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Evernote Requests, Feedback & New Ideas: What do you think, and add your own input


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I've just been writing down possible improvements for Evernote everytime I come up against something that hinders my productivity. If you can actually do any of these things, I'd love for someone to tell me how. Tell me what you think of my ideas, and feel free to add your own experiences of how Evernote could be more productive.

 

Here we go:

  • Notes stay where I want them: If I've clipped a page with Evernote web clipper, chances are it's a longish page (or at least longer than the Evernote display window). So now I'm using the clipped page in Evernote I'm flipping between it and another note since I'm referencing it. However every time I go back to my clipped page it's returned to the top of the page, instead of staying at the section I was looking at. Could Evernote please remember where in a note you last were? It would save a lot of time.

  • Star locations so they can be added to notes, or notes added to locations. Very useful if you can geotag a to-do list so that when you get to the place where you need to do it, it pops up all handy like!

  • Evernote sync events/reminders to the iOS calendar. All my other events are in the calendar, wouldn't it be great if Evernote could be too?

  • On iOS the only way I seem to be able to get out of text editing a note and back to full view is to click the 'search note' box then press 'cancel'. Couldn't there be a 'done' button or something? One click. The alternative now is closing the note then going back into it.

  • I'd love to be able to make reminders for individual dot points within a note, not just whole notes. That way I can write a to do list in one note covering one topic, but make a reminder for one of the items one day, then another day for next item.

  • Deleting a reminder shouldn't delete a note. In Evernote for desktops if I've got a reminder selected and I want to delete it quickly...well I can't. Pressing 'delete' deletes the note, not the reminder. I don't delete notes that often so I'd prefer pressing delete didn't do it straight off.

  • Syncing attachments. I'm working on a MS Word document, and I've attached it to a note so I can share it with a colleague so he can give me input as I go. However the document I've attached stays the same, since it's been uploaded like an email attachment. Couldn't Evernote work a bit more like Dropbox in this regard? How handy would it be if I could still be working on the document on my computer, but my colleague can see the changes without me having to re-attach the document? Even better if he can make changes too (given permissions. You could set attachments to be read only, read & write, depending on who you're sharing it with)

  • The dark grey sidebar in desktop is ugly and clunky, I prefer to hide it, but it has the notebook list on it. If I'm just displaying the 2nd sidebar and I want to switch between notebooks I have to click the notebook name, eg 'All Notes' then select the notebook. One click too many! Couldn't the notebook list just be displayed in the 2nd sidebar? It could be collapsible so as to give the option to reduce the view back to what it shows now. Or create keyboard shortcuts for your notebooks (command+shift+1, command+shift+2, etc or something). At the moment I prefer to just show all notes rather than having to slowly click between notebooks but this is not optimal. The Web Evernote actually displays information the best- 1st column: shortcuts, Notebooks and Tags, 2nd column: Reminders and Note List, 3rd column: Note view. Simple and lovely.

  • List view for iOS. I can view notes in snippet and card view, but I'm a big boy, I know what's in my notes, I'd prefer they were condensed down into list view like I do on the desktop version so I don't have to scroll to see them all. It should display the note's name, which notebook it's in, and the date modified/created (depending on what the user prefers). 

  • I'd also love (in both iOS and desktop versions) for the notes to be divided into their notebooks when I view them in All Notes in list mode. As in they still display in a list, but they have subheadings that are their notebooks. It would just add a bit of organisation, and save flipping between notebooks once and for all (for me).

  • Checkboxes are lists, too. Right now in both Desktop and iOS version you can't straight out make a list of checkboxes, you have to write something after the checkbox before hitting return, or it will delete the checkbox. Saaaay Whaaat?! Delete it? Why not just go to the next line, or even better go to the next line and make me another checkbox?

  • While we're on lists, I think Evernote can do To-Do lists better. Have a look at the app 'Wunderlist'. I don't really use it, but I think it does what it does very beautifully. Basically, I'd like to be able to make a Wunderlist in an Evernote note, with all the entailing features.

  • aaand another list one: Lock a note (except for checkboxes). I give a checklist to my mother and she goes to tick something off the list by checking a box. Being the luddite she is, though, her finger hits somewhere on the screen other than a checkbox, and it takes her into text editing mode. Noooo, I don't want her able to change anything in my precious note! Can't I lock the note before I give it to her?

cheers, and go for it!

