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This is the second time I've tried to use EN. The first was on my Android; I aborted quickly because it wasn't an intuitive system and I had no particular goal, was just exploring. I wrote it off.

 

Today I opened it on my Mac Air with the specific goal of starting a garden journal. So far: very frustrating.

 

Here are the two specific roadblocks I've come up against:
 

1.) I created a new notebook and named it (surprise!) Garden. All the "Getting Started" info showed up in my workspace. I attempted to delete it. A pop-up appeared in the upper right corner, next to an icon of a locked padlock: "This note was created in another application. To edit this note, open it in the application where it was created."

 

Another application??? I just created the damned thing 60 seconds before trying to edit it. What else could I possibly open it in?

 

2.) Because I could do nothing with this notebook, I decided to delete it and start fresh. I control-clicked the icon of the Garden notebook from the list (the only other notebook icon on the page has a trash can picture on it). The drop-down menu has a Delete Notebook option on it, but it's greyed out.

 

I attempted to pull the Garden notebook icon over the other notebook icon with the Trash picture on it. No good.

 

So now I have a notebook I can't edit or delete, and a deep curiosity as to why this application is so non-intuitive. Give up again? I figured I'd ask here first.

 

Oh, and I did probe through the Getting Started and Help pages.  Nothing seemed applicable; the video shows the act of beginning  a new notebook, but no Getting Started text on the fresh page, thus no info on how to remove it - or in fact on how to make the notebook editable.

 

Any help appreciated.

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This is the second time I've tried to use EN. The first was on my Android; I aborted quickly because it wasn't an intuitive system and I had no particular goal, was just exploring. I wrote it off.

 

Today I opened it on my Mac Air with the specific goal of starting a garden journal. So far: very frustrating.

 

Here are the two specific roadblocks I've come up against:

 

1.) I created a new notebook and named it (surprise!) Garden. All the "Getting Started" info showed up in my workspace. I attempted to delete it. A pop-up appeared in the upper right corner, next to an icon of a locked padlock: "This note was created in another application. To edit this note, open it in the application where it was created."

 

Another application??? I just created the damned thing 60 seconds before trying to edit it. What else could I possibly open it in?

 

2.) Because I could do nothing with this notebook, I decided to delete it and start fresh. I control-clicked the icon of the Garden notebook from the list (the only other notebook icon on the page has a trash can picture on it). The drop-down menu has a Delete Notebook option on it, but it's greyed out.

 

I attempted to pull the Garden notebook icon over the other notebook icon with the Trash picture on it. No good.

 

So now I have a notebook I can't edit or delete, and a deep curiosity as to why this application is so non-intuitive. Give up again? I figured I'd ask here first.

 

Oh, and I did probe through the Getting Started and Help pages.  Nothing seemed applicable; the video shows the act of beginning  a new notebook, but no Getting Started text on the fresh page, thus no info on how to remove it - or in fact on how to make the notebook editable.

 

Any help appreciated.

 

Hi. Welcome to the forums. I don't know what happened. You could ask support, but they won't answer until Monday. I'd say just create a new account. You'll have to use a different email address. Once you do that, I don't expect you'll see any problems and everything ought to be pretty easy.

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How nice of you to answer so quickly! Thanks.

 

Since I was logged in to ask this question, I attempted to edit the Garden notebook online. I selected and deleted all the Getting Started text. The system thought about it for a moment, then reinstated all of it. Three attempts, same result.

 

I appreciate the suggestion to start a new account, but I don't want to take on any fresh hell tonight. I'll go make myself a Word document and cut and paste what I want into it, while I monitor for responses next week.

 

I hear people love this system. My first two forays into it sure don't reveal why. Just lost two hours out of my life that I won't get back, with nothing to show for it. My significant other, an expert in software storage systems, has been trying to help me out and can't make any sense of EN either. That makes me feel a bit less of an idiot, anyway!

 

Thanks again, GrumpyMonkey.

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You're welcome. 

 

When you do want to try again, I suggest making another account (less than a minute) and seeing what happens. I just helped someone make an account yesterday and everything worked fine, so I suspect that whatever went wrong won't happen again.

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Hi Lola,

As Grumpy has stated, I am also not sure what has gone wrong for you. Seems to me like an odd glitch, but my first reaction was did you sync before trying to delete? Not sure it would have made any difference and you obviously synced in the end as you saw the Notebook online.

As to your first attempt at using Evernote, I guess this is the biggest problem - if you can call it a problem - with Evernote. It is a blank page and you need to make your mind up how to use it. Unlike for example an word processor, where you have an idea what it is going to do before you open it up.

If you search, how to use Evernote, you will see there are so many different suggestions that it will probably cause you even more grief trying to make you mind up.

For me, with anything that I can use in life, I tend to think about what I want to get out of it. I will then search for how I can utilise a tool such as Evernote and adapt it for my own purposes. That of course will take time and will always be a learning curve.

How would I use Evernote for a garden journal?

As you have done, start a new Notebook.

In that Notebook create a new Note for every day - bearing in mind this is a journal. Using Grumpy's suggested method of naming a Note, each title would start with a date code - 140524 for today. Then it is up to you how you name beyond there.

Decided\ if you have want a specific format - not sure what you want to keep in the journal. Perhaps you bought something and maybe it would be a good idea to keep that information in a different colour along with the receipt, which you could scan or photo to put in the Note.

And so it goes on!

The important thing, is to keep developing and changing how you use Evernote as you realise what works best for you.

