(Archived) REQUEST: Please improve the note editor

[NeechBear 2]

I've been using Evernote for some time now and I don't think I could imagine going without it. However there is a common complaint that I've noticed (and has in fact caused at least 2 people I know to have passed it by as a product), which is the note editor interface is exceptionally lacking.

Could you please consider adding or improving at least the following features within the Mac note editor?:

• Either increase the miserly selection of available fonts from the font selection box, or use the standard OS X "Fonts" selection box commonly accessed by pressing the Apple-T shortcut combination.
  
• Allow user-defined explicit font sizes from the font size selection box.
  
• Provide a background colour selection button.
  
• Provide a superscript style button.
  
• Provide a subscript style button.
  
• Provide a strikethrough style button.
  
• Provide a pre-defined (preferably user editable) style selection box listing common styles such as "Heading 1, Heading 2... Heading 6, Normal, Quote, Code" etc.
  
• Provide a hyperlink button.
  

TL;DR: Instead of forcing users to highlight text, right click on it, and then select "Font > Show Fonts" in order to use basic common style and formatting options, please add this functionality to the text style button bar at the top of the note editor.

[Travis 7]

I love all of the suggestions you made, though I can see why they would choose to leave it all up to the built in apple system.

Also - regarding the hyperlink button, you do know that "command"+K adds a hyperlink to the selected text, right?

I prefer keyboard shortcuts (even to the point where I make keyboard shortcuts on my favorite's bar, and opening and closing the side panel which requires some other apps because Evernote doesn't suppose shortcuts to those).

Just a thought on the last one, I don't know any work arounds for your other suggestions though.

[Michael Vax 0]

Cannot agree more with the request to improve editor. I used to work with MS One Note but switched to Evernote because of its multiplatform support and synchronization.

How I miss the One Note editing though.

Here are feature requests that are on the top of my list:

- Multiple ways to paste the text including just text without formatting

- ability to highlight text

- styles for headers

- better organized fonts

[jbenson2 2,147]

A lot of these requested features can be done with Microsoft Word and the result?... take a look how big that program has become.

[NeechBear 2]

A lot of these requested features can be done with Microsoft Word and the result?... take a look how big that program has become.

This is an epic troll right? Surely this isn't a serious response?

There are numerous free OpenSource web based Javascript text editors that provide more functionality than the editor that comes with Evernote. Just take a look at the text editor that is part of this very forum for example! Look at the old version of Microsoft Write that shipped with Windows 95 as well; very small in footprint yet perfectly functional and practical.

[jbenson2 2,147]

This is an epic troll right?

Not at all.

I've used Evernote for 3 years and am approaching 20,000 notes.

I value speed over stuff like subscripts, colors and the format brush that have to be pushed out over 14+ platforms.

Evernote seems to be doing a good job holding the reigns and deciding how much additional stuff to add to a very useful program.

[RobLewis 26]

Amen to all your requests!

My pet peeve: when you reduce font size, the line leading stays the same!

[Text Editor Matters 1]

How about the inability to use the tab key to actually insert a tab rather then jump the entire line across the page.....the mess the bullets make when you wont to continue a bullet or break off and start again....the cut and paste in these environments reveal dozens of irritating bugs.

 

 

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE........the core function is NOTE taking and anyone that takes notes knows that formatting is what makes it jump out and make sense the 2nd time round......EVERNOTE has not done anything for this very CORE functionality.

 

 

PLEASE!

 

Why such a sexy editor here but not in your core system?.....mind boggling

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

How about the inability to use the tab key to actually insert a tab rather then jump the entire line across the page.....the mess the bullets make when you wont to continue a bullet or break off and start again....the cut and paste in these environments reveal dozens of irritating bugs.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE........the core function is NOTE taking and anyone that takes notes knows that formatting is what makes it jump out and make sense the 2nd time round......EVERNOTE has not done anything for this very CORE functionality.

PLEASE!

Why such a sexy editor here but not in your core system?.....mind boggling

The core function of EN is not to be another note taking/word processing app. Instead, it allows users to collect, organize & retrieve information from a variety of sources and on a variety of OS's & devices. If you need a true note taking app, you may want to look elsewhere.

This message board (like most (all?) ) is a third party app. It would be reinventing the wheel & not a terribly good ROI for most companies to build their own message board.

[TeePee 3]

 

How about the inability to use the tab key to actually insert a tab rather then jump the entire line across the page.....the mess the bullets make when you wont to continue a bullet or break off and start again....the cut and paste in these environments reveal dozens of irritating bugs.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE........the core function is NOTE taking and anyone that takes notes knows that formatting is what makes it jump out and make sense the 2nd time round......EVERNOTE has not done anything for this very CORE functionality.

PLEASE!

Why such a sexy editor here but not in your core system?.....mind boggling

The core function of EN is not to be another note taking/word processing app. Instead, it allows users to collect, organize & retrieve information from a variety of sources and on a variety of OS's & devices. If you need a true note taking app, you may want to look elsewhere.

This message board (like most (all?) ) is a third party app. It would be reinventing the wheel & not a terribly good ROI for most companies to build their own message board.

 

 

That's not the point. The fact is that Evernote has provided an editor. Unfortunately it's not up to scratch. And the view being expressed is that users would like to see it updated (with features and reliability) to something most would consider acceptable for this decade.

 

Of course, you may also be right, in which case Evernote could always remove the editing feature so as to send a consistent and non-confusing message to the audience as to it's core purpose.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

I've been using Evernote for some time now and I don't think I could imagine going without it. However there is a common complaint that I've noticed (and has in fact caused at least 2 people I know to have passed it by as a product), which is the note editor interface is exceptionally lacking.

Could you please consider adding or improving at least the following features within the Mac note editor?:

• Either increase the miserly selection of available fonts from the font selection box, or use the standard OS X "Fonts" selection box commonly accessed by pressing the Apple-T shortcut combination.
• Allow user-defined explicit font sizes from the font size selection box.
• Provide a background colour selection button.
• Provide a superscript style button.
• Provide a subscript style button.
• Provide a strikethrough style button.
• Provide a pre-defined (preferably user editable) style selection box listing common styles such as "Heading 1, Heading 2... Heading 6, Normal, Quote, Code" etc.
• Provide a hyperlink button.

TL;DR: Instead of forcing users to highlight text, right click on it, and then select "Font > Show Fonts" in order to use basic common style and formatting options, please add this functionality to the text style button bar at the top of the note editor.

This is kind of an old thread, and the editor has improved in the last year. In response to the specific features that the OP mentioned as lacking:

1. You can add more fonts yourself by changing the default "Web" set of fonts in the Font Book. Personally, I think it ought to have all of them in there from the beginning, but at least there is a solution.

2. We have lost control over font sizes in the note list pane and in the title of the note, but we do control the font sizes in the note itself. You can also preset these in your preferences.

3. There is no background color. I have templates you can use for this, but hopefully it will become an Evernote feature in the future.

http://www.princeton.edu/~cmayo/template.html

4. There is now superscipt. CTRL-CMD-+

5. There is now subscript. CTRL-CMD- -

6. There is strikethrough, but no short cut. CMD + t to pull up the font menu and press the strikethrough icon.

7. Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to control styles.

8. You can hyperlink things, but (as with many features) there is no button. Evernote designers seem to have a thing about removing buttons and other options from the interface, so I don't expect we'll see them anytime soon as graphical elements.

[Jackolicious 808]

The shortcut for strikethrough is cmd-ctrl-k