Improve Help program - say what you mean

[jbenson2 2,147]

I have a bold and audacious suggestion that could assist in slowing down the turnover of both Evernote customers and Evernote executives (who end up firefighting).

My Suggestion: Say what you mean. 

Have a dedicated Help page for each and every option. And include some graphics to support the text.

Examples of random Evernote options

• "Assign selected tags to new notes"
• "Print all PDF document pages"
• "Show clipping notifications"
• "Synchronize shortcuts"

Search for them and see 5 to 10 possible suggestions. What does the option actually do? I bet a lot of new customers don't know the answer. Ditto for all the new, wet-behind-the-ears, Evernote executives.

If you search using the help screen you will find both relevant and frustratingly non-relevant suggestions, and sometimes the pull-your-hair-out "No results matched" response, but usually never a clear explanation of what an option actually does (in my opinion). 

You can keep the 4 or 7 or 11 possible help suggestion per topic, but when a customer types in the actual option description with quotation marks; for example "Launch Annotate after screenshots"; have an additional page with a precise explanation and graphic of what that means and what it does.

I realize this would involve a lot of work requiring constant updating, but it would address the comments I hear about the program being too complicated. And to be honest, after 8 years of daily use and 30,000+ notes, I also find the program complicated and feel stonewalled when trying to find a decent explanation.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,959]

+1 (and voted up). There aren't many great help systems any more, but Evernote's can seem particularly random.

[Analyst444 182]

+1

[Austin G 527]

We're working on adding additional documentation for new features. Until it's out, hover your cursor above the option checkbox to see a brief summary.   

In the next version, you will be able to hover your cursor above the option checkbox to see a brief summary.

[jbenson2 2,147]

1 hour ago, Austin G said:

We're working on adding additional documentation for new features. Until it's out, hover your cursor above the option checkbox to see a brief summary. 

 

 

Thank you for responