Author Topic: WizNote (a PIM from China) - Mini-Review + Provisional User Forum (Read 84766 times)

urlwolf · « **Reply #25 on:** February 22, 2014, 01:37 PM »

One more annoyance:
When I create a new note, focus moves away from the text area, and I have to click to start writing.
Does anyone know a way to avoid this?
I have it on 'autosync'. I think it loses focus when it starts synching...

urlwolf · « **Reply #26 on:** February 22, 2014, 03:03 PM »

Warning: if you use 'open note in new window' it doesn't autosave that note.
I accidentally closed a note and lost hrs of work.
'Ah, it has previous versions' I thought. Nope, it's only for VIP. I'd buy the VIP version to get back my work, but impossible not knowing the language.

Wiznote developers, can you hear your users scream from up there?

IainB · « **Reply #27 on:** March 01, 2014, 11:30 PM »

WizNote blog posts: (translated from Chinese using Google Chrome auto-translate)
(Copied below sans embedded hyperlinks/images.)

To know notebook business services 50% discount promotion
2014-02-28 products and services , business services

To know notebook business services 50% discount promotion
   To know notes business services in 2014 was 3 months 1 day to launch a new pay plan, we canceled the restrictions of space and the number of members of the group before the introduction of a more economical and practical "Basic Edition" and "Professional Edition", the new version of the program In terms of prices and services compare with similar products in the market with the best price, to better meet the needs of SMEs and organizations in the information management team. For details, please visit http://blog.wiz.cn/wiznote-biz-pricing.html

5 % discount promotion
   To thank the user to know the notes and business support services, is launching a 5% discount on the purchase policy: the 2014 3 months 1 day before the trial of all registered users of business services, before April 1, 2014 to purchase public cloud-based enterprise Edition and Professional Edition, the new program will enjoy 5 % off the purchase price. This policy is a rare concession missed! Hurry!
   Users can access the enterprise service management background, into the "service charges" page, select the product package directly to make a purchase.

   Login to know notes Click here to open Enterprise Services
   We also adjusted the trial version of enterprise service policy experience, if you are currently a trial version of the user experience, from 3 May 1 onwards, your trial period will be adjusted to 30 days, 30 days after the trial expires, you can not add admin team members, but the user data and the client will not be affected .
_____________________________

I haven't copied these two as they contain images and details that have to go together to make sense.

Update details re PC version 4.2 (images and technical list of new features and bugfixes).
People groups, communication and sharing (images and technical list of new features).

IainB · « **Reply #28 on:** March 01, 2014, 11:34 PM »

...'Ah, it has previous versions' I thought. Nope, it's only for VIP. ...
-urlwolf (February 22, 2014, 03:03 PM)

Previous versions seemed to work for me when I had saved a page online and edited it and then wanted to recover an earlier version.

superboyac · « **Reply #29 on:** March 10, 2014, 04:21 PM »

I've been using this for a couple of weeks now. This is easily the most complete notetaking solution out there currently. It's basically what Evernote should have been before they went all v3 on our asses. THings I love so far:
--standalone pc app (rare these days)
--mobile app
--cloud access
--everything syncs nicely (did i mention the desktop app?!!)
--no over-simplification of features, all the necessary buttons are there.
--there's really nothing it can't do

It's my new goto app on my phone for taking notes. I still use RightNote for dumping things into, but I can already tell it's affecting my workflow there (which is a good thing, it means they are both apps I like).

It is a bit of a slow application, that's my only complaint and probably a big reason why I'll always love things like RIghtNote that are just so fast feeling.

IainB · « **Reply #30 on:** March 10, 2014, 05:56 PM »

...It is a bit of a slow application, that's my only complaint and probably a big reason why I'll always love things like RIghtNote that are just so fast feeling.
___________________
-superboyac (March 10, 2014, 04:21 PM)

I noticed that it only seems to be slow for me when it is syncing or fetching from the remote server (Cloud), which is presumably located in China somewhere. I wondered whether having a VPN to a node in China might not solve that problem. I might try it and see as an experiment.
The response time will be made up of all the delays in the transaction route from the client device to the Cloud server, and back. That will include all the "hops" and all/any NSA surveillance interrupts.

IainB · « **Reply #31 on:** March 18, 2014, 07:56 AM »

Refer: OneNote now on Mac as well, +FREE everywhere, + Cloud service powered.

motiontwelve · « **Reply #32 on:** November 20, 2014, 11:24 AM »

Thanks IainB for this great review. After giving WizNote a test drive, I instantly fell in love. The workflow is almost fits exactly what I have envisioned while outlining my dream information organizer. However, one thing that is currently preventing me from making it my go-to note app is the enforced cloud sync. Taking into consideration that I deal with confidential material and their servers are in China, I would love to have the option to work completely offline. Just like you could with evernote v2.

IainB · « **Reply #33 on:** November 21, 2014, 07:06 AM »

Yes, that Chinese Cloud dependency is a bit of a security worry - almost as bad as a US Cloud dependency (which you now know with certainty is being hacked by NSA or some other State function). ...

I too miss the Client-based Evernote v2 approach - though it was not as comprehensive as I would have liked. That is why I have provisionally plumped for OneNote - which can be Client-based and/or Cloud-based, plus it has encryption of discrete parts or all of a Notebook.

urlwolf · « **Reply #34 on:** April 11, 2015, 12:56 AM »

Has anyone been able to get autocorrect/spelling working in English? There must be a plugin

?

urlwolf · « **Reply #35 on:** April 11, 2015, 01:00 AM »

@motion12, looks like one can install the remote part on own server now. Pretty big deal if you ask me.
I haven't done it. Looks enterprisey.

@Ian, which is your primary notetakes now, onenote or wiznote? You have been a vocal advocate of both for a while

Trying to make this decision myself. I don't want to have my data on a MS server, but wiznote has no info on privacy whatsoever. Lesser of two evils? One can encrypt all notes in wiznote though. But the certificate comes from their server, so they must be able to decrypt my notes. I've been getting chinese spam lately, which can only come from a wiznote leak because it's the only chinesse product I use

IainB · « **Reply #36 on:** April 11, 2015, 02:32 AM »

@urlwolf:

@motion12, looks like one can install the remote part on own server now. Pretty big deal if you ask me.
I haven't done it. Looks enterprisey.
@Ian, which is your primary notetakes now, onenote or wiznote? You have been a vocal advocate of both for a while
Trying to make this decision myself. ...
-urlwolf (April 11, 2015, 01:00 AM)

My response:

I hadn't realised that about installing the remote part of WizNote on your own server. That's very interesting.
My primary notetaker is currently OneNote. Though OneNote still feels to me a bit like it is in Beta test, one of its major advantages for me is the integration with MS Office 2013 products and IE. However, that is only on one laptop. I have been experiencing so many problems which seem to prohibit smooth installation on a second laptop, and MS Suoort is so silent on the problems (which are common to many other users), that I am wondering whether this isn't a cunning strategy by MS to force you onto Office 365 (which does not meet my requirements). The upshot is a lack of trust - I do not trust MS not to take advantage of me.
I am trying to wean myself off of the legacy InfoSelect8, and migrate to OneNote, but it will probably take a while yet. Inertia.
WizNote is waiting in the wings there with a tad too many uncertainties/unknowns for me to make a rational decision about it. So it's wait and see.

urlwolf · « **Reply #37 on:** April 11, 2015, 02:35 PM »

I'm going to stay with wiznote with encrypted notes. Pity because I use a wacom tablet instead of a mouse, and onenote is very good at this kind of pen notes. But everything else is weaker in onenote.

science2002 · « **Reply #38 on:** October 10, 2018, 08:21 AM »

@IainB: Thanks to pointing out this notetaker to us. Some time is passed, but it is still a great program and I continue to keep an eye on it.
It does a lot of things. But one thing it seems it does not, at least in my experience.

Let say that you want to link a file to wiznote (as an attachment for instance, but just as a link). With other notetakers, you can set up in preferences the option, or you have a contextual menu to do that or some key-modifiers that work. Insead with Wiznote I am not still able to link (not copy) a file by 'drag'n drop' to a WN folder. I tried different key-modifiers without success. I know that within an edit note you can insert an hyperlink with a menu. But this implies a lot of clicks (and time) to get the job done. Does someone discovered a quick way or a speedy workaround to do it?
Thanks

superboyac · « **Reply #39 on:** October 10, 2018, 02:59 PM »

I'm going to stay with wiznote with encrypted notes. Pity because I use a wacom tablet instead of a mouse, and onenote is very good at this kind of pen notes. But everything else is weaker in onenote.
-urlwolf (April 11, 2015, 02:35 PM)

thought id check in here....saw this...

You think wiznote is better than onenote? interesting! I used wiznote pretty heavily for about a year, and then they went subscriptions model. I then started using onenote, with some advice and tips from somebody here (i forget the username, but he is the man with onenote), and now onenote has been my go to for a while. What does wiznote do better now?

tomos · « **Reply #40 on:** October 10, 2018, 04:01 PM »

I'm going to stay with wiznote with encrypted notes. Pity because I use a wacom tablet instead of a mouse, and onenote is very good at this kind of pen notes. But everything else is weaker in onenote.
-urlwolf (April 11, 2015, 02:35 PM)
[..]
What does wiznote do better now?
-superboyac (October 10, 2018, 02:59 PM)

I think you might have missed that your quoted post is from 2015 (?)

wraith808 · « **Reply #41 on:** October 10, 2018, 04:32 PM »

It would be interesting to see if after a bit of time, urlwolf is still usibg it and still feels the same, though

superboyac · « **Reply #42 on:** October 10, 2018, 06:44 PM »

It would be interesting to see if after a bit of time, urlwolf is still usibg it and still feels the same, though
-wraith808 (October 10, 2018, 04:32 PM)

ah indeed! lol.
btw IanB is the onenote expert i was referring to.

IainB · « **Reply #43 on:** October 12, 2018, 12:28 AM »

@science2002: Sorry, I can't help you as I'm not currently using WizNote - haven't used it in a long time - though I am still keeping an eye on its development.

