(Archived) HELP: Changing notebook on new note makes note disappear

[reakinator 2]

Note to the developers: this is really annoying -

• I make a note, it goes in the default notebook.
  
• I start typing up my note
  
• I then notice it's in the default notebook and I move it to the notebook where it belongs by change the tab beneath the title.
  
• the note disappears, while a note from within the default notebook takes it's place, which I care nothing about at that moment.
  

Just wanted to report this, as I couldn't find any bug tracker.

Cheers,

RIch

[reakinator 2]

• If any other Notebook is selected in the Left Panel, then changing the NB on the Note will cause it to drop from the current list of Notes because its Notebook does NOT match that in the Left Panel.
  

If you don't want to update to the Beta, then you will have to wait until 3.0.7 is released as a public version.

I'm not too concerned about what happens to the list, I'm concerned about the note I'm editing, decide to change the notebook it's in, and then it disappears on me and shows me something that I had no intention to be looking at. For my workflow (which is usually search for a note, jot something on it, go back to work), making sure that 'All Notebooks is selected on the left side first' is a time consuming workaround, an avoidable one too: if a user is editing a note, don't make it go away.

[Nathan T 49]

I can understand a new note moving to a new notebook (and thus disappearing from the current notebook's view) as soon as you change the notebook option.  What's really unexpected the first couple of times though is how this interacts with the autosave feature.  I can be in Notebook A, create a new note, and tell it to be in Notebook B.  Then I start typing in the note.  (It's still visible.)  I'll type sometimes a few words, sometimes a couple sentences even.  Then I pause in my typing for a moment.  The note auto-saves and disappears.

 

If it happened as soon as the new notebook was selected, it would be a bit jarring perhaps, but fairly clear what happened.  When it happens randomly between typing one word and another, it's worse.  Being fairly technically knowledgeable it only took me once or twice to realize what was going on, but from a new user's perspective this would definitely look like a bug.  Anyway, doesn't bother me now that I know what to expect; just chiming in in case the perspective is useful.

[sjmvideo 1]

Thanks Guys, I did a search on this, but whatever key words I used I didn't find anything that looked like I addressed it. I'm not sure about using the beta. I may wait for it to go official. But at least something that makes more sense is coming. And yes I'm running 3.0.6

[peterfmartin 221]

What JMichael said. Also, this has been discussed a lot—and debated by people with different workflows. Here's the most recent conversation on the topic: http://discussion.ev...-note-go-away/.

[EDIT: I've merged smjvideo's post onto the thread I linked to directly above. That link is now broken, since it would have taken you to this conversation.]

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I understand your frustration. Based on your post it sounds like you are running EN Mac 3.0.6 (Public Release), or earlier.

If you are willing to run the latest Beta (3.1.0 Beta 1) then the behavior of changing the Notebook on the Note has changed in a way that think you will like:

1. If the Notebook filter (Left Panel) is "All Notebooks"
   
   • When you create a new Note the NB on your Note is set to your default NB
     
   • Changing the NB on the Note does NOT cause the Note to disappear from the list or display
     

[*]IF the Notebook filter is a specific Notebook:

• When you create a new Note the NB on your Note is set to that of the NB filter (Left Panel)
  
• Changing the NB on the Note *will* cause the Note to "disappear" because now it does not match the NB filter.
  

So, the way I use this behavior is to set the NB filter to "All Notebooks" when I am creating Notes that can ultimately go into any NB. When created they go to my default NB of "Inbox" -- which means it sill needs to be processed and moved to its ultimate NB.

When I want to create a bunch of Notes in the same NB, then I first select that NB as the filter in the Left Panel.

When I want to go through by "Inbox" NB to process the notes and move to a different NB, then I set the Left Panel NB to "Inbox".

I then make changes to each note, with the LAST change being the NB for that Note. The Note then "moves" to that NB, and "disappears" from my list of Notes in my "Inbox".

Good luck and let us know if you have any more questions.

[sjmvideo 1]

I'm finding it very frustrating when creating a new note that I don't want in my default notebook. I change the notebook in the note to the one I want, and blammo! my new note disappears. Why? Because when I created the new note, the search criteria (or filter) was changed to search for all notes in my default notebook. My new note is now no longer in the default so it disappears. I then have to go clear the search criteria for my new note to show up.

This is totally unexpected behavior to me. I can't see a good reason for it. I can't imagine that my sequence for creating a new note is that unusual. What am I missing here? Anything, or is this a design flaw?

Consider this a feature request. Do whatever it takes so when I change the notebook a note is in I can continue to work with that note without having to go find it again.

Thanks.

[jefito 5,589]

Software development is all about making choices. Evernote has made one. That's not to say that they won't change their minds at some future date, but this is the way that they're leaning for the present.

