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The new press "/" suggestion: Annoyance or bug?


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  • GarySam changed the title to The new press "/" suggestion: Annoyance or bug?
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Posted

Hi.  As we've said to the many previous other posters of this issue - not yet.  Please use feedback@Evernote.com to register your concern - we're mainly users here.

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Posted

Maybe mostly users, but it is an Evernote discussion forum ... here's my thoughts:

 

Evernote ... love all you are doing ... long time customer ... but the new insert / function is really bad ... I use Evernote everyday ... and all through the day ... this function is very difficult to digest ... it disrupts the workflow .... make where users and toggle it on and off if they want it ... our make it a key command ... it is AWEFUL that it auto=populates .... thank you for your consideration ...

 

Always, Evernote!!

  • Like 4
Posted

I think the /-command feature is extremely useful. If we are going to do anything, please consider just making it an option for users rather than removing it entirely. 

Posted
1 hour ago, JSM47 said:

I think the /-command feature is extremely useful. If we are going to do anything, please consider just making it an option for users rather than removing it entirely. 

Most people just want a stop to the constant reminder 

image.png.a24dc69bb4c180a73df7d90c0c066303.png

not the actual function. I can reluctantly live with the function (although I won't personally uses it) but EN should realise that if I type 14/ I'm probably not going to want to insert an image next. Alternatively have a well thought out shortcut like the markdown type autoformatting options that have never in 10 years got in the way of my workflow.

  • Like 2
Posted
On 3/14/2024 at 10:12 AM, Mike P said:

Most people just want a stop to the constant reminder

I can't say what "most people" want, but the / "feature" is incredibly annoying for anybody who types / regularly, which I do. Perhaps the most egregious example is typing and/or, where Evernote thinks I want to create an audio recording. NO! I can't type in a URL without a popup appearing in the middle, right after I type http:/!

I don't want a popup whenever I type a / character! I don't want a popup that doesn't go away until I'm lucky enough to type a sequence of letters that doesn't match anything inside any of the words in the popup. Note that the or in and/or matches letters in the middle of "audio recording". Who thought that was a good idea?!

If you really think it's a good idea to have a shortcut that doesn't require a command key (and I don't), make it something people don't type regularly, not a single character people type all the time. For example, people don't type ,, (two commas) very often as it doesn't make syntactic sense. But a single / ? What were your designers thinking?

And, yeah, the in-line advertisement staring me in the face while I'm in the middle of typing in notes is also incredibly stupid and annoying.

This one "feature" is so awful that it will drive me away from Evernote, which I've been using — and paying for — for ten years. Please fix it ASAP.

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Posted
1 hour ago, RoyLeban said:

If you really think it's a good idea to have a shortcut that doesn't require a command key (and I don't), make it something people don't type regularly, not a single character people type all the time.

We're just fellow users here. If you want to ensure EN get the message you can feedback to them directly at feedback@evernote.com

 

Posted

A somewhat different opinion...  But if you just keep typing, none of the functions get in the way, right?  It's just the display.  So, if I type 17/3/24, I still get the date... or if I type and/or that works fine too...  just my personal opinion but the menu pop up comes and goes so fast it doesn't bother me at all - half the time I'm looking at the keyboard to make sure I hit the / and I don't even see it.  And the ability to get the + functions without having to mouse up to the menu bar is an efficiency improvement for me.

 

Vinnie

  • Level 5
Posted
1 hour ago, VincentC said:

A somewhat different opinion...  But if you just keep typing, none of the functions get in the way, right?  It's just the display.  So, if I type 17/3/24, I still get the date... or if I type and/or that works fine too...  just my personal opinion but the menu pop up comes and goes so fast it doesn't bother me at all - half the time I'm looking at the keyboard to make sure I hit the / and I don't even see it.  And the ability to get the + functions without having to mouse up to the menu bar is an efficiency improvement for me.

Not sure if we're saying the same thing, but when I type and/or, the menu pops up on /, on "o" shows all options with an "o" in their names, then on "r" all options with "or" in their names (i.e. Audio recording), and only disappears on the next character. Actually, it doesn't disappear once you've typed something that's not on the menu; "Add an element" stays even when there are no elements to add. It only goes away when you type a separator (space or punctuation). If you're a touch typist and not looking at the keyboard, this is phenomenally distracting, since you're used to monitoring what appears on the screen to see if you typed correctly, and when that mess pops up your long-trained typing functions say "Wait, I didn't do that"--this is just brain linkages working, and will take quite awhile to untrain. 😡

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Posted
9 hours ago, RoyLeban said:

I can't say what "most people" want, but the / "feature" is incredibly annoying for anybody who types / regularly, which I do. Perhaps the most egregious example is typing and/or, where Evernote thinks I want to create an audio recording. NO! I can't type in a URL without a popup appearing in the middle, right after I type http:/!

I don't want a popup whenever I type a / character! I don't want a popup that doesn't go away until I'm lucky enough to type a sequence of letters that doesn't match anything inside any of the words in the popup. Note that the or in and/or matches letters in the middle of "audio recording". Who thought that was a good idea?!

If you really think it's a good idea to have a shortcut that doesn't require a command key (and I don't), make it something people don't type regularly, not a single character people type all the time. For example, people don't type ,, (two commas) very often as it doesn't make syntactic sense. But a single / ? What were your designers thinking?

And, yeah, the in-line advertisement staring me in the face while I'm in the middle of typing in notes is also incredibly stupid and annoying.

This one "feature" is so awful that it will drive me away from Evernote, which I've been using — and paying for — for ten years. Please fix it ASAP.

I agree with every bit of this (except the assumption that Evernote is here to be addressed). There is a kludge (not even worth being called a workaround): type a space after every / (the menu will pop up on /, disappear on space); then when you're done typing do a search-and-replace (Ctrl+H) and replace every /[space] with /. Uck. Yich. Grrrr.

  • Like 1
Posted
6 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

I agree with every bit of this (except the assumption that Evernote is here to be addressed)

I assume that Evernote monitors this forum. It is run by them, and they would be remiss (and stupid) not to monitor it.

 

6 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

There is a kludge (not even worth being called a workaround)...

Kludge is right. I type and/or and I do not want a space after the /. I do not want to have to remember to search and replace later. I do not want to type a n d / space backspace o r . Or, I'm typing some C# or C++ code. Every time I press Return that *@#! obnoxious prompt occurs and breaks my train of thought. If I type a comment, the popup comes up as soon as I type a /. If I'm typing Python code, any attempt at typing a comment turns into a heading. That's incredibly obnoxious too.

I type a LOT of lists (not bullet lists, text lists) and code into Evernote. To Evernote, each line is a paragraph, so I see that *@#! prompt a LOT.

My Evernote subscription just renewed at more than double what I was paying before. The rate they promised me "forever" when I switched to annual payments at some point is no more. I thought about switching to another app. I use Evernote for both notes and saving web pages, and it seems there isn't a better solution. So, I let it renew. And right afterwards they go and ***** the whole thing up. They better fix this!

 

13 hours ago, Mike P said:

f you want to ensure EN get the message you can feedback to them directly at feedback@evernote.com

I did and I also submitted a support ticket.

 

7 hours ago, VincentC said:

A somewhat different opinion...  But if you just keep typing, none of the functions get in the way, right?  It's just the display.

Dave-in-Decatur addressed this well. You can't type and/or at the end of a line without Evernote trying to start an audio recording, a feature I have never used and will likely never use. I never look at the keyboard when I type, just the screen, so the prompt and popup are extremely annoying. I get that it doesn't bother you and I understand some people might actually like this, but, for it is extremely annoying to some users and I bet it is at least somewhat annoying to almost all users. I know some people will argue there are workarounds, like typing a space. Sure, let's train every user that in Evernote, and only in Evernote, they must type a n d / space backspace or whenever they want and/or, and they must type / space backspace / when they want to type in a C# comment, and they must type # space backspace when they want to start a Python comment. This is just notes. Evernote is supposed to work for us, not the other way around.