@superboyac: Have you been stuck in a timewarp, or something?

science2002 · « **Reply #44 on:** October 12, 2018, 03:19 PM »

@IainB: Thanks for the feedback. Just for curiosity, as a notetaker, are you now using OneNote or what? If so, will you stay with ON even when (from v.2019) it will save only to the cloud?

superboyac · « **Reply #45 on:** October 12, 2018, 03:57 PM »

@science2002: Sorry, I can't help you as I'm not currently using WizNote - haven't used it in a long time - though I am still keeping an eye on its development.

@superboyac: Have you been stuck in a timewarp, or something?
-IainB (October 12, 2018, 12:28 AM)

haha! yea. My life has taken some drastic turns the last 5 years. I hope it's for the best, and it's not something I look forward to repeating.

Perhaps you might understand...it's somewhat difficult acknowledging this obsession with software, analysis, information. I love it, it's not a bad thing, but it is a bit alienating.

IainB · « **Reply #46 on:** October 12, 2018, 04:40 PM »

@science2002:

Just for curiosity, as a notetaker, are you now using OneNote or what? If so, will you stay with ON even when (from v.2019) it will save only to the cloud?
-science2002 (October 12, 2018, 03:19 PM)

I shall probably stick with OneNote 2016 for the meantime, but am experimenting with a possible migration strategy --> IQ (InfoQube). Trouble is, ON is just so good at coping with the various data types that I use. Hard to beat.

@superboyac:

... My life has taken some drastic turns the last 5 years. I hope it's for the best, and it's not something I look forward to repeating. ...
-superboyac (October 12, 2018, 03:57 PM)

Yeah. I guess I know what that might feel like:

Life is what happens to us while we are making other plans.
- Readers Digest, January 1957.
______________________________

Hang in there mate.

sphere · « **Reply #47 on:** October 07, 2019, 03:39 PM »

Anyone still using WizNotes?

Just noticed there have been some developments with WizNote and figured I would make some notes here.

They have a Dockerized their package which (for some, like myself) will make it easier to run. Apparently you can download the docker file, after providing an email address.

The docker page is here

http://www.wiz.cn/docker

There is also an online demo I do not remember being there for anyone who wants to get a feel for it without installing. A number of functions are not enabled without being logged in it seems.

It also looks like there might be some sort of email to save url function

Url2Wiz Service
You could save a webpage via Url2Wiz service without installing any application. Generally, it is for automation service such as ifttt.com or Shortcut on iOS. It is capable of adding a bookmark for saving any webpage.
How to get your Mywiz Mail
Sign in WizNote, and you could get your Mywiz Mail in Account Settings (Click your portrait). About how to receive mail via Mywiz Mail to save the content, please click here to learn more.

http://www.wiz.cn/url2wiz.html

Most recent posts on their blog are in English, but there are some questionable posts there as well. Blog:
http://www.wiz.cn/page/1

I have to say, it has a nice user interface. I am still quite reluctant, wondering if there are back doors etc etc. It seems like Nextcloud is a place to watch as well. Joplin etc. In my search I did come across another open source note taking app, also out of China ( I believe) that was being comparied to wiznote called Leanote. It also has a desktop, mobile apps.
Leanote
github

Looks like work has not been very active, but the code is up there.

IainB · « **Reply #48 on:** October 07, 2019, 05:18 PM »

@sphere: Thanks for the update. I had largely lost interest in WizNote as they seem to have gone to a subscription basis or something for using their Cloud, and I don't trust the confused chopping and changing that's been going on.
I shall follow up on the LeanNote link. Thanks. Looks interesting.
EDIT: I checked out LeanNote. Seems to be just another Cloud subscription-based app.
Not an ergonomically intuitive or easy-to-use GUI either, No thanks.

superboyac · « **Reply #49 on:** October 08, 2019, 11:47 AM »

I shall probably stick with OneNote 2016 for the meantime, but am experimenting with a possible migration strategy --> IQ (InfoQube). Trouble is, ON is just so good at coping with the various data types that I use. Hard to beat.
-IainB (October 12, 2018, 04:40 PM)

Whoa totally forgot about IQ. I should give it a shot. But yes, it's more of a database type notetaker than the free form aspect of onenote or even traditional hierarchical notetakers. I like IQ a lot, but for very specific use cases.

I am also sticking to Onenote 2016 for now, but this latest development got me worried. And now I am thinking of returning to Rightnote at some point, but not yet.
Onenote was often considered the one application that Microsoft really "got right". and until the latest change, i think that was the case. But now, not anymore.
Speaking of dealing with different types of data...specifically, what makes Onenote unique is the free form whiteboard area (vs everyone else's linear text editor area). All Rightnote would have to do is add the option to have that main note area to be able to place notes anywhere in 2D, like Onenote, and i think it would be well on its way to being the king of the hill.

back to Wiznote...
Yea I'm not very interested. I gave it a shot when it first came out here, and then they suddenly went all paid version. I didnt like that, I stopped using it. No real benefit over other programs. But IIRC, it was good at importing and exporting content, which is more than I can say for most of these kinds of programs.