Public Links Changed? Not for the better?

[Exivus 3]

Something changed recently with link sharing, and I don't think it's a step in the right direction.

Unless I'm missing something, before you could create a public link and it would always be a "non-integrated" web page with the note. Now it seems to want to authenticate existing Evernote users when bringing up the link.

Perhaps I'm missing something or someone can shed some light on what I'm missing, but it seems a bit more bloated than before when you could just count on the public link either not forcing/selling someone to be an Evernote user or forcing existing users to authenticate to view what should just be a simple web page showing the note.

[Jon/t 1,747]

If you select permissions as "Anyone with the link can view" then anyone can see the note without login as long as they have the note. Do you see something different?

Copy a share link and open in a private browsing window to see what happens.

[mackid1993 1,478]

Someone on Reddit brought this up, now I'm thinking there is a bug. Not sure if this is just a ton of user error: https://www.reddit.com/r/Evernote/comments/1gfgprk/note_sharing_public_links_changed/

 

[gazumped 12,222]

7 minutes ago, mackid1993 said:

Someone on Reddit

Same person on Reddit as here...

[mackid1993 1,478]

Just now, gazumped said:

Same person on Reddit as here...

Oh, he downvoted the hell out of me on Reddit when I tried to help him. I just confirmed, if you copy the link without setting permissions it'll prompt you to log in. If you set permissions it works like it should. Basic common sense actually. Love it when people downvote you, get upset, don't understand their own damn problem and cause their own problem themselves.

[gazumped 12,222]

Just did a public share and opened the link in Incognito as suggested - all I get is a banner on the web page as below - 

[mackid1993 1,478]

1 minute ago, gazumped said:

Just did a public share and opened the link in Incognito as suggested - all I get is a banner on the web page as below - 

Yes but you can see the note content. I also opened in a non private window, just logged out from Evernote. It opened just fine. However if the note is set to restricted it will prompt for login.

 

[mackid1993 1,478]

If you are logged in to the web client, no matter what it'll open in the web client. That is expected behavior.

[mackid1993 1,478]

According to one of the Experts I heard from on r/EvernotePositive the idea is this lite Editor will be an editor. Soon you'll be able to give someone who doesn't have an Evernote account edit rights to a note and they'll be able to open the link and collaborate with you. Hence the reason for it opening in the webapp if you are logged in.

[Cristiano478 269]

4 horas atrás, mackid1993 disse:

According to one of the Experts I heard from on r/EvernotePositive the idea is this lite Editor will be an editor. Soon you'll be able to give someone who doesn't have an Evernote account edit rights to a note and they'll be able to open the link and collaborate with you. Hence the reason for it opening in the webapp if you are logged in.

 

From what I've seen, notes shared with a public link are now displayed on a different screen. This is mentioned in this reddit post: https://www.reddit.com/r/EvernotePositive/comments/1g4ts4a/new_features_one_touch_sharing_and_also_read_url/

Also, the icons indicating shared notes have changed. They are now as shown in the image below. Before, they were all green.

 

[Mike P 3,069]

The share link is actually now exactly the same as the default note link (alt+ctrl+L or "copy note link"). Obviously whether it is actually shared is defined in the share menu. This potentially makes it easier to share a web of interconnected notes. This might make up in a small way for the loss of the ability to publish a notebook.

The problem at the moment is that the default links (https://share.evernote.com/note/xxxx) do not create back links in the taget note and their display style (text, title, preview) cannot be changed. Hopefully this is work in progress.

 

[gazumped 12,222]

1 hour ago, Mike P said:

the loss of the ability to publish a notebook.

I'll mention again that Postach.io (free) allows up to 5 notebooks to be published as 'blogs' and can pretty easily be converted to a standard parent and child pages setup.  Subscribers get more...

