stickies Notezilla memoboard as full-blown personal note system

[Steven Avery]

This thread and idea comes out of a couple of recent discussions.
    
editor with built-in column or tiling facility - (Listhings comes close)
https://www.donation...ex.php?topic=39951.0

The (stickies) memoboard as a column-based editor, flexible size rectangles, has turned out to be my fav, as in the pic below.

Also I want to look at some of the benefits, and some of the needs, with Notezilla if you use it this way.  Other sticky programs can be considered if they have a memoboard implementation.  This thread may double as my Notezilla discussion thread.  One reason I am ready for this is that I have some of the elements nicely laid out on my Notezilla memoboard dedicated to Stickies programs! Notezilla helps me keep track of Notezilla weaknesses as well as strengths.

Web-based memoboard implementations (eg. Listhings, which only lacks the RTF, having tabs rather than a tree structure) can also be compared.  My requirements will differ from others, so by going over the major feature set, it might help with the idea.

===========================================================

Goal

1) tree and/or tabbed note system

2) free-form structure that allows column-based and tile-based representations.  
   a) avoid massive white-space common to desktop note programs
   b) match the fact that different types of thinking have different length and style notes appropriate

3) RTF - (also background colors) (also take pics from the clipboard)

4) ease of use on editing, sizing, searching, moving from one topic to another.
    stability & support
    pleasant to navigate and use

===========================================================

Major Auxiliary Elements

multi-user collaboration, network, sync and/or export-import capbabilities

webpage annotation system (Internote stickies and Diigo-style workspaces, where Notezilla is at least in the mix)

publish to web (e.g. Menomic) - (FYI: Notezilla may have some utility here per memoboard by things like HTML export)

tablet capable

multi-OS

===========================================================

Overlap areas. They will not be the prime decision areas. Why?  Because I am in my note program 20-50 times in a day.  It really wants to be pleasant and quick.  If the note program I like the most is only used with USB or Dropbox style sharing, that is fine by me. For this function, I don't want a less happy program just for the "use easily anywhere" experience. I also like the fact that Notezilla and Vueminder will be happy Taskbar companions, always one click away, never lost in the Tab Maze.

Saying that, I will acknowledge that  Listhings, a free web-memoboard, able to be used anywhere, is quite fine overall for many note uses. I simply like my notes in RTF, which is not available, and there is no active development. Backing up and persistence up is also less clear. If a webboard did have all the basics, it might surpass using Notezilla.

My other related tools ?

Xerpi - VueMinder Calendar - Linkman - Firefox with extensions and bookmarks - Lastpass
Hmmm... I mention this because there is a type of data relatedness that makes these programs central. The first step on the net is Xerpi, as a startpage.

Other browsers are used, Facebook has its place, document programs are utilized. At work, there is a CRM / project and task manager, yet the group above make my daily personal net navigation experience. Contacts can be in Linkman, often with the keyword "addy", so this bypasses the PIM. (VueMinder can do structured contacts with custom fields, if needed also there are free web CRMs). At the moment Listpro and Todolist and Task Coach and Swift Todo and database and others are mostly on vacation. Rightnote is curtailed, on a diet.

Overall, I want to put as much as possible into the Notezilla and Linkman quasi-freeform structure. Many databases are de facto in Linkman, like software registrations with keyword SN#.  Screenshots and file managers and utilities and  DriveHQ and backup are a separate region. Documents and writing and research are a separate region.

===========================================================

Next, I want to go into where Notezila shines, and improvements desired.

Steven

[app103]

For multi-user collaboration, I'd suggest taking a look at Trello, which can also serve as a fantastic project management tool.

They use it a lot where I work, for everything from assigning books & courses to teaching assistants, to brainstorming for new project ideas, to their Agile board.

I have begun using it for collaboration with a few other people, to organize the books yet to be added to my free programming ebook site (which was a lot of work copying over my Notezilla notes for every book to be considered, but well worth it)

stickies Notezilla memoboard as full-blown personal note system

There are quite a few videos about Trello on youtube, covering everything from using it as a personal ToDo list to project management. It has a lot of features that Notezilla doesn't have.

Oh, and it's free! 

[superboyac]

Trello looks very cool.  I'd like to try it and see how it compares to Slack.

