How to edit Webclip Note?

[ysliew138 0]

Hello,

Notice that the v10 doesn't allow edit for webclip note, is this intended?

May I request to have this feature back which is available in older version?

 

Thanks.

[NotaBene 0]

It is a significant loss of functionality for me too, as I used to Clip & Annotate a lot. I would not say that it renders the Web Clipper useless, but it is certainly not as useful as it used to be. 

Please consider re-enabling this functionality.

 

 

[Frank Kuypers 7]

The problem with “simplify” is that the entire layout gets ruined. In the in older version when editing webslips was possible, the layout remained the same. (more or less). And THAT is what people , like me, would like to have back !

[DotMish 3]

This change is a significant reduction in functionality.  In the past, when WebClipper would have a bit of trouble clipping a complex page (typically with images) I could simply visit the note, delete the garbled image, and then paste in the correct image.

Now I can't.  Some observations:

• Before I could simply select text and copy.  Very useful for programming notes where I want to take code from an article and incorporate into a programming language editor.  Now this is multi-step (if it works).
• The "simplify and make editable" function garbles stuff even worse in the situations where WebClipper has a bit of trouble.

Don't know if you have Medium access but try clipping this using "Article" in WebClipper: https://towardsdatascience.com/neural-networks-are-fundamentally-bayesian-bee9a172fad8  And BTW "Simplified article" screws up a lot of the images from this Medium post so I couldn't use it.

As you scroll down thru the clip when it gets to Evernote, some of the images are wacko - almost like they are magnified and out of focus.  Using "simplify and make editable" makes this way worse - now there are more giant out of focus images, and worse yet, there are a bunch that are tiny clips with spinning circles on them.  Try to copy and you get tiny tiny images.  Useless.

So consider this a request to revert (somehow) to the old functionality.  Or invest some serious work in "simplify and make editable" to fix a lot of bugs.  Perhaps I should try gathering up some of these problems and submit them as issues.

[Xiaohui 1]

This is the most disappointing thing I found in EN. My favorite feature is rug pulled from me.

[MickyD 0]

On 10/9/2020 at 3:02 PM, Mike P said:

You have to "simplify and make editable" which is available from the pop up mini menu when you click on the grey header to the web content.

1. for most of my 13 years of subscription this was not necessary
2. both before and after results in a note that looks completely different from the source. again wasnt the case for ~13 years

[ysliew138 0]

On 10/9/2020 at 3:02 PM, Mike P said:

You have to "simplify and make editable" which is available from the pop up mini menu when you click on the grey header to the web content.

What I'm expecting is editing without format changed, same feature just as existing one in older version.

Thanks.

 

[PinkElephant 8,107]

In fact nothing was removed, and editing a web clip is really simple with v10.

First I think it is a good idea to set the web clip to read only, to avoid unwanted changes.

When you want to edit it, open the note, click in the header area where is says „Web Clip“ and now select „Simplify formatting“. In the iOS app there is a little magic wand that does the same.

This converts the Web Clip somehow, and from then on it is editable.

[thatzmine 2]

On 6/7/2021 at 10:56 AM, Mike P said:

13 years ago web pages were much simpler with basic html and none of the bells and whistles associated with modern web pages. May be the web pages you want to clip are still relatively simple in which case I sympathise. My experience is that the old way of doing things routinely messed up the formatting while the new system is better albeit with the significant disadvange of not being able to even highlight text. 

This post is lacking technical reference and therefore it should be disregarded particularly in its take on HTML, the "old way", and more.

Evernote is a company that probably survived because it kept up with the need for users to save and edit web pages as they are presented --   I am having trouble seeing how to do this properly in today's Evernote.

I hope C-level management will take swift action and seriously ponder the question: who hired the responsible project/product managers?

[carlsoncreative 0]

@PinkElephant You are saying that I can somehow edit the raw HTML file within a Web Clip/HTML Content? This could be the answer. I'd love to know how.

Magic wand does me no good. I must maintain the layout or this tool is not useful for my workflow.

[Mike P 2,641]

You have to "simplify and make editable" which is available from the pop up mini menu when you click on the grey header to the web content.

[mi_cha 141]

8 hours ago, ysliew138 said:

What I'm expecting is editing without format changed, same feature just as existing one in older version.

Thanks.

 

Me too. My notes are all messed up

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

This "make editable" feature has been part of the Web client for awhile, and I've found it more useful than the old Windows desktop program in eliminating Web formatting that I don't want. But yes, if you wanted that formatting but just wanted to edit the text, the new way is less desirable.

[Vitor Amorim 1]

Hi! I mostly use Evernote in Windows desktop and although new version 10 is more fancy, not being able to edit webclip (HTML) notes is a major setback for me! I'm evaluating downgrade to previous version and when it's no longer supported I will evaluate other alternatives to Evernote.

Although webclip feature is simply amazing and the best I have ever seen, I regularly need to add some text/remarks in the middle of the webclips. Usually, simplifying the webclip "kills" its formatting, images are lost and the note is nowhere as usefull as before...

If it was possible to export the webclips to allow full editing in another app (for example, Microsoft Word) it could help a lot (maybe I could edit the webclip outside of Evernote and then replace the content with the edited one without losing any formatting).

I once was a paid user hopping that editing capabilities could improve in new versions but unfortunately what I see is just the opposite.

One thing is for sure, I'm not returning to being a paid user if webclip editing is not possible. Please add it back!

Thank you, best regards!

[Mark10001 0]

I would also like to edit a web clip. I used to highlight sections in a clipped page, but now this is only possible together with simplify. But simplifying totally messes up the page and is not an option for me. 

[MuYiMing 2]

Just adding another vote to the complaints here ... want to be able to edit a web clip as we could before without destroying the formatting. In particular, I would like to be able to just highlight the sections that made me want to clip the piece in the first place, so when I go back days/weeks/months later, I can zoom in to the key points.

[Schakron 1]

Same here. This is much worse than it was before the release.

If there is a way to change it. please do so.

[GMart 1]

Yes, please allow us to edit web clips -- it is very limiting to not be able to do this!

[Michaelovsky 0]

Also vote to be able to edit web clips (Windows). I used  to highlight, annotate, etc. Can't do that anymore!

[thelxinoe 0]

I use Evernote (Legacy) for just two features that used to be free. One is the nested tags and full page for tag management and the other is this, clipping a web page and then editing it, annotating it, highlighting, adding pictures, all without losing the original formatting. "simplify and make editable" or leaving it in a non-editable, ugly webclip/html-note rectangle defeats the whole purpose of Evernote for me. I never paid for Evernote because I only need those two (removed) free features, not any of the paid ones. I would happily pay for a competitor if I found one that even just did the same html web-clipping editing as Evernote Legacy.

[Frank Kuypers 7]

Editing a web-clip is essential for me as well. In the older-versions that was not any problem and makes Evernote even more functional for me. Not having this is anymore is a great loss of functionality. Can we please have this back again ( in the way it was )

Much appreciated !

[SallyE 0]

Trying to use the new version without being able to edit or delete parts of a web clipping are so frustrating.   Even simple things like clipping a recipe and wanting to add my own notes are not possible now.  That changes so much of the functionality of what was useful in Evernote before.   Please add this back!! Thanks!

[hhkim 0]

That's the reason number one, why I was back to the old legacy version.

It seemed that there's some moment we can edit the web clip even in the new version at the very initial, but some tricky way was needed, and they locked up the way.

However, I understand that the func. need huge things to be concerned, but Evernote should  back this func. back!

That's because that feature is one of Evernote's key differences.

[Xiaohui 1]

Please add this functionality back. Why was it removed in the first place?

[Mike P 2,641]

4 hours ago, Frank Kuypers said:

And THAT is what poeple , like me, would like to have back !

Together with the web circa 2010 where it worked really well? With the increasing complexity of web pages I find that 

 

4 hours ago, Frank Kuypers said:

the layout remained the same. (more or less)

is normally less rather than more.

[Barbie-qu 2]

Just adding my voice to this request to reverse this dreadful loss of utility. Honestly, what was the Product Owner thinking when they signed off on removing editability of web clips.

The result is that i use Evernote less frequently than before.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

No loss, you can make any web clip editable.

Personally I think it was a clever decision to preserve clipped content in a container „as it is“, and convert it when editing is requested. It makes clipping more robust when there is no editing possible on the original clip.

Editing after conversion worked for me without problems. If you want to preserve the original clip, duplicate the note, and convert only one of the two web clips.

[MickyD 0]

8 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

No loss, you can make any web clip editable.

Personally I think it was a clever decision to preserve clipped content in a container „as it is“, and convert it when editing is requested. It makes clipping more robust when there is no editing possible on the original clip.

Editing after conversion worked for me without problems. If you want to preserve the original clip, duplicate the note, and convert only one of the two web clips.

1. why would anyone want read-only notes by default?
2. that look completely different to the source?
3. compared to Evernote first 10 years of life these read-only, stripped-down, duplicated notes not only represent poor UX decisions but raises the question of Evernote's usefulness compared to say OneNote going forward

 

[Mike P 2,641]

On 6/6/2021 at 6:00 AM, MickyD said:

• for most of my 13 years of subscription this was not necessary
• both before and after results in a note that looks completely different from the source. again wasnt the case for ~13 years

13 years ago web pages were much simpler with basic html and none of the bells and whistles associated with modern web pages. May be the web pages you want to clip are still relatively simple in which case I sympathise. My experience is that the old way of doing things routinely messed up the formatting while the new system is better albeit with the significant disadvange of not being able to even highlight text. 

[thatzmine 2]

this is not what i paid for and I will be asking for a refund. you offered a service and it is not working.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

If you want it just the old way, install the legacy client.

I am pretty sure your subscription will expire and be renewed before the legacy stuff will stop to work (no inside knowledge…). Formally once you renew, you know what is in the package, no more complaints.

Beside this I totally agree with @Mike P . There is a ton of web editors out there, each one trying to create web sites that look better than the competition. Wordpress alone supports 2 official editors, and there are plenty more 3rd party ones to use. And this is just one CMS.

It is frivolous to expect EN to build ONE editor that is able to modify ALL existing (crooked) HTML code. They have chosen a very clever alternative by first simplifying the code before editing it.

If you want to keep the original and edit it, make a duplicate before you simplify the web clip.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

What do you expect ? An editor that can edit any BS a web designer invents ?

EN took the only way to assure that it’s users will be able to edit web content, no matter from where, no matter with which gimmicks the original page may be loaded.

You can always keep a copy of the original page by creating a note duplicate before simplifying.

[markav 0]

I know this is an old thread, but it's at the top of Google's page ranking.

You can use Evernote Legacy in parallel with Evernote 10.x. Run both at the same time. Edit your web clips in Legacy and they will sync with 10.x immediately. No brainer.

Still, Evernote should bring the editing capability back to 10.x. I have no idea what they were thinking. Duh. I can just picture a team meeting where the developers say that they need to bring that capabilty back, but the manager(s) say "No, it's not necessary. Users won't care. Executive decision. Woops. Dumb-ass.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

You can edit - just simplify the web clip to enable the editing option. If you want to keep the original, duplicate the note before simplifying. If you want to annotate the original view, create a pdf from the web site and annotate it.

There are enough options to do whatever you want to do - short of HTML editing, which is a job for specialized tools, not a general purpose note editor.

