don't recall having read all of that discussion, but I made a post on it at the end regarding MyInfo**. The thread itself seems relevant to what I posted about regarding Microsoft OneNote - how to make it your 21st century Zettelkasten PIM.
I have copied below in full a comment by @dr_andus that seemed particularly relevant, and it is full of useful information, some of it pointing to what could be considered as potential alternatives to the OneNote Zettelkasten approach that I was describing. I had in any event actually looked at and trialled all of the apps mentioned (and more, but with one exception), and variously discounted them for my peculiar purposes/requirements - with CT (Connected Text) being a rather good runner-up. The rest of the thread is worth re-reading IMHO. A reminder that the DC Forum can be a veritable treasure trove of pretty useful discussions and ideas over the years, and that may retain currency and relevance with our needs today and potentially for the future.
Tomos is probably right in that it also depends on the nature of the data being organised. The tree-like hierarchy clearly works for TaoPhoenix and many other people, otherwise hierarchical software like UltraRecall, RightNote, MyInfo etc. wouldn't be around.
The scenarios I'm talking about have to do with organising a large number of small chunks of text (with occasional images or links to other files and websites), such as a database of quotes and reading notes that one collects over a lifetime. In that situation it is not all that useful to organise these items into trees at the time of collecting or creating them because they are being gathered for later consumption, where they may be re-used for different purposes. It would be more important to label/categorise them, so that they would turn up in relevant searches.
The method I'm using is called the Zettelkasten (slip box) method, developed initially by a sociologist called Niklas Luhmann. If you do a search for it, you can find sites that explain it.
One category of software to implement this system are personal/desktop wikis. I use ConnectedText, but as I said, it's got a steep learning curve, it took me several tries over several years to finally start using it. Zim is another one.
There are some cross-over software that try to combine the tree with a wiki. E.g. Wikidpad, Whizfolders, or Outwiker.
There is also Luedecke's Zettelkasten software.
Piggydb is another interesting approach.
Is this sort of program beyond what we might hope for on donationcoder.com?
--- End quote ---
Not necessarily. There are some very simple implementations of the Zettelkasten out there, such as using nvALT on Mac or ResophNotes on Windows. Apparently it's even possible to create a desktop wiki using AutoHotkey.
__________________________
-dr_andus (February 16, 2014, 04:13 AM)
--- End quote ---
The exception that I referred to is the desktop wiki using AutoHotkey - the link goes to a post from 2009 that I do not recall having read before, in the excellent blog Taking note. That blog has long been in my feed-reader as a very useful and informative source of information and analysis of "Taking Note"-related software and practices, and which also sometimes explores scripting coding in detail - of which, the post linked to is a arguably a good example. :Thmbsup:
This CRIMPer is now going to have to trial the script and see... :)
**MyInfo: It was my comment about MyInfo that made me realise that it I was due to re-trial the latest version of MyInfo to establish whether the somewhat serious search constraint that I had observed had been remedied in the latest version.
dantheman:
Pardon me for shifting to another issue.
When clipping with extensions like the one available for Chrome, the hyperlinks are no longer active within the Onenote app.
I recall one for Firefox by a private dev. didn't have that problem.
IainB:
That's odd. Maybe I misunderstand you.
I always get the source URL tagged on when I copy text from Firefox or IE11, then alt-tab to OneNote, and then paste it into OneNote.
Similarly when I bring up the New quick note Systray app to make the copy/paste or the Linked notes function (see the Review tab in the OneNote ribbon to get the latter directly).
I used to use a third party add-on called Clip to OneNote, but it broke with a newer version of OneNote, and then became redundant anyway.
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