Stephen, why did you stop using Rightnote?  I'm curious because it seems like we have the same needs.  I'm currently kind of dedicated to RN, but I haven't been exploring these other interesting options.  I don't find Rightnote lacking except for one thing which is not its fault...it's a tree hierarchical organizer, so they are all basically the same visual experience.  Something like what you showed with Notezilla is better in the sense that I can clearly and quickly glance at several notes at once.  You know what would be a great feature for RN...if you clicked on a folder containing subnotes, and all the subnotes are displayed the way you show for notezilla.  Instead, it just behaves like a regular note.

[40hz]

I've worked with some people who have completely committed to using Trello. I does what it's designed to do. And it works quite well. I am not personally enamoured of it. But I have my own work/planning tool preferences, so that shouldn't count for much. Well worth a look.

[app103]

I'd like to try it and see how it compares to Slack.

-superboyac (January 30, 2015, 03:59 PM)

It's not really comparable to Slack and would not replace it. (we use both at work)

I would compare Slack to other live chat environments, such as IRC, Jabber, texting over Skype, etc.

Trello has more in common with stickie notes and project management software, than a chat room or instant messaging.

[superboyac]

I just tried Notezilla (again)...no, it doesn't work for me.  As I mentioned before, a really great feature for rightnote or any similar tree hierarchy is the option to display in masonry-style, all the subnotes.

So I'll be sticking to RN.  I mentioned this in another thread, but I'm still favoring Outliner 4D more and more for more structured glancing at notes and ideas.  But it's a manual process...i dump a bunch of stuff in wiznote, then eventually add the significant items to RN, then if i really need to dig into an idea, I'll do it in Outliner 4D.  I keep looking for tools to simplify this process, but at this point I'm almost philosophically convinced it can't be accomplished with a single tool.

[40hz]

I keep looking for tools to simplify this process, but at this point I'm almost philosophically convinced it can't be accomplished with a single tool.

-superboyac (January 30, 2015, 05:01 PM)

Something I concluded as well a few years ago. But that's ok. I'll settle for "good enough."

A lot of it may also be because I've become significantly less interested in information curation and more interested in ideation.

I sometimes think too much note-taking, planning, and structuring gets in the way of actual thinking and creativity. Because a lot of what they are is (sometimes superfluous) preparation to do something, rather than actually doing it.

Eventually I think I'm going to wind up reverting back to what I used in college before we had all this fancy electronically augmented note and process technology. Which is to say a pen, a couple of blank notebooks - and a rudimentary memory palace. (See Francis Yates book The Art of Memory if you want to get some historical background on the technique(s) employed.)



 

[rgdot]

Something 'unusual' I have done and mentioned in passing here on DC before is use a local WordPress install and make each post a note. It of course has tags, inline images, search, etc. With a theme I can make it look like masonary style, with another (or a plugin) I can make it show a summary (excerpt) of all notes. Another plugin to make it look like a calendar ... on and on.

[Steven Avery]

Hi,

One of the problems with both Rightnote and Notezilla is that, due to the lack of a forum, you learn about special uses only in a piecemeal fashion. (Same on other porgrams, like Linkman.)

Superboyac
"I just tried Notezilla (again)...no, it doesn't work for me.  As I mentioned before, a really great feature for rightnote or any similar tree hierarchy is the option to display in masonry-style, all the subnotes."

Can you show how this is done in Rightnote?

I see something interesting in the:

RNUserGuide
Tab - More Features
Tree - Samples -  "Sample Week Template".

Here you have a group of independent boxes (conceptually could be columns or tiles) and the size is variable (increases as data comes in.)  
That, and your picture, are at least in my ballpark.

Searching the help file for "Template"
Takes you to the clipper section only:

"New content is actually added by way of a pre-defined template. Advanced users may want to modify the default templates or create their own. For an example of supported variables take a look at the "BookmarkXX.rvf" templates in the SystemTemplates folder (My Documents\My RightNote\SystemTemplates). Templates can be edited with the RichViewEditor utility that is available at http://www.bauerapps...m/RichViewEditor.zip."

If I can learn the functionality to have RightNote a convenient, linked, full screen (little white-space) note-keeper, then I will likely have an interesting decision as to where to use Notezilla, where Rightnote.

=====================================

As to why Notezilla is working for me, so far, I can get in, find, and add or change very quickly. Looks good.  Allows emphasis. Tree tells me what section I am in. Can move a note from a memoboard to another board super-easily.  When a page gets crowded, you set up a sub-page and put a few related items down there. It actually is very easy to work with.

And  I did not realize what is for me the actual best use capability of Notezilla till recently (maybe I'll set up a set of 4 pics) .. no forum, few pics.  I thought of the memoboard only in the context of the note manager, and everybody has a manager, so it was no great shakes.  At the time.

Likely a similar situation with Rightnote.

=====================================

I'm taking a little look at Wiznote and Outline 4D.

(I will mention again Listhings, that I only pass by mainly because of the RTF lack. Quite a web page organizer and I have a lot in there ready to move to Notezilla.)

And I agree that you won't find a single tool that does everything.   In my situation, the goal is to have a few tools that help with quick notes, structured research and writing and publishing to the web.  Within the quick notes, I find the concepts behind Notezilla, Rightnote and Listhings all very friendly, even while very different.  Rightnote allows for more advanced types of organization.

=====================================

Steven

[superboyac]

Before you spend too much time looking...let me clarify, Rightnote does NOT have that masonry feature anywhere.  I was trying to say that such a feature for any tree style notetaker would be a nice thing.  I haven't seen it anywhere.  You're picture of notezilla got me thinking about it.
It's the same approach as the windows tiles on windows 8 and windows phones.  It's the best use of space in a rectangular shape.  It's also been a feature we've been seeing more on websites since about 5 years ago.

I totally agree with your initial comment, Stephen, about the wasted whitespace.  That's the big challenge with these notetakers.

Wiznote is basically just like evernote, in some cases worse, some cases better.  I don't have any particular reason to use it other than evernote pissed me off.  But the thing I like best about it is the very flexible exporting ability.  So if i ever change my mind, I can get everything out of there in a good way.

And Outliner 4D....this is not a notetaker by any means.  But for organizing ideas in a structured hierarchy, it's the absolute best that I've ever seen.  And my favorite part...you can print the outline just like you see it on the screen (try printing good looking outlines with any other software)...and also, the outlines can be exported in rtf.  I'm big into the rtf like you, because it retains formatting and is a middleman format for transferring stuff between applications.  I'm totally with you there.

There was a notetaker in the past that kept each note in a separate txt file or something.  Ah...Am-Notebook!  But I never latched on to that.  The idea of keeping notes in separate files was interesting, though.

[Steven Avery]

Outline 4D emphasizes in their blurbs screen writing and fiction writing.  And it does look like a solid tool in many ways. The question is whether it adapts well to non-fiction writing.

In my case I have a number of articles planned on the history  (includes the writings of specific individuals) and textual and translational aspects of certain Bible verses.  Take any technical non-fiction writing (e.g. theories relating to 911 or the shooting of JFK or an analysis of freeware and software strengths). The question is simple .. do the strengths of Outine 4D carry over?  Have you found the program a big help on non-fiction writing? 

With Wiznotes, whenever I really try to use Onenote or Evernote, I should also try to use Wiznote .  Overall, I'm not sure if will need a web-desktop type of app.  And I saw the fine Wiznote thread on DC that was a type of review-discussion. 

Steven

[dr_andus]

Outline 4D emphasizes in their blurbs screen writing and fiction writing.  And it does look like a solid tool in many ways. The question is whether it adapts well to non-fiction writing.

In my case I have a number of articles planned on the history  (includes the writings of specific individuals) and textual and translational aspects of certain Bible verses.  Take any technical non-fiction writing (e.g. theories relating to 911 or the shooting of JFK or an analysis of freeware and software strengths). The question is simple .. do the strengths of Outine 4D carry over?  Have you found the program a big help on non-fiction writing? 

-Steven Avery (February 01, 2015, 06:40 AM)

I'd consider O4D a fairly generic outliner (at least the outliner part, the timeline part might be a bit more specific), so it's perfectly suitable for nonfiction writing. I often use it for academic writing. The outliner part of it is a classical single-pane outliner with inline notes and some basic rich text formatting.

