New Note - Not starting on Title? ... and other option settings

[Bellyman 0]

Using the latest windows version. I have searched for "Title" and see a number of different issues - where people LIKE to use the first line of their note "as the title" to others asking that a title change not invoke a "modification".

I am in the camp that actually dislikes the first line being the note, and in fact when I click NEW NOTE - I want my cursor placed on the title line where i can type it. There is too much mouse requirement when keying in a new note.

1) A new note body starts with any rambling - not focused on "this being the title which is now replicated".

2) My brain says put the cursor on the title to start then I can TAB (that is easy).

3) With the note starting on the body, and I want a title I have to get the mouse and move the cursor always back to the title (yes this can be a basic option setting - start in NOTE or BODY)

4) Tabbing from the Title to Source and BODY isn't good - it would be nice to be able to tab INTO the TAGS - and allow me to type the tags; TAB to the NEXT tag and then something like ALT-ENTER or CTRL-ENTER to move out of the TAG loop into the body. (secondary request)

But I see this falls on deaf ears. There are lots of Windows apps on the market and many have LOTS AND LOTS of options - options with many different folders to choose from. Yet with Evernote - nothing. Very basic options and no way to change any behavior of the actual app.

I have been a programmer for over 20 years and yes I have and use a mouse all the time - but there is a point where a mouse is a giant waste of time when the all mighty "tab" and modified "enter" can do far more and is faster than any mouse. I see my customers when they see new screens (not talking about Evernote) - their hand grabbing for the mouse like some Linus safety blanket and then becoming frozen with "what to do next?" look - their hearts racing I am sure.

Evernote as an archive of information with searching etc - excellent.

Evernote as a fast and easy way to enter notes? No way. To me quite cumbersome. At least under Windows. At the start about 6 months ago it was a joy to have such a wonderful tool. Today I almost cringe at having to key in a new note knowing I have to move the blasted cursor via the mouse to title. (And yes some of you have embraced this first line = title concept - great - but I am sure there are many that, like me, despise it)

PS: Did you know on the ANDROID version, the VERY FIRST FIELD they put you on is TITLE? Big hearty chuckle.

Regards

[jefito 5,589]

When you are editing a note, even a new note, F2 (a common Windows "rename" operation) puts you in the title field. F3 puts you in the tag control, ready to add a new tag. Many of the keyboard shortcuts are documented in the Knowledge base article: https://support.evernote.com/link/portal/16051/16058/Article/625/What-are-the-keyboard-shortcuts-in-Evernote-for-Windows, including those two.

Not sure why tabs have not been implemented to move you around the UI, but they haven't been there for some time; a couple of years at least. Maybe related to the fact that tabs are consumed by the note editor, so would be a dead-end, but I don't know that for sure.

[jefito 5,589]

Right, one more thing: per spg SCOTT's excellent shared notebook, there's a registry entry for you:

Key location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Evernote\Evernote

Key Name:

SetNewNoteFocusToTitle

Values:

0/1 Default: 0

Comments:

Make the title focused when creating a new note.

You can also use his tool ENRegEd to set this value.

[Bellyman 0]

Thanks Jefito ... I set that flag SetNewNoteTags to 1 and now it works. This is the second time I have been bitten by the "short cuts" - I think you directed me in another post too. F2/F3 are good alternatives. It would be nice if they peppered the app with tooltips (ie hover the mouse over the title field and show a tool tip "F2 shortcut to change title" or "F3 to add tag". I am actually surprised that the SHIFT TAB (BACKTAB) doesn't work.. But the biggies for me include CTRL-ARROWs (move by word) and CTRL-DELETE (delete word) - not all editors follow their logic.

As per your comment "fact that tabs are consumed by the note editor" - TABS within the editor are one thing but before/after the editor, they should behave differently. Again I am coming at this based on a natural intuitive method of moving. Years ago the bank I use updated their web page - it went LOGIN; PASSWORD; REMEMBER LOGIN; PROCEED TO LOGIN. Now you enter your login <TAB> then password <TAB> and yes, it foolishly put you on REMEMBER instead of PROCEED (where you could then hit <ENTER>). And NO there was no need to move the REMEMBER LOGIN toggle box - they just had to make the TAB FROM PASSWORD smarter - to move to you PROCEED. And yes I complained (as I am sure others did) and sure enough it was fixed it short order. But I hear what you are saying overall.

At any rate - I will make a note to search for Scott's shared notebook and see what other info I can get from it. I will also print out the KB on the shortcuts.

This is a HUGE improvement - thanks for your assistance.

belly

[jefito 5,589]

Again I am coming at this based on a natural intuitive method of moving.

One quibbly thing on this (and this is my opinion, based on some long experience): tabs are not a "natural, intuitive" way of moving around a UI; this is learned behavior, as is a lot of stuff that is claimed to be intuitive. But by now a lot of us have it in our muscle memory for sure. Having spent a fair amount of time programming tab navigation around some complex UIs, I can say that it's not always easy. This could probably be better in Evernote, though.

At any rate - I will make a note to search for Scott's shared notebook and see what other info I can get from it. I will also print out the KB on the shortcuts.

Yes, a good idea.

This is a HUGE improvement - thanks for your assistance.

The F-keys aren't a perfect replacement for tabbing around, but I'm guessing that those two account would be the ones the most used, in addition to one that gets you to the actual editor.

[Jamie Clay 0]

Right, one more thing: per spg SCOTT's excellent shared notebook, there's a registry entry for you:

 

Key location: HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Evernote\Evernote

Key Name: SetNewNoteFocusToTitle

Values: 0/1 Default: 0

Comments: Make the title focused when creating a new note.

You can also use his tool ENRegEd to set this value.

 

 

I've changed this value and restarted Evernote, but nothing seems to have changed

[spg SCOTT 736]

Hi Jamie, welcome to the forum.

Changing the value while Evernote is still running wont work as it overwrites the value when you exit. You need to:

- Exit Evernote completely, via File - Exit (answer yes to the confirmation message)

- Make the change in Regedit

- Start Evernote.

Scott

[Jamie Clay 0]

Doh!

 

Thank you Jeff and Scott 

 

This tiny modification has massively improved my Evernote experience!

 

J.

[garyo 0]

THANK YOU! Like Jamie, this has made it so much easier to create notes for me.  (Yes, I know this is almost a 2-year-old thread.)  Evernote, please make this a real Note setting in Options!