Slash (/) shortcut - is it really supposed to happen for EVERY slash?

[ric 16]

Is the insert menu supposed to pop-up anytime you type a '/' or just when you type a '/' at the beginning of a new line?

The latter wouldn't be so awful and a few messages I've seen hear seem to suggest that that's how it's supposed to work. But it isn't that clear.

In my case, I get the popup menu every time I type a slash, no matter where it is. This means every time I want a slash I have to type a slash + space + backspace  or 2 slashes followed by backspace. Typing dates and file paths have become lots of fun...

Is it supposed to be this way or there something wrong with my setup?

Thanks

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,998]

Every. Single. Time. All they had to do was make it Alt+/. Or ^. Or |.

[ric 16]

I really hope they fix this. I mean, why is this such a special shortuct key anyway? Why not make it like all the other shortcuts (sure, add the inline text and make it '/' by default if you REALLY REALLY need to make it discoverable) but let us reassign it to whatever shortcut we want in the keyboard shortcut settings.

I feel like I'm going to have to add to my autohotkey script to change the '/' key's behavior to pasting a slash instead of behaving like a normal key in order to work around this..

Anyway, thanks for confirming.

 

[PinkElephant 8,695]

The slash will be followed by the drop down list immediately, no matter if at the beginning of a line, or somewhere in the middle.

If it is followed by anything that does not lead to an existing item, it will be folded right away. Sometimes it is not obvious - for example an X will show the checkbox option.

If the combination makes sense, it will stay open, reduced to the still possible commands. When you type the 8th character, it will go away, even if what is typed is still matching an option. Unless you press "ENTER" nothing will be inserted.

Conclusion: If you manage to ignore it, in most cases nothing will be inserted.

However I agree it would be good to be able to switch it off by a setting.

[Boot17 1,529]

Yeah - ignoring it is the key. It takes the same number of keystrokes to enter a date as it did before. Slightly annoying though.

They could tweak the slash command menu so that it doesn't appear if the '/' is preceded immediately by a number. This is the case in at least one other app that I currently use that supports slash commands. In that app, it seems more intuitive when the slash command appears and it can also be toggled off altogether.

I hope/suspect we'll see some minor tweaks for improvements in the coming weeks/months.

Pardon the US formatted date.  🤣  I generally type dates in YYYY-MM-DD format, but that's not a good example for the slash command menu. 😃 

[Mike P 2,946]

9 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Every. Single. Time. All they had to do was make it Alt+/. Or ^. Or |.

Yep, even when you type the ctrl+/ shortcut to open the keyboard shortcuts list. This is doubly annoying because the insertion point is no longer automatically placed in the keyboard shortcut search so you have to click in the search bar twice before you type in your search.

For the record / does not invoke the menu when typed in a code block - so there is somebody in EN actually thinking for at least some of the time.

[MarkE CO 7]

This is very frustrating and in general this whole "slash command" thing appears to be a solution that no one wants to a problem that doesn't exist.  

I'm a paid Evernote user and have been for a long time. Ten years? Longer? I was using it before they had a premium option and switched over to premium within the first year of launch. Anyway...

The slash command thing sucks. The constant hints were distracting and terrible. Finally the update made it possible to get rid of those, but now whenever you use a slash, anywhere, it pops up the slash command menu. I want to be able to turn off slash commands entirely.

If there is someone who wants to use them, great. I do not. I use the slash key when I want to type a slash, which is regularly/often.

Please make it possible to turn off these stupid things.

[Anthony Gitonga 7]

Does the slash command to create a Table of Contents in a single note work for all Evernote plans?

[ghon 94]

Yes

[dantek 30]

I agree - this is really annoying! A feature than nobody asked for! I would like to see an option to turn that off - or include it in the Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+/) sidebar so we can edit / disable the keyboard shortcuts.

Also just a note on how bad the coding is here - if you press Ctrl+/ to bring up the keyboard shortcuts sidebar, it also opens the shortcut menu too!

[GarySam 29]

Just trying to keep this annoyance 'hot' so we see a fix soon (and I'm not interested in sending Evernote an 'email ignored' message).

So... please turn off the slash or '/' shortcut key command!

Supper annoying.
Whenever I try to type a date, those functions appear and the 'esc' key doesn't cancel the unwanted interruption.

 

[PinkElephant 8,695]

Just continue typing. Once the characters doesn't match any option more, it removes itself.

Instead of annoying yourself, just ignore.

[dantek 30]

I get you can continue typing - but:

1) the pop-up gets in the way and appears in front of the text I'm trying to type:

This appears to only happen when you are zoomed in or out one step (which is how I like it as the default font is too big for me) - so that's clearly bad coding / a bug as they've not considered that case and are displaying the pop up in the wrong place - as it appears ok when you aren't zoomed - so this is presumably how it is supposed to look:

...which isn't quite as intrusive - so if you could at least fix that please Evernote - but I'd still like the option to turn the pop-up off as it's no use to me - just annoying and unnecessary.

2) You can only continue typing and ignore it if you don't press enter....if you press enter then you're going to invoke the function which whatever random characters you pressed are associated with. eg. I've just ended up with a 'New linked note' when trying to continue typing - which I didn't want....and then found another bug where the "press back to go back" prompt that it gives you in the new note doesn't work as the back is greyed out...so you can't even get back to the original note that you never intended to leave in the first place without going and searching for it again.... very annoying!

[mizr 2]

Nice to meet you. I am also having a lot of trouble, so I'd like to provide some feedback.

When the slash command is displayed, it prevents me from pressing enter (new line), which significantly disrupts my writing process.

Moreover, especially when writing in Japanese, not only does the slash command appear when I type a slash, but also when I type "・" (a character frequently used for bullet points), which critically hinders text input.

Please add an option to disable the slash command. I have been a paid Evernote user for over 10 years, but the current state of Evernote is unusable. (Disabling the inline display of the slash command does not resolve the issue mentioned above.)

[MarkE CO 7]

On 5/21/2024 at 11:51 AM, PinkElephant said:

Just continue typing. Once the characters doesn't match any option more, it removes itself.

Instead of annoying yourself, just ignore.

Not true. I frequently am typing and find myself having just created a new linked note, or occasionally something else. 

First, "ignore it and it will go away" is a really bad solution anyway, even if it worked. The slash popup is very distracting and breaks the train of thought. We should be able to type and think without annoying, useless popups.

Second, that's not true and it doesn't work. My most common problem comes in the mornings when I am planning out my day and blocking time. For example, from yesterday:

TIME BLOCKS

530-7 day start

7-8 workout/multitask

8-815 shower/prep

815 depart/drive

9-930 Kristin

930-1030 drive/work

1030-12 pictures/SMITH

12-130 VMS if needed/drone/then home

130-730 w/K

730-830 journal/read/prep for bed

 

if I type "w/K [hard return]" without stopping and then adding/deleting a space after "K", then this drops a link to a new linked note and opens the new linked note in the middle of what I was trying to do. I have to deleted the newly created note, then go into my old note and delete the link. This is so counterproductive and disruptive it makes me want to bail on Evernote, which I have been using for over ten years.

 

Another typical example would be planning out a trip.

 

I want to type "SAT 6/1" Should be simple, right? It should look like this:

 

SAT 6/1

4a up

430 depart/drive

530-6 park/shuttle

6-7 airport/lounge/breakfast

7-730 board

730-1p fly (time change)

 

But, here's what's going to happen when I try to do that (copied and pasted from Evernote):

 

SAT 6

4a oh look, instead of "SAT 6/1" I get a huge "SAT 6" because "/1" apparently is the useful and very important slash command for "large header". Great. This is really productive.

 

So in short (too late), "just continue typing... just ignore" DOES NOT WORK. 

 

I honestly can't use this. My Evernote annual comes up in June and I am actively looking for other solutions. The core function of Evernote is to be able to type stuff into a simple interface without distraction. It doesn't do it anymore.

[PinkElephant 8,695]

Sure, if you have a "valid" slash+character combination, and then press Enter, it will execute this command.

That's part of what I wrote, so if you read it thoroughly, it is true. Which makes your statement false.

You can direct your concerns here: feedback@evernote.com

[MarkE CO 7]

5 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

Sure, if you have a "valid" slash+character combination, and then press Enter, it will execute this command.

That's part of what I wrote, so if you read it thoroughly, it is true. Which makes your statement false.

You can direct your concerns here: feedback@evernote.com

So can I "just keep typing"? Or not?

At best, your "answer" ignores the fact that people will sometimes want to type just one character after a slash key - probably most commonly when doing a month/day combo with a single digit day.

"Instead of annoying yourself, just ignore." Again, can I do that? Or not? I'll help you - the answer is "no". I cannot just type and pretend the slash commands don't exist. It creates linked notes, weird headings, and other stuff in the middle of my content.

I have submitted my concerns to the feedback email... which btw gets zero response. Not "thank you for your feedback", not "go f*** yourself", nothing. So I am going to continue to avail myself of these forums to discuss this problem, including pointing out that your suggestion to "just keep typing" and "instead of annoying yourself, just ignore" flat out does not work. A "solution" that works sometimes is not a solution. If your car had brake trouble, and the "solution" was to depress the brakes slowly and they would work, but if you had to stop quickly they wouldn't work, would you consider "depress the brakes slowly" to be a solution? Or would you be upset when you rear-ended someone at a stoplight?

The core function of Evernote is in the name. Take notes. The slash commands make it not work for that.

[s2sailor 2,410]

22 minutes ago, MarkE CO said:

I have submitted my concerns to the feedback email... which btw gets zero response. Not "thank you for your feedback"

You won't get a human response, this is one way only, but you should see an automated thank you email.

[mackid1993 1,210]

I've been using this more and more. It's really great to type /h1 and then get a Heading one or /code and get a code block.

I think the usefulness outweighs the annoyance when typing dates or POSIX style file paths.

[Andrew100 10]

The color theme changes suddenly and cannot be restored.
Constantly adding shortcut keys that annoy me and make no sense to me.
Causing me to unsubscribe.

[bprettyman 2]

Can Evernote developers just make the table with the"/" optional so users can turn it off or on as they wish?

[dantek 30]

/ <enter> is causing me the most issues - creating a new linked note (which I like btw...'backlinks' are great...but just not with slash as a shortcut) - but doing it in the window I was editing the note I was in....so I have to go and manually find the note I was in the middle of editing, delete the reference to the linked note, and then delete the new linked note.. just to get back to where I started..

Also don't understand why - if you're editing your original note in a new window (not the main Evernote window), then the new linked note opens in the same window you were editing the original note in - when I would expect the new note to open in a new window so you can see both notes.

Note another issue is that the "use the "back" button to return to the original note" that Evernote suggests doesn't work if you've opened the note in a new window - as there isn't a back button....and View -> Move back is greyed out for some reason so also doesn't work.

Note another issue is that - again when editing a note in a new window - after accidentally creating a linked note which replaces your original note in the window you were using, if you try to delete the new linked note by going to Note -> Move to trash....even though you're looking at the blank new note, that actually deletes the original note you were editing before the new linked note got created, instead of the blank new linked note that you intended. This is clearly a bug as it's deleting a different note than you are viewing.

I can see that some people might like the slash feature - but it's just causing me issues personally. At least give us the option to turn it off or use a different keystroke like Ctrl+/ please.

(I have reported the two Linked Note issues above as a bug report to Evernote here - https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/requests/3905257 )

[dantek 30]

On 5/22/2024 at 12:01 AM, dantek said:

I get you can continue typing - but:

1) the pop-up gets in the way and appears in front of the text I'm trying to type:

This appears to only happen when you are zoomed in or out one step (which is how I like it as the default font is too big for me) - so that's clearly bad coding / a bug as they've not considered that case and are displaying the pop up in the wrong place - as it appears ok when you aren't zoomed - so this is presumably how it is supposed to look:

...which isn't quite as intrusive - so if you could at least fix that please Evernote - but I'd still like the option to turn the pop-up off as it's no use to me - just annoying and unnecessary.

The issue with the popup appearing in front of the text if you have zoomed out appears to be fixed at least (Windows v10.91.1). Whatever zoom level I am at, the popup now appears below or above the text line you are currently typing.

[eugenes 31]

the / is a useful function EN copied from Notion but implemented in a not so user friendly way so far (e.g. in Notion you can dismiss it by hitting Esc right after; and it's context sensitive, e.g. if you type in a url, http:/ it's not going to pop up the menu; if you type / after a : it's going to give you emoji options)

[dvgibson 21]

On 4/17/2024 at 4:22 PM, ric said:

Is the insert menu supposed to pop-up anytime you type a '/' or just when you type a '/' at the beginning of a new line?

The latter wouldn't be so awful and a few messages I've seen hear seem to suggest that that's how it's supposed to work. But it isn't that clear.

In my case, I get the popup menu every time I type a slash, no matter where it is. This means every time I want a slash I have to type a slash + space + backspace  or 2 slashes followed by backspace. Typing dates and file paths have become lots of fun...

Is it supposed to be this way or there something wrong with my setup?

Thanks

I hate it, there is so little on the screen now and and they keep covering up what I am doing everytime I use a slash. 

[PinkElephant 8,695]

Actually there may be many arguments, but „too little room on the screen“ is none. The slash is only relevant inside of a note, and you can always open it in it‘s own window if you feel like you need more space.

[Hawk 1]

I agree with the need to simply give users the option to turn off slash (/) shortcut.

 

 

[AlbertR 689]

18 hours ago, Hawk said:

I agree with the need to simply give users the option to turn off slash (/) shortcut.

Or allow to re-assign the functionality to an other keystroke.

But: Using a simple slash (/) or an ampersand (@) is becoming common use in many other programs (Slack, Discord, EN-user forum, MS-Teams, Notion, Obsidian (by plugins), ...). I don't know any of them that offers to disable it.

 

[Jon/t 1,612]

2 hours ago, AlbertR said:

But: Using a simple slash (/) or an ampersand (@) is becoming common use in many other programs (Slack, Discord, EN-user forum, MS-Teams, Notion, Obsidian (by plugins), ...). I don't know any of them that offers to disable it.

Add Zoho Writer to the list... just launched it this morning and there's a slash command for lots of options, it seems to work in pretty much the same way as Evernote.

Looks to be becoming a sort of standard way to work via the keyboard.

EDIT: Zoho Writer also has a double slash '//' command which brings up AI options.

[PinkElephant 8,695]

Better to learn to write dates with a dash ( - ) instead of a slash ( / ).

[Boot17 1,529]

6 hours ago, AlbertR said:

Obsidian (by plugins), ...). I don't know any of them that offers to disable it.

In Obsidian the "Slash commands" is a "core" plugin -- different from a community plugin. It's not enabled by default when first using Obsidian. Once enabled though, you can just toggle it off if you don't want it.

 

Even if there becomes no way to toggle it off in Evernote, there are still ways that the implementation can be improved upon.

For example, in Obsidian (and perhaps others), the slash command doesn't trigger if it is preceded immediately by a number (or any character actually). It can only be triggered when the slash is placed at the beginning of the line or anywhere in the line after a space. Seems a bit more intuitive to me that way.

[MarkE CO 7]

4 hours ago, PinkElephant said:

Better to learn to write dates with a dash ( - ) instead of a slash ( / ).

Yes, let's change how we like to do things because Evernote has added a "feature" that many of us don't want and can't turn off.

[AlbertR 689]

1 hour ago, Boot17 said:

It can only be triggered when the slash is placed at the beginning of the line or anywhere in the line after a space. Seems a bit more intuitive to me that way.

Yep, good idea. And I think, it's easy to implement because they already did something like that - i.e. it's impossible to use / inside a Headline 😉. I often want zu change a Headline level - impossible with the /-commands 😤