Nothing dumb-ass in this, it is explained in this thread why it makes sense. Some posts here appear dumb-assier to me …

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

I first started using v. 10 at all precisely for its ability to make Web-clipped content editable, in a way generally superior to the legacy v. 6. I did that in the Evernote Web browser client, while continuing to do most of my work in v. 6. Meanwhile, v. 10 continued to improve, and I now use it happily (but continue to use v. 6 on an older Windows machine that is gradually being phased out of use).

[Ryq G 27]

I just had to search for 15 minutes to figure out why I couldn't edit a note.  I tried to delete some of it and nothing happened.  There should not be different rules for different ways that information was edited.  But furthermore, there is no error message.  I searched in help and found nothing.  Then I found this one message.  The answer is simple, clicking on the header for permission.

Whether a note has text that I typed, pasted, imported, sent via mail, or sent via web clipper, working with that note should be the same.  No one would expect for there to be different rules.

At the very least, the header should be changed to "Click here to edit." 

Software should use standard commands.  They should be consistent, both internally and with others. Commands should be clear. Unless it is impossible, similar terminology, models, need to be used.  I remember early days of DOS.  Lotus used the slash key.  Wordstar used dot commands. Word Perfect used the escape key.

We all know Ctrl-C, Ctrl-V, Ctrl-X.  Escape can be used to leave a menu. Every command needs to be visible, or nested in a family.  This form is clear to anyone.  But I would never think to click on a header to get permission to edit SOME notes.  The fact that people thought they could not do this should indicate that there is a problem,.

Good User Interfaces, Clear Terminology, and Consistency makes software easy to use, saves time, and means minimal learning.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

What pretty much sums it up: There should be a help document that clearly says what to do.

@Anibal I. I think this should be taken care of - the current help documents don’t say „simplify first, then edit“.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

@Ryq G, I admit I don't find it to be a big problem now that I'm used to it. It was certainly surprising when I first discovered it (in the Web client), but the very ability to proceed to editing text at all was a revelation compared to Evernote 6. Even so, it's not perfect--I sometimes find that after simplifying there are long strings of spaces that have to be deleted. The uninformative gray box remains from the first days this was rolled out, and definitely could use some indicators.

I don't know, but I presume the reason for enclosing clipped text (and, I find, text from emails) in the Web box/frame is to allow the possibility of retaining all the original formatting if desired, with the possibility of editing it on purpose but not accidentally. Sort of an "opt in" approach to editing Web-originated content.

[Mike P 2,641]

1 hour ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Even so, it's not perfect--I sometimes find that after simplifying there are long strings of spaces that have to be deleted.

I agree that sometimes it gets screwed up. One approach to try is to go back to the original webpage and try clipping using "simplified article" from there. I find the two methods give subtley different results and sometimes one just works better than the other.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

Yes, "simplified article" is generally a great option, unless you're trying for an archived version of the Web page, or there are images you really want that it excludes.

[Ryq G 27]

Why should it require a help document?

I like being different.   I say I march to the beat of a different accordion.

But I like standards in software. I shouldn't need to guess that the URL is really a command. And I shouldn't need to find a command to edit it.  AT least give me an error message.  Yes it was not too difficult after the first time.   But why?  Why reinvent the wheel?

IF the step-is required, why not just have the menu options appear above.  Or instead of the URL, "Options".

[PinkElephant 8,107]

To send feedback to EN, use the feedback function of the clients.

[Ryq G 27]

Thanks.

 

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

On 6/27/2022 at 1:35 PM, Ryq G said:

I say I march to the beat of a different accordion.

[carlsoncreative 0]

Been using Evernote for 11 years, took a 2 year break for COVID and came back to V10. The removal of this one feature will sink Evernote. I cannot believe this functionality is gone in V10. Ruins what I use Evernote for. I hope they bring it back soon.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

You can edit every web clip: Click on the note, click „Edit“, tap into the header of the web clip, tap on the magic wand, it simplifies the clip, you edit it.

