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REQUEST: 'Due Date' attribute


thesab

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Reaver that is really helpful and a great idea - didn't realize you can change the created date. thank you.

I also, found this - so adds some hope for future functionality - http://www.macstorie...st-acquisition/

You're welcome.

And that link is very interesting.

Evernote is sitting on a lot of cash. So buying a solution might be a faster method than trying to re-engineer a solution.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Hi there, I have notes in the future: appointments, articles I'm writing with the create date set to be the deadline. Often I'm scrolling through Evernote's snippet view looking for notes made today, or notes, appointments or deadlines, in the near future.

It would be really handy if future notes in snippet view were distinguished from past ones, say by a thick line or bar. Or maybe if future snippets were a slightly different colour.

In ancient versions of Evernote I recall a timeline, and I think I'm right in saying you could click on a button and go to 'today' - I think it was probably trying to achieve the same thing.

So this is a feature request, but also if anybody has any neat tricks to navigate by date and achieve something similar in the current interface I'd love to hear!

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Here is the method I use:

I have a note called "Stuff in the Future vs Past" with a goofy photo.

I pasted a link for the note in the Favorites Bar

Each morning I change the Created Date for the note to today's date. (The time is always set for 11:55PM.)

So, whenever I click on the link in the favorites bar, I jump to the "Stuff in the Future vs Past" note

  • Any notes above the goofy picture are in the future.
  • Any notes below the goofy picture are either for today or in the past

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  • Level 5*

i title my notes yymmdd. the difference between 120321 and 120322 is apparent in the title, so i know what is future and what is past with a glance at the snippet view. i think i would be too lazy to manually change the date on a note every day, especially since i cannot access the metadata (created date and so forth) on the ipad.

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I use the YYYY MM DD prefix on my personal notes, but:

1.) my eyesight is not as sharp as it used to be, so it is difficult to spot today's date in the snippet view

and even worse:

2.) my memory is not as sharp as it used to be and often I need a prompt to figure out today's date

Over half of my notes are web captures of political events, and I am too lazy to manually add the YYYYMMDD to all those titles, so I take the easy way out and change just one note in the morning.

Clicking on the favorites bar link is the closest I can come to automating the process to quickly identify the difference between the past and the future.

.

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Instead of being forced to make hacks with the creation date, what we really need is an additional "custom" date field that can be used for whatever the user desires. (Deadline, expiry date, date of next review etc.).

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  • Level 5*

Instead of being forced to make hacks with the creation date, what we really need is an additional "custom" date field that can be used for whatever the user desires. (Deadline, expiry date, date of next review etc.).

Maybe. There is nothing wrong with hacking, and I am generally not a fan of Evernote spending their valuable time on designing features that most users (let's face it, most people don't even know the created date exists) will never see. There is a "due date" in the works (jbenson loves to bring that up!), but we have yet to see it. Perhaps that would solve some problems.

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  • Level 5*
There is nothing wrong with hacking . . .

GM, beg to differ with you on this.

"Hacking" is an unsupported work-around based on the current system.

The system could very well change in the future which could break the hack.

Sometimes we don't have a choice. But, IMO, a hack is best used as a temporary fix until a supported change/option is provided.

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I guess we have a different understanding of the word. Hacking is not "unsupported." It is not a "workaround." It is an innovative way to make a system work for you. Think "Lifehacking" or any other "hack" that tries to make you more productive. Hacking the "created" date hardly seems like an endangered technique to me, as long as Evernote allows us to modify it (they do not on the iPad).

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There is a "due date" in the works (jbenson loves to bring that up!), but we have yet to see it.

I believe the Due Date project is dead. Evernote hasn't decided whether or not an announcement is warranted.

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I believe the Due Date project is dead. Evernote hasn't decided whether or not an announcement is warranted.

This is very bad news. This would be a very useful field.

And, as you have pointed out numerous times, having a Due Date field would enable a number of very useful EN Trunk Apps.

Any idea why it was canceled?

Is adding another field really such a technical challenge?

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Just a quick note to say I'm using jbenson2's hack, so thanks for that. Updating the create date every day is not onerous but not ideal.

The due date idea sounds like a good one, so it's disappointing it's not happening. I'd rather not use the create date for something it patently isn't i.e. a due date.

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Here is the method I use:

I have a note called "Stuff in the Future vs Past" with a goofy photo.

I pasted a link for the note in the Favorites Bar

Each morning I change the Created Date for the note to today's date. (The time is always set for 11:55PM.)

So, whenever I click on the link in the favorites bar, I jump to the "Stuff in the Future vs Past" note

  • Any notes above the goofy picture are in the future.
  • Any notes below the goofy picture are either for today or in the past

jbenson, I'm a very new, newbie to EN, could you explain how to paste the link to your note in the "favorites" bar?

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  • Level 5*
jbenson, I'm a very new, newbie to EN, could you explain how to paste the link to your note in the "favorites" bar?

Just drag the note there from the note list.

