Jump to content
  • 6

Bring back Basic Evernote Search Functionality


Luispabreu

Idea

Deliver on your core promise to "help capture ideas and find them fast." Bring back the basic search functionality that automatically refreshed the list of notes that contained a search term as it was being typed.

In Evernote Legacy, you could select a notebook (or a stack), then right above the list of notes there was a search box. The search box would only search within the selected notebook or stack. When one started typing the list of matching notes containing the search term in their full text would automatically start to change as one typed. As one typed, one could see if the note in mind would appear, and if not, one could quickly modify the search term to find the note. Each letter typed or erased would instantaneously refresh the list of matching notes within the selected notebook or stack. This was a very effective way for Evernote to deliver on its promise to "help capture ideas and find them fast."

Yes, the new search functionality has predictive capabilities (suggested search-terms based on my behavior that frankly clutter both the screen and my thoughts as I'm trying to find something), it automatically changes & updates the list of exact matches with note titles, matching tags, and available filters. But one has to hit enter in order to start seeing a list of matching notes with the term somewhere in the full text. If the focal note is not in the results, one needs to go back and try other terms. This is very inefficient. 

Yes, I know you can select a notebook or stack, click on search, then click on "add filter" and search within the selected notebook (notice how it takes more clicks to accomplish this). But still, the list of notes in the notebook is not automatically updated as one types.

If you think about it, people are not looking for tags, filters, or words that are only in the note titles (which is what the current "improved" search function prioritizes). People are looking for notes!

Worst of all. In the new, "improved" search function, it is possible to type a search term that does not appear in the search-term suggestions, but that is indeed in the text of the notes! Psychologically, typing something and not seeing it in the list of possible 'matching' terms signals that it most not be a term in the notes! But, in fact, Evernote's current search function only includes suggestions for recent searches, titles of notes, tags, and other available filters: It does not include words contained in the full-text of notes. So one might type a search-term that would match with the full-text in a note, but the current search function will not put it as a suggestion. One needs to click "enter" and, only then, will one find out if the search has a matching note or not. Again, very inefficient. 

The current, "improved" search function might make it easy to filter & search based on tags, but it does not deliver on Evernote's main promise to "help capture and find ideas fast". 

Note that this basic functionality--automatically refreshing the possible list of matches in the full text--is standard practice in many search environments: it was present in the legacy version of Evernote, it is a simple function in MS Word, it is present in a simple search (i.e., ctr + f) in Acrobat Reader, etc. 

Despite my strong negative reaction to recent Evernote releases, I'm willing to speak to a PM about this via video-conference if you need further clarification. 

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment

13 replies to this idea

Recommended Posts

  • 0

I agree.  Again and again I'm thankful I can return to an old version of Evernote.  I use tags to group notes in idea threads. 

I'm a minister.  Lets say I have a tag for "compassion sermon".  I don't want to search for those words, I want to search for that tag, and as far as I can tell, I can now only search for those words (and the note I put in may not have either or both words in it (other than the tag) OR both words are in TONS of notes, but not the notes I want for this sermon.  HOW can I search for the tags I spend a lot of time putting in, not a predictive algorithm which literally gives me 10 to 100 x the number of hits I want (And what I put in may or may not be there).

I don't think I should have to use a filter for this?  Just one day it disappears??

Help very welcome.  

 

 

 

Link to comment
  • 0

Legacy allowed to use wildcards I'm tag searches. Example:

"tag:y2*" finds notes with tags y2010 OR y2011 OR y2012 OR... 

Now it is impossible to specify an equivalent search phrase because wildcards are no more supported. Using keyword "any:" is not a solution because it cannot be combined with something an "and:". 

Link to comment
  • 0
13 hours ago, AlexaUU said:

HOW can I search for the tags I spend a lot of time putting in,

There are lots of strategies and which one you find easiest will be a personal choice.

