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(Archived) A question about the future


Caul

Idea

Hello,

I've been using Evernote with a Premium account for a couple of years now. It does what it does well enough, but new features are trickling slowly and I wonder if I'm waiting for something that will never happen: a portable note-taking system with easy cross-referencing between notes, wiki-style.

So I'm posting this here in the hope that a staff member will say that great stuff lies ahead, or that someone will point out a system that corresponds to the following requirements (almost all of which are already Evernote features):

  • Quick & easy snippet clipping, including rich text, PDF & images
  • View & edit anywhere (Mac, Windows, iOS/Android + Web access)
  • Offline access
  • Dead-simple and automatic syncing
  • Reasonable traffic & storage for fairly-priced premium accounts
  • (Multi)Markdown support
  • Easy cross-linking, mediawiki-style

The last two points are what made me look elsewhere this last week. I've looked at DevonThink Pro, Scrivener, Notational Velocity (& nvAlt), TiddlyWiki as well as Springpad.

By "easy cross-linking", I mean being able to type, inside a note, something like "Source: [[2010 Paper]] p. 20", have a "dead" link appear in my note (when exiting Edit mode), and then being able to create a new note called "2010 Paper" by clicking on the link. I find the Evernote way of implementing note links better than nothing, but it very cumbersome to use, especially with large notebooks and several stacks. It constantly interferes with the writing and research flow.

I'm aware that allowing rich-text as well as pseudo-HTML markup is close to impossible, but I don't see how two distinct types of documents can't coexist side by side. If they can't be converted from one format to another, fine, but there is a real-world usage difference between RTF (information gathering) and HTML (writing and knowledge-base building). IMHO, both are interdependent. When doing research, I don't want to have to switch applications or have my notes separate from my writing. I also don't want to have to use two separate sync systems for the entire thing.

If rich text & HTML together is really impossible, I would have already abandoned rich text and used mediawiki instead. But synchronization is a huge problem when working offline or on iOS/Android.

Is there any chance of Evernote evolving more or less in this direction, or should I just forget about it?

Thanks a lot for your help.

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  • Level 5*

hi. i don't know where evernote is headed, and i don't think they will tell us, because they have a policy of not sharing their roadmap.your list contains features i have seen others request, so you are not alone.

regarding the wiki model, voodoopad might be a good solution for you. some of that stuff is in the works, if it isn't already there. but, it lacks other features, like cross-platform compatibility.

to be honest, if evernote doesn't do it, i think it is unlikely there will be another product that does. products rarely meet every one of our needs, so you'll probably want to pioritize and pick the product that fits you best.

some things, like miltimarkdown, don't need "support." you write in multimarkdown anywhere, and then just run it through a program to convert it before publishing. we already have note links, and although not as rich as you'd get with a wiki, they work. the list goes on.

good luck with your search!

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Thank you, I've been on the NSUserView site the whole afternoon yesterday, that's why I wrote the post here in the first place :) It was brilliant but not very user-friendly, and still requires two applications.

@GrumpyMonkey: I forgot to mention that I've tried VoodooPad as well...

Seems like there is no product that features the seven points I've listed. Too bad... Thanks a lot for the feedback.

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