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There is a "due date" in the works (jbenson loves to bring that up!), but we have yet to see it.

I believe the Due Date project is dead. Evernote hasn't decided whether or not an announcement is warranted.

Last I checked, we hadn't mentioned anything about Due Dates not coming.

Though I totally understand, with your rigorous understanding of our history with Due Dates, how you'd think that was the case.

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  • Level 5*

Last I checked, we hadn't mentioned anything about Due Dates not coming.

gbarry, sorry to put a fine point on it, but I believe that is exactly the point JB is making:

Evernote has neither confirmed nor denied that the Due Date feature has been canceled.

Can you tell us directly whether or not the Due Date is still under consideration?

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There is nothing wrong with hacking . . .

GM, beg to differ with you on this.

"Hacking" is an unsupported work-around based on the current system.

The system could very well change in the future which could break the hack.

Sometimes we don't have a choice. But, IMO, a hack is best used as a temporary fix until a supported change/option is provided.

Hacking, IMO, is making something work for you. Another, similar phrase I use is "managing your manager." (IE, if I can show my manager that something/someone will help me make his (my manager's) job easier...which translates that it will most likely make my job easier...) Not a darned thing wrong with either one of these things. In fact, I think making something work for you is a beautiful thing.

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JBenson2's hack/mod/call it what you will would be much cooler if you could change the color of the text in the title of the note to show today's date. Would that be any easier than adding a due date? Or would investigating it take resources away from working on the due date?

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I used a quote from a poem by Ben Okri, found a picture of it inscribed in a stone wall on the 'net:

http://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/57a80351-722b-4b73-89d4-33be03c99209/38d2eb70d341f3af4c2bd47bbd24a8c5

You can probably make out what it says: http://www.evernote.com/shard/s1/sh/c2e6f7f0-a5ef-43db-a44b-0f4563ec315c/745d7df3dc729f6f2335f06863dd97bf

"Our future is greater than our past"

Seemed appropriate for the task at hand (dividing the future and past) and of course the future will be better than the past in one small evernote way if the company takes the implementation of a 'due date' field off the back-burner :-)

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I believe the Due Date project is dead. Evernote hasn't decided whether or not an announcement is warranted.

This is very bad news. This would be a very useful field.

And, as you have pointed out numerous times, having a Due Date field would enable a number of very useful EN Trunk Apps.

Any idea why it was canceled?

Is adding another field really such a technical challenge?

The lack of a date field that reflects the content of the note (call it "Due date", "Subject date", "Custom date") is the only reason I would consider moving away from Evernote. I mainly use Evernote for archiving scans of past documents, and there is no "non hacking" way to get a timeline of these. My Evernote archive is getting more and more messy in that regard, now that I'm coming up on 10K notes.

I think Beyonce said it best:

If you scan it and you save it, put a date on it!

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I mainly use Evernote for archiving scans of past documents, and there is no "non hacking" way to get a timeline of these.

When adding notes that I'm concerned about a retroactive date, I simply change the created date. Personally, I don't consider that a hack any more than I would consider changing the name of a newly created file from the default name (IE from 'document' to 'itinerary') a hack.

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When adding notes that I'm concerned about a retroactive date, I simply change the created date. Personally, I don't consider that a hack any more than I would consider changing the name of a newly created file from the default name (IE from 'document' to 'itinerary') a hack.

To me this is a hack, because it introduces inconsistency to the meaning of the created date field. You have some notes where it means the date the note was created and some notes where it means something else.

This might work in a single user environment where you remember which note is which. But when it comes to sharing it is critical for fields to have consistent meaning across all users.

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Last I checked, we hadn't mentioned anything about Due Dates not coming.

gbarry, sorry to put a fine point on it, but I believe that is exactly the point JB is making:

Evernote has neither confirmed nor denied that the Due Date feature has been canceled.

Can you tell us directly whether or not the Due Date is still under consideration?

Still no response from EN about Due Date, GBarry you were asked few days ago????

Sorry about that. Let me confirm, plans for integrating some sort of Due Date functionality are still underway and in keeping with past comments on the subject.

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I am currently using EN in conjunction with 'The Secret Weapon' methodology, and have been loving it. The only thing I feel like I'm really missing is an elegant way to set a tickler to remind me about something later in the future.

I've seen a handful of posts on the forums about people finding workarounds using the date in the note title, or even hijacking the Created date attribute. But in my mind, these methods are just that: workarounds. An actual, dedicated Due Date (or something to that effect) attribute could be extremely useful, without having to rely on workarounds or setting reminders up in a completely different system (calendars or FollowUpThen or what-have-you). It could be quite handy to set up a saved search with a query that includes something to the effect of "dueDate:today" so you could view any ticklers you have set for that day.

Anyone else on here agree that a due date attribute would be a welcome addition?

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  • Level 5

Yes, there are a few Evernote users who would like it and for the past couple years, Evernote has stated their desire for a Due Date.

As they have said before, a version of a Due Date is coming SOON.

Latest comment from Evernote dated March 27, 2012: " Let me confirm, plans for integrating some sort of Due Date functionality are still underway and in keeping with past comments on the subject."

And here is a link to a few of those Evernote past comments on their Due Date plans

http://discussion.ev...post__p__104546

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Anyone already news about this new 'egretlist' release of evernote? I heard this would be the first release of the EN team for 2012. Is there a date known already, because this can be very interesting!

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I use jbenson2's approach, but I also use a tag, so that I can quickly see all the items that will require attention in the future. Some people may just sort by create date, and not feel a need for a tag. Since I sort by different identifiers, I find it faster to select a tag than sort in a different order.

Rol

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Anyone already news about this new 'egretlist' release of evernote? I heard this would be the first release of the EN team for 2012. Is there a date known already, because this can be very interesting!

Egretlist is a product in our Trunk, not one of our products.

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  • Level 5*

Egretlist is a product in our Trunk, not one of our products.

According to the TechCrunch interview with Evernote CEO Phil Libin:

Evernote CEO Phil Libin tells me that the company has scooped up four companies in 2011, including the beloved Skitch, a company called Notable Meals (which turned into “Food”), Readable (which became “Clearly”), and a startup called Minds Momentum — which will eventually morph into the company’s upcoming To-Do List app

And from MacStories.net:

As it turns out, Evernote CEO Phil Libin has confirmed the company purchased four startups in the past year alone: among those, Readable became Evernote Clearly, Notable Meals became Evernote Food and an another one, called Minds Momentum, was acquired in order to get the assets for an upcoming Evernote todo list application.

TechCrunch doesn’t share any more details, however a quick Google search confirms that Minds Momentum was the company behind Egretlist, an iPhone app to manage todos based off Evernote that we reviewed here.

Since Minds Momentum was the owner/developer of EgretList, and Evernote now owns Minds Momentum, doesn't that mean that Evernote owns EgretList?

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(Delay in response was only because I missed this post before, not because of hesitation in answer.)

No. It doesn't. If it were an Evernote product, it would be specifically called out as such, like Skitch (Evernote branding all over it), Evernote Food, Evernote Clearly, Evernote Hello, Evernote Peek.

Terms of a buyout do not always include subsuming existing product lines. When a company is purchased, the buyer may be after the IP or the talent, or both. Just look at the case of VBulletin and Xenforo - The the buyers made the wrong choice and wanted just the IP, ditching what was really important (the minds who created that IP), who then left to form the competing Xenforo.

A successful company doesn't make many wrong choices.

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  • Level 5*

A successful company doesn't make many wrong choices.

I'm getting a bit off-topic here, but I think that is a debatable statement.

Lots of successful companies have made a number of mistakes, including, Apple, Microsoft, Google, US auto industry, to name a few.

IMO, the key to success is recognizing "wrong choices" and taking corrective action.

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I did use the word "many". Make too many mistakes and you lose trust, from investors and, more importantly, consumers.

And one wouldn't say the US auto industry is exactly "successful". Too Big to Fail, maybe, but that's definitely not a good thing.

You are certainly correct, though, you need to recognize mistakes that you make, assimilate all outcomes from lessons learned, and correct them decisively. But wouldn't you agree that the ideal situation would be to avoid them before they become mistakes in the first place?

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I all, I want to create a search that will read the due dates for a task/note either:

1) Create a list of tasks sorted by due date or

2) List all the tasks that are due seven days from the current date.

I know that I will have to get the due date into the note structure somehow. I've been trying to put the due date in the note's subject line but I can't collect notes based on this logic:

1) Read the current date

2) Search for due dates which are < or = 7 days from current date.

Does this make sense. I'm suspect there is an easy way to do this. My full search would be:

tag:overdue, .next actions (this part works well).

and then an operator to find notes by due dates.

TIA,

Jim Adams

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  • Level 5*

I am interested in this search myself, so after some testing on EN Mac, I found the following Search terms to work:

created:day -created:day+7

This will return Notes Created for one week, starting with today + the next 6 days.

The key is the "-created:day+7", which means Created BEFORE 7 days from now.

Please note that this should work in EN Win, but I have tested it only in EN Mac.

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  • Level 5

No joy in Windows.

created:day -created:day+7

In the Windows beta version I am using it tries to find words starting with 7, created since Today, created before today.

The only solution that works for me is very ugly and has to be changed each day.

created:20120414 -created:20120420

If you did not care for the 7 day window, you could use

created:day

Or use the Evernote check boxes (Ctrl + Shift + C) for tasks.

To find all the unfinished checkboxes, click on

>Attributes

>Contains

>Unfinished to-do items

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  • Level 5

18 months ago (Oct 2010), Dave Engberg said:

Forum Topic:
Re: Saved Search Grammar for "today plus the past"

We're adding '+' to the grammar in anticipation of due dates, so you'll be able to do:

-created:day+1

I think it already works that way on the web, but we're adding it to the clients.

So I guess that means it will be coming to the Windows Client... soon.

.

.

