Jump to content

(Archived) Feature Request: Better formatting functionality


Recommended Posts

I have recently started to use Evernote and installed it on my Windows work PC, home Macbook and iPad. Sometimes I use the web version. Thus far I am only interesting in creating simple text notes and synchronising them. So lots of platforms, but the simplest possible use-case. Should be flawless, right?

Wrong!

Different fonts (typeface, point-size) keep creeping in, even though I never touch the font settings. For example I have notes which appear in 1 font on Windows but a messy mix in the web & iPad versions*.

When I try to correct such problems, I find the formatting functionality weird and non-standard. Say the text is 10pt but some other size has slipped in. It doesn't suffice, as in other software, to select all & choose 10pt. I have to select all, change to something different, and then back to 10pt. Same with typeface.

This sounds like a little issue, but for many people such messy formatting is genuinely irritating and distracting. And then correcting the problem takes multiple steps because the user-interface then doesn't do what one expects.

* It seems like Evernote has a concept of blocks of "plain-text" where the font is dependant on the platform default? I think behind the scenes my notes have developed as a mix of plain and formatted text. When the notes look right it is because on that platform the default font for plain text matches the font selected for the formatted text alongside it? If so, this concept of plain text alongside formatted text needs to die. Either the note is all plain-text (no formatting available) or it's rich-text and all text has a font set. The idea of rich-text containing text which has no font assigned (and changes appearance depending on the platform) is totally unintuitive!

Link to comment
  • Level 5*

i sympathize with your dilemma. i think a lot of us have been struggling with formatting issues for a while, and several of us have suggested offering some kind of plain text option.

there isn't any plain text in your notes, though. for better or for worse, as you pointed out, there is always a font. this seems to have to do with the html variant that evernote uses to create a note. as bnf said, you can read more about this elsewhere if you want.

Link to comment

The reason I inferred that my notes contain "plain" text is when I select certain blocks in the web version there is no longer a typeface or point-size displayed. The dropdowns in the formatting bar revert to nothing selected i.e. "font-family".

Link to comment
  • Level 5*

i am not familiar enough with evernote's formatting to comment on this, but i would recommend exporting the note as an html document and then opening that file with a text editor to view the markup. if you look at the section that you are referring to, then you will see what is happening. if you are unfamiliar with html markup, just paste the relevant section into a post and we can interpret it for you.

Link to comment

i am not familiar enough with evernote's formatting to comment on this, but i would recommend exporting the note as an html document and then opening that file with a text editor to view the markup. if you look at the section that you are referring to, then you will see what is happening. if you are unfamiliar with html markup, just paste the relevant section into a post and we can interpret it for you.

The ENML Editor is the easiest way to view the html/enml for the note.

Link to comment

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...