Author Topic: Really simple clipboard extender/note taking software? (Read 37,866 times)

Hefty Hippie · « **on:** January 10, 2008, 04:10 AM »

Probably a really daft question but here goes..

Has anybody ever come across any clipboard extender/note taking software that works from Windows Explorer context menu?

I had in mind something very simple just for plain text, something that functions almost exactly like notes in Opera but available via Explorer right click.

Any clues?

Cheers in advance,

HH

lanux128 · « **Reply #1 on:** January 11, 2008, 01:36 AM »

i'm not sure how Opera's notes work but i think this freeware, FileNote can be useful to you..

Filenote - Allows you to add comments to files by creating text file that has the same name as selected file and opening it for editing in text editor (Notepad or another). If such text file already exists, it will be opened for editing.

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• http://www.moonsoftware.com/shelltools.asp

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #2 on:** January 11, 2008, 09:30 AM »

Thanks Lanux,
I have Filenote, it's very useful indeed for making file-specific notes but not much use for general note taking.
If I get chance, I'll make some 'mock up' screenshots later so as to better illustrate what I'm looking for.
Cheers,
HH

rjbull · « **Reply #3 on:** January 11, 2008, 09:41 AM »

Why the particular desire for the context menu for general notes? Would a hotkey to pop up a notekeeping program be adequate?

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #4 on:** January 11, 2008, 10:02 AM »

RJ,

Mainly for simplicity and ease of use by someone who's more of a mouse person than a keyboard person.

The thing I'm looking for would actually be used on my Wife's machine.
I use AceText myself, I tried the Wife with that (and a few others, CHS included) but she didn't like them at all and reverted to sticking paper notes up all over the place. However, she does make good use of Opera's notes facility which is why I mentioned it as an example.

rjbull · « **Reply #5 on:** January 11, 2008, 12:28 PM »

Quote from: Hefty Hippie on January 11, 2008, 10:02 AM

Mainly for simplicity and ease of use by someone who's more of a mouse person than a keyboard person.

Hmmm, I'm more the opposite!

Quote

CHS included) but she didn't like them at all and reverted to sticking paper notes up all over the place.

Pity, CHS has good organising abilities for a clipboard extender. However, a few more possibilities. Are you aware that you can set up KeyNote as a clipboard extender? Then you have good organisational possibilities as well. That might be the first thing to try as appearing to tick all the boxes, and freeware to boot. Don't forget the author posts here as tranglos!

JBLab Secure Notes is another small notekeeper with some nice features. It doesn't automatically keep clips, but has a "smart paste" feature that helps make sensible titles for nodes when you paste from the clipboard into it. Be aware, though, that the program hasn't been updated since May 2005.

There are plenty of other choices for notes, but most aren't automatic clipboard extenders. E.g., Horst Schaeffer's MemPad, where you can set a hotkey as a toggle to minimise to tray/restore. Bayden Systems' SlickRun is a program launcher that has a mini-notekeeper built in. Notesholder is like a continuous ribbon of paper holding your notes; the free version is good, and the shareware one naturally has more features. But if your wife likes sticky notes, how about the computer equivalent, of which a myriad exist? I use Magic Notes (shareware), but ZhornSoftware's Stickies is a very well-liked free one. DC currently has a members' discount on NoteZilla.

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #6 on:** January 11, 2008, 02:57 PM »

Thanks again pal.

I'll explore those links and see if anything looks likely to fit the bill but, to be totally honest, I kinda doubt it.

See, the emphasis needs to be on simplicity and ease of use (well, my better half's version of ease of use) else she simply wont use it at all - there speaks the voice of experience.

Jammo the OrganizedFellow · « **Reply #7 on:** January 14, 2008, 07:12 AM »

Quote from: Hefty Hippie on January 11, 2008, 10:02 AM

... Mainly for simplicity and ease of use by someone who's more of a mouse person than a keyboard person ...

I don't mean to sound mean/rude but ...

I imagine someone wanting to make a note. They have their hands at their keyboard, then take a hand off the keyboard to grab their mouse, position the mouse at X,Y area on screen, and right-click, move down, select, click, and resume typing with their hands BACK at the keyboard.

Now I imagine someone wanting to make a note. They have their hands at their keyboard, and just as swift as the type normally, hit a key combination to create a new note, and resume typing.

I don't get it.

rjbull · « **Reply #8 on:** January 14, 2008, 11:06 AM »

I should have added: Notesholder has a feature whereby you can minimise it to a narrow vertical bar on the right edge of the screen. It pops up whenever you "bump" the bar with the cursor. I've only seen this before in PowerPro, but a mouse person might like it. Sorry I can't remember whether it's in the freeware Notesholder Lite as well - worth checking - but it's certainly in the registered version.

Some people here have mentioned Flashnote as a small fast note-taking app, but I haven't tried it, and it may not have global search which I would consider imperative.

Mandork · « **Reply #9 on:** January 20, 2008, 04:16 PM »

Maybe Quicknote? http://www.quicknote.de/

It has the ability to set up a line or dot on the desktop that you bump with the mouse to open it up, plus various other features, including a timer:

Quote

Often you do not need an advanced text processor but a virtual scrapbook to quickly write down an occasional thought, a plan for the day or an Internet URL. With a plain text editor, which can be used for this purpose, you have to run the program first, then create a new file, then type a line or two and save the file. Too many things to do in order to simply write down a thought? With Quicknote, it does not matter which programs you are currently using; whenever you want to write something down that comes to mind, just 'wake up' Quicknote by touching a small line on the top of your screen with the mouse or by pressing shortcut keys. In its resizable window you can jot down your notes and organize them in categories or even sketch small drawings.
Still, this tiny tool has more possibilities than it seems on the first thought! Beneath the normal text functions, it can convert units, let you directly access frequently run programs, encrypt secret texts, change the system volume by hotkeys, manage windows tasks, and even send notes through a network. It has also a powerful reminding tool, which can remind you of your notes at certain times, run programs or shutdown automatically your PC. The program is absolutely free, so download this handy tool today and concentrate on content rather than form.

I'm still trying to decide between it and KeyNote; they both do very similar things. I tried Stickies for a while, but it was faintly annoying, though I don't remember why now.

rjbull · « **Reply #10 on:** January 20, 2008, 07:40 PM »

Quote from: Mandork on January 20, 2008, 04:16 PM

I'm still trying to decide between it and KeyNote; they both do very similar things. I tried Stickies for a while, but it was faintly annoying, though I don't remember why now.

@Mandork: You might want to take another look at Stickies as a new version was released just last week.

@Hefty Hippie: if you want really simple, you might try PasteBoard. But it's difficult to get really simple and an adequate feature set.

Darwin · « **Reply #11 on:** January 20, 2008, 08:09 PM »

PCMag's (now shareware) ExplorerNotes2 works well with XP as well. I got my copy when it was free.

Here's the Context Menu before adding a note:

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And after:

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The Note editing window that appears:

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Note Manager Window (from Start Menu - Programmes):

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Darwin · « **Reply #12 on:** January 20, 2008, 08:15 PM »

PS as may be apparent from the images in my previous post, I installed ExplorerNotes2 to see if it would run under WinXP Pro Sp-2. I haven't had it regularly installed since I was running Win98SE!

Armando · « **Reply #13 on:** January 21, 2008, 05:25 AM »

If your wife really wants to trigger any notetaking software with her mouse, well... why not install StrokeIt for mouse gestures and configure it to send a certain hotkey? Should be easy to use for you and you could configure it for her.

And as a note taking program, you could also try the free version of EverNote? I know I keep suggesting Evernote...

even if I'm actually finding some (absent) features kind of annoying these days, but... For a complete beginner, the key concepts are very easy to understand : just open it (ctrl+alt+N -- have and type. What you wrote before is before in the scroll, search as you type. Plus, it's very mouse-friendly. And as she gets used to it, she might want to use the built in templates, categories with keyword filters, etc.