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JMichael,

Not working created:day -created:day+7 . I changed a number of notes to dates in the future. Any thoughts. I'm on Windows 7.

Jim Adams

No joy in Windows.

created:day -created:day+7

In the Windows beta version I am using it tries to find words starting with 7, created since Today, created before today.

Unfortunately, it looks like this Search Bug has been fixed in EN Mac, but NOT in EN Win.

So my solution will NOT work for you now when using EN Win.

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Thanks for all of your help. I'll wait until the functionality is made available for Win. created:day -created:day+7 works like a charm on the web client.

I found this in the API docs:

subjectDate:[datetime] - matches notes with a subjectDate attribute that is equal to or later than the argument datetime.

How does one enter the subject date?

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  • Level 5

Evernote's documentation could use a bit of a face lift.

The subject date column was available about 3 years ago.

Evernote pulled it with the hopes of changing it to a due date, but ran into a lot of problems and other priorities took over.

The current status is the Due Date is coming... soon. (allegedly)

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One idea that I use is to preface the title of each to-do note with a date in the following format: yyyymmdd so a note containing a to-do with the title "Prepare for meeting with Jim Smith" would become "20120422 Prepare for meeting with Jim Smith" this allows you to sort your notes by TITLE and have the due dates sort accordingly.

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One idea that I use is to preface the title of each to-do note with a date in the following format: yyyymmdd so a note containing a to-do with the title "Prepare for meeting with Jim Smith" would become "20120422 Prepare for meeting with Jim Smith" this allows you to sort your notes by TITLE and have the due dates sort accordingly.

A number of people use that approach. Unfortunately it has some significant limitations:

  1. Can't do true date searches, like BEFORE, or using combinations to limit to a date range, or even just get Notes due Today, Yesterday, or other relative dates
  2. You have self-limited the Note sort order to date -- sometimes you need to sort by descriptive title

Bottom line: Putting date in the Title does not eliminate the need for a Due Date field.

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  • Level 5

Another drawback is when you use it on a mobile app.

The date takes up some of the visible title so it is more difficult to scroll through and review the note titles.

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  • 1 month later...
  • Level 5

Based on the Community Chat between Phil, Dave & Andrew on April 12, 2012, it looks like it might be this year.

Quote from Phil Libin - CEO of Evernote:

"We're putting in a lot of work on reminders / due dates / to-do lists. Aiming for a release this year, but don't have the specifics nailed down yet."

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  • 2 weeks later...

I see that the "Due Date" field is coming "soon". Which makes me hope that this new date field also can be used as a general way to reflect the date of note content. Including notes with "old" content.

I use Evernote primarily as an archive for all my old scanned documents. I'm also a hobby genealogist and use Evernote to store census images, parish records and other life event documents which usually have a clear date or timestamp connected to them. Evernote has been awesome for these purposes, and I've just passed 5000 mostly "historical" notes. But the more I put in the more I miss a good way to add the date of the content. I tried to change the created date, but quickly realized the flaw in that strategy. I've since prepended the note titles with a yyyymmdd format for sort purposes. But this feels more and more like an ugly hack.

So I see due date is coming and I'm thinking that it is really the same as I am asking for: a way to reflect the content of the note. Whether it's the date of old letters, receipts, tickets, genealogy stuff or future events and tasks. Is this a correct interpretation of this new date field?

And if so, wouldn't it be a good idea to call the new date field "Subject Date" instead of "Due Date"? To better reflect the general purpose of both future and past dates. I don't use Evernote for tasks, I use Remember the Milk for that. But I recognize those who do, and see the need for a way to reflect due dates. So since it is semantically the same as my use of "origin date"/"source date", I would think it's a good thing to combine it into one date field that feels natural for both parties.

Just a thought.

Sab

Norway

Yes, this field is highly needed! So, could Evernote please add this ???

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  • 1 month later...
  • Level 5*

Cant believe something as basic as this is not in such a developed product - looks like I am keeping the ol' Task App and deleting this seriosly no due date??!?!?

Hi. Welcome to the discussion forums.

I think Evernote simply developed along different lines than task managing apps, so it has taken longer to do things like calendars and due dates. There are third party integrations (as mentioned in the link) that offer that kind of functionality.

https://support.evernote.com/link/portal/16051/16058/Article/1632/Does-Evernote-integrate-with-my-favorite-calendar-application-service

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Cant believe something as basic as this is not in such a developed product - looks like I am keeping the ol' Task App and deleting this seriosly no due date??!?!?

Evernote is not a task manager/to do list. So if you need such an app, then you will want to use one of the many of them out there.

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  • Level 5

Here are just a few of the Evernote employee promises for the Due Date feature over the past 2+ years.

They go back further, but the forum no longer allows one to see them.

Looks like it is either a lot harder than they expected or it is no longer a priority in their view.

2012-04-20 - Phil Libin community chat:

mcd78 - How are Due Dates coming along?