I hope you get over your frustration and enjoy what is a superb tool.

Best regards

Chris

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  • 7 months later...

Like Lola I_JUST_WANT_TO have basic functionality after all i am using the free version. Perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that one should have the ability to edit. For once I would like to be able to go in and change content without slapping the screen like a nutcase in an attempt to get beyond copy - no I do not want to copy anything. I JUST want TO EDIT when I want to not when you arbitrarily decide to unlock that very special functionaliy.

I like the synching across all my devices.

I want to store notes. Stuff like password files so that I can actually look it up when I need to and change it when I need to. I am thinking the annoyance factor is starting to exceed the functionality that does work well.

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Hi.it doesn't matter if you are free or Premium, you can edit your notes. If you could post all the Clients (devices) that your using, i.e.:

Mac, Windows Desktop or Touch, Android, iPad, etc. We can help your to find the editing functions for each one.

Merry Christmas! ☺

Like Lola I_JUST_WANT_TO have basic functionality after all i am using the free version. Perhaps I am mistaken in thinking that one should have the ability to edit. For once I would like to be able to go in and change content without slapping the screen like a nutcase in an attempt to get beyond copy - no I do not want to copy anything. I JUST want TO EDIT when I want to not when you arbitrarily decide to unlock that very special functionaliy.

I like the synching across all my devices.

I want to store notes. Stuff like password files so that I can actually look it up when I need to and change it when I need to. I am thinking the annoyance factor is starting to exceed the functionality that does work well.

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.

I want to store notes. Stuff like password files so that I can actually look it up when I need to and change it when I need to. I am thinking the annoyance factor is starting to exceed the functionality that does work well.

 

 

I highly recommend that for password storage, you NOT use Evernote. The security safe guards are not there for passwords. I use and love Last Pass, but there are other good password managers out there. Assess your needs and use one of them.

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I do see the statement that you should not store passwords in Evernote a lot and I have to agree.

 

However!

 

I have a rather simpler method I use to store my passwords within Evernote.

 

My passwords are very intensive, but by knowing the first character I will know the remaining characters from memory. This has worked very well as I have so many passwords and sometimes cannot remember which one is in use for which programme.

 

Best regards

 

 

Cghrus

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How about this…

If you're a premium user and have access to note history, you can overwrite your note with anything you please... And come time to access a password that you have forgotten, you simply access your previous version or earlier. Heck, you could even set up a different note title for each password in a freshly overwritten note, which will appear in that note's history... since a new version is created on EN's servers several times a day. Plus you just need to preview it. You don't need to import it.

Not to mention the fact that it's only accessible on desktop… So no one can rummage through your note history if they had to access one of your mobile clients.

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I don't recommend putting passwords into Evernote or any cloud service that isn't designed for it. This is 2015. Things are a lot more intense out there, and I expect they'll get even worse, so you gotta protect yourself. Once a thief somewhere else in the world gets a hold of them (especially ones by the many, many people still using pet names and birthdays), they can empty out your accounts. They are quite crafty. I have seen them at work. Evernote is simply not a good tool for storing passwords, encrypted or not.

Password managers are free, and for something like a dollar a month, you can get the premium features they offer. They are pretty impressive and encourage good password hygiene.

As for note histories, they are done at irregular intervals "about" 8 hours apart, and I can vouch for the fact that versions of Evernote sometimes come out that overwrite new notes with old ones. Bugs happen. I wouldn't rely on a "backup" that you have no ability to download yourself. Spend the minute or two you would have spent fiddling around with note histories and just sign up for a password service instead :)

The OP's complaints, though, are actually unclear to me, so I cannot address anything specific about those.

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I don't recommend putting passwords into Evernote or any cloud service that isn't designed for it. This is 2015. Things are a lot more intense out there, and I expect they'll get even worse, so you gotta protect yourself. Once a thief somewhere else in the world gets a hold of them (especially ones by the many, many people still using pet names and birthdays), they can empty out your accounts. They are quite crafty. I have seen them at work. Evernote is simply not a good tool for storing passwords, encrypted or not.

Password managers are free, and for something like a dollar a month, you can get the premium features they offer. They are pretty impressive and encourage good password hygiene.

As for note histories, they are done at irregular intervals "about" 8 hours apart, and I can vouch for the fact that versions of Evernote sometimes come out that overwrite new notes with old ones. Bugs happen. I wouldn't rely on a "backup" that you have no ability to download yourself. Spend the minute or two you would have spent fiddling around with note histories and just sign up for a password service instead :)

The OP's complaints, though, are actually unclear to me, so I cannot address anything specific about those.

 

 

You are quite right GM. Evernote is not a serious repository for holding passwords.

 

As with many posts I make, I get a kick out of mentioning a possibility - even if it is a cheesy one or a convoluted workaround. Note History is a possibility though. The fact is that there is an app out there that can outshine Evernote in every individual feature it has. None more so than those storing sensitive information.

 

It's the package that people are looking for. I personally am comfortable managing multiple apps and EN fits right in there. So many try to cram everything in Evernote, including passwords. Which I wouldn't do. But the heart wants what the heart wants... and having a password accessible through note history is a heck of a lot better than it staring a 3rd party in the face. 

 

Sure, note history creates a new version at intervals. Just make sure you have a version of your current note saved before overwriting. I have seen up to 10+ different versions of a particular note in the note history within a 16-hour period. So it can be more frequent than once every 8 hours. It also depends on how often one makes changes. Evernote simply says "several times each day". 

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