Edit : and evernote is pretty good to clip web pages or anything. It has a "universal clipper".

jgpaiva · « **Reply #14 on:** January 21, 2008, 10:51 AM »

Armando: you mentioned the free version of evernote, but i'm unable to find it at their site.. Is it an older version?

jgpaiva · « **Reply #15 on:** January 21, 2008, 10:56 AM »

Ok, I solved my own problem. Evernote now doesn't have 2 products, instead they have a single product, which after the trial period (60 days) loses features and becomes the trial version.

Darwin · « **Reply #16 on:** January 21, 2008, 03:14 PM »

Heh, heh - I was going to suggest Evernote as well (it really IS fantastic) but it's a lot more complex (I think) thank Heftie Hippie's wife requires. Maybe not complex, but feature rich. It's also not available from the context menu outside of Outlook and IE (AFAICT).

Armando · « **Reply #17 on:** January 21, 2008, 04:55 PM »

There was actually a version of EverNote that could integrate in Outlook, but I never really used it. I wonder if it still exists. In any case, there is an "add to EverNote" entry available in Outlook or IE's context menu (to clip stuff), but, yes, there's no "add Note to EverNote" there. Like I said, something like strokeit would solve the problem, or maybe mouser's super "ContextMenu Commander"... When it comes alive!

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #18 on:** January 23, 2008, 04:08 PM »

Quote from: Darwin on January 21, 2008, 03:14 PM

it's a lot more complex (I think) thank Heftie Hippie's wife requires.

Yep, spot on with that remark Darwin - I tried it already.

Anyway, my thanks to everybody who has joined in and tried to help.

Darwin · « **Reply #19 on:** February 02, 2008, 07:14 PM »

How'd you make out, Heftie Hippie? Did you ever find a reasonable and acceptable solution? Enquiring minds want to know... I want to know!

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #20 on:** February 03, 2008, 01:59 PM »

Hi Darwin,

Thanks for your continuing interest.

Nope, I've not found a reasonable and acceptable solution and, to be honest, I've pretty much given up on trying.

I checked out most of the solutions suggested in this thread but, after due consideration and consultation with 'head office' (the wife!), it was deemed that nothing was suitable.

See, it's all about how complicated a program is and how long it takes to learn to use it.
The wife parks herself in front of her machine for maybe only 2 or 3 hours a week so she's unwilling to spend much of that time learning the ins and outs of new software.
Also, she may not even touch her machine for weeks at a time so anything she has bothered to learn (say hot-key combos) may well be forgotten, at least partially, by the next session.

That's the beauty of Opera Notes and why I offered same as an example - quick, simple and there looking at you from context menu. Granted, of course, that Opera Notes is perhaps too limited in scope for what you are or I may require but something similar, available in Windows Explorer, would be absolutely ideal for my better half.

Thanks again,

HH

jgpaiva · « **Reply #21 on:** February 03, 2008, 02:04 PM »

Hefty Hippie: have you tried evernote? It's as simple as it gets. You just right-click its tray icon (the icons next to the clock) and select "new note" to make a new note

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #22 on:** February 03, 2008, 02:37 PM »

Quote from: jgpaiva on February 03, 2008, 02:04 PM

Hefty Hippie: have you tried evernote? It's as simple as it gets. You just right-click its tray icon (the icons next to the clock) and select "new note" to make a new note

Yep, tried it pal - no use.

jgpaiva · « **Reply #23 on:** February 03, 2008, 03:34 PM »

What was the problem with evernote? The fact that it was on the tray area instead of explorer context menu?

If it wasn't that, maybe we can create a simple note handler that'd work from the tray area.

Hefty Hippie · « **Reply #24 on:** February 03, 2008, 04:20 PM »

Quote from: jgpaiva on February 03, 2008, 03:34 PM

What was the problem with evernote? The fact that it was on the tray area instead of explorer context menu?

If it wasn't that, maybe we can create a simple note handler that'd work from the tray area.

Hi jgpaiva,

Nope, from memory it was just that she found it too complicated.
I have a licence for Evernote myself (though I don't use it much) and tried her with it on my machine - no joy.

The closest I came was with Acetext (one of my 'must have' apps) set to launch 'Tower' by hot-key (or tray icon) and then it's all mouse work from there - no joy, mutterings, pulling funny faces and all the rest of it.

Cheers,

HH