This is how it is done, it works. 

If you want to edit raw, plain HTML code, you need to use a HTML editor. These are special programs, not made for note taking, but made for web editing. There are options for free, and there are apps that will cost several hundreds of $ £ € per year for the subscription fees, and everything in between.

Do not expect the logic of simplifying before editing will change again, ever. And EN is from my observation doing fine this way, thank you for your concern.

If you want another function, you have 2 options: Send feedback to EN and hope they will sink a lot of dev capacity into „your“ black hole, or use a different app. Only one of these 2 options have a good chance to work out.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

This thread is almost 2 years old, was discussed off and on till June 2021, then resuscitated a couple of months ago. Over the course of that time, Evernote 10 developed a good deal. (For instance this post from February 2021 links to a page with complex figures and formulas and says it displays badly when clipped to Evernote; but I just clipped it and it seems fine, apart from different fonts being used.)

So I presume you're not just saying +1 to the problems from October 2020 but are interacting with the current version. Can you say more about what exactly you need to do that isn't working? That would help the discussion here--and even better would be to give feedback or raise a support ticket to Evernote, to help the develop of the program.

[carlsoncreative 0]

On 10/9/2020 at 12:59 AM, ysliew138 said:

v10 doesn't allow edit for webclip

@Dave-in-Decatur I'm specifically referencing what the OP stated 2 years ago. Prior to v10, we could edit webclip. This feature is gone. I'm not here to discuss the improvements in the output of webclips since 2010, I'm here to discuss why the ability to edit webclips was ever removed and when it will return.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

Sure, you need a web editor. A quick search brought up these apps, but there is a ton more: VS Code, Sublime Text and Atom.

They may look a lot like programming tools, but this is exactly the point: A modern website is so complex, that you can’t simply edit it like you edit a Word page. The page is full of code, and editing means changing the code, not only the visible content.

EN decided not to allow editing the full web clip, because of the complexity of the underlying structure. For annotation the approach to simplify, then edit works fine. If you really want to redact the full, complex site, you practically need to redesign it.

@Dave-in-Decatur EN has defined that web clips as clipped originally will display, but are read only. You can copy content from it, but you can’t edit them. If you want to edit, you first need to simplify. Simplifying means that most of the web design is thrown away, keeping the raw content. It is like clipping in reader mode.

If one wants to keep the clip as it was, you can duplicate the note, simplify the duplicate and then merge the 2 resulting notes. You then have a note with the simplified content, ready to edit, and the original web clip, preserving the original page as good as possible, read only.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

4 minutes ago, carlsoncreative said:

@Dave-in-Decatur I'm specifically referencing what the OP stated 2 years ago. Prior to v10, we could edit webclip. This feature is gone. I'm not here to discuss the improvements in the output of webclips since 2010, I'm here to discuss why the ability to edit webclips was ever removed and when it will return.

Well, as has been mentioned in this thread, it is certainly possible. Since it doesn't work as you wish ("Magic wand does me no good"), I'm just asking what it is specifically that it does wrong. As for the old version, again, can you say exactly what you can do there (it's still possible to install and use it) that is no longer possible in v. 10? I ask this because I don't know. The editing of Web clips that I do is pretty basic, and I find that it often works better in v. 10 than it did in v. 6.

[carlsoncreative 0]

@PinkElephant Thanks for educating me on web editors, their cost and the complexity of code. May I ask how this helps me edit my webclips in Evernote? Your previous comments seemed to imply that, using one of the apps mentioned, I could edit the HTML inside of an Evernote webclip. If this is possible, please clarify.

[PinkElephant 8,107]

No, you can’t edit a web clip inside of EN. The web clip in its original state is read only, it can’t be changed.

You can simplify it, and then you can edit it. Simplifying keeps the full content, but removes most of the complex code.