Brendan

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6. I'd love to be able to make reminders for individual dot points within a note, not just whole notes. That way I can write a to do list in one note covering one topic, but make a reminder for one of the items one day, then another day for next item.

One note can have only one reminder at this time, period. It's based on how the underlying note architecture exists, and it's taken ~3 years to get them available in this form at all, so I'm not expecting this to change any time soon. You can see how this works if you want in the developer docs here: http://dev.evernote.com/documentation/cloud/chapters/data_structure.php. Each Note has a NoteAttributes field, which in turn contains three reminder-related fields: reminderOrder, reminderTIme, and reminderDoneTime. So one note, one reminder.

 

7. Deleting a reminder shouldn't delete a note. In Evernote for desktops if I've got a reminder selected and I want to delete it quickly...well I can't. Pressing 'delete' deletes the note, not the reminder. I don't delete notes that often so I'd prefer pressing delete didn't do it straight off.

I would think that you should be completing a reminder, not deleting it. On the Android, for example, you can complete a reminder easily by clicking on its checkbox in the reminder list; depending on how that list is configured, the reminder may be dropped from the list, but its associated note is not deleted in any case. Because of the tight link between notes and reminders, it should be made clear that deleting a reminder is also deleting its note; because I don't use either the iOS or Mac Evernote clients, I can't speak to those implementations.

 

11. I'd also love (in both iOS and desktop versions) for the notes to be divided into their notebooks when I view them in All Notes in list mode. As in they still display in a list, but they have subheadings that are their notebooks. It would just add a bit of organisation, and save flipping between notebooks once and for all (for me).

Yeah, the note lists don't do groupings, on notebook or any other field. I wouldn't use it

 

12. Checkboxes are lists, too. Right now in both Desktop and iOS version you can't straight out make a list of checkboxes, you have to write something after the checkbox before hitting return, or it will delete the checkbox. Saaaay Whaaat?! Delete it? Why not just go to the next line, or even better go to the next line and make me another checkbox?

Checkbox lists similar to bulleted and numbered lists, and my experience is that they behave similarly, as they all a common UI convention when editing/creating them: if you hit Enter after an empty list item, then that ends the list. This holds true for bulleted, numbered and checkbox lists, and also for combinations of bulleted/numbered lists that have checkboxes at their beginning, and at least in the Windows desktop version that I am using.

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6. I'd love to be able to make reminders for individual dot points within a note, not just whole notes. That way I can write a to do list in one note covering one topic, but make a reminder for one of the items one day, then another day for next item.

One note can have only one reminder at this time, period. It's based on how the underlying note architecture exists, and it's taken ~3 years to get them available in this form at all, so I'm not expecting this to change any time soon. You can see how this works if you want in the developer docs here: http://dev.evernote.com/documentation/cloud/chapters/data_structure.php. Each Note has a NoteAttributes field, which in turn contains three reminder-related fields: reminderOrder, reminderTIme, and reminderDoneTime. So one note, one reminder.

 

Cheers for explaining that, it specifically covers it here: http://dev.evernote.com/documentation/reference/Types.html#Struct_NoteAttributes

 

However, why does a reminder for a single dot point need to be coded into the NoteAttributes? I mean, the reminders need a ReminderAttributes on their own, surely- shouldn't it be a separate architecture from the note? Then a reminder simply has to have the attributes of reminderTime, reminderDoneTime, ReminderTitle (for customising the name of the reminder, because then you can contract the reminder name down to a keyword or something), ReminderLink (The note the reminder refers to) and ReminderLinkPlace (the position on the note, useful if it's a particularly long note. Much like websites can link to a position on a page). A reminder just has to contain a link to the note it refers to, rather than the other way around. This removes the need to have an extra field in the NoteAttributes. It does however mean that a new, separate, structure (reminders) has to be written.

Of course, I am completely illiterate when it comes to coding, so this could all be rubbish :)

 

Oh, and I've got another wishlist item: Collapsible dot points. Lets you hide away messy subtasks. 