[peter.s]

"a really great feature for [sic, not: of] rightnote or any similar tree hierarchy is [not: would be] the option to display in masonry-style, all the subnotes"

That was correctly worded, albeit I immediately feared the misunderstanding that didn't take long to appear indeed.

In fact, I cannot mention any sw that does it exactly in that visual rendering, but it's clear as day that's a functionality that is blatantly absent almost everywhere, whilst being of tremendous practical use. Hence:

- Many outliners offer a similar functionality by export / print; of course that's not the same thing at all; it should be done within the program, and those bits should be editable (i.e. your edits therein should be replicated within the original sub-items)

- I know 2-3 outliners or similar which do something LIKE that, but none (?) of them does offer the above-mentioned functionality of your editings-done-within-that-spread-out-view being replicated into the original items:

-- Citavi (of course it's debatable if you could use that program for general IM, and the answer is probably no)

-- Treeline ( http://sourceforge.n...t/projects/treeline/ , free and very interesting, but from an "experimental" pov; it's not really useful for heavy use)

-- UltraRecall has a feature similar to Citavi, but, incredibly, UR then does clip=hide all the intermediate sub-titles, i.e. the titles of the items spread-out. This is completely nuts, since in 99.9 p.c. of possible use cases, you will be in deep need of those titles (and be it only for knowing where the previous original item began, and where the next starts; for the 0.1 p.c. of use cases where these item titles are unwanted, you could have implemented an option that is), and I mentioned this it's-not-a-bug-but-an-incredible-dumb-feature to the developer YEARS AGO, without the slightes reaction; here again, no replication of your possible edits (if they are possible that is, I don't remember, and the same remark applies to the other applics mentioned here) back to the original items

- To SOME (i.e. very poor) degree, 3-pane instead of 2-pane could "help"

- As mentioned, as soon as you think "print/export", your current possibilities widen considerably up, so in some use cases, with a macro, perhaps, there could be some (very limited) means.

As you all know, development of desktop outliners is more or less stalled, for the time being, and this absence of real hope for getting such functionality in an acceptable way may be sufficient reason to mention the lesser, semi-solutions above.

P.S. This problem is similar to the flattening out of the file system's directories... where some file managers help out a lot.

[40hz]

Outline 4D emphasizes in their blurbs screen writing and fiction writing.  And it does look like a solid tool in many ways. The question is whether it adapts well to non-fiction writing.

-Steven Avery (February 01, 2015, 06:40 AM)

I've used it for everything. It's not a genre specific tool.

[Steven Avery]

Hi,

Notice that the Scrivener pics avoid the white space plague
http://www.literatur...te.com/scrivener.php

And I may place this in my front-tier of programs to try out. Never really worked with Scrivener, Zotero, etc.

Peter discusses Citavi and Ultra Recall above. Citavi
https://www.citavi.com/
is new to me, and  looks like it is a similar genre to Scrivener.

I may need do a little study and trial here.  Along with Outline 4D and I noticed WIT (Web Idea Tree) and Open Element and some others in my studies.  The question here is the interplay between study, research, outline and structure, writing and web writing. (See also below, Connected Text.)  I think there is a tendency for reviews to see less than the big picture.  Maybe MyInfo and Ultra Recall is in here as being somewhat multi-dimensional.  And I chuckle every time Ultra Recall is mentioned because it was my fav program a gazillion years ago.

Going a bit afield, Memonic remains interesting, and I ran across a new bookmarking start page possibility called Mojave.  

And Notezilla still is the one place I want to do personal notes. You just got to get over the "Sticky Note" mentality, for this it is a Memoboard. Let me give an example. I was struggling looking at gmail notifiers, for a specific need. And struggling about how to keep my notes (e.g. this program looks good, but is quirky and allows multiple instances, a no-no.) And once I set up a Notifiers memoboard in Notezilla, it was all well-formed, trivial go get in and out, quick and pleasant. For that type of ad hoc need, I have not found anything close. Notezilla with RTF and tree has replaced the web-based Listhings with tabs. (Tree and tabs are ultra-best.)

