Best way to combine text excerpts with own comments

[aw_ 2]

Hello fellow note takers,

I could need some input on my note taking strategy.

This is what I usually do:

1. See/read something
2. Copy the link and make it the "headline" of a section in a note about a topic – if really important add printed PDF or web clipping
3. Copy important parts of the note as plain text into the note
4. Add my own comments or additional information about THAT section (note: not the whole article, but maybe a paragraph, sentence or particular information)
5. Split with <hr> if closely related

The result might look something like this:

The thing is: On the one side I don't want notes that look like a flick carpet of fonts and colors* – on the other hand I'd like to be better able to discern between my own notes and the excerpt from the source. What I'm missing would be something like an indented quote formatting.

* also this often wouldn't help but look especially strange, if the source is set in Arial/sans-serif, maybe with a different line height etc. This would make the note even more unreadable for my eyes.

Currently I use italics. Because it is the fastest way via *Command + I*, for a while I used a mono space font for the source, but this takes quite long (and I always forgot which font I used).

Writing directly in the clipping isn't an option for me either 1) because it feels to messy for me (and my experience with the web clipper in general is often horrifying) and more importantly 2) because I really just want the most important highlights of the source in my main note to be able to skim it quickly.

Does someone have an idea how I could enhance my strategy here? Is there a, for example, a way to add own formats via hotkeys?

I would appreciate any ideas!

[DTLow 5,745]

On 2017-08-06 at 11:48 PM, aw_ said:

Does someone have an idea how I could enhance my strategy here? Is there a, for example, a way to add own formats via hotkeys?

fwiw  I prefer to work in a table; for example two columns with the content in the left column and my notes on the right

I use templates, and the format is preset for each column

[gazumped 12,078]

Maybe add your comments in a 'code block' so the different font is clearer?

[aw_ 2]

Thank you for both excellent suggestions!

Code blocks… code blocks… I'm Crying. Perfect. I've been waiting for a quote or block feature, ever since I use Evernote and didn't realize it was finally there. It even has a shortcut.

For anyone else looking for this: You might need to active code blocks in the settings first (as of writing this, it is a relatively new feature). Go to Settings › Updates › Active Code Blocks. Then right click the passage you want to transform into a code block and select the format.

Looks like this… (both suggestions in this thread side by side). Thanks again!