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However, why does a reminder for a single dot point need to be coded into the NoteAttributes? I mean, the reminders need a ReminderAttributes on their own, surely- shouldn't it be a separate architecture from the note? Then a reminder simply has to have the attributes of reminderTime, reminderDoneTime, ReminderTitle (for customising the name of the reminder, because then you can contract the reminder name down to a keyword or something), ReminderLink (The note the reminder refers to) and ReminderLinkPlace (the position on the note, useful if it's a particularly long note.

What happens when a new GUID is generated for that note, IE when the note is merged with another note? Or moved to a local notebook & then back to a sync'd notebook? Or exported (say from a backup b/c the user accidentally deleted the note) & imported into their live database? All of these scenarios generate a new GUID for the note & now none of the reminders are linked to a valid note. Sure, they could write code to change from the old to the new GUID. But IME, those kinds of situations regularly get out of sync with each other.

 

Oh, and I've got another wishlist item: Collapsible dot points. Lets you hide away messy subtasks.

Doubtful.  Evernote has stated they are not trying to be a to do/task list manager.  So if you need something more robust than what EN offers, you should switch to a true to do/task list manager.

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Syncing attachments. I'm working on a MS Word document, and I've attached it to a note so I can share it with a colleague so he can give me input as I go. However the document I've attached stays the same, since it's been uploaded like an email attachment. Couldn't Evernote work a bit more like Dropbox in this regard? How handy would it be if I could still be working on the document on my computer, but my colleague can see the changes without me having to re-attach the document? Even better if he can make changes too (given permissions. You could set attachments to be read only, read & write, depending on who you're sharing it with)

 

If you edit the attachment (double click the attachment icon) rather than the doc on your hard drive, the modified file is usually added back into the note.  I say usually b/c IME, although this is the way EN is supposed to work, if I have an attachment open for a long period of time, I've noticed not all my changes get uploaded.  So I no longer do this.

 

However, even if that worked reliably, IMO, EN is not really designed for collaboration beyond light to medium info sharing.  IOW, Evernote does not lock notes when someone is editing it.  So a single note can be edited simultaneously, whether it's you using your PC and your iPad or you & someone you've shared the note with.  And someone's changes are going to get wiped out.  So again, if collaboration is something you need, you should use Dropbox or whatever system works better for you.

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However, why does a reminder for a single dot point need to be coded into the NoteAttributes? I mean, the reminders need a ReminderAttributes on their own, surely- shouldn't it be a separate architecture from the note? Then a reminder simply has to have the attributes of reminderTime, reminderDoneTime, ReminderTitle (for customising the name of the reminder, because then you can contract the reminder name down to a keyword or something), ReminderLink (The note the reminder refers to) and ReminderLinkPlace (the position on the note, useful if it's a particularly long note. Much like websites can link to a position on a page). A reminder just has to contain a link to the note it refers to, rather than the other way around. This removes the need to have an extra field in the NoteAttributes. It does however mean that a new, separate, structure (reminders) has to be written.

Of course, I am completely illiterate when it comes to coding, so this could all be rubbish :)

Second-guessing Evernote's architecture is somewhat like talking baseball (football for the world outside the US). Fun (particularly over beers), but not particularly consequential. Evernote *could* do anything, but it can't do *everything*, so the developers/designers make choices. One reminder per note is a choice, and that's what we get to live with. All else is baseball talk...
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What happens when a new GUID is generated for that note, IE when the note is merged with another note? Or moved to a local notebook & then back to a sync'd notebook? Or exported (say from a backup b/c the user accidentally deleted the note) & imported into their live database? All of these scenarios generate a new GUID for the note & now none of the reminders are linked to a valid note. Sure, they could write code to change from the old to the new GUID. But IME, those kinds of situations regularly get out of sync with each other.

Indeed. Ouch. Couldn't, like, magic fix it?

 

Doubtful.  Evernote has stated they are not trying to be a to do/task list manager.  So if you need something more robust than what EN offers, you should switch to a true to do/task list manager.

This seems odd to me considering the tagline in massive lettering at the head of the page when you go to https://evernote.com/ ; 'Remember Everything'.

Also, the more feature filled and diverse EN's functions are, surely the more popular it is? I'm not advocating making it more complicated- I love how simple EN at its most basic, functionally and aesthetically. However that doesn't mean those extra functions can't be there to give a bit of extra oomph to the user who wants it.

