Release Notes

[MRJ 16]

Dear Evernote,

Why are your release notes always written on bring-your-child-to-work-day? Well, I hope they are!

Or maybe you're running an apprenticeship and starting them early.

Either way, is there any chance that somebody over the age of 12 could be given the job of writing the release notes? Because 'Take that, "Big Paper”!', and ' Yay, buzzwords!', and ' Seems obvious, right? We thought so too.', to me, albeit over the pond (cultural differences?), makes you seem like a bunch of unprofessional clowns.

[MatS14 19]

Hey @MRJ, do you realize that this is a user-supported browser? We are not Evernote, but you could open a Support Ticket, or contact Evernote via E-mail or Twitter.

But there is staff here, like @Nick L., and @Shane D.. They may be able to help you, but it would be best with a Support Ticket.

[MRJ 16]

Yes, I realise that and I know that some EN employees are here, hence I posted here. It's not exactly a support issue but after reading the juvenile c**p every release, I had a point to make.

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, MRJ said:

Why are your release notes always written on bring-your-child-to-work-day? Well, I hope they are!

Which Evernote product are you referring to? Windows? Mac? Android? iOS? Web? It's usually better to direct your comments to the appropriate subforum in the forums here. I'll be happy to move this topic to a better location, if you want.

Edit: looks like it's the Windows application. Offer still stands.

[gazumped 11,665]

I was just ambling over to post the URL and echo the comment "best said in the thread you're referring to..." which I also guess is this:

 

I commented on non-professional language a little while ago,  and it seemed to go away for a while.  Maybe Shane could write it into a best practice guide for employees?

I do agree with the view that release notes are meant to be a concise summary of changes,  not a whole conversation.  

[s2sailor 2,197]

I think they are aiming to be funny and light hearted, but considering the product set backs over the last few years, maybe competent professional would be a better tone to set.

[PinkElephant 8,111]

Why bother about this ? YouTube has for years taken the garbage down when releasing, and who cared ?

For me it is important that

1. there are releases (this seems o.k., including the quite active beta scene)
2. they solve issues we all want to be solved (yes, room for improvement, but getting better)
3. the new stuff should be free of new bugs (yes, some more room for improvement ...)

So if they keep the guys that really count with the coding, and the marketing dptmt. do whatever they do, it is o.k. for me.

Or is anybody here who wants the marketing guys do the coding, and the SW-engineers write release letters instead ?

[jefito 5,589]

11 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

So if they keep the guys that really count with the coding, and the marketing dptmt. do whatever they do, it is o.k. for me.

Or is anybody here who wants the marketing guys do the coding, and the SW-engineers write release letters instead ?

This is not an either-or (either developers do market and marketers do coding or vice-versa). Me, I'd prefer that the official release notes to be clear (easy to understand, and with known use cases) and justified (why Evernote thinks they're important). In my opinion, the ones we saw earlier, and the most recent lose clarity by being so casual..

On the other hand, whether the forum release notes need to exactly match the official release notes is a different matter. I think that the forum notice of release posts should include the official release notes as-is, but if Evernote staffer wants to add some lighthearted (or even better, more in-depth) commentary, then that's fine by me. Just keep them separate, please.

[MRJ 16]

21 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Or is anybody here who wants the marketing guys do the coding, and the SW-engineers write release letters instead ?

Wait! Come back! Where are you going with this.

This isn't about who writes the release notes, it's about the tone and professionalism of them.

[PinkElephant 8,111]

Tone is like a painting in the museum, you like it or not, I personally have not problem if the release notes do NOT read all like

• somebody has died, and this has to be announced,
• or because it’s Easter, we have hidden a few Easter-bugs in this, for you to discover ...

No problem with some easy-going release-text, as long as (!) it is followed by a brief and concise description of what I can expect when I install.

 

[CalS 5,280]

Well, this release is touts something new that already exists (the shortcut keys) plus a few bug fixes.  Meh for me, whatever the tone and timber.  Though professional does trump open mike night in my view.

[Scott T. 662]

I believe the tone of the release notes is intended to make Evernote personable. This is definitely not unique to Evernote, and we've received a number of positive responses to them as well. Given that past sentiment on the board was that Evernote was not taking any interest in users and not communicating, I think any attempts by the company to have a more personal conversation is a good thing. I personally enjoy the tone. The notes still convey what was changed, just with a little extra fun.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, Scott T. said:

The notes still convey what was changed, just with a little extra fun.

It's not my style but I'm not getting bent out of shape: I have more important issues.

[gazumped 11,665]

I agree there are more important things - and it is a shame to criticise staff who are making the effort to be more approachable - maybe the happy medium (in 'listening to users' style) would be to have the happy narrative first,  and a cold,  hard list of 'what just happened' at the end?

I do agree more details / more tech input would be better.

[CalS 5,280]

I don't know Gaz, maybe less about criticizing staff effort, and more about the end product.  Just needs some tuning as you say...

[s2sailor 2,197]

I think some of the staff may be unaware, or just tone deaf, to the disatisfaction many users have had over the last few years.  Releases that seem to go backwards and not forwards, new (trivial, at least to me) features added while key bugs go unfixed.  I won't rehash everything ... you get the picture.  The new focus on fixing bugs is applauded but the ship hasn't completely turned yet, so for me, the release notes should be detailed and a chance to highlight the effort the team is doing, instead they come across as light and instead of humorous, almost flippant.

Hurrumph ...

PS  - Get off my lawn

[MRJ 16]

48 minutes ago, CalS said:

I don't know Gaz, maybe less about criticizing staff effort, and more about the end product.  Just needs some tuning as you say...

One man's criticism is another man's feedback, and I thought those in the products and services game were supposed to love feedback.

If I erred and stumbled on a safe space where they are supposed to be able to come and see only the positive just let me know and I'll modify my posts accordingly.

[CalS 5,280]

1 minute ago, MRJ said:

One man's criticism is another man's feedback, and I thought those in the products and services game were supposed to love feedback.

If I erred and stumbled on a safe space where they are supposed to be able to come and see only the positive just let me know and I'll modify my posts accordingly.

You be fine, my view anyway.

[MRJ 16]

Yes, I be fine.

And I am sure they be thinking "Yay, Feedback"

[jefito 5,589]

Quote

Release Notes for Version 6.18

Note: Versions 6.18 is supported in Windows OS versions 7 and up.

Windows 6.18

New:

You don’t have time to hunt through menus, so we added some new shortcuts, like:

- FindInEvernote: Ctrl+Shift+F

- CaptureScreen: Ctrl+Alt+S

- CopySelection: Ctrl+Shift+Alt+A

Fixed:

- Printing a note with a PDF in it no longer prints a blank page first. Take that, "Big Paper”!

- We embiggened the “Save as template” icon, so it’s easier to see on HiDPI (that’s really high resolution) screens. Yay, buzzwords!

- Files you drag into Evernote will now stay where you put them. Seems obvious, right? We thought so too.

Ok, so more personable is fine, but very secondary to precision, in my opinion. My opinion: a little goes a long way, and it's easy to overdo. And if you're trying to appeal to a professional audience, too cutesy may not be the right tone for that.

Anyways, a quibble/question:

You don’t have time to hunt through menus, so we added some new shortcuts, like:

....

Overall, that's fine, but the addition of "like:" implies that there may be more shortcuts that were added. Were there? And more importantly, are they reflected in the official Evernote for Windows Shortcuts page (https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/209004807-Keyboard-shortcuts-in-Evernote-for-Windows)? And are they also in the menus? Because otherwise they're not really discoverable. And what do they do, specifically? E.g., what's the difference between CopySelection and what Crtrl+C does?

Edit: Ah, OK: these are new global shortcut key defaults for existing functionality. That could have been made clearer. A lot of people don't mentally distinguihs Windows shortcuts from application hotkeys -- I tend to forget myself, and I should know better.

 

[gazumped 11,665]

19 hours ago, MRJ said:

One man's criticism is another man's feedback, and I thought those in the products and services game were supposed to love feedback.

If I erred and stumbled on a safe space where they are supposed to be able to come and see only the positive just let me know and I'll modify my posts accordingly.

Yeah,  sorry - didn't mean to suggest that you were in any way out of line (if that's the impression you got) - not that it's my place to do so anyway. 

Your individual reaction was fine by me.  I was just thinking that Evernote staff - who may already have been reluctant to interact with us users out in the real world - might look at this increasingly lengthy thread and think: "maybe it's better to get on with my coding and just not say anything..."

Don't want to discourage them from posting,  and I'm the last person to criticise flippant comments (I have a history ) just feel it should be a bit more "Dragnet" - 'The facts,  man - just the facts.

 

 

[jefito 5,589]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

Don't want to discourage them from posting,  and I'm the last person to criticise flippant comments (I have a history ) just feel it should be a bit more "Dragnet" - 'The facts,  man - just the facts.

Ha-ha, you and me both, my Evernote-lovin' friend.

[PinkElephant 8,111]

After all this, next time they will throw the pure code at us, and make us find out what it means ...