(Archived) feature request: Search Links

[gtuckerkellogg 33]

I just learned, to my surprise, that most Evernote users don't use saved searches. This seems a shame; saved searches are a great feature which I use all the time. Since they are saved, it would be great if Evernote developers could provide an evernote:// URL to them, just like note links.

[peterfmartin 221]

Just out of curiosity, since I don't use saved searches (and since you began your post encouraging all of us to use them): How do you/others use them? I see an efficiency benefit to clicking a couple times instead of typing out 20+ characters, but for people who'd rather type, say, 15 characters than use the mouse at all, is there a benefit of saved searches that I'm missing? Sorry for my ignorance, but I haven't seen this anywhere: Is there a search function for a shared search (like the tag function "tag:X," which allows access to tags without clicking)?

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

IMO, saved searches are only helpful if you have a complex search (several tags and several keywords) and/or you are not proficient at keyboarding. Since I use accurate tags, titles, keywords & notebooks, most of the notes I'm looking for can be quickly found w/o using a saved search. I do have a few searches I run daily or multiple times a day. They are not complex, but since I use them often, I suppose they could be candidates for saved searches. However, using a saved search requires me t o scroll to the bottom of the left pane & click the desired search. A more efficient method that I use is to use something like Autohotkey or ActiveWords (I use both) in conjunction with EN's global hot keys. I changed the "global find in Evernote" key to F5. So I press the F5, which sets the search to all notebooks, clears the tags & search parameters & puts your cursor in the search box.

I prefer to call the "to do" lists I have in EN as "accomplishment journals". The titles are consistent, IE YYYYMMDD - Accomplishment Journal. I have "acc" set up in Active Words to substitute the text:

intitle:"accomplishment journal"

So when I need to find them, I press F5, type acc & terminate with F12 (my Active Words hot key) It's a whole lot faster than scrolling down to the saved searches & clicking the appropriate one.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Just out of curiosity, since I don't use saved searches (and since you began your post encouraging all of us to use them): How do you/others use them? I see an efficiency benefit to clicking a couple times instead of typing out 20+ characters, but for people who'd rather type, say, 15 characters than use the mouse at all, is there a benefit of saved searches that I'm missing? Sorry for my ignorance, but I haven't seen this anywhere: Is there a search function for a shared search (like the tag function "tag:X," which allows access to tags without clicking)?

I agree. It is a cool feature to have, and I have used it on occasion, but pretty rarely. I don't really see a need for a link to them. I am not even sure how that would work.

[Owyn 457]

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/20440-my-top-3-saved-searches

[jefito 5,589]

I keep it simple. Three main searches:

Work Todo: tag:Work tag:_Todo

Personal Todo : tag:Personal tag:_Todo

Recently updated (notes from all notebooks updated within the last week): updated:day-7

[peterfmartin 221]

Thanks for the link, Owyn, and I guess if I used those searches often, they'd be worth saving. (Just to give it a shot, I've saved them. Let's see if I ever click to them now.) It seems the consensus from the few who have weighed in is that if you regularly do the same complex searches, it's worth saving them. Anyone have a lower standard than that? As I said, I'd like to know if I'm missing something others do to help their search efficiency.

And the real big thing that I would love in saved searches is, as I said, maybe already in existence, but I've never seen it, so I'll ask one more time. Is there a function along the lines of "search:XYZ" to pull up the saved search called "XYZ"? (All that would be, obviously, is a shortcut to a longer search function, but it would allow for no-mouse, not-much-typing access to complex searches.)

[Owyn 457]

I use those Saved Searches mainly from the Web client. The new smart Search box makes using Saved Searches quick and obvious.

I have another pile of saved searches which are used primarily to help with specific recurring tasks. e.g. I have Inbox specific searches which let me process similar new notes. The search list also works like a checklist for me while processing my Inbox.

[gtuckerkellogg 33]

Since I started this, I should address it, I suppose. I use saved searches a LOT. My notebook stacks are organized along the lines of David Allen's organizing Categories (from "Making Things Work"). So I have an inbox stack, a support stack, a a reference stack, etc. All my active files for current projects are in the support stack, and when I'm done with projects I move the notes into the reference stack. For tags, I use top level tags for the "Areas of Focus" (from the same book). So, for example, I have a _family tag, a _finances tag, and a _work tag. If I want to see ALL of the notes that are relevant to current family stuff, I search by "stack:_support tag:_family". As a GTD'er, this is really useful for weekly reviews. In addition, I have other searches, such as searches for a particular project.

Owyn uses saved searches from the web client. If evernote:// links to searches were available, I would use them from other applications to streamline my processes. I would, in fact, bookmark some key ones from my web brower.