Phil Libin - @mcd78 We're putting in a lot of work on reminders / due dates / to-do lists. Aiming for a release this year, but don't have the specifics nailed down yet.

mcd78 - Thanks Phil, are you guys going to develop an separate app for this stuff (Since you acquire the Egretlist guys) or build it into the main EN app?

Phil Libin - @mcd78 to-do lists, due dates, reminders, etc. will be in the main Evernote app since that's core "productivity" functionality. We may also come out with individual, light-weight apps, to experiment with creative UX ideas, but not at the expense of keeping those features out of the main apps.

2012-03-29 GBarry

Let me confirm, plans for integrating some sort of Due Date functionality are still underway and in keeping with past comments on the subject.

2011-12-17 Evernote Podcast - Phil Libin, Dave Engberg, Sinkov

The Due Date comment occurs at 54 minutes 27 seconds.

Question: At Evernote, any plans to have Due Dates on notes and to be able to view notes sorted by Due Date?

* Answer: Yes, definitely. Yes. More than just plans. Work in progress. Work in progress. There you go.

and it was mentioned again 55 20

* Answer: ...It is partially tied to the previous question - because obviously check boxes and Due Dates are kind of related so both are coming in a pretty awesome way, not necessarily at the same time, but both relatively soon.

2012 12 08 - Dec 8, 2011 From Business Insider magazine

We asked Evernote CEO Phil Libin point-blank if to-do lists, which are a popular use for Evernote, are coming.

"To-do lists are coming," he said after taking a deep breath.

2011 11 15 - Phil Constantinou:

I promise good stuff is happening with Due dates and to dos. It has been too long but hopefully it'll be worth it. We'll make sure to get you involved as soon as we've got something you can test.

2011 09 29- Phil Dean:

Thanks for the reminder [Due Date]. I have made a note to bring this up as a gentle reminder to the team on Monday. No promises mind you

2011 02 15 - Phil Libin:

Due Dates are "Definitely coming soon" sent via Twitter

2011 01 27 - Dave Engberg:

"We're planning to replace the name of the "subject date" field (which was confusing for most new users) with "due date" instead."

2010 09 07 - Dave Engberg:

"We are adding support for a 'Due Date' field on each note, which you could set to an appropriate date."

2010 04 29 - Dave Engberg:

"We plan to add the ability to specify a due date for a note, to sort the note list by due dates, and to be able to search for notes within a range of due dates."

2010 04 05 - Phil Libin:

"All notes will get a "due date" field in the next couple of versions."
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  • 1 month later...
  • Level 5

I know you really want it JB and I'm sure they know how to do it - I'm guessing it is just not that high a priority for Evernote, so it will come 'soon'.

After 3 years of promises, I don't share your optimistic view.

In my opinion, the demands of 14+ Evernote platforms are too high a hurdle for them.

You might be right however on the priority decision.

The Due Date column has proved too difficult for them and therefore, its priority has been lowered.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hello Forum,

as a programmer I know it wouldn't be complicated to integrate a date field to a task.

At the end its like every other field with special sort-functionality.

So I am quite sure that's not the point.

And you didn't need 3 years for that! :D

So why they say its coming and its not?

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  • Level 5

So why they say its coming and its not?

Yes, it is frustrating to hear all the repeated promises from officers of the company and end up with bunpkiss.

We, the users (a.k.a. the customers), don't have access to the inner workings at Evernote, so any comment is just a guess.

The older versions of Evernote used to have an additional date column for some other purpose.

A couple years ago, Dave Engberg, Evernote CTO, said they planned to use that field for the Due Date field.

http://discussion.evernote.com/index.php?app=core&module=modcp&fromapp=members&tab=iplookup&ip=68.112.132.115

But something came up. There are several possibilities. Just a few that come to mind are:

  • Either it was too difficult due to the 14+ platforms Evernote codes for.
  • Or they had a grander scheme to utilize the Due Date in a bigger and more impressive upgrade.
  • Or the marketing people decided it is no longer a priority, deep-sixed the project, and headed in a new direction.

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  • Level 5*

There's a lot more than basic scheduling in several add-ins to Evernote, including Meshin Calendar which is my app of choice.

Meshin syncs with Google Calendars, and there's a Google app that syncs them with Outlook, so I can have wall-to-wall reminders of significant events.

Since there's no need for Evernote to reinvent that wheel, I don't guess they feel they have to - although we'll all have to wait until December to see what the new Business version can do.

Notwithstanding all of which, having a Due Date field, and being able to sort notes based on that field, would be such a convenience that I'm putting it on my Christmas list (again). I'm sure jb2 is right - there's good practical or financial reasons why this can't (or won't) be done yet - but a lot of people will be very happy when it is.

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Since there's no need for Evernote to reinvent that wheel, I don't guess they feel they have to - although we'll all have to wait until December to see what the new Business version can do.

I think you are missing the point - there's obviously a lot more apps that can do more than Evernote in certain areas - e.g. Outlook OneNote - this integrates even better with Outlook. I could use a pad of paper instead of Evernote in the first place.