==================================================

Here is a blog and researcher who looked at some of these notetaking issues, with lots of reviews:

Paul J. Miller - I used to be undecided, but now I'm not so sure.
https://pauljmiller....oftware/note-taking/

First, note that a missing link is that he did not get around to trying out RightNote.

ConnectedText was a winner, in his book, MyInfo and Instant Recall got major pluses.

==================================================

From Peter's excellent post:

as soon as you think "print/export" -
  True, for me insufficient, this is really a thinking, reading, looking at the screen need.

development of desktop outliners is more or less stalled ...the lesser, semi-solutions above.
   Agreed.  Often the gems are a bit hidden, and you can make something special out of them.

similar to the flattening out of the file system's directories... where some file managers help out a lot.
   Yep, that is one of the most important functions that is made not so obvious.
    Last time I simply used Everything.  I wanted to see what had been downloaded, created, on a specific date/time. Worked great!

==================================================

Added:
Silvernote - listed on the Paul Miller blog, shows some promise in the memoboard category
http://www.silver-note.com/features

==================================================

Steven

[Steven Avery]

Hi,

Continuing with Notezilla as a full-blown personal note system.

Here are the biggest improvements that I see that would enhance it greatly:

==========================================

1) Snap to Grid - some way to make the layout nice and organized. Note that scroll-bars, or the potential for them to arise as the setup requires, does impact this to some degree, in terms of notes being flush one to another.

Also worthy of consideration, in addition to having notes snapped next to one another, an internal box or tiles system within the memoboard would be nice.  Right now you could set up a cross note as a type of section header. Even a couple of tools within the memo-board like special section lines would help organization and visibility.

2) Tabs - the tree-structure combined with 5-10 notes on a page (you are trying not to have a scroll-down page) is reasonable, tabs on the top would be a huge enhancement, similar to various note programs.   (Another method used by note programs is to allow the opening of different named files, this would be another possible solution, not as elegant as tabs, that would give Notezilla more flexibility. There could be multiple names/locations of the Notezilla data file and you open one at a time. One for biz, one for personal, stuff like that. Best, though, is tabs.)

3) Full screen mode (or "almost" full screen mode). Maximize the space and be consistent as to the layout size (which varies a bit by the number of notes on a memoboard.)

4) Print feature - including print landscape natively  - One that keeps the formatting and, optionally, the color schema of the visible note. Or simply an alternative like line bars around each note.  As well as printing what comes out of the current exports HTML or txt. My current workaround is single page at a time print screens, possibly macroized.

5) Publish to web (this last may be asking a lot)

==========================================

A couple of esthetic things that I don't think are there
  1) a corkboard background look for wallpaper (Listhings and many others)
  2) a notepad lined writing mode look for paper (Listhings)

==========================================

Steven

[Steven Avery]

Tonight I looked a bit at Onenote, which I had previous sort of ignored. The fact that it became totally free helped.

Onenote does seem to be the one software that has a similar capability to the memoboard, since every note can be enclosed in a type of box. Nice.

Now, in comparing with NoteZilla for this memoboard purpose you have some interesting comparisons.  

Notezilla has the colored background, with a clear border for each note and with distinctive backgrounds for notes possible.
Onenote has a better editor with many extra features and can use space better overall.  Even tables and spreadsheets. Sensible printing.

So far I have not seen a border or background color method with Onenote, a bit of a surprising lack (if it really is not there.)

Notezilla has the pop-up integration with url pages and with programs (with additional memoboards in the note browser that relate to those notes.)
Onenote has integration with SkyDrive to allow usage from multiple puters.  And in this version is forced to the cloud for storage.

Notezilla has a tree structure on the Y-axis with subfolders.  Then it has individual notes titled within each individual page.  This does allow for very quick page-note switching.
Onenote has tabs on top, X-axis, combined with multiple pages on the right, Y-axis, for each tab.
Onenote also has multiple Notebooks, and the possibility of multiple accounts off the same drive.

(So far, the only Notezilla extra utility I have thought of would be to have a hand-utility that moves various .db files that are renamed back and forth to Notes8.db.)

They both have auxiliary features.  

Notezilla has a special network and lan messenger aspect. And it has a due date aspect.  Also an Android app.