1 hour ago, Mike P said:

default links (https://share.evernote.com/note/xxxx) do not create back links in the taget note

Not sure how that would work for the installed version.  If you're operating fully online,  then links between web pages is a no-brainer;  but if you also operate offline I'd rapidly go (more) insane if a note link from the app opened more browser tabs,  and vice-versa.  The old Evernote team were,  I think,  using some voodoo that made a link connect either to the web page or to the local note,  depending on the context and/ or some preference you set. 

Whether any of that is possible in Elektron I have no idea...  I suspect the jury is still considering its options.

 

[Exivus 3]

12 hours ago, mackid1993 said:

Oh, he downvoted the hell out of me on Reddit when I tried to help him. I just confirmed, if you copy the link without setting permissions it'll prompt you to log in. If you set permissions it works like it should. Basic common sense actually. Love it when people downvote you, get upset, don't understand their own damn problem and cause their own problem themselves.

First of all, I don't think you were tracking with me on Reddit. I didn't downvote you and I don't think whomever giving you a single downvote is "downvoting the hell out of you". I appreciate the feedback, but again, I don't think you're getting the point I was making. Perhaps take some emotion out of this on your part.

I'm again looking at the default behavior of public links changing, and suggesting that keeping a public link purely displaying the note contents and removing the additional evaluation placed in there to authenticate me or bring up Evernote within a webpage out of the mix when the intention is only to display the content of the note. Before it was purely that, but something has been added that I don't believe is what most users would want.

I don't check the forums here often, but hopefully that clears you up.

EDIT: I just re-read your post (I didn't read the whole thing, just where you accused me of downvoting you and I went on to reply).

I've been using Evernote since the beginning and find it to be a very useful tool. I have a software development company and all of my staff uses it - which is where coincidentally my concern came up on the shift in treatment of public links. We're all professionals and can certainly pickup the changes and nuance quickly.

I find your response crass and juvenile. As I don't plan on coming back to this thread to have an argument of the details or semantics with someone like you, nor engage in whatever nonsense or grudge you are holding for people, I hope you aren't a frequent ambassador for Evernote to other users. 

[gazumped 12,222]

As far as I can see (after a discussion in another thread) - there are three basic levels of link here.

1. Links to the note directly within the installed app (and generates a backlink)
2. Opens the note in a browser but will require a log-in (no backlink)
3. opens the note outside any firewalls in a browser that is Evernote-themed but does not require a login (again no backlink)

Option 3 has 2 sub-levels:  view only,  or view and edit,  and I believe that Evernote is going on to offer more features in the area of collaboration.  There's an Evernote header,  but that's just marketing.  Links 1 and 2 are available through keyboard shortcuts and menus. 

Option 3 is offered through the two buttons in a note - grey includes the share by individual email option,  blue just releases the URL of the link for public viewing.

All of that seems to work,  and none of it seems particularly questionnable.  Did I miss anything?

[Mike P 3,069]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

All of that seems to work,  and none of it seems particularly questionnable.  Did I miss anything?

I'm not sure you have fully captured the subtleties here. I think the key issue is the links that look like https://share.evernote.com/note/xxxx. These are generated if you use alt+ctrl+L, choose "copy note link" or share the note. If I click on one of these links within the windows desktop app I stay in the Windows desktop app and it works as expected. However there is no backlink generated in the target note and you cannot change the format of the link (no text, title or preview option). For info I have this in settings.

 

although it doesn't ask every time!

Although the url is exactly the same if you use it as an internal link or use it to share with the world you obviously need to actively use the "share note menu"  to share the note. Only then do you get the new blue world icon as noted by @Cristiano478 above.

[gazumped 12,222]

11 minutes ago, Mike P said:

Although the url is exactly the same if you use it as an internal link or use it to share with the world you obviously need to actively use the "share note menu"

That was my point in (3) above - I think to make it easier to collaborate actively with non-users,  Evernote has changed the way 'share'works.  When you allow the share,  whether by email or URL,  there's some background trick that moves the note outside the 'requires authentication' firewall and allows more general access.

I'm not sure the cookie (?) setting to choose where the link opens matters a lot any more - evernote: links open in the app,  and http: links open in a browser.

It seems to be a work in process on teh servers,  so presumably we'll find out more later...

[Mike P 3,069]

4 minutes ago, gazumped said:

and http: links open in a browser.

That isn't the case for me as I hoped I had described above. They are the default link if you choose to create an internal link so I'm sure EN are not wanting you to go to the browser every time you create an internal link. 

Another major concern is that if users are being led down a path of using https://share.evernote.com/note/xxxx style links as internal note links then they are throwing away two of the best innovations that V10 has offered to links: backlinks and link styles. 

[mackid1993 1,478]

I am very confused, sharing has been changed and is working as intended. I guess I'm just going to try to stop helping people. It's not worth it.

[mackid1993 1,478]

9 hours ago, Exivus said:

First of all, I don't think you were tracking with me on Reddit. I didn't downvote you and I don't think whomever giving you a single downvote is "downvoting the hell out of you". I appreciate the feedback, but again, I don't think you're getting the point I was making. Perhaps take some emotion out of this on your part.

I'm again looking at the default behavior of public links changing, and suggesting that keeping a public link purely displaying the note contents and removing the additional evaluation placed in there to authenticate me or bring up Evernote within a webpage out of the mix when the intention is only to display the content of the note. Before it was purely that, but something has been added that I don't believe is what most users would want.

I don't check the forums here often, but hopefully that clears you up.

EDIT: I just re-read your post (I didn't read the whole thing, just where you accused me of downvoting you and I went on to reply).

I've been using Evernote since the beginning and find it to be a very useful tool. I have a software development company and all of my staff uses it - which is where coincidentally my concern came up on the shift in treatment of public links. We're all professionals and can certainly pickup the changes and nuance quickly.

I find your response crass and juvenile. As I don't plan on coming back to this thread to have an argument of the details or semantics with someone like you, nor engage in whatever nonsense or grudge you are holding for people, I hope you aren't a frequent ambassador for Evernote to other users. 

Okay, I attempted to help you on two platforms. This is exactly why I tend to avoid helping people. You never know when someone is going to absolutely flip on you when they miss the point of what you're trying to say. I never intended any harm, just to make that clear. Not sure where this misunderstanding stemmed from. I need another extended social media/message boards break. 

Edit: He then attacked me on Reddit, where he has now been blocked. I'm done here for now. I can't deal with bull**** from people anymore. It's just not worth expending the energy to educate others when they are going to flip like that.

[gazumped 12,222]

Hmmn.  One last try here - if you open the shortcuts menu with Ctrl+/ and search 'link' you'll see the two options: note link and internal link.  A note link in my experience generates an http: URL,  and an internal link goes to evernote:

IME (again) they open in their respective windows,  either browser or app.  I don't know whether my browser settings affect this - I think I did set that to 'evernote links open in the app' at some point.

The browser links are (I think) safely behind an authentication firewall unless specifically shared,  when the link apparently stays the same but behaves differently.

That's my experience - if anyone's getting a different reaction,  then - Support!

[Mike P 3,069]

5 hours ago, gazumped said:

Hmmn.  One last try here - if you open the shortcuts menu with Ctrl+/ and search 'link' you'll see the two options: note link and internal link.  A note link in my experience generates an http: URL,  and an internal link goes to evernote:

IME (again) they open in their respective windows,  either browser or app.  I don't know whether my browser settings affect this - I think I did set that to 'evernote links open in the app' at some point.

That's helpful. So to summarise, for you clicking a "note link" (format  https://share.evernote.com/note/xxxx ) from within the desktop app takes you to the web version of the note while for me it opens the link in the desktop app. There is obviously something non-transparent happening somewhere between settings on the desktop app, web app and possibly the browser.

Here is my summary of the different methods of creating links

Method	Link type
Note link (alt+ctrl+L or copy note link) Share note	https://share.evernote.com/note/xxx
Copy internal link (alt+ctrl+shift+c) insert - new linked note insert - note link insert - link (then select note) Drag and drop	evernote:///view/xxx
Select multiple notes and then copy note links from blue multiselect menu	https://www.evernote.com/shard/xxx

It seems to me that the outliers are:

1. "Copy Note link" which is not the same as "insert note link".
2. Multiple notes. The "shard" is a bit of a blast from the past and I think somebody just forgot to change it.

Seems to me that to be consistent EN should make "copy note link" generate the internal (evernote:///...) link as it always used to. Alternatively have only one style of note link and make it's use context dependent. That doesn't seem to be going well so far! 

 

[Cristiano478 269]

@Mike P @gazumped @mackid1993 @Grant837

I'm using Evernote on Windows 11 version 10.113.5 Desktop and I did some testing here. As mentioned before, the note link (Alt+Ctrl+L) does not generate a backlink and does not generate viewing options. The strange thing is that its format is the same as the public link.

 

[Mike P 3,069]

5 hours ago, Cristiano478 said:

The strange thing is that its format is the same as the public link.

If I was designing this from scratch I would have one format of link - lets say https://share.evernote.com/note/xxx. Needless to say backlinks and link format options would work! Clicking a link would open the note in whatever app I was currently in (What happens in the app stays in the app). Clicking a link pasted in to another app would normally go to the web browser but that can be modified within the browser to redirect to the app.

If I wanted to share the note I would share it but there would be no new links created. If I shared a number of interconnected notes then the links between them would work without any further effort.

Is this what EN's grand plan is? I hope that what we have at the moment is a transition to something more sustainable. Legacy issues would be a nightmare but i suppose they would just continue to work but you can't create new ones.  And don't forget this option:

[Mike P 3,069]

4 hours ago, Mike P said:

If I shared a number of interconnected notes then the links between them would work without any further effort.

I've just tested this using the note/share links and it works really well.

https://share.evernote.com/note/a78d2c02-6eee-a701-26a1-e8604aedb0bf

[gazumped 12,222]

Hmmn.  I can see your shared note - it comes up in my own account via the browser.  The links don't work from there.  Tried a private window.  and I get the web page with a banner - and the links now work !  Odd.

[Mike P 3,069]

34 minutes ago, gazumped said:

Hmmn.  I can see your shared note - it comes up in my own account via the browser.  The links don't work from there.  Tried a private window.  and I get the web page with a banner - and the links now work !  Odd.

Thanks for testing. Things really shouldn't work better without an EN account than with one!

[gazumped 12,222]

I've mentioned before (I think) that making a parent / child relationship is easy(ish) if you use Postach.io.  Take pages A B & C where A has links to B & C and both have a link back to a.  Tag all three as <published> in your selected notebook and wait until they all appear online.  Choose A to be your 'home page' - can't remember off-hand whether that's another tag in Evernote or a setting - and copy the URLs of all three pages from your browser back to the original notes in Evernote.

When the web pages get updated a few seconds later (has to sync from device > server > postach.io) the links will all work smoothly.  The external app also has extra bells and whistles that you can apply to your mini-website.  There's an obvious learning curve and it's all a bit clunky,  but it does work...

I know the Evernote way should work but my concern is to get a job done as effectively and quickly as possible with any tool available.  My concern is not to make Evernote perform faultlessly - just to complete the task.  If and when Evernote finishes upgrading the share experience so it works I might prefer to use that again!

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,014]

On 10/31/2024 at 1:52 PM, Mike P said:

I'm not sure you have fully captured the subtleties here. I think the key issue is the links that look like https://share.evernote.com/note/xxxx. These are generated if you use alt+ctrl+L, choose "copy note link" or share the note. If I click on one of these links within the windows desktop app I stay in the Windows desktop app and it works as expected. However there is no backlink generated in the target note and you cannot change the format of the link (no text, title or preview option).