[cjdeheer 20]

I'm in the camp that does *not* want to be shuttled from notebook to notebook when processing my inbox. Reakinator, Evernote implemented the feature you suggest during one of the recent betas, but the original functionality was quickly restored because there were so many complaints. For your workflow, the solution is to assign the notebook *after* you're done editing the note. For those of us who are processing 50-10 inbox notes at a time, it's hell having to navigate back to the inbox 50-100 every time we assign a notebook to a note.

[peterfmartin 221]

Again, Rich, many other users have a different workflow from you, processing their inboxes by moving many notes in a row out of their default notebooks. There's obviously nothing wrong with your workflow; I'm just pointing out that it is not universal, so many users would disagree with:

if a user is editing a note, don't make it go away.

at least when they've specifically chosen a notebook, not All Notebooks (since, again, this currently works in 3.0.7 as you want, as long as you've selected All Notebooks).

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

but, in evernote i think it is quite common for people to change notebooks while editing. having it disappear, instead of having you move with the note, is disconcerting.

I'm sure that no matter which behavior is applied there will be some that will object.

(I fully expect DLU to quote me on this the next time I object )

To keep the Note from "disappearing" all you have to do is select "All Notebooks" on the Left Panel, or "All Note" on the toolbar, before you create a new Note.

As I said, the EN Mac Beta 5 behavior is the same that EN Win has been for a very long time.

When the first EN Win 4.0 Beta was released, the Notebook filter would change if you changed the Note Notebook field.

Lots of people objected to this and it was changed as it is now.

It seems that most people don't expect the Notebook filter to change just because you have moved the Note to a different Notebook.

I don't recall seeing any objections in the EN Win forum since then for this behavior.

This behavior was discussed extensively in several of the previous EN Mac Beta threads.

The consensus then is how it works now.

not a big deal for me, and i won't lose any sleep over it, but i don't think the behavior of the app is not well-suited to the behavior of users.

Well, since you used a double negative here, I'm not sure I understand your intent.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

i think the outlook example is a good one. you don't edit emails. you move them. so, it shows there is a place for that behavior.

but, in evernote i think it is quite common for people to change notebooks while editing. having it disappear, instead of having you move with the note, is disconcerting.

not a big deal for me, and i won't lose any sleep over it, but i don't think the behavior of the app is not well-suited to the behavior of users.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I believe that the way this is working now in EN Mac 3.0.7 Beta 5 is consistent with how it works in EN Win.

• If "All Notebooks" is currently selected, changing the NB on the Note does NOT change the selected Notebook, and so it remains visible.
  
• If any other Notebook is selected in the Left Panel, then changing the NB on the Note will cause it to drop from the current list of Notes because its Notebook does NOT match that in the Left Panel.
  
  • This supporst Note processing like jefito described above, using an Evernote "Inbox" notebook.
    
  • This is also how Outlook works when you move a msg from the Inbox to another folder
    

The EN Mac 3.0.7 Beta 5 seems very stable and I can recommend updating to it.

If you don't want to update to the Beta, then you will have to wait until 3.0.7 is released as a public version.

[reakinator 2]

I see, it looks like they cover just about all of it in the linked thread. Sorry, my search prior was pretty rash.

I'm using the stable Mac desktop Version 3.0.6 (221382), although I see that if I have 'All Notebooks' selected, the note stays in focus. However, I agree with the guy on the other thread, that even when 'All Notebooks' isn't selected (it rarely is in my usage), I'd still like the note I'm editing to stay in focus. I suppose it's a contextual thing.

Thanks for accepting this as a feature request.

[jefito 5,589]

The flip side of this behavior is when I am working in my Inbox notebook, where clips and imports go; I want to roll through it, sending notes into other notebooks without leaving the Inbox. The current Windows behavior works great for for this.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

hi rich. i agree that this is unexpected behavior. personally, i would like to be able to continue editing my note, even if it gets moved to another notebook. it looks like this is the direction evernote is heading, though, so you might want to just make notes while you are in "all notebooks" (if not in your current version, in future releases).

[peterfmartin 221]

This isn't a bug; it's a feature designed to be this way. There's disagreement between users about what is best for them regarding this behavior—and this could change in the future, so consider your post a feature request (though not a bug report). Here is a recent discussions on this issue, though I believe there have been others that I can't find right now: http://discussion.ev...ing-notebooks/.

EDIT: Sorry, I just remembered that Evernote has changed this since that conversation, in the 3.0.7 beta versions. Now, if you have All Notebooks selected and create a new note, the note is placed into your default notebook, but if you then change its notebook you still see the note (since you're still in All Notebooks).

Rich, which version of Evernote are you using?