However, the whole reason I use Evernote is that it made my life easier - so if another app comes along that can do what they do and also lets me put reminders on notes then this app is going to be more useful to me than Evernote. As a developer, I highly doubt the reason is technical difficulty, or cost for that matter. I believe it is just a case of a product not listening to it's users.

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Since there's no need for Evernote to reinvent that wheel, I don't guess they feel they have to - although we'll all have to wait until December to see what the new Business version can do.

I think you are missing the point - there's obviously a lot more apps that can do more than Evernote in certain areas - e.g. Outlook OneNote - this integrates even better with Outlook. I could use a pad of paper instead of Evernote in the first place.

However, the whole reason I use Evernote is that it made my life easier - so if another app comes along that can do what they do and also lets me put reminders on notes then this app is going to be more useful to me than Evernote. As a developer, I highly doubt the reason is technical difficulty, or cost for that matter. I believe it is just a case of a product not listening to it's users.

Maybe. I do not know the inner workings of the green elephant. I am probably more like a blind man touching its trunk and mistakenly imagining it as a big, wriggly snake, but it seems to me that Evernote listened, and decided to implement it, but met some kind of obstacle along the way.

With 15,000+ developers using the API, at least five major clients (Mac, Windows, Web, iOS, and Android), several app integrations (Skitch, Food, and Penultimate) along with 40 million+ users around the world, I think they face unique and unprecedented challenges. All due respect to your experience, but I am guessing no one but Evernote really knows just how difficult any change is to make.

At any rate, they know how people feel, but it isn't there. There are methods like the ones suggested by jbenson that offer workarounds. Hopefully, you'll consider giving them a try to see if they meet your needs. That's the best we can do! But, I don't think it is constructive or correct to say they don't listen. At best, we can say they don't cater to our whims or obey our commands. But, who does?

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Very wise and more diplomatic than I ;) I agree with the summary and we have done all we can from our side so lets see what happens...

Thanks. My main point is to caution against assumptions about the attitude / thinking / motivations of Evernote employees, who are, after all, probably even more dedicated to seeing the product succeed than we are. But, please don't take my comments to mean that you and others shouldn't post and express your thoughts on the topic. Developers read these forums, and perhaps someone here will come up with an argument that will motivate them to invest in the feature after all. At the very least, it will remind them that users continue to want it included in the product.

Personally, I suspect it will be listed with a bunch of features with the roll out of Evernote business later this year. In fact, I have a whole list of stuff I EXPECT to see in the products when that happens. One of these items just so happens to be a "list view" on the Mac client (my repetition here is supposed to be working like a subliminal hammer on our developer elves). Big stuff had better be coming :)

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What we're seeing is frustration from users that a seemingly (on the surface) simple request that has been promised for nearly 3 years has still not been delivered. Excuses like EN is not a task management application are irrelevant; whether its a "Due Date" or "Subject Date" or whatever, lots of people need an additional date field for many reasons and the hacks are not scalable.

I'll continue my lonely protest of not paying for EN (and I suspect there are thousands of other users like me) until it implements this basic field. Even though the free functions are sufficient for me, I pay for freemium apps which I use regularly to support developers. Except when the developers ignore user feedback or promise to deliver features but never do or don't bother to properly communicate with their users...

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What we're seeing is frustration from users that a seemingly (on the surface) simple request that has been promised for nearly 3 years has still not been delivered. Excuses like EN is not a task management application are irrelevant; whether its a "Due Date" or "Subject Date" or whatever, lots of people need an additional date field for many reasons and the hacks are not scalable.

I'll continue my lonely protest of not paying for EN (and I suspect there are thousands of other users like me) until it implements this basic field. Even though the free functions are sufficient for me, I pay for freemium apps which I use regularly to support developers. Except when the developers ignore user feedback or promise to deliver features but never do or don't bother to properly communicate with their users...

Hi. Thanks for spelling out your position. It seems you have given it some thought and you have provided justification for how you feel.

Personally, I have several features that I consider absolutely essential to making Evernote work. I have requested them, and pleaded for them in every way that I know how. One of them, for example, is better search for Asian languages, because right now it performs poorly on some clients and really poorly on others. So, it is a feature promised (search), but not yet delivered (at least, for these kinds of searches). Is it a reason to withhold my financial support from the company? No way. Evernote does too many great things, including the poorly supported Asian language searches, which still work better than those by any other competitor, and with the ability to use Spotlight for searches on the Mac, the problem is at least partially mitigated with workarounds. I want Evernote to stick around, because I need it.

As for the workarounds for the missing due date not scaling, I beg to differ. I've got 10,000+ notes with my system (http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/evernote-organization.html). jbenson has many times more notes with his. They work fine and scale nicely. Of course, they don't work as elegantly as a due date field would, but I consider them to be quite functional. In fact, I don't plan to use the due date field even if it is introduced, but that is just me :)

As I mentioned above, I think it is great that users post their positions on this feature. I think I just differ on what I think people ought to do about it (support the company and give a try to the workarounds).