Onenote has Onetastic with a calendar implementation and macros.  Tools for drawing. It can be much more of a word processor. A big plus for certain uses.
And it even has screen capture clipping and OCR (I generally use Abbyy Screenshot Reader for that so I don't know if it is much of a practical difference.)
Ok, the web clipping may be a good feature to be using, possibly. All sorts of integration and extension possibilities, including a Firefox extension.

This is all sketchy, and I might be missing a lot.  
And I was surprised that the Onenote aficionados did not point out that it avoids the white space problem with the box entry focus.  

Are there others?  Your thoughts?

==============================

It is clear that as a research and complex writing tool, Onenote is loaded with helpful features (and I like the architecture more than anything I have seen from Evernote and others, allowing that it is from Microsoft!)  However, for the personal notes memoboard system, I think it is a close call, with Notezilla still holding its own.

==============================

Added:  The cloud implementation of OneNote can lead to issues like the file architecture and synching being cumbersome.
This Spiceworks thread is an example of that discussion.
http://community.spi...nenote-users-in-here


Steven

[Steven Avery]

Just to show that I am not the only person in the universe who likes the Notezilla memoboard personal note idea:

How I Set Up My Development Machine on Windows
Zack Wallace
http://www.sitepoint...ent-machine-windows/

April
http://appsapps.info/about.php
Apps Apps
http://appsapps.info/

"And among my payware tools, you'll find Beyond Compare: http://www.scootersoftware.com/
and Notezilla (every project and website gets its own memoboard): http://www.conceptworld.com/Notezilla"

=====

That is how I use Notezilla .. dividing various projects and concept-blocks so that each gets its own memoboard, with the sub-board implementation.

Steven

[app103]

April
http://appsapps.info/about.php
Apps Apps
http://appsapps.info/

"And among my payware tools, you'll find Beyond Compare: http://www.scootersoftware.com/
and Notezilla (every project and website gets its own memoboard): http://www.conceptworld.com/Notezilla"

-Steven Avery (February 16, 2015, 09:43 PM)

This is a carry over habit that goes back to my 3M Post-it Software Notes days, where I would build a tabbed memoboard for each project and run into issues with its limitations (max 12 tabs per board, no way to split tabs any further without resorting to mental hacks, using visual cues, such as color & position). Notezilla was a breath of fresh air.

[Steven Avery]

Hi,

Yep, Notezilla is the only desktop sticky I have found that has a real memoboard implementation. And it can work quite well.  Maybe you have some ideas to add to (1)-(5) above.  Those are the big picture items, I am going to add separately a number of lesser comments and requests.

=======================

General Major Wish List -

(1) May be Too Difficult to Bother

(1) The ability for browser window stickies to work by the url of the specific page, as done by Internote for Firefox  - If you go by what often works, e.g. a site or company name, you can easily find that your needed window has a generic names like "Client Logon". Which you really can not relate to the site or company. If it could be done for Firefox especially it would be neat.   This is as much a vision and wish than a request, as it may not be time-practical.  And it hits the snag of changing browsers and versions and APIs.

On the other hand, one change above that might be relatively easy is a  File-Open capability that brings forth a different set of notes.  Then you don't have to cram every type of business and personal and research note on one tree. Right now this can only be done externally (macro, autohotkey, etc) where you would switch the files outside of Notezilla.

=======================

Here are some general requests:

"Undue" feature

note "Title" centered capability (you can put in dot to create the result now)

Right Click on Context Menu for "New Note"

Reduce the hot area on a url .. it is too easy now to accidentally load a page
  (and/or give a button to turn on/off clickability)

Notes Browser memoboard header (Title, Due, Tags, etc.) layout - default global setting

In that column for the header that is "memoboard", allow full Notezilla path (folders-->subfolders)

Skins be less than global .. e.g. for memoboard

browser back-arrow forward-arrow style navigation within Notezilla memoboard (since it can great crowded in tree)

=======================

Steven

[superboyac]

Steven, I'm loving this discussion, glad you're back!  
I was thinking about Onenote and why i don't use it.  There's nothing really wrong with it, but I really don't want to commit to it.  I'll tell you what it is...it's one of these popular softwares that impresses you the first week you get introduced to it, and you feel like this is going to do the trick for you.  Then a month later, you realize that you just don't want to use it anymore.