Like I mentioned above, if they want a "hot" key/key sequence (oops, to type that in Evernote without the annoying popup, I have to type k e y / space backspace k e y ...), there are several available that are easy to type. I previously suggested ,, (two commas) and another is ;; (two semicolons). Both of these sequences that do not make syntactic sense in English (and I'm guessing any other language) and neither is used in any programming language (in cases where you want two commas or semicolons in a row, as in for (i=0; ; ), programmers always put a space between the commas or semicolons. I know of one markup language that uses two semicolons but none that use two commas. But if they do this, it should still be able to be turned off.

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Posted

I received the update for / to insert last week. When I type /, it does not do anything on my installation. I have no idea why. I guess I am lucky.

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Posted
13 hours ago, VincentC said:

And the ability to get the + functions without having to mouse up to the menu bar is an efficiency improvement for me.

I'm intrigued to know what you mainly use the insert menu for. I never use it because the biggest efficiency improvement for me is to use other methods (often what EN call Auto formatting, but I would desctibe as pseudo-markdown).

  • Level 5
Posted
10 hours ago, cswilly said:

I received the update for / to insert last week. When I type /, it does not do anything on my installation. I have no idea why. I guess I am lucky.

I had to fully exit Evernote (File > Quit) and restart to get it going. Not 100% glad that I did; there's no going back.

Posted
7 hours ago, Mike P said:

I'm intrigued to know what you mainly use the insert menu for. I never use it because the biggest efficiency improvement for me is to use other methods (often what EN call Auto formatting, but I would desctibe as pseudo-markdown).

Mike, I have a template I use for meeting notes.  I always add a calendar event at the bottom of the notes.  That way I can click on, say, yesterday's calendar entry to see the meeting notes.  It's very convenient for me to use / as opposed to the mouse to add the link -- that's my primary use for / so far.  

I've also started to play with using the slash to create a divider.  I know I can do that with markdown, too.  I'm not sure which method my fingers will wind up preferring.  I think many users don't even know about the markdown shortcuts -- I didn't either until I saw the YouTube video that Vlad Campos did on the subject.  For them, and I suspect for me going forward, the / could be a real help.

But the point of my original post here is just to observe that, in every instance I have personally experienced, if I just keep typing after the slash and ignore the window, it goes away within a few keystrokes.  I'm a good enough typist that the window comes and goes very quickly - almost instantly.  And, no, on my system Evernote does not try to start an audio recording when you type and/or -- just keep typing.  I got used to the prompt popping up and going away very quickly and now it just doesn't bother me at all.  I don't use code blocks, so I don't know how the / performs inside of them.

Given all the dislike that folks have posted about the feature, I just thought an alternate view might be of interest.  

 

Vinnie

  • Like 1
Posted
7 minutes ago, VincentC said:

I always add a calendar event at the bottom of the notes

I guess that is one of the very few things for which there isn't a markdown or keyboard shortcut (but I guess there should be). Thanks for taking the time to explain.

  • Like 1
Posted

To make matters worse, I just found out that pressing Escape to get rid of the stupid, stupid popup, which is a very natural thing to do, freezes Evernote. You have to click back in the note to do anything. Lovely! What are they thinking?!

Also ... If you have a bunch of blank lines, which I do sometimes, using the cursor keys to move through those lines shows the stupid, stupid prompt on each line you visit. What are they thinking?!

How do I had the Tasks and Calendar items on the left I never use?

There are a number of discussions here on alternatives to Evernote (ironic, huh?). Can anybody suggest a best discussion? I think I'm going to have to abandon ten years of Evernote and ask for a refund of what they just charged me. I'm hoping I can just switch to the free plan and have all my old notes (7GB) preserved so I don't have to port them. I don't care if they're in the cloud as long as they're on my Mac and iPhone.

Posted
6 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

The next release will have a toggle for it.