  • Filter for the tag using the sidebar or the filter menu. Remember if you have lots of tags you can search for tags in the filter menu
  • Start typing the tag in the search field. Sadly only two "add filter" items come up initially at the bottom of the search list so you may have to type alot of characters if you have lots of tags starting with the same characters
  • Search specifically for the tag you want. Remember to use quotation marks for tags containing spaces:
tag:"compassion sermon"

image.png.83a4b94c8c6ec8f5658e4289741e62c7.png

Link to comment
  • 0
2 hours ago, Mike P said:

That is not my experience.
<ScreenShot with an example of tag:$*>

Nice - I use a similar system of tags that start with a special character. In my case all tags for workflow tracking start with ">". So "tag:>*" should list all notes within my current workflow like "tag:>0-now" OR "tag:>1-next" OR "tag:>5-wait" OR "tag:>9-finalize". But the result is

image.png.61be1a5e736583a95171444f3e078ec3.png

all the time 😞. Legacy works correct and shows all currently handled notes.

This means: Wildcards do work in all cases. I checked it for some other special characters:

  • $ is OK (your example, not used on my side)
  • =, _, @, ~, # and ? are OK (also used in my system)
  • > and < do NOT work (heavily used in my system)
  • others are not checked so far....

image.png
^sorry - ignore this picture - cannot remove it by myself 😞

Link to comment
  • 0
3 hours ago, AlbertR said:

> and < do NOT work (heavily used in my system)

I guess there are certain characters (>, <, =, + etc) that we should avoid using because they have specific meanings in certain search syntaxes. Having said that I use "+" alot and it works fine.and "=" obviously works for you.

Link to comment
  • 0

Arghl - I cannot see specific meanings of these characters in their search syntax. And even if you're right, they should mention it anywhere in the documentation.

I use ">" to point to the future and "<" to mark something in the past - was OK for many, many years and is broken now without a valid reason and without announcing it anywhere. 😡

But THX for looking into it on your side, @Mike P 🙂

Link to comment
  • 0
23 minutes ago, AlbertR said:

I cannot see specific meanings of these characters in their search syntax.

Not in their search syntax but in other search syntaxes. Hence they may be banned in some underlying code. At the end of the day if we choose to use mathematical operators as normal characters we cannot really be that surprised when it backfires on us. Perhaps I should replace my tags starting with + with something else.

Link to comment
  • 0

OK, so my idea (not tried out so far) to use "/" and "\" to replace my beloved ">" and "<" might be a bad idea? 😉

At the moment I'll stay with Legacy and wait for an answer to my offical support ticket (that lasts from October last year, got the 3rd ticket-ID but neither a solution nor an explanation - only a "I'm transferring this ticket to our technical support team" from where it was moved to engineering where it got lost)

  • Haha 1
Link to comment
  • 0
1 minute ago, AlbertR said:

OK, so my idea (not tried out so far) to use "/" and "\" to replace my beloved ">" and "<" might be a bad idea? 😉

Well if + and = didn't work I would say definitely don't do it! I'm only speculating and the characters that V10 doesn't like may just be random. You could even add some nice emoji icons - look nice but a pain if you need to type them alot!

image.png.24355b7612fc0c004f473371f003b2c8.png

Link to comment
  • 0
3 hours ago, Mike P said:

Well if + and = didn't work I would say definitely don't do it! I'm only speculating and the characters that V10 doesn't like may just be random. You could even add some nice emoji icons - look nice but a pain if you need to type them alot!

image.png.24355b7612fc0c004f473371f003b2c8.png

As someone who also tagged projects with >projectname , I can confirm that not being able to make use of < & > in wildcard searches is a pain. As you rightly point out, an emoji (or many alternatives) require additional key strokes to apply. To be honest, I even fond $projectname not ideal.  

Link to comment
  • 0
On 3/20/2021 at 4:36 PM, Luispabreu said:

Deliver on your core promise to "help capture ideas and find them fast." Bring back the basic search functionality that automatically refreshed the list of notes that contained a search term as it was being typed.

