SUGGESTION: Ability to Delete Notebook

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Once a notebook is created and shared into the Business Library, it looks like only the owner of the Business Account (?) can delete it. It isn't necessarily a bad idea, but in a real business situation, I would think this could get out of hand as business notebooks pile up, and the account owner has the unenviable task of having to weed out notebooks. Is there still a 250 notebook limit (if so, is it aggregate, or just in the business library)? This might also become a problem.

At the very least, I think a toggle allowing permission to delete notebooks ought to exist (maybe my business account owner doesn't trust me, and there is a toggle after all). The ability for the notebook creator / sharer to delete a notebook also makes sense, though that could get to be a problem as people go in and out of a company.

I'll leave the details of the solution up to the developers, but I think the current implementation could be improved.

[C6REW 416]

Hi Grumpy,

Last time I checked, even the owner cannot delete a notebook.

This is a bug that I believe they are working on.

Unable to check from iPad in bed as the web version is not useable. Will look in morning.

Regards

Chris

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Hi Grumpy,

Last time I checked, even the owner cannot delete a notebook.

This is a bug that I believe they are working on.

Unable to check from iPad in bed as the web version is not useable. Will look in morning.

Regards

Chris

LOL. Oh, well that is a problem

Hopefully, we'll get that sorted out in the next updates. As far as I can tell, neither the Mac nor the Windows clients allow regular users to delete notebooks in the business library, even their own, so I doubt the iPad can. I am currently struggling with an Evernote issue of my own in iOS (weirdly, I never see anyone else with the problem), so I cannot check...

[C6REW 416]

Spill the beans Grumpy!

What is the problem?

Regards

Chris

[Jon H 9]

Chris and Grumpy,

You can delete a notebook by going to the Admin Console on the website, clicked the "Manage Notebooks" link, then click on the notebook name you wish to delete. There will be a popup box that will display that will have an option to delete a notebook.

Jon H

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Ah. I am not an administrator... Thanks for explaining!

[C6REW 416]

Good news!

I can now confirm it works.

Many thanks Jon.

Regards

Chris

[Brickey 39]

Just to clarify, the reason that you can't delete items from the business trash is that the concept that anything that goes into a business notebook is owned by the business. For data continuity and security, only an admin on the account can permanently delete a note/notebook. I agree that this could be clearer, and I believe the team is working on it.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

This kind of makes sense, except that I could delete all of the content of every note, so it isn't protrected from malfeasance is it? In the end, it is just a barrier to productivity, in my opinion. As a corollary,this would be like not allowing employees to delete Word files, emails, etc.

I thought the idea was to have a place that would exist outside of personally shared notebooks, not a place that is locked down preventing employees from manipulating the contents. In the process of creating knowledge, a lot of editing and reorganization is surely needed.

It's a minor point in the larger scheme of things, and whatever is decided, I think it would be best to document it in more detail for users.

[Jon H 9]

Grumpy,

If you do have a note that someone deletes the content, you could go into the note history and recover the note. Also, you do have the option to restrict a notebook to just view only for all but a few people so the appropriate people could update the notebook and everyone else could view it.

The admin's being the only people to delete the trash prevents people from deleting notes and notebooks from the business without the business being able to see what is being deleted.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Grumpy,

If you do have a note that someone deletes the content, you could go into the note history and recover the note. Also, you do have the option to restrict a notebook to just view only for all but a few people so the appropriate people could update the notebook and everyone else could view it.

The admin's being the only people to delete the trash prevents people from deleting notes and notebooks from the business without the business being able to see what is being deleted.

We delete things all the time in the business world (Word, PowerPoint, and other files) and no one expects to have to go through an administrator each time, so even though I see your logic, I don't think it is the best implementation.

Good point about the note history. I suppose, though, that this makes me even more concerned, because inadvertently putting a private note into a business notebook (I have already accidentally done this with public notebooks, to my great embarrasment) results in a total loss of control over the note. Even deleting the content will not help, because the history can be accessed. You are stuck with having to ask the administrator to delete it. In the meantime, it is hanging out for everyone to see.

I should say that this may be a totally irrelevant concern, because maybe other users are not as clumsy as me with managing private and public stuff. The only way for the scenario above to occur would be through user error, but because I have already managed to make this error (with notebooks I have shared/joined), I guess I am a little more hesitant than most folks might be.

[Brickey 39]

Good point about the note history. I suppose, though, that this makes me even more concerned, because inadvertently putting a private note into a business notebook (I have already accidentally done this with public notebooks, to my great embarrasment) results in a total loss of control over the note. Even deleting the content will not help, because the history can be accessed. You are stuck with having to ask the administrator to delete it. In the meantime, it is hanging out for everyone to see.

As an aside, that is one of the reasons that we don't have a one click option to convert a personal notebook to a business notebook, an issue raised on these forums. It's hard to try and find a balance between usability, business concerns, and making great software. In a nutshell, these types of concerns are why business software in general sucks, and why we're trying to make it suck less.

[C6REW 416]

Good point about the note history. I suppose, though, that this makes me even more concerned, because inadvertently putting a private note into a business notebook (I have already accidentally done this with public notebooks, to my great embarrasment) results in a total loss of control over the note. Even deleting the content will not help, because the history can be accessed. You are stuck with having to ask the administrator to delete it. In the meantime, it is hanging out for everyone to see.

As an aside, that is one of the reasons that we don't have a one click option to convert a personal notebook to a business notebook, an issue raised on these forums. It's hard to try and find a balance between usability, business concerns, and making great software. In a nutshell, these types of concerns are why business software in general sucks, and why we're trying to make it suck less.

Agree with all of that!

Regards

Chris