(Archived) Requested Features forum

[Don_94583 0]

I just downloaded EN because I wanted a cross-platform app that would support my Palm Pre, my iPod Touch and my PC (fearing that the Pre may disappear). I'm already a little disappointed with the to-do list capabilities. I've read a bunch of related posts, and can appreciate the claim that EN is a small company, and most users are freeloaders. My impression is that some of the desired features are way off base, though not mine ;=) Maybe a "poll type" forum would help where users could clearly state their desires would help, along with some (hidden?) indicator as to who is a paying user. I'd gladly upgrade for quicker consideration on new features. My monthly wine bill far exceeds the upgrade price. Just want to play with it a while to make sure EN is actually useful. Already discovered the Cut/Copy/Paste limitations for the Pre (the platform source of most of my current data).

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

viewtopic.php?f=30&t=17008&p=68254&hilit=another#p68254

[Don_94583 0]

http://forum.evernote.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?f=30&t=17008&p=68254&hilit=another#p68254

That's nice. Very constructive.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

That's nice. Very constructive.

I will assume this is not sarcasm.

[hodnettd 0]

Engberg answers several different questions within that one linked to post so yeah, simply posting the link wasn't that helpful. The money quote is:

I know that the ~1% of people who use Linux on the desktop would all love to see Evernote on Linux, without needing to have them organize a campaign to come click the "vote" button to tell us so. I.e. that's a waste of those people's time, since I already know that they'd be happy to see Evernote on Linux. And I really don't want to have to hear that the "Evernote on Linux" feature has 99,999 votes, so why are we fixing this crashing bug on the Mac today, which only has 2?

My follow up question is:

Is there a FAQ or similar document elsewhere, where EN does identify what features they're working on next, what features they're going to defer indefinitely, and to some extent, why?

I realize that not everyone reads "Read This First" posts or searches for similar questions before posting (I certainly didn't) but I think providing a prominent link to such a document may help cut down on some of the groundhog day like feelings around here.

[Don_94583 0]

I always think I make a valiant effort to see if my question is old hat. I didn't find any Read This First posts. And, just like most other forums, topics are frequently "Please Help Me", so searches are fruitless.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

I realize that not everyone reads "Read This First" posts or searches for similar questions before posting (I certainly didn't) but I think providing a prominent link to such a document may help cut down on some of the groundhog day like feelings around here.

The groundhog day like feelings would be greatly reduced if people did search on the topic of interest before posting a question that's been already discussed at great length. (It actually is part of "netiquette.") Many people who volunteer their time here post links to existing posts (or suggest using the search function) b/c if it's not important enough for someone to search for an existing answer to their question, it's not important enough for us to type it all out again, yet another time.

Sometimes people don't know what to search for. I would say that's the situation in this thread. OP wanted to know if there was a formal way to vote for features. This had already been addressed by Dave in the post I linked to. It was a bit of a lengthy post and fairly current (4 months), so no need for Dave to have to repost. So in this case, if anyone is offended by getting a "please search the board on __" or b/c the reply was a link to an existing post, then I guess that's unfortunate.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Engberg answers several different questions within that one linked to post so yeah, simply posting the link wasn't that helpful. The money quote is:

No, actually, the money quote would be:

I'm a bit wary about having to check and manage another feedback system ... there are some good ones out there like GetSatisfaction, but fragmentation can get confusing. I also don't find numeric voting totals to be too terribly helpful for decision-making. I know that the ~1% of people who use Linux on the desktop would all love to see Evernote on Linux, without needing to have them organize a campaign to come click the "vote" button to tell us so. I.e. that's a waste of those people's time, since I already know that they'd be happy to see Evernote on Linux. And I really don't want to have to hear that the "Evernote on Linux" feature has 99,999 votes, so why are we fixing this crashing bug on the Mac today, which only has 2? :-)

[engberg 89]

We appreciate all feedback, and we keep track of it coming from multiple channels like the forum, Twitter, blog comments, etc.

I read every (English-language) post on the forum and am involved in virtually every planning and technical architecture meeting, so this is as good a place as any to give feedback.

As a fellow user of Evernote on multiple platforms, I fancy that I can understand a useful idea when I see it. As a programmer, I know what things are easy and which would require rebuilding the company from scratch, so I find that a concise explanation of how you use Evernote and why you'd like to use it differently is more useful than a lot of "+1" posts or anonymous numeric voting.

So we love to hear how people are using Evernote, and their suggestions, but we're not really equipped to give precise predictions on when individual ideas would be implemented.

Thanks

[jefito 5,589]

I just downloaded EN because I wanted a cross-platform app that would support my Palm Pre, my iPod Touch and my PC (fearing that the Pre may disappear). I'm already a little disappointed with the to-do list capabilities. I've read a bunch of related posts, and can appreciate the claim that EN is a small company, and most users are freeloaders. My impression is that some of the desired features are way off base, though not mine ;=) Maybe a "poll type" forum would help where users could clearly state their desires would help, along with some (hidden?) indicator as to who is a paying user. I'd gladly upgrade for quicker consideration on new features. My monthly wine bill far exceeds the upgrade price. Just want to play with it a while to make sure EN is actually useful. Already discovered the Cut/Copy/Paste limitations for the Pre (the platform source of most of my current data).

I always think I make a valiant effort to see if my question is old hat. I didn't find any Read This First posts. And, just like most other forums, topics are frequently "Please Help Me", so searches are fruitless.

Your comment on polls is not a particularly common one, compared to those about Evenote itself (tags, synchronization, to-do lists, search, tags, sub-folders, etc.). You might have found something by searching the forum for 'poll' or some such, but it's not surprising that you didn't; BurgersNFries linked you directly to a post from the Evernote CTO on that topic (among other things). For the latter type of post (questions/comments on how Evernote works, or ought to work), searches are often more fruitful that you may think.

My take on the rating features based on request by premium vs. free users: ewww. Good ideas are good ideas, no matter where they come from. My experience is that the Evernote staff values suggestions from anyone and everyone. The flip side is that they already have a game plan for how the product lines will proceed, so fast turnaround for anything but serious problems (to some definition of 'serious') just doesn't tend to happen. That doesn't bother me; I tend to give them the benefit of the doubt that they're not fools, that they have a plan, and they're in it for the long haul. They're going to add features that make sense for their business model, both for gaining free users and converting them to paid users.

~Jeff