Sorry, Evernote 5 for Mac is terrible

[ero213 3]

I just upgraded from an earlier version and I have to say that the Evernote team really missed the boat with version 5. The utility of previous versions of Evernote (for me at least) is that you could simply and easily organize and re-organize your tags. Now you have to go into a separate, awkwardly-designed viewing window to nest and retag things. The search function doesn't work properly, I type in "reference" and it pulls up my "_reference" tag.  Anytime I try to rename a tag it takes a glacially-slow time for it to update through all of the notes with the previous tag. How long could it possibly take to retag a text database?

 

And geo-tagging? Really? It's cute, but what's the point?

 

The downfall of many a software company is when they stop listening to what their customers want and start adding features they don't. I feel that is exactly what happened with version 5, as I can see in the forum that people have been complaining about the revamped tagging since 2012 and nothing has been done.

 

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/32102-question-nesting-tags-in-evernote-mac-5/

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/31497-can-i-revert-back-to-evernote-4-5-is-terrible/

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/37610-cannot-move-nest-tag-mac-507/

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/32523-tags-in-evernote-5/

http://discussion.evernote.com/topic/39659-feature-request-allow-us-to-drag-drop-tags-onto-tags-in-the-sidebar/

 

Etc, etc...

 

I'm a huge fan of the previous versions, but I'm now considering other platforms to stay organized.

 

Sincerely,

 

An Angry Customer

[megsaint 441]

 

 

And geo-tagging? Really? It's cute, but what's the point?

 

 

I don't believe that geotagging is new to this version. I find it useful as I often remember where I was when I made a note. Perhaps if you only use the Mac version and especially only on a desktop computer, it wouldn't make sense. However, I use EN on two cell phones, an iPad and a MacBook Air. 

 

Now, from my perspective, nested tags? Really? What's the point? 

 

Best of luck. 

[PeterLondon 34]

You are 100% right. I am still on v3.30 - and I have 4 EN premium accounts!

 

I use thousands of tags, many with long tag names, and lots of nesting. In v5.0 you can't even SEE your full tag names in the new crazy "tag window". So renaming and rearranging tags for me in v5.0 is almost impossible. Why is it not just the way it is in v3.30 - with all the renaming and rearranging done in the bar on the left where the tags actually are?

 

Why, why, why???

 

I have managed to get to the higher levels of Evernote about this, and even made two great screen videos showing the unworkability of v5. EN said they were very impressed with my amazing use of tags and searches; but they were not going to make any changes.

 

I'm just at a total loss as to why a company would make such a mess of basic functionality - and all the while trying to push their "Business" version.

 

I can only conclude that it is all deliberate, and they want to dumb Evernote down and just turn it into a glorified Dropbox or such like.

 

What a terrible shame.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,320]

You are 100% right. I am still on v3.30 - and I have 4 EN premium accounts!

 

I use thousands of tags, many with long tag names, and lots of nesting. In v5.0 you can't even SEE your full tag names in the new crazy "tag window". So renaming and rearranging tags for me in v5.0 is almost impossible. Why is it not just the way it is in v3.30 - with all the renaming and rearranging done in the bar on the left where the tags actually are?

 

Why, why, why???

 

I have managed to get to the higher levels of Evernote about this, and even made two great screen videos showing the unworkability of v5. EN said they were very impressed with my amazing use of tags and searches; but they were not going to make any changes.

 

I'm just at a total loss as to why a company would make such a mess of basic functionality - and all the while trying to push their "Business" version.

 

I can only conclude that it is all deliberate, and they want to dumb Evernote down and just turn it into a glorified Dropbox or such like.

 

What a terrible shame.

I'd be interested in seeing the videos. Do you have a link?

I'm not sure what the rationale is for the current implementation, or what it was for the previous one. My guess is that Evernote developers are trying to make the experience more uniform, accessible, and beautiful. It's a lot easier (I guess) to develop beautiful presentations of data when you have the whole screen to work with (the tag screen) instead of just a sidebar.

