Evernote Clipper

[GiannisM 0]

Hey, have you considered extending the functionallity of Web clipper inside the pc files on the explorer. I would find it very usefull to be able to clip the (address of) any of my files or folders. Sure this means you can access these only when working on the pc (or maybe not??). What is the rest of the users opinion?

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Interesting idea. In many cases I suspect you could just add the file as an attachment to an Evernote note. 

In other cases, it doesn't seem too onerous to create file links:

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/15834-how-to-make-a-hyperlink-to-a-filefolder-on-a-local-drive

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/55967-drag-drop-file-links/

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/46668-linking-to-a-file-outside-evernote/

https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/33958-insert-links-to-files/

 

 

Ultimately I think promoting this type of thing could result in users finding their notes fraught with tons of issues, such as people accumulating lots of these links, then breaking ALL of them simply by moving a file or directory, or renaming something. It's also completely not portable. Any time you reinstall your OS or move to a new device, your entire collection of links will be useless. While there seem to be plenty of people who do this, I do think it is a fairly marginal use case that could be somewhat dangerous, or at least frustrating. 

[GiannisM 0]

thanks for the links! I see your point, I agree for the portability issue but I suspect there could be ways to resolve it. As for the broken links I think the same (or even worse) apllies when someone bookmarks a website, so I dont think it is crucial,after all it is in the users hand not to change the addresses of his files and folders.

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

after all it is in the users hand not to change the addresses of his files and folders.

 

Yeah well, bad things happen and people need to reinstall their OS, or switch to a new device. In addition to all the labour involved in that, re-doing potentially hundreds of file links would probably turn me toward an early grave!

 

 

 As for the broken links I think the same (or even worse) apllies when someone bookmarks a website, so I dont think it is crucial

 

I disagree. One of my oldest clippings is from 2012. The page was created in 2011. Today, clicking on the link from which the clipping was made (effectively the same as a traditional browser bookmark) takes me directly to the web page, still up and running. 

 

In the meantime, since that clipping was made, I've had 3 computers and over 12 OS installations (I do a lot of switching around....). Had this been a file link instead of a webpage, it would have been useless years ago. 

 

If you modify your computer system, you break ALL your links in a single swoop. It is rare that the entire internet is re-shuffled rendering your entire collection of bookmarks broken. Typically only bookmarks associated with one website would break at any given time. 

 

Further, most websites don't change their structure dramatically too often and in such a way as to totally render older bookmarks broken. Even when they do, because they are websites and not a personal computer, new links are created between pages in the new structure and usually there is a search function (or there's always google's site: prefix), making it reasonably easy for a user to remedy a broken bookmark as the content itself is still there. (also, this is where web clipping has an advantage. URLs can change or content can be removed, but your clipping remains un-touched). 

 

Again, I understand the desire, but I think it might cause more confusion and trouble for a lot of users who aren't perhaps as savvy as you are. 

 

 

thanks for the links! I see your point, I agree for the portability issue but I suspect there could be ways to resolve it.

 

I don't see how this could easily be done. Every device would need identical folder structures and names. This means system user accounts would need the same name, which is rarely the case for people who use multiple computers (I have two computers and three OS's currently and NONE have the same user name). Further, they would only work on a single platform. The file link on a windows system wouldn't jive with a Mac and vice versa. 

 

The best solution I can think of would be to store all your linked files in Dropbox or similar, but again, this requires that the system user name is identical in order to not break the link. Adding complexity is that file links are OS-specific so if you switched to a different operating system, even using a solution like Dropbox, your links would break. 

 

 

This is why there are services like Dropbox/Drive/Box/OneDrive, and why you can attach files to Evernote notes. These services resolve all of the issues encountered with file links. 

[ScottLougheed 1,316]

Ah, an interesting development. The most recent beta of Evernote for Mac (and likely the future public release) actually blocks the use of file links:

 

mwoerner: We've blocked links to local files to fix a security vulnerability. A malicious user could otherwise create a note with a file link that points to a local application rather than a document. If they share that with another user and convince the user to click the link, the user may end up unexpectedly running a program on their local machine. We're sorry that this change is negatively affecting you. We realize that some of our users will no longer be able to open local files that aren't directly attached to a note, but feel that protecting our users from this attack vector is important enough to make the change. Any files that you attach directly to the note will not be affected by the change.

 

Presumably this will also be changed for the Windows version, at least until this vulnerability is closed, if it is possible to even close the vulnerability.