 

 

However, even if that worked reliably, IMO, EN is not really designed for collaboration beyond light to medium info sharing.  IOW, Evernote does not lock notes when someone is editing it.  So a single note can be edited simultaneously, whether it's you using your PC and your iPad or you & someone you've shared the note with.  And someone's changes are going to get wiped out.  So again, if collaboration is something you need, you should use Dropbox or whatever system works better for you.

 

Ditto with this; I realise that right now EN is not designed for extensive collaboration- but why can't it be? It seems to me to have the potential to be a one-stop shop for document creation and sharing. However I didn't know you could edit the word doc within EN, thanks for that :) That's half the reason I posted, to find this stuff out! It would still be nice if it had the option to also change the original document as well as the attachment, though.

 

I wonder if your issues with the changes to an attachment not uploading has anything to do with having it open longer than a syncing cycle? For some reason it doesn't sync if the document is still open, and then when you do try to save, it's creating a conflicting change? Or something...

Or if someone you've shared the document with opens the file while you have it open it bugs out EN? Maybe EN needs to work like a server and tell you you can only view the doc in read only mode if someone already has it open (it could already do this, I wouldn't know...).

 

As for EN not locking notes when editing, this isn't what I said I wanted- I wanted to be able to make a note, then lock it. It would be a bonus if you could still tick checkboxes when it was locked. Yes EN notes can be shared, but can they be shared with read-only capability? Because to me this would be very useful in providing documents to clients when I just want to give them information and they don't need to add anything (and I don't want them to) to the note.

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"Remember Everything" is not the same as "Do Everything". A tape recorder might 'remember' (in some fashion) every word I say to it, but it probably doesn't understand any of it enough to do anything with my words. It's all a matter of intent; again, Evernote *could* be a task manager/to-do list wizard par excellence if they wanted to, but their focus is elsewhere: providing an architecture for storing and searching your computer stuff, and importantly, an API where other 3rd-party developers can take advantage of that architecture in order to make products that do more domain-specific tasks (like perhaps a to-do list)...

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... and importantly, an API where other 3rd-party developers can take advantage of that architecture in order to make products that do more domain-specific tasks (like perhaps a to-do list)...

Ah, yes, I was basically going to say that in my last post but forgot. So yes, maybe all these things are something for 3rd party apps!

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  • 7 months later...

#1. Notes stay where I want them: If I've clipped a page with Evernote web clipper, chances are it's a longish page (or at least longer than the Evernote display window). So now I'm using the clipped page in Evernote I'm flipping between it and another note since I'm referencing it. However every time I go back to my clipped page it's returned to the top of the page, instead of staying at the section I was looking at. Could Evernote please remember where in a note you last were? It would save a lot of time.

 

I love #1. I wish for that often.
 

#4. On iOS the only way I seem to be able to get out of text editing a note and back to full view is to click the 'search note' box then press 'cancel'. Couldn't there be a 'done' button or something? One click. The alternative now is closing the note then going back into it.

 

I think you mean you want to get rid of the keyboard? When I follow your steps, I am still in edit mode, just without the keyboard. When I have the keyboard up on an iphone, I see an A, and an icon with keyboard next to it. Just tap the keyboard icon and you get the full screen back.

 

#6. Deleting a reminder shouldn't delete a note. In Evernote for desktops if I've got a reminder selected and I want to delete it quickly...well I can't. Pressing 'delete' deletes the note, not the reminder. I don't delete notes that often so I'd prefer pressing delete didn't do it straight off.

 

I'm not sure what you are doing, but I have a choice to "clear" a reminder, rather than delete.

 

#9. List view for iOS. I can view notes in snippet and card view, but I'm a big boy, I know what's in my notes, I'd prefer they were condensed down into list view like I do on the desktop version so I don't have to scroll to see them all. It should display the note's name, which notebook it's in, and the date modified/created (depending on what the user prefers).

 

In the main menu under "View" there is a choice for list. You can drag and drop the columns but selecting and dragging the headers too.

 

#11. Checkboxes are lists, too. Right now in both Desktop and iOS version you can't straight out make a list of checkboxes, you have to write something after the checkbox before hitting return, or it will delete the checkbox. Saaaay Whaaat?! Delete it? Why not just go to the next line, or even better go to the next line and make me another checkbox?

 

Just add a single space before pressing Enter, and you will have your checkbox, and another new line with a new checkbox.

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