Author Topic: Review suggestions (Read 262,553 times)

imtrobin · « **Reply #50 on:** May 29, 2005, 07:29 AM »

I like to suggest Font Managers. I been trying so hard to find one that can read unicode fonts, but no avail.

JeffK · « **Reply #51 on:** May 29, 2005, 07:32 AM »

Quote from: imtrobin on May 29, 2005, 07:29 AM

I like to suggest Font Managers. I been trying so hard to find one that can read unicode fonts, but no avail.

That's a good idea.

mouser · « **Reply #52 on:** May 29, 2005, 07:49 AM »

doing font managers is a great idea-
i remember being very frustrated looking for the best font manager.

might be a nice one for a guest review though since i don't think i'm qualified.

moerl · « **Reply #53 on:** June 11, 2005, 07:13 AM »

Quote from: zridling on April 30, 2005, 05:13 AM

Best outlining/note-taking tool? Just in case, my Top 5 list is as follows:

__(1) Microsoft OneNote-SP1
__(2) TexNotes Pro
__(3) Jot+ Notes
__(4) AM-Notebook Pro
__(5) NoteMap

Unlike text editors, there are many good candidates in this class of software, and even some on the OS side. The three biggest factors for me tend to be interface design, outlining flexibility and ease, and import/export abilities. Coincidently, like text editors, most outlining tools rarely see major upgrades.

Agreed. I use MS OneNote for school and it's excellent.

moerl · « **Reply #54 on:** June 11, 2005, 07:14 AM »

One thing I'd be extremely interested in is PIMs, (Personal Information Managers). Since I refuse to use Outlook, (because I use IMAP and Outlook + IMAP = no fun), I've had a very hard time finding a good, solid PIM. I need it just to keep track of all my duties, projects, homeworks, important dates and so on.

imtrobin · « **Reply #55 on:** June 11, 2005, 07:09 PM »

Quote from: Shangnyun on June 11, 2005, 07:14 AM

One thing I'd be extremely interested in is PIMs, (Personal Information Managers).

I use this. Only down point is you cannot add unicode text, otherwise great!

http://www.pimexonline.com/

jpfx · « **Reply #56 on:** June 14, 2005, 06:07 PM »

Speaking of FUD, there are many application types that are heavily abused by companies that prey on desperate customers by heavy advertizing within search engine results. The programs themselves are often stolen from developers who released their software for free. If not, then they either don't work or are over-priced.
Take for instance file/partition recovery software; anyone who googles for such an app faces pages of junk with the real gems hidden. There are many other genres that are afflicted, virus/spyware removal, password recovery, stuff that you usually need in a hurry.
I think reviews of this sort of software might bring in new donations and also be a huge benefit to some of those developers whose work has been stolen and is sold by disreputable companies as their own. Plus this loosely fits the theme of donationcoder (well, sort of).

mouser · « **Reply #57 on:** June 14, 2005, 06:16 PM »

i do think we need to make a stronger effort here to identify good freeware apps, and authors who are asking for donations. i think it's important to lend some support for other donation-based authors.

any ideas for how we could do this in ways other than full reviews?

i suggest we set up a special page for Freeware/Donationware authors that we like - basically expanding our idea of a links section for our favorite freeware authors (ie this won't be a page for singleton programs, but rather for authors who have devoted considerable effort to making freeware+donationware programs, and who don't sell commercial software).

Miles · « **Reply #58 on:** June 27, 2005, 08:53 PM »

Are there any plans to review website building software in the near future? It's something I, for one, would appreciate. Dreamweaver is more than I need, but there are so many lower cost apps that I don't know where to start.....

Miles

mouser · « **Reply #59 on:** June 27, 2005, 09:14 PM »

website soft review is def needed.
we really need to get a few more reviewers who can write long comprehensive reviews on a category they know well enough to do a good job on.

i think maybe we should have a poll of possible review categories
so we can see which categories people want to see reviewed the most.

Miles · « **Reply #60 on:** July 01, 2005, 10:34 AM »

Yes, poll is the way to go...

Sentinel · « **Reply #61 on:** July 01, 2005, 08:03 PM »

Quote from: Miles on July 01, 2005, 10:34 AM

Yes, poll is the way to go...

Yes, I rather like the idea of a poll. Although this probably does panda to popularist appeal.

Miles · « **Reply #62 on:** July 01, 2005, 08:13 PM »

Poll of members, of course

Sentinel · « **Reply #63 on:** July 01, 2005, 08:20 PM »

Quote from: Miles on July 01, 2005, 08:13 PM

Poll of members, of course

Whatever could you mean?

