Suddenly my backgrounds are all gone

[prz 8]

Several years ago, I used a tip I found online to set the note background.  It involved embedding code (html?).  I set up a couple of templates, and used those to create new notes when I wanted these background colors.

 

Suddenly, all the background colors are gone!  The templates are white, the notes I created from the templates are white, everything is bloody BRIGHT WHITE.

 

What happened?  Did EN drop support for this?  If so, can I get back to a version that works.  That white background is a killer.

[GrumpyMonkey 4,319]

Several years ago, I used a tip I found online to set the note background.  It involved embedding code (html?).  I set up a couple of templates, and used those to create new notes when I wanted these background colors.

 

Suddenly, all the background colors are gone!  The templates are white, the notes I created from the templates are white, everything is bloody BRIGHT WHITE.

 

What happened?  Did EN drop support for this?  If so, can I get back to a version that works.  That white background is a killer.

 

Hi. I think they were probably my templates (or similar ones). I don't think Evernote ever "supported" it. We just opened the .enml file and tweaked the code a little. A hack, I suppose. The hope, of course, was that background colors would come one day and the hack would no longer be needed. Obviously, that hasn't happened.

 

I don't know if Evernote changed anything on the backend, but I wouldn't be surprised if it happened. I only know of a couple instances in which Evernote messes around with the content of notes (OCR for PDFs and images / conflicting changes in iOS). Only conflicting changes are easily visible to the user, though, so it may be a regular thing that they clean up this thing or that thing in the code. In the process, they may have removed the hack. It's tough to say without investigating it further.

 

I'd suggest opening up a support ticket, but I doubt much would come of it. They probably inadvertently changed something that affected the background, and that procedure is unlikely to stop for an unsupported hack.

[prz 8]

Thanks so much for the reply.  Does your answer mean that the capability is no longer there, or only that the hack code got scrubbed from notes in my database and could be put back?

 

If the hack still works, can you perhaps point me at your original posting, since I can't remember what I did.  I should have clipped it into EN  :-)

[gazumped 11,652]

Hi this is not GM's link,  but it used to be possible to edit the note source code directly with an ENML editor.  Don't know if this will still work,  but -

 

It's possible to edit individual notes to include extra features like lines and colours - but only by using an editor which works with the database content.  So - not a tool for anyone who's not sure what they're doing,  and one where you would want to have a recent backup of your database handy just in case...

This ENML editor gets under the hood of the coding in the note - http://enml-editor.ping13.net/

[prz 8]

The plot thickens.  I used your ping13 link to edit the note.   Note contains this:

 

<?xml version='1.0' encoding='utf-8'?>

<!DOCTYPE en-note SYSTEM "http://xml.evernote.com/pub/enml2.dtd">

<en-note bgcolor="gainsboro" style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;">

 <br />

</en-note>

 

 I just changed a single letter, then changed it back to make the tool think I had changed something.  Then I clicked on the link to show it in EN.  New tab opens (chrome), background is grey.  Sync desktop app, bg is white.  Back to EN tab in browser - as soon as I type, the bg changes to white.  Any ideas?

 

Thanks

[gazumped 11,652]

Interesting.  I wonder if there are any other options than bgcolor="gainsboro" and what happens if you delete that instruction from a test note.

 

For information,  finding the glaring white too much,  and for his own use, author @RobertJSawyer created a style sheet for the Web (browser) version of Evernote that gets rid of most of the glaring white; https://userstyles.org/styles/110978/evernote-with-less-eyestrain
 
(If you use Firefox, install the Stylish add on, then install his stylesheet.)

He also suggested Pangolin Software's free PangoBright utility which lets you dim your screen easily:

http://www.pangobright.com/

[prz 8]

The enml standard says bgcolor is an accepted option in en-note.  I can change "bgcolor=gainsboro" to "bgcolor=LightGray".  The enml editor accepts either, and generates a page with a light gray background in the browser, until you try to type something.  In the Windows client, the background remains stubbornly white, even before you try to type.

 

Is there anyone out there using background colors successfully in the latest Windows client?