Add color back to Checkboxes

[iszyman 8]

A long time ago, Evernote checkboxes would fill blue when they were checked. This made it easy for users' eyes to quickly see what was "done" and not done.

Given all the forum requests to make checked checkboxes grayed out, strikethrough automatically, or auto-sort to the bottom of the list, it seems like this would be a relatively low level of effort to revert back to the product. And it would improve the actual user experience for all of us.    

[gazumped 11,658]

20 hours ago, iszyman said:

A long time ago, Evernote checkboxes would fill blue when they were checked. This made it easy for users' eyes to quickly see what was "done" and not done.

Given all the forum requests to make checked checkboxes grayed out, strikethrough automatically, or auto-sort to the bottom of the list, it seems like this would be a relatively low level of effort to revert back to the product. And it would improve the actual user experience for all of us.    

Hi.  Since you're the first person to mention this (AFAIK) since the actual change,  it doesn't look like user experience has suffered unduly from the lack...  New versions are due out soon,  we'll have to wait to see what (if any) new features are included.

[aukirk 367]

Not sure if you have used the new Web Beta, but it does have “strikethough” and grey out for “checklists”.... and there is a different option for “checkboxes”, which can be inline (ie one line or checklist item can have a number of checkboxes, which have a green outline. I find them pretty easy to differentiate when complete, and really love the new web editor. Can’t wait for it to come to iPadOS and MacOS. 

[shaunfudd 2]

On 3/26/2020 at 2:56 PM, iszyman said:

A long time ago, Evernote checkboxes would fill blue when they were checked. This made it easy for users' eyes to quickly see what was "done" and not done.

Given all the forum requests to make checked checkboxes grayed out, strikethrough automatically, or auto-sort to the bottom of the list, it seems like this would be a relatively low level of effort to revert back to the product. And it would improve the actual user experience for all of us.    

Yes!  I miss this feature too.  Mine used to for whatever reason ... maybe a different app version.

 

Needless to say, I have some super-long checklists and they 

On 3/26/2020 at 2:56 PM, iszyman said:

A long time ago, Evernote checkboxes would fill blue when they were checked. This made it easy for users' eyes to quickly see what was "done" and not done.

Given all the forum requests to make checked checkboxes grayed out, strikethrough automatically, or auto-sort to the bottom of the list, it seems like this would be a relatively low level of effort to revert back to the product. And it would improve the actual user experience for all of us.    

Yes!  Exactly!  I miss the boxes filling in with color; I overlook boxes frequently now that the boxes and checks are just gray.  I have a few long checklists, so sometimes I will do a quick scroll to get to the bottom or top to avoid taking forever, which makes me way more liable to miss an unchecked box.  When they filled in with color, they were nearly impossible to miss.

 

I scoured the options hoping to at least be able to change it, then came to this forum for this very reason!

 

Hope that can be switched back or the option be added in.

[iszyman 8]

On 3/27/2020 at 2:27 PM, aukirk said:

Not sure if you have used the new Web Beta, but it does have “strikethough” and grey out for “checklists”.... and there is a different option for “checkboxes”, which can be inline (ie one line or checklist item can have a number of checkboxes, which have a green outline. I find them pretty easy to differentiate when complete, and really love the new web editor. Can’t wait for it to come to iPadOS and MacOS. 

Thanks @aukirk. Yes, I have used the Web Beta, but I don't use it daily because it's just not as fast to navigate around as Evernote for Mac. But the look of the checkboxes is definitely easier on the eyes. Green fills are just fine.  They were blue in the Evernote for Mac version.

I just don't understand why they would remove something that actually improved user experience by making checked boxes easier to see. When it happened, I contacted support, and the Evernote support person sort of coldly implied that they didn't think it was a big deal, and it was just part of some other bug fixes they had pushed.

If they did research and A/B tested this with a lot of users and found that colored checkboxes were actually not preferred, that's fine. I guess I have to live with it. But I'd suspect it was just some designer's opinion of what looks "cleaner" aesthetically. And the truth about UX is that what looks great is not always the same as what works great...

[aukirk 367]

@iszyman unfortunately in the world of software, it is tough to make everyone happy I suppose... but I agree it is an odd thing to drop.  Part of the reason I think Evernote had been so unable to adapt and improve the software in recent years is the fear that every change alienates certain users... the new Web editor is a pretty good example.  I love it... but I imagine there will be a storm of frustrated Mac OS users who will be upset when that is added to the Mac app.  I can't wait for the common editor to be added to the Mac app....

[iszyman 8]

Thanks @aukirk. Yes, it's impossible to please everyone all the time.

FYI — I started playing with the Evernote Web again to see the new Checklists and compare them to the free-standing Checkboxes.  

I created a few of each, and then I opened up the test note in my Evernote for Mac to see how they appear.  Turns out the functionality of the new Checklists are already working in Evernote for Mac, including drag-and-drop re-order, and indent/outdent using [Tab] or [Shift]+[Tab].

All you have to do to create a Checklist in Evernote for Mac is start a bulleted list [Cmd]+[Shift]+U and then add a Checkbox immediately after the first bullet [Cmd]+[Shift]+[T], and this sets up a Checklist with as many items as you want, if you hit [Return] after each item. 

The color formatting is still identical between both types of lists, but it's interesting that they've added this in.  I didn't see an announcement, so maybe they're waiting until the color is ready.

Is anyone else seeing this?

[aukirk 367]

@iszyman  the functionality of checklists vs. checkboxes was only added in the Web Editor (for now I guess)... since the first day it rolled out, the older editors have worked this way as they still sync back and you can view the same note in either the new editor or old editor.  I don't imagine they view this as a feature of the old editors that they would announce, as much as how the old editor displays the new feature of the common editor.

On a somewhat unrelated comment... one of my favorite uses of the new web editor is to combine checklists and check boxes, allowing a main task item, with several subtasks that can be checked off: