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(Archived) Feature Request: Customize toolbar with saved searches, jpeg


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Posted

a) I should be able to add individual saved searches to the toolbar (like in OmniFocus) and

:lol: I should be able to assign custom icons (my own .jpegs, etc.) to individual saved searches I place on the toolbar (like in OmniFocus).

  • Level 5*
Posted

or use Omnifocus? ;)

You can find your Saved Searches in the Saved Searches section - I have no interest in a cluttered toolbar, I'm guessing many feel the same way....

I certainly don't want my app to bother tracking images that are attached to searches - would these be sync'd to the web/mobile/other computers? Seems like a fair amount of work for not much return.

Posted

Hi metrodon

I just imported everything from OmniFocus (and Bento and OmniOutliner) into Evernote because I like the idea that it aims to be your 'second brain'. Evernote should (eventually) do things the human brain does such as use images to speed up the recall of information.

I have no interest in a cluttered toolbar, I'm guessing many feel the same way....

I agree that if every feature available on the "customize toolbar" menu were on the toolbar it would be cluttered, but if you don't like this feature you'd never have to think about it. I know where the saved searches are, but I plan to have a lot of saved searches and to use some a lot more than others. Stacks of saved searches wouldn't be a bad idea either.

I certainly don't want my app to bother tracking images that are attached to searches - would these be sync'd to the web/mobile/other computers? Seems like a fair amount of work for not much return.

I don't agree that your app shouldn't "bother" with a feature, since computers are tireless, but I understand that features have to be maintained by developers. I happen to think this feature (perhaps my favorite feature in OmniFocus) will get a lot of use from power users, especially since it would work just as well for quickly getting to Tags and Notebooks. If tracking the images were an issue for the development team, you could just say that images must already be in an Evernote Note to be used as toolbar badges.

  • Level 5*
Posted

So why are saved searches on the toolbar any better than in their own section?

Computers are tireless, but adding complexity increases the risk of introducing bugs, causing user confusion and with a system like Evernote creating differences across platforms.

Part of the beauty of Evernote is it's simplicity - that's why you will see loads of requests on these boards for tweaks and integrations, what you will also see is Dave Engberg saying "Thanks for the suggestion".

My feel is that the Evernote team want the UI to stay clean and easy to use - after all, their premium user base comes from converting free users who need to quickly understand how it works.

The beauty of Evernote is that it allows you to quickly and simply add data and then find it again on multiple platforms, the key to the beauty is the simplicity.

Posted

How many times have you started a new list (to-do, code snippets, etc.) because it took more than five seconds to find the old list in Evernote (or any list manager)? Happens to me all the time.

Evernote needs to be easy to find data in and get data out of when I need to access it, not just easy to put data into. What I'm describing is really just bookmarks, every web browser has them.

Ease of use and not cluttering up the Evernote object model for developers are important concerns, but we're talking about an extra drop-down in the "customize toolbar" window, not a UI redesign. It could be a premium feature if you're worried about scaring off new users with complexity. ( ka-ching :) )

  • Level 5*
Posted

I think you are missing the point - it's not just adding a new drop down, it's a whole bunch of new customisation and a change to the data model with regard to searching.

By the way, don't think you can create your own saved searches with images to define them in FF or Safari or Opera or IE.

Anyway, I'm pretty sure that we aren't ever going to agree on this and I'm sure Dave will be in soon to thank you for the suggestion...

Posted
How many times have you started a new list (to-do, code snippets, etc.) because it took more than five seconds to find the old list in Evernote (or any list manager)? Happens to me all the time.

Then I would say you're not using EN features as they are intended. I never (never) have started a new note b/c I couldn't find the old one in five seconds or less. And I have over 32,000 notes & use EN at least once (actually a lot more than that) for every hour I spend on a computer. I keep it open on two computers 24/7.

As Dave said here:

"We've chosen a particular set of tools to help you find the notes that you've created ... that includes:

* Notebooks (1-to-many organizational metaphor)

* Tags (many-to-many organizational metaphor)

* Stacks (for organizing notebooks into visual groupings)

* Saved Searches (for arbitrary dynamic discovery of notes without manual pre-categorization)"

I also often add in my own "keywords" - words I add into a note (that do not already exist in the note) so I don't have to add tags for some notes. IE, I can either use a tag "Kidney diet" & tag all pertinent notes with that tag. Or...I can simply add the phrase "Kidney diet" for each note. Either way, it's NBD b/c when I'm looking for something, I press F5 (my defined EN hotkey) & can type one of two things:

tag:"kidney diet"

or

"kidney diet" (to look for the exact phrase)

And within seconds, the 18 notes that I'm looking for are in the results pane. If I'm looking for a specific recipe, I will then do something like this:

tag:"kidney diet" chicken rice

And that narrows the field down to the 6 notes that are tagged "Kidney diet" and contain the words "chicken" and "rice".

The EN system is a beautiful thing.

Posted

Hi Burgers 'n' Fries

I look forward to learning from your experience with Evernote, and you could be right about me not using Evernote features as intended, but I'm trying to use them in a way that feels intuitive and requesting a feature I think a lot of people would find intuitive to use as well.

I commend your great memory for the names of things you have named; I am not so blessed. "Did I call that list 'Linux commands', 'terminal controls', or 'server shortcuts'?" is the kind of question I ask myself all the time. Why shouldn't I just Google a picture of a penguin with a wrench, stick it on my Evernote toolbar, and click the picture when I need to know how to fiddle with boxen?

Posted
"Did I call that list 'Linux commands', 'terminal controls', or 'server shortcuts'?" is the kind of question I ask myself all the time.

Part of being organized is exercising discipline, IMO. IE, you can't file your bills/receipts in a shoebox, if you want to quickly find one later. And you can't have a file named "American Express card" and one named "AMEX card" for the same credit card. So in the example you provided, I would create a single tag that would encompass linux commands/terminal controls/server shortcuts & use that tag. (Just like my kidney diet example.) Once you've used the single tag a few times you will start to remember what you called it.

Why shouldn't I just Google a picture of a penguin with a wrench, stick it on my Evernote toolbar, and click the picture when I need to know how to fiddle with boxen?

It's not really a matter of "should." It's a matter of what you can do with the software today. I really doubt icons as tags/saved searches will be implemented b/c EN strives to be lean software. They tend to not implement anything that can already be done, using the tools already included. What they do add is features that provide functionality that does not already exist. If you're wanting to use EN, you're going to need to come to terms with that. Pretty much every user has their own idea of some tweak or feature that would make EN "The Killer App" and they all tend to think it should be very easy to implement. Truth is, none of us really know, except the people who deal with the EN code.

  • Level 5*
Posted

This isn't an unreasonable request, but it might not be in line with what Evernote wants to do, and even so, it would probably take some time to implement. In the meantime, it would be a good thing to get better at using Evernote as it exists today. The term 'intuitive' is used often, but a lot of what is called intuitive is really learned behavior, so the better you get at using Evernote, the more intuitive you'll find its current features.

~Jeff

  • Level 5*
Posted
Thanks for the suggestions!

It's not often I'll be dragged into using an 'Americanism', but this is one of those occasions...

Awesome!!

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