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The Due Date field would make my use of Evernote more efficient, instead of resorting to work-arounds.

But I will continue to send my annual payments to Evernote because it is a great program and I use it every day.

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I am very much looking forward to this vaporware mythical promised feature. Have been waiting for a long time. I've seen the excuses "Evernote is not a task manager or a to-do list!" But the overall message of Evernote is the idea of all of the stuff you're trying to keep track of in one place. "To do" lists are just a subset of that, and a very common and critical piece as well. These workarounds can get cumbersome, and some are "hacky" and we simply shouldn't need to do them.

So, I either need to use a workaround (which would limit the way I'd like to use Evernote), or use another to-do app, and either remember to copy and paste it into Evernote, or integrate it somehow.

So I'm adding my +1 here....really want these features (in addition to "Due Date", have a "Priority", and other simple task list stuff)

Still love the product, but I'm not going to renew premium until it has the features that convinces me to chuck my task management app(s).

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I think that we should make a distinction, as I suspect others here may have tried, between needing the "due date"(DD) or what the primary use of EN is for AND the promise to implement it in future versions.

If anyone asked one what a reasonable timeline for "soon" would be, most would say three years is way beyond that expectation.

With that being said, there is not a DD function coming "soon" from the time they started saying there would be.

I believe that the thinking of EN is strictly because there are so many todo apps out there that they don't want to be grouped in as another todo app. That's understandable.

However, we cannot dismiss the fact that people have begged for this feature and EN has said it would happen soon.

It did not happen.

I further suspect that the "soon" pacifier is just that...a pacifier...had I been around in EN 3 years ago and was promised this feature soon and was still here waiting for it, I would have lost faith in the product's management.

Had EN just come out and said, "We will never implement a DD feature." Many people would not have stuck around as long. I certainly wouldn't have.

How great is it that I can snap a picture of a client's job so that I can remember it, but then I can't be REMINDED of it by my phone when I tell it to?

re·mind·er

   [ri-mahyn-der] remind.

a person or thing that serves to remind.

re·mem·ber

verb (used with object)

1.

to recall to the mind by an act or effort of memory; think ofagain: I'll try to remember the exact date.

2.

to retain in the memory; keep in mind; remain aware of:Remember your appointment with the dentist.

3.

to have (something) come into the mind again: I justremembered that it's your birthday today.

Definition #3 would fall under the category of "remember everything"

A reminder, HELPS you REMEMBER

Therefore, Evernotes is lacking in precisely what it intends to do.

It does not remember...it simply stores.

The motto might even change to Store Everything .....er....Store Most Things ....er...Store Some Things

EverNote new motto... Store Some Things....YOU remember to go retrieve them out of storage.

EverNote is still a good app. It could be THE App.

Catchnotes does everything evernote can do, but it does not have the free features(limitations of how many notebooks(spaces) or something before you go premium) it also has the ability to allow other uses to edit or add content(if you let them and it notifies you when they have)

I don't know if I will stay an EN user if the DD doesn't become an option soon(my definition of soon is generally a few months for this, but based on the timeline that has already elapsed, I give it a few weeks. I know it isn't probable and this certainly isn't an attempt to entice the management to implement it.

Collaboration would also be a great feature.

At any rate...this post was mostly to put things into perspective. I hope it does for others who are frustrated with "soon" as well.

Thank you for your time.

Take care.

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Just doing my part to keep the Forum users who are new to this Due Date delayed issue updated:

10 months ago - Phil Libin - CEO

20 months ago - Phil Libin - CEO

30 months ago - Dave Engberg - CTO

Plus similar assurances from other Evernote employees of the Due Date release as well.

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Just doing my part to keep the Forum users who are new to this Due Date delayed issue updated:

10 months ago - Phil Libin - CEO

20 months ago - Phil Libin - CEO

30 months ago - Dave Engberg - CTO

Plus similar assurances from other Evernote employees of the Due Date release as well.

I know you have lots more due-date research, but don't forget the forum chat we had in the Spring, because you originally raised the question of due dates in the thread!

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

+1 for feature like this, or some kind of reminder, notification type of functionality. :)

I think it's because people (like me) like using Evernote so much that they want to be able to do more in the app that they spend the most time in; or have it integrate well with another app – like Calendar.

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This thread started in January 2011, so it's coming up for a 2nd birthday soon although I think there were requests for the DD prior to that.

Let's hope we actually get to see something before we're all too old to care...

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Gazumped is correct.

My favorite quote was from Phil Libin (Evernote CEO) back in April 2010

Apr 5, 2010 - Phil Libin:

"All notes will get a "due date" field in the next couple of versions."

Later in the same year was their "

" moment:

From Dave Engberg (Evernote CTO) on the Due Date in July 2010

"Yes, we'd originally hoped to do this quickly, but it requires coordination across our platforms (at least the web service, Mac, Windows, and iPhone/iPad initially), and this can be tough if one of the projects is in the middle of something heavy already. In this case, we're doing major work on the Windows client for performance/size/compatibility that pushes the whole thing back for everyone."

