(Archived) the 'ol exporting data question, from a newbie

[cshea 0]

I want to make sure I understand how to export--and then use--notes and files that have been imported into Evernote, should I decide to use another product ... or for whatever reason.

Yes, I have read the many debates about this--I want to see for myself how easy it is.

Say I have several hundred web clippings, text notes, pdf's, word files, and so on. I assume I would select the stacks or notebooks I wished to export and send them out onto (say) my desktop in html form. Would that be one giant file? What would be the process for converting it and/or its constituent parts into usable pdfs, clippings, Word files, etc.?

I'm sure this is a naive question, but I'm used to a Mac informational management program that stores things in their original format and just creates an iTunes-like library. (And with OneNote, where you can turn notebooks into Word files and pdfs.)

I gather that html has its advantages, but I don't understand how it works in practice.

(I tried exporting a single web clipping and was, frankly, confused by the output: a folder full of all the moving parts of a webpage. How would I put that back together into a more handy single file?)

[crispinb 8]

Evernote's html export is pretty nice. In effect, it gives you a working local website, with an index page linking to the exported version of each note (sans tags). Just open the generated 'index.html' for this.

Having said that, there's no straightforward way to switch to another piece of software from Evernote, unless that software offers a specific 'import from Evernote' facility. This is just a by-product of the fact that Evernote does so much (tagging, notebooks, metadata), and there's no obvious way they could have exported all this in a universally consumable form.

There is an option of exporting an XML file that contains everything, and at one time I hoped that third-party developers might set up easy solutions for data transfer using either this or the Evernote API. But AFAIK this hasn't really happened. So you're safest thinking of your Evernote data when looked at en masse as being strictly for use in Evernote. This isn't literally entirely true, but for the most part it is the case in practical terms.

[lenarr 27]

Exporting to HTML is not working for me.

I created titles for 61 notes so that a certain notebook I need to share (with someone who's never going to install EN) is sorted in a logical fashion. Right clicking on the notebook and selecting "Export Notes" led to

notebook_title.html + file with all attachments.

The html page simply sequenced the notes one after the other, with a line separating them. Though I sorted the notes by Title, the export sequenced the notes by Created. I tried every trick I know, even select-clicking each note manually to then using Export. NO GO. USELESS to my non-tech friend who's going to have to receive this.

As for crispinb's comment, "a working local website, with an index page linking to the exported version of each note (sans tags). Just open the generated 'index.html' for this,"I have no clue of what he's talking about. Perhaps exporting the entire EN database. Tried to do that too, using File | Export, and no matter how many times I attempted to select HTML for the dropdown, invariably Evernote.enex was created.

What seems to have worked, finally -- and very non-intuitively -- was to sort by title, select all notes in the notebook, use File | Export, erase "Evernote.enex" that the filename defaults to even when I select html on the dropdown, make up a name, and finally select HTML in the dropdown. That sorts the notes the way I want them.

But, still, no "working local website"-- 1 very long page.

The behavior of File | Export > HTML on main menu after selecting all notes in a notebook (which sorts the html as I specify in the columns, albeit with the "Evernote.enex" permanently sticking filename in the export box) is inconsistent with the behavior of right clicking on the notebook and selecting all notes and then choosing Export Notes > HTML (filename defaults to notebook_name.html, but sorting permanently sticking to Created).

In sum: Not working too well, methinks. Spent 25 minutes on what should have taken 1. And another 10 to write this.

Lena

[lenarr 27]

Sorry, I just realized that I posted to the Mac forum when I'm actually running the Windows version. Which explains the nice export features the Mac has! Searched for "export html" and didn't realize wrong forum. My apologies.

lena

[cshea 0]

I just find the exporting function too limited, at this stage.

I don't think it's a question of evernote offering so many features that exporting is not feasible. I can send OneNote pages as pdf's over to my mac anytime I feel like it. Sure, you lose the tags, but that's not the point.

[crispinb 8]

I just find the exporting function too limited, at this stage.

I don't think it's a question of evernote offering so many features that exporting is not feasible. I can send OneNote pages as pdf's over to my mac anytime I feel like it. Sure, you lose the tags, but that's not the point.

That's no more relevant to data portability than the html export. If you want to stop using Evernote altogether, for example, either way you just end up with a fairly unusable directory full of documents -- pdfs or htmls.

Evernote already offers an API and an xml export that spits out everything. I'm not sure what else they can do. It's not their fault if the makers of other tools don't import using these facilities.

Having said that, it's not practical data portability. I stopped using Evernote nearly a month ago, and have to say for practical purposes my old EN notes aren't much use. If I remember info I had in them, I will fire up EN, look for that note, and copy that specific note's info into more portable form. I hardly ever use my html-exported version.