Boy, I hope you're right! I find myself actually typing in notes elsewhere and then pasting them in to avoid this bug. Or using it on my iPhone instead, which doesn't have the bug, but I type so much slower on my iPhone. I was just typing in some notes, lots of short lines as is very common for me, and it was driving my nuts.

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Posted
9 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Just start typing takes it away as well.

The next release will have a toggle for it.

@PinkElephant Thanks

I use/like the "/" Insert Something feature shortcut but was annoyed by having to use the mouse to not use the feature. 
"Just start typing takes it away as well." is a perfect solution for me.

"The next release will have a toggle for it." makes me happy that I will not have to read the whingers complaining about a nice/useful new feature.
 

  • Level 5
Posted

Yeah, they overdid it on this for sure. Hope they learned not to mess up the UI experience for everybody just to show there is a fancy new feature.

The feature itself is ok, for those who use it.

  • Like 1
Posted

As commented above, latest desktop release v10.81.4 includes option to turn off display of tge slash command prompt.

 

  • Thanks 1
Posted

Per v10.81.4 release notes:

You can now hide the 'Press "/" to insert an element' hint in the editor with a dedicated setting in the editor's three-dots menu!

downloaded and done!
Thanks AdmiralP


 

  • Like 2
Posted

Glad to be of help.

It's quite a task to keep up to date with all of Evernote's developments. Their weekly releases keep on coming!

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Posted
On 3/20/2024 at 3:40 PM, PinkElephant said:

Just start typing takes it away as well.

The next release will have a toggle for it.

This version doesn't seem to be available yet for the Mac. Please tell me it also turns off the stupid / functionality that's driving me crazy.

I know the following is off topic, but ...

I just discovered they've added an even worse "feature". It is now impossible to have code in certain programming languages in Evernote. Code in C, C++, and C#, among other languages. Some idiot decided that the -> and => operators (and who knows what else) should be displayed incorrectly. And there is no way to turn it off. If you undo, which does workaround some of their other stupid "autoformatting" features, it just removes the second character. You can't even paste in code that uses these operators without it ***** it up! It looks like it affects all existing notes, retroactively. Simplify Formatting and Remove Formatting don't fix it. Using a code block (which is NOT what I want) doesn't fix it either.

Again, what were they thinking?! Does anybody at Evernote even use their product?

And does anybody know how to turn this "feature" off? It feels like Evernote is rapidly trying to destroy the entire product and I'm going to have to abandon it. But I'd prefer not to if I don't have to.

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  • Level 5
Posted

So many words, instead of:

Just go to the EN website any install the latest version. Yes, for the Mac …

  • Level 5*
Posted
4 hours ago, RoyLeban said:

I just discovered they've added an even worse "feature". It is now impossible to have code in certain programming languages in Evernote. Code in C, C++, and C#, among other languages. Some idiot decided that the -> and => operators (and who knows what else) should be displayed incorrectly.

Others have reported that when the code is copied back into where it is used it gets translated back correctly, so what actually seemed like a problem, wasn’t.  Have you tried it?  More work is being done on the code block, so it will likely be removed from that feature.

Posted
On 3/24/2024 at 1:15 AM, PinkElephant said:

Just go to the EN website any install the latest version. Yes, for the Mac …

The app says I am up to date. I don't want to re-install from scratch. Sad to say, with all the bugs in Evernote, I don't have faith that a re-install will work properly.

Posted
On 3/24/2024 at 5:28 AM, s2sailor said:

Others have reported that when the code is copied back into where it is used it gets translated back correctly, so what actually seemed like a problem, wasn’t.  Have you tried it?  More work is being done on the code block, so it will likely be removed from that feature.

It's still a bug. My text looks wrong and there is no way for it to look correct. All their other autoformat stupidity has a way to undo it. I use Evernote a lot for lists of data. I use characters and character sequences like /, //, #, ->, =>, etc. a LOT and Evernote is making my life difficult, with no way to turn off these bugs they're calling features. I really would prefer not to switch to a different app.

  • Level 5*
Posted

If you feel they are bugs, submit a support ticket, or contact them at feedback@evernote.com.  Don't expect them to see what you have posted.  This is primarily a user's forum.

Posted
5 hours ago, s2sailor said:

If you feel they are bugs, submit a support ticket, or contact them at feedback@evernote.com.  Don't expect them to see what you have posted.  This is primarily a user's forum.

I have submitted every bug. The response is always, basically, "we don't care." Evernote owns this forum. They'd be stupid not to be reading it. Hopefully, posting here helps them realize they are hurting their product.

Posted

Evernote just updated and — thank goodness — I can now hide the incredibly obnoxious prompt. But I still can't turn off the popup that appears when I type / and the fact that certain things like and/or at the end of a line simply cannot be typed. Does anybody know how to do that?

Posted
11 hours ago, RoyLeban said:

But I still can't turn off the popup that appears when I type / and the fact that certain things like and/or at the end of a line simply cannot be typed. Does anybody know how to do that?

I type "and/or" at the end of a line, by typing a space after the "or" and then type enter for the new line. If you do not like the extra space after the "or", type delete and then type enter.

Works for me on Windows.

  • Like 1
Posted
On 3/30/2024 at 2:59 AM, cswilly said:

I type "and/or" at the end of a line, by typing a space after the "or" and then type enter for the new line. If you do not like the extra space after the "or", type delete and then type enter.

Works for me on Windows.

That's what I would call a bug. and/or isn't the only problem — it's just a good example that everybody can understand. Software is supposed to work for us, not vice versa. We shouldn't all have to learn awkward workarounds just so we can type in notes. And there shouldn't be flat out bugs like -> displaying incorrectly where there is no workaround. All these new bugs are driving me crazy every day. The only saving grace is the fact that the iOS version doesn't have these bugs, and I enter more notes on my iPhone than on my Mac.

If it seems like I'm arguing vehemently, it's because I really don't want to switch to a new program. If Evernote's attitude is "***** you," then I will need to switch. If they're going to fix these bugs soon, maybe I can hold out. So far, support's response is pretty much "***** you."

Evernote support, if you're listening, please do me the courtesy of letting me know that you don't care, rather than making me guess. I've been paying for Evernote for 10 years. If I have to cut my losses, I will, but please at least let me know.

  • Level 5
Posted

Support is AFAIK not supervising the forum. If you want to report a bug, contact them directly.

Posted
18 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Support is AFAIK not supervising the forum. If you want to report a bug, contact them directly.

Boy I hope you're wrong! That would be really remiss on their part to ignore the support forum that they created and own.

And here's another bug — you can't end a line with /s, which is something I actually do a lot (to indicate a possible plural). The only reason I hadn't noticed it earlier is that this bug, like the other bugs, doesn't happen on my iPhone.

  • Level 5
Posted

Can‘t know because I don’t work for EN, and have no insight. But we have no indication that it would be harvested to find buggy stuff. I think they are busy enough with official tickets …

So, for reporting bugs use the official way through support.

  • Level 5
Posted
18 hours ago, RoyLeban said:

And here's another bug — you can't end a line with /s, which is something I actually do a lot (to indicate a possible plural). The only reason I hadn't noticed it earlier is that this bug, like the other bugs, doesn't happen on my iPhone.

I find I can end a line with a word like book/s if there is a space or punctuation after it, just not as the end of a paragraph without punctuation.

Posted

April 8, 2024 and nothing has changed at EN.  They havent replied to my email either (of course).  In addition to the "/" appearing, when that is on the page i cannot paste to existing document.  No past option.  Then......I accidentally hit the "task" tab and it reformats that section of note.  And, so far cant find option to undo "task".  What the heck.....

  • Level 5*
Posted
4 hours ago, gtoken said:

April 8, 2024 and nothing has changed at EN.  They havent replied to my email either (of course).  In addition to the "/" appearing, when that is on the page i cannot paste to existing document.  No past option.  Then......I accidentally hit the "task" tab and it reformats that section of note.  And, so far cant find option to undo "task".  What the heck.....

Please don't double post.

  • 1 month later...
Posted

Good news! (which actually means awful news!) The latest version of the iOS app (a required update, since the app stopped working) now introduces the obnoxious formatting bug. So far, there's no obnoxious / menu in the iOS app, where I do most of my typing. That is the only thing that has prevented me from completely abandoning Evernote. I really don't want to!

A tiny bit of good news. Cmd-S which is Save everywhere else (and I type reflexively) has never done anything in Evernote. It saves automatically. But, the latest version of Evernote suddenly makes it Share which I basically never use, and dialog is incredibly interrupting. But ... I can disable it and Cmd-S does nothing again. Thank goodness, because it would have made Evernote for Mac completely unusable.

  • Level 5
Posted

This thread is about the slash suggestion text. This does not exist on iOS (latest version is 10.87.1). Insofar you are talking in riddles in your first paragraph about formatting problems. WTF - elaborate if you want an answer.

Many keyboard shortcuts can be edited, among them cmd-S. Not sure why you are writing a (short) novel about your problems with it, when you then tell you could edit it, and it‘s now to your liking. Why making a fuzz when the predefined shortcut can be tweaked (many can be modified, which is not the standard for most apps) ?

My impression is you don‘t feel comfortable with the way the app is evolving. In this case I can only tell you: Go watching. The app will do what the devs envision - no matter if you like it or not.

Posted
On 5/13/2024 at 9:13 AM, PinkElephant said:

Many keyboard shortcuts can be edited, among them cmd-S. Not sure why you are writing a (short) novel about your problems with it, when you then tell you could edit it, and it‘s now to your liking. Why making a fuzz when the predefined shortcut can be tweaked (many can be modified, which is not the standard for most apps) ?

My point was that they screwed up Cmd-S but made it editable. They could similarly make / editable and let me turn it off. Both Cmd-S and / are inexplicable decisions. To me, as someone who has been designing and building software for decades, it looks like a sign of designers and developers who don't use their own products.

Repurposing a normal character (/)  to do something which interrupts typing and makes typing certain sequences impossible, without a way to turn it off, is dumb. As a designer myself, my belief is that it is not about user convenience — it is about advertising and pushing features to users.

Similarly, repurposing Cmd-S, a universal shortcut for Save for over 40 years, to mean Share is also dumb. Save is not only a common action, it's something many people are trained to do reflexively. The fact that some apps like Evernote autosave doesn't make people reflexively type Cmd-S less. In contrast, Share is a rare action for everybody. One could argue it doesn't even need a shortcut. This also feels like advertising and pushing. Fortunately, you can change or remove Cmd-S.

Making it so users can turn off the / menu, or at least assign it to some obscure key (like Cmd-Option-Shift-/ 😀) would fix the first problem.

On 5/13/2024 at 9:13 AM, PinkElephant said:

My impression is you don‘t feel comfortable with the way the app is evolving. In this case I can only tell you: Go watching.

By "Go watching" are you suggesting a specific alternate app? I have a huge problem that I have a very, very large set of data in Evernote which I cannot possibly port to another app and retain fidelity. I don't want to switch away and I would like the people at Evernote to stop thinking they know better than their users in critical ways. They have made a number of bad changes but the / one is driving me crazy every time I use Evernote on Mac.

If you have specific competitor to mention, I would love to get a link. Thanks.

  • Level 5
Posted

The question which shortcut does what does not deserve any discussion. The number of keyboard shortcuts is limited, the possible functions to support are endless.

Since „Saving“ is never ever needed given the powers of RTE, cmd-S is orphaned while using EN. Don’t like it, change it.

There is a ton of note taking apps around. It all depends more than we may believe ourselves in personnel preference as much as on use cases.

If Apple Ecosystem and Self Hosted are no issues, DEVONThink deserves a view.

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