Then, something like Rightnote was the opposite.  At first, I'm like this is the same as every other freaking tree-hierarchy organizer.  But as you use it, it grows on you.  And I can't put my finger on a particular feature that even makes it stand out much.

Then there's wiznote.  It's like evernote, but I like it more.  I'll show a couple of screenshots of why I like it.  I don't use these features much, but it shows that this is my kind of software.

This is the "content extraction" screen. Pretty powerful, shows the user that getting the notes out of there into something else is very possible.
stickies Notezilla memoboard as full-blown personal note system

And the note "history" item, with very granular control.
stickies Notezilla memoboard as full-blown personal note system

[conceptworld]

I just noticed this long discussion about Notezilla. I have taken note of this whole thread so that we think deeply when we need to design the future versions of Notezilla. Very interesting discussion.

Sorry that I cannot go deep into each feature and comment or commit. But I am surely keeping a watch.

Regards,
Gautam Jain

[Steven Avery]

Here are two more major ones that would make Notezilla visible for prime time, ie. more people would consider it for a full-blown note system.

==========================

6) multiple files available through a File->Open command

Currently the .ini file holds the information given in Advanced-->Preferences-->Advanced

Thus in my system I have:
  DataFolder=D:\Apps\Notezilla\Data
  BackupFolder=D:\Apps\Notezilla\Backup
Instead of the default spots.

I'm not sure if the .ini file itself can be moved (e.g. by a parameter in the shortcut)

So in my Windows 7 system the Notezilla.ini file is at its standard spot:
     c:\Users\(user name)\AppData\Roaming\Conceptworld\Notezilla\

So if I have multiple .db files, I can look at one at a time by renaming data files, and/or renaming .ini files.
A File-Open command would be much more appropriate.

==========================

7) Similar to this in being a functional help, increased versatility, would be a .db merge command.  One that allows one .db file to be added to another, under a new specified folder name. This would allow you to have available very easily a file that you had at another location or another now-dormant computer.

Is there a Navicat style utility for the SQLite .db files?  
Or more specifically something like this:

Database Content Compare and Merge Tool
http://www.altova.co...se-compare-tool.html

I plan to try out this solution on test files.

====================

This is very good, at least, for looking at the database structure.

DB Browser for SQLite
http://sqlitebrowser.org/

Although looking at data (again, duplicate test files only) hit some potential snags, eg:

"A table in this database requires a special collation function 'NOCASE' that this
application can't provide without further knowledge.
If you choose to proceed, be aware bad things can happen to your database.
Create a backup!"

==========================

Only today am I trying out the "Skins".

They are explained here:
http://www.conceptwo...ownloading-Importing

And the download site is:
http://www.conceptwo....com/Notezilla/Skins

At one point I complained about not having some backgrounds like corkboard, that plaint is now inoperative!  
(Well there should be a corkboard memoboard, which is not quite cartonboard.)

At least when it comes to the notes themselves.
Although I would still like more flexibility on the white background which is the full memoboard background.

You get to applying the skin to a note by the Appearance toolbar button. I had missed using that.

==========================

Steven

[Steven Avery]

Here are three more small enhancements:

Date format in memoboard (e.g. allow date, not necessarily date plus time)
Possibly similar options on the note date, although not an issue for me, shows date only.

Ctrl-F bring up the search box (this is a habit thing)

Search should include the titles (looks like it passes that up now.)

[yosemite]

I just discovered OrangeNote, which looks like it hasn't had any development since 2011.  

BUT it is a pretty cool sticky note program.  I've been testing it out.  It's got pretty robust search, tags, rich text notes, autozooming text sizes (which you can turn off), notes can snap to borders and each other, notes can roll up, colors.

"Pro" version has syncing via desktop but I haven't tried it yet.

I have upgraded to the version 2 beta, which is what allows rich text and some other stuff.   To get it, download the thing on the website, then inside the program setting do auto-update, check the 'beta' box, then 'check now' button. It will find the version 2 beta, then you can download it and upgrade to it.

This looks like a really cool sticky notes program to me, but surprisingly I can find almost nothing about it anywhere on the web.  Probably since the developer hasn't done anything with it in a few years.

http://orangenote.littlesoftware.ca/