There's something else wrong with these new universal link formats: they don't work in Android, period. This is not about sharing a link publicly, but about pasting one into another app and wanting it to open in the Evernote app. (Maybe that is the same as public sharing.) The new share.evernote.com link format, when pasted into another app, will have different failures depending on the default browser:

• If Chrome, the Evernote app will open, but with no note selected.
• If DuckDuckGo, Opera, or the generic Samsung browser, the link will be converted to a link with the form evernote.com/client/web#/notes/... followed by the note ID. This produces a page with the familiar bouncing graphics and the declaration of Bending Spoons' love, but nothing further. (Sometimes the link is truncated to evernote.com/client/web/.)

I'm going to post this in the Android forum for further discussion, and probably submit it as a bug.

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,014]

On 11/6/2024 at 12:59 PM, Dave-in-Decatur said:

There's something else wrong with these new universal link formats: they don't work in Android, period....

Here's a workaround: replace the share.evernote.com/note portion of the URL with www.evernote.com/shard/s316/nl/########, which is the older link style. This still works in Android and elsewhere.

[mackid1993 1,478]

3 hours ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Here's a workaround: replace the share.evernote.com/note portion of the URL with www.evernote.com/shard/s316/nl/41621698, which is the older link style. This still works in Android and elsewhere.

That's not going to work much longer. The shards are just about dead. Soon that API will be shut off and the shards will be deprecated by years end once the monolith is fully retired. 

[Dave-in-Decatur 4,014]

Thanks for that info @mackid1993. I'll have to put in a bug report about what's happening in Android. Maybe one of the BenSpoo programmers can borrow an Android phone from their uncool brother and investigate it.

[jaxchile 2]

I sent this email to Evernote support: 

Oct 18, 2024, 23:17 GMT+2 I have attached a video, first of me clicking an old link of “share to web” and, as you can see, it does just that but when I click the second link, which was recently generated, instead of opening a web link it opens the link in EN.   When I teach, I prefer to open to web not in Evernote.  It seems that the new tool is less flexible in that there were different links for different reasons, now there is only one. Please allow us to choose what type of link we want. -------------------------------------------- Their response didn't offer any resolutions but here it is:  Thanks for reaching out to Evernote Customer Support. The new one-click sharing feature in Evernote allows users to share notes publicly with a single click using the 'Share note' button. When a note is shared this way, a link is generated and copied to your clipboard, which can be shared through any channel. You can adjust the sharing permissions (view/edit) directly from a banner in the note or the Sharing modal. This feature ensures that the note is accessible to anyone with the link, even if they do not have an Evernote account. However, the behavior you described, where the link opens in Evernote instead of a web view, is part of the new sharing functionality. It seems that the current sharing option does not provide a separate link specifically for web viewing. To address your preference for opening links in a web browser rather than in Evernote, you can ensure that the note is set to 'view-only' in the sharing permissions, which might help in maintaining a web-like view when accessed. Unfortunately, the option to choose between different types of links specifically for web or Evernote view is not available in the current feature set.

[gazumped 12,222]

1 hour ago, jaxchile said:

 It seems that the new tool is less flexible in that there were different links for different reasons, now there is only one. Please allow us to choose what type of link we want.

Your share opens in Evernote because a note 'share' is meant to be with others,  and you are logged into your own account.  If you use an Incognito window you'll be able to open a separate web instance.  If you want to have two windows open,  open the first note in its own window and then use the link to jump to the second note.

We're (mostly) only other users here - feedback@evernote.com to alert Evernote in a timely manner,  or https://help.evernote.com/hc/en-us/articles/29101069844371-How-to-contact-Evernote-Support if it's causing an issue you need to address. 

[Mike P 3,069]

It's also worth checking in settings for the "Open links in" section and see if trying different options there will give you what you want.