Although I don't mind polling anyone!

mouser · « **Reply #64 on:** July 01, 2005, 08:23 PM »

i'll set up a poll this weekend and we can just leave it running forever
and try to do reviews from top votes.

Sentinel · « **Reply #65 on:** July 01, 2005, 08:29 PM »

Ah ha! Time to setup multiple accounts.

Miles · « **Reply #66 on:** July 01, 2005, 08:46 PM »

Quote from: Sentinel on July 01, 2005, 08:29 PM

Ah ha! Time to setup multiple accounts.

So you can pander to your multiple personalities, you mean?

mouser · « **Reply #67 on:** July 04, 2005, 04:07 PM »

i'm gonig to put up a poll where people can vote on what to review next - please post more suggestions of categories so i don't miss any.

should it be open to everyone, or just members?

m_s · « **Reply #68 on:** September 09, 2005, 06:50 AM »

i would find a review of pims really helpful - have used outlook for years, before that sidekick for a long time (remember sidekick!), recently started testing sunbird, but it's got some ways to go, just followed various links from the great software list. actually, i realise i probably should say i mean pims with calendars...

(I usually have more capital letters.)

mea1 · « **Reply #69 on:** July 20, 2006, 04:11 PM »

Quote from: mouser on March 14, 2005, 04:55 AM

Here are the categories we plan on reviewing next:

Best File/Folder Comparison Tool.
Best Web Change Monitor.

Please let us know what you think we should review next.. Once we get enough members we can use a weekly poll to decide what categories we should judge, that way members can get reviews that are most useful to them.

we could also investigate getting more reviewers to increase the quantity of reviews.

A review of free or inexpensive HTML/WYSIWIG editors --
Dreamweaver is expensive and takes time to learn)!

Also a review of email clients would be great!

I've seen complaints that Adobe has become massive, slow and fills up the registry.
There are a lot of PDF reader/creator/editors available....
It would be nice to see a review of features/stability/speed etc.

For those that need to create PDF's, but don't require editting ability,
OpenOffice (freeware) converts documents to PDF:
http://download.openoffice.org/2.0.3/contribute.html?product=OpenOffice.org&os=win&lang=en&version=2.0.3

mouser · « **Reply #70 on:** July 20, 2006, 08:05 PM »

Quote

A review of free or inexpensive HTML/WYSIWIG editors --
Dreamweaver is expensive and takes time to learn)!

i have a horrible confession:
d.martin sent me an amazing review of inexpensive html editors that has been awaiting my editing for over a month!
i'm going to try to get it done and published in july.

tranglos · « **Reply #71 on:** October 22, 2006, 11:34 PM »

Trying to revive an oldie thread, let's see how it goes...

1. Mind-mapping and diagramming software. The reason I'm suggesting a review of those is that I'd love to read a discussion by those who use such software at an advanced level - because I don't quite understand how it is useful

I have a basic technical understanding of mind maps, and I know of course what diagrams are used for, but I've never been able to fit any software like this into my note-taking or planning processes. They confuse me, they interrupt my thinking and try to force me into a mode of working that feels alien to me. I'm much better off with free-form notes. So I'm probably missing some big point of mind maps and/or diagrams. Bonus question: there are specialized mind mapping programs, as well as specialized diagramming software, but in the end it's all about connecting shapes with arrows, filling them with text and moving them around. Could one piece of software serve both needs?

2. Wikis, the web-based ones. There are so many, most of them free, differing in features, backends and formatting syntax. Wikis are primarily intended for collaborative work, but does anyone use them for personal projects? How do they fare as note-taking mechanisms? (For the desktop, there's WikiPad, which I don't think has any competition yet: http://www.jhorman.org/wikidPad/ )

Thanks for listening!

JavaJones · « **Reply #72 on:** October 23, 2006, 01:45 AM »

I've just gone through installing just about 10 different wiki's to test for suitability for a particular project, so I have at least an overview of some of the more popular ones. Of course my criteria were kind of specific. But I can tell you that playing with all these different ones did not make me love Wiki any more than I do (which is not a lot

). The best wikis seem to be the hardest to setup. *sigh*

- Oshyan

jeromg · « **Reply #73 on:** November 04, 2006, 08:45 PM »

I don't think it's been suggested yet...

Best RSS Feed Reader (with two categories: online readers and offline/client-mode readers

Cheers /jerome

rjbull · « **Reply #74 on:** November 04, 2006, 09:08 PM »

Quote from: tranglos on October 22, 2006, 11:34 PM

1. Mind-mapping and diagramming software.

KeyNote no longer enough?

Marek, nobody's found the definitive notekeeper, but KeyNote generated you immense goodwill. Take a look at this DonationCoder thread: General brainstorming for Note-taking software

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