In Evernote Legacy, you could select a notebook (or a stack), then right above the list of notes there was a search box. The search box would only search within the selected notebook or stack. When one started typing the list of matching notes containing the search term in their full text would automatically start to change as one typed. As one typed, one could see if the note in mind would appear, and if not, one could quickly modify the search term to find the note. Each letter typed or erased would instantaneously refresh the list of matching notes within the selected notebook or stack. This was a very effective way for Evernote to deliver on its promise to "help capture ideas and find them fast."

Yes, the new search functionality has predictive capabilities (suggested search-terms based on my behavior that frankly clutter both the screen and my thoughts as I'm trying to find something), it automatically changes & updates the list of exact matches with note titles, matching tags, and available filters. But one has to hit enter in order to start seeing a list of matching notes with the term somewhere in the full text. If the focal note is not in the results, one needs to go back and try other terms. This is very inefficient. 

Yes, I know you can select a notebook or stack, click on search, then click on "add filter" and search within the selected notebook (notice how it takes more clicks to accomplish this). But still, the list of notes in the notebook is not automatically updated as one types.

If you think about it, people are not looking for tags, filters, or words that are only in the note titles (which is what the current "improved" search function prioritizes). People are looking for notes!

Worst of all. In the new, "improved" search function, it is possible to type a search term that does not appear in the search-term suggestions, but that is indeed in the text of the notes! Psychologically, typing something and not seeing it in the list of possible 'matching' terms signals that it most not be a term in the notes! But, in fact, Evernote's current search function only includes suggestions for recent searches, titles of notes, tags, and other available filters: It does not include words contained in the full-text of notes. So one might type a search-term that would match with the full-text in a note, but the current search function will not put it as a suggestion. One needs to click "enter" and, only then, will one find out if the search has a matching note or not. Again, very inefficient. 

The current, "improved" search function might make it easy to filter & search based on tags, but it does not deliver on Evernote's main promise to "help capture and find ideas fast". 

Note that this basic functionality--automatically refreshing the possible list of matches in the full text--is standard practice in many search environments: it was present in the legacy version of Evernote, it is a simple function in MS Word, it is present in a simple search (i.e., ctr + f) in Acrobat Reader, etc. 

Despite my strong negative reaction to recent Evernote releases, I'm willing to speak to a PM about this via video-conference if you need further clarification. 


I totally agree! This is a TERRIBLE IDEA to remove the SEARCH, along with the idea to remove a manual sync button! 😳 
SYNC - Because there have been many times when something was erase, damaged or actually deleted in error and ONLY because I had a manual sync button was I able to troubleshoot, selectively choose to get the original file off the server or another device to replenish it on the device where the problem occurred. Had I not been able to manually sync I would have lost a LOT of data!
Evernote, you do so much so well, please don't mess with success! 😮I LOVE and DEPEND on EVERNOTE, some 3000 notes worth, for year, my whole life, all my vendors, creditors, contacts, EVERYTHING!And I have heavily edified EVERNOTE to my client base and colleagues,
but this change to 
NO SYNC BUTTON, on top of the inconveniently located MISSING SEARCH BAR, are DEAL KILLER AWFUL decisions!
My anxieties are multiplied by the former, and my work is super interrupted constantly by the latter* 

* I work with Evernote open on the left side of my computer ALWAYS, for updating every record for everything I do for anything in my life or work.I usually hide the notes list on the left off the screen, working only in an open note on the right side, moving the Evernote open app ONLY when I MUST access the notes list....which was rarely before this upgrade, because there was always a search space ABOVE each note. Now I have to totally interrupt my workflow, access the open doc, slide it left on top of all my other work, and it is WASTING TIME and FOCUS.


🙏 PLEASE FIX BOTH ASAP 🙏
Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...