Creating a template

[John G Everett 3]

I had some initial frustration trying to create a nice form in EN to use as a template. In the Windows version, and on my Android devices, I could find no way to control the width of columns or to add color. (Maybe someone can drop a suggestion here.)

I discovered that if i create the form in Excel or in the Google 'Sheet' app, I can add all the formatting and color I care to, and then just copy and paste the form into an EN note, and all the formatting carries over. The template note and the original Google Sheet (converted to .xlsx when downloaded) are attached.

Feedback?

 

Contact Information.xlsx

Contacts Template.enex

[gazumped 11,664]

Hi.  Not sure what you're looking for here.. you're correct that there is no way (that I know of) to exercise detailed control over table colours and dimensions in Evernote.  The latest beta versions include additional functionality (and some new bugs) that help with this,  but its not exactly production ready - try before you entrust anything vital to it. 

The work-around - which you found already - is to set up your table in Word or Excel and copy it across to include the formatting.  If it's a big table you could attach the word or excel file or a link to it in Google Drive (or any other cloud storage provider).  Premium members get attachment (but not linked) content searches if that's relevant.

[John G Everett 3]

Not looking for anything, just sharing what I have learned so others might benefit.

[lgpiper 6]

I'm not sure where to post my concern, but this is close. My problem deals with templates and table cells. I tried contacting support, but have been ignored so far. 

If I understand the above correctly, table cells in templates have a fixed width and cannot be resized. Is that the case? If so, there's nothing I can do. 

Here's the problem. A few days ago, EverNote were pimping a blog post about productivity and offered a few templates to get one started. Here's the link to the post: https://is.gd/sQmXRs . The problem is, those templates are way too wide for normal use. So, one can't actually use the templates to make one more productive. The text requires horizontal scrolling on any reasonable mobile device (phone or tablet). Even on my Windows desktop client, I can't read the text, unless I go to some lengths to resize the particular view port. If you all are trying to make my life easier, why do you offer tools that make things so difficult? I don't mean to be snarky. I'm trying to understand things. FWIW, I've been a long-time premium member, so I don't have a problem, per se, with EverNote. But I do have a problem with alleged help that is unhelpful except in unusual circumstances. 

What am I missing here? Thanks. 

For clarification, I don't have the world's best eyesight (one might refer to it as "mature"), and being forced to deal with something on a screen that is a minimum of eight inches wide is very difficult. 

[DTLow 5,736]

11 minutes ago, lgpiper said:

table cells in templates have a fixed width and cannot be resized.

Table cells can be resized as required.  On my Mac, using a mouse, I drag the column side.

[lgpiper 6]

Thanks. Somehow I got the impression the template made things different. The table cells were so wide I couldn't find the handle. Now I have. Basically, I'll have to edit all the templates so that they can be rendered useful. I can do that. It does seem a shame, however, to be offered templates that don't work under normal circumstances unless one spends rather a lot of time reformatting them. 

Thanks again. 

[gazumped 11,664]

FWIW It's pretty easy to make templates of your own.  Set up a blank note with the layout you prefer,  save the original for possible future edits,  and export the note to enex to save on your desktop. (Windows)

Now every time you click that icon,  you'll get a new note opened in the notebook set in the template,  with the layout you specified.  Pretty neat for some standard things...

[jefito 5,589]

On 4/21/2018 at 11:44 AM, lgpiper said:

Thanks. Somehow I got the impression the template made things different. The table cells were so wide I couldn't find the handle. Now I have. Basically, I'll have to edit all the templates so that they can be rendered useful. I can do that. It does seem a shame, however, to be offered templates that don't work under normal circumstances unless one spends rather a lot of time reformatting them. 

Template notes are not special; they're just notes that you can reuse. Fix a problem in the template, then it will be fixed in subsequent usages of the template. Some fixes you can make directly in the client, some you cannot, but if you can export to Evernote format, you can fix it in a text editor, and re-import it. It's mainly HTML with some Evernote sugar. I generally tend to make my own templates; I have a need for only a few, but I'm a little fussy about them.