Personally, I have my own issues with the current implementation (discussed extensively on these forums), but overall, I think what they did was probably good for the app, because it likely expanded the user base. Going forward, I would like to see a lot more options for customizing the experience to individual workflows (your long tag names being one example), but I respect the fact that to some degree there will be use cases (including mine) that are going to fall outside the main target area.

[megsaint 441]

Your system involving thousands of tags may work well for you. I expect, though, that yours is an unusual case. It may not fit in with Evernote's longer term plans for what it wants to do with the program. I've seen this over and over with software over the years. A very few people make extensive use of an undocumented feature or some behavior that's really just a byproduct of other features. Then, the software is changed and those things go away. It's understandably painful to that small number of people. However, I can also understand why a software company might not want to adjust things for a small number of users, especially if it interferes with other plans.

 

Perhaps they will keep your ideas in the back of their minds and incorporate them later. 

 

Best of luck. 

[PeterLondon 34]

A very few people make extensive use of an undocumented feature

 

 

er... I think you'll find that "tags" are fundamental to pretty much any document storage and filing system these days. Hardly "undocumented" as I think you'll find them in the main left hand bar!! 

[PeterLondon 34]

I'd be interested in seeing the videos. Do you have a link?

 

 

Here you go - all comments welcome:

 

Classic Coke & New Coke ;-)

 

https://dl.dropboxus...lassic Coke.mp4

 

https://dl.dropboxus...EN New Coke.mp4

[ZZZ 135]

You are 100% right. I am still on v3.30 - and I have 4 EN premium accounts!

 

I use thousands of tags, many with long tag names, and lots of nesting. In v5.0 you can't even SEE your full tag names in the new crazy "tag window". So renaming and rearranging tags for me in v5.0 is almost impossible. Why is it not just the way it is in v3.30 - with all the renaming and rearranging done in the bar on the left where the tags actually are?

 

I don't use the Mac client much, and I'm also not familiar with the older versions you are running - some screenshots might help to understand what you are talking about.  BECAUSE, I don't know if I am right or not, but I am guessing you may not have activated tags in the left navigation area?  IIRC one of the things EN5 does is ridiculously dumb down the Mac client "out of the box" to an "Evernote for Idiots" state.  However you can then right click in the left navigation pane, and bring back notebooks and tags.

 

I can easily see the names and nesting structure of all my tags no matter how long they are.  So IF we are talking about the same thing, you just need to turn them on in the left navigation pane.  I can post screenshots if you need, let me know.

[ZZZ 135]

OK, do this:

 

View>Sidebar Options>Tags

 

Now right click on tags in the sidebar, and select "show tag list"

[PeterLondon 34]

So IF we are talking about the same thing, 

 

Thanks for your kind help; but alas, we are not talking about the same thing.

 

Before v5.0 if you wanted to rename or rearrange a tag, you could do so in sidebar. But now, you have to go to the special tag window (click on the tag heading in the sidebar I think) in order to rearrange or rename tags.

 

Give it a go, and try for yourself.

 

Can you do these actions the obvious way in the sidebar? Nope. You have to go to the tag window. Now give a tag a long name - can you see the full length of the tag in the tag window? Nope. So how can you see which tag to rename (imagine you have thousands, many that start with the same words etc.? You can't!! You have to find the tag first, and then click on it to reveal the full name - but you can't do that because you can't see the name.

 

Totally crazy - and it didn't use to be like that.

 

Take a look at my videos above for a full explanation.

[ZZZ 135]

Oops sorry, just trying to help , instead of telling you the problem is with you and your unconventional use .  I did try to play your videos, but when I click on them I get a "file is corrupt, video cannot be played message".  Might be a browser specific issue, I'm using Firefox.

 

I tested it and I see what you mean, that's pretty bad.  If it makes you feel any better, they just did the same thing with Windows V5, and took away some important functionality, and totally ruined other functionality.

[T0mmykn1fe 0]

What is the point of paying Evernote for a service that simply doesn't work on a mac running less than 10% RAM (Memory Clean) i have had to revert to taking meeting notes on TextEdit.

 

Sort out your process hungry app please team or myself along with a number of other "Paying" customers will be forced to can our subscriptions.