If you really want to dive deep, there is software to collect the full, nacked, raw HTML code from a website, and file it away on your disk. I am on the Mac, and there a good program is „Site Sucker“. The app symbol is a vacuum cleaner, and it describes pretty well what it does when used on a website.

Then open this folder holding all the content with a HTML editor, and start changing it.

You will find out that modern websites build by content management systems and on technology like CSS have nothing to do with the websites of old. These sites are build from a lot of small building blocks, each one holding a piece of the content, with the code controlling how a browser will stitch everything together to show a „normal“ web page.

People who edit this stuff are web designers, and they typically specialize in a handful of tools to perform their job. If you really want to edit the original of a site, you need to learn at least some basics, and some tools.

EN is a note taking app, it does exactly for what it is build, and this is NOT web editing. Nice challenge, wrong tool.

[carlsoncreative 0]

@PinkElephant EN actually was an editor of HTML for a decade. It worked beautifully. It brought value. Obviously it was loved by many, this thread being one of many I've found on the topic. In fact, you could say EN is still a web editor given EN Legacy allows me to edit content and highlight webclips as desired. 

EN, if v10 can't handle the complexities of visually editing saved webclips, at least give those of us who can write/edit HTML the ability to edit and save the raw HTML within that saved clip. The magic wand to simplify the clip is a good option when not needing to maintain the original aesthetics. But so often in my workflow this does me no good. Here is a screenshot of how I'd imagine that looking. Would love to see it someday. I believe it's a good compromise.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

16 hours ago, carlsoncreative said:

The magic wand to simplify the clip is a good option when not needing to maintain the original aesthetics. But so often in my workflow this does me no good.

I promise not to ask again, but could we get a couple of concrete examples? Esp. of how the "old" EN does Web clip editing that v. 10 fails at.

[agsteele 2,948]

Actually, the OP has raised this question when v10 was first launched. @carlsoncreative has just reaffirmed that it is still missing.

In desktop Legacy apps, a web clips appears in the note and the content just edits. It appears as text and images like any other note.

As we all know, v10 works differently with the concept of containers for various content types. These containers are locked to preserve the content and layout from the original source and to ensure it is rendered reliably across all platforms. As a result the option is provided to unlock and simplify the content. This ensures that the simplified and now editable content is also rendered reliably across platforms.

It is one of the many things that changed and I've had to learn how to work in a different manner. We can debate the differences but at this point things are where they are.

I quite like @carlsoncreative's suggestion although I'm not expecting a sudden response. I'm aware of a couple of returning functions that we might well see in the next month or two that have will taken two years to appear. I hope @carlsoncreative will make his suggestion to the developers via a support ticket but the response, if it comes, will not be sudden.

[karlos1234 15]

I tried clicking on the header multiple times without results. Finally I realized that 'header' means ' header of the web clip, not header of the note. I clicked the magic wand, the clip became editable, and then I was able to clean it up with reasonable ease. I don't remember how it used to work but at least for this clip I'm ok for now.

[shadowmoses 16]

Honestly, it probably makes more sense to save webpages as a PDF for annotating in Evernote (or elsewhere) than use the Web Clipper and be forced to lose all formatting via simplification. Sort of defeats the purpose of clipping in the first place if the end result ends up looking like a skeleton. At least with PDF captures, some formatting would be retained.

[Mike P 2,641]

8 hours ago, shadowmoses said:

Honestly, it probably makes more sense to save webpages as a PDF for annotating in Evernote (or elsewhere) than use the Web Clipper and be forced to lose all formatting via simplification. Sort of defeats the purpose of clipping in the first place if the end result ends up looking like a skeleton. At least with PDF captures, some formatting would be retained.

I think this is probably the best solution at the moment. In general I like the Web Clip boxes as I have far fewer failures than in the old system. I do wish though that I could at least highlight text without having to loose the formatting. Sometimes I do a quick test to see what the "Simplified and make editable" text looks like and then an undo if I don't like it - I'm quite surprised that undo works so well in this scenario!