Search Reference Code 47ER92

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I was just telling a friend about Evernote and this was my only complaint. I'm currently using Reminders on my iPhone (iOS6), but if I had a similar function available in Evernote for when I make to-do lists or just want to follow up on a note, it would be MUCH more efficient. I'm using Evernote more and more now, but if it had reminders available, I'd probably use it EVERY day for personal use alone.

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Just to be clear "due date" isn't necessarily a reminder option - it would be a way to sort notes into order of their deliverable content, and a hook from which third-party developers could hang calendar-style apps. It's actually fairly easy to run work-around reminder systems from Evernote notes by using note-linking; just copy the note into your calendar app of choice with its direct link so you can jump back to the original when necessary. Use the calendar apps reminder options to set up the prompts you need. I use Outlook and Google Calendar in a slightly different way - I set up the reminder first and use Outlook's built-in clipper to copy that entry into Evernote. Then I can attach, link to or otherwise include anything I need for that appointment. I also change the created date to the future event date so my notes sort in chronological order. It's not rocket-science, but it is somewhat cluncky; it could do with a much smoother link between note(s) and event(s).

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I'm aware the due date function isn't exactly what I'm looking for, but I figured post it here for good measure to express what I'd like in the neighborhood of this.

It's actually fairly easy to run work-around reminder systems from Evernote notes by using note-linking; just copy the note into your calendar app of choice with its direct link so you can jump back to the original when necessary.

This suggestion is exactly what I want to avoid for such a simple task. I also don't want to clutter my calendar with things like this unless it's directly related to an event (say remembering to bring something specific with me)--which some have suggested in the past. Even then, I'd rather it be attached somehow to the event directly and not be a separate event on the calendar. This can be done in iCal in the note section of an event, but the reminder function is a bit too simplified and doesn't give as many options that the Reminder app provides. It's far easier for me to make a to-do list, for example, in Evernote on my iPhone, and then go into Reminders and set a reminder to check my to-do list in Evernote. But, my goal is to use Evernote more for organizing my thoughts and information--not less.

I guess I'm ignorant of the complexity of what I'm asking for, but it would seem it wouldn't be the most complex engineering task to have options to add due dates and reminders to notes. Being an all-Apple hardware user now, I guess I'm coming to expect more seamless integration between platforms and functions--that is unless I'm using Maps or Siri now (what a mess). Maybe this is more of an Apple platform type of request and isn't that feasible on other platforms right now, but it wouldn't be the first time something is offered for Apple software, but not the counterpart, e.g. Microsoft Office (some wonderful features available for Office for Mac that isn't available for non-Apple systems!). I'm really liking Evernote more and more, but if I come across someone else offering a better one-stop experience, I'm there.

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OK I'm confused. Which happens a lot. But. You want a due date function, but you don't want to "clutter your calendar with things like this".

I obviously didn't understand how you meant to apply the due dates.

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I guess what I'm doing is mixing what some people/software know as "reminders" and "due dates", and drifting away from what the main focus of this topic post and some of the particular points made. Basically I'm just trying to lay out what I'd like to see and not too concerned if it lines up exactly with what else that's been said.

It's probably just my use of my calendar application, but I only like to use it for places I have to be. Everything else that isn't dependent upon me being at a particular place and time involving other human beings directly, ends up as a reminder. I currently don't use Evernote in a professional, shared environment, so I'm just using it to structure my chaotic thoughts and life better. Sometimes my notes, whether they be to-do lists or some sort of information, just need a generic follow-up reminding me of this information or to take the next step on something--nothing time sensitive or critical I want cluttering up my calendar. Other times, a note is related to something that needs to be done by a specific date and time, and/or is related to an event in my calendar.

I also guess I'm implying that notes could be sorted by due date if you select that option instead of just being sorted by creation date or last updated with various reminder alert options. In the end, what I'd like to see is a way to set a reminder notification for a particular note sent from Evernote (for individual items in a list would be GREAT, but one step at a time), the ability to add note to an existing calendar event or to create a new event with note, and to sort notes by due date. This is all based on using Evernote with Apple products and specific applications, so that might make things even more confusing.

This may all change in a year or so when I will want to bring something like Evernote into a share work environment, but for now, it's solely a selfish desire. Hopefully this is more clear now.

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  • 2 weeks later...

I would like this feature, too. It's the only reason why I ended up in the EN discussion threads. I was looking at my EN application, which I primarily use for my grocery list, and dabble with using it for a few other things. The other day, somebody was showing in a presentation how he uses Remember the Milk for something we're doing. I was looking around EN and thinking there's no reason I can't use EN instead of Remember the Milk, until I thought of the "due date" feature. I tried for a while to find it, and when I couldn't that's when I did an internet search about it and found this thread. At this point, not having the due date feature is the one and only reason why I would choose to not use EN for my growing business, and use Remember the Milk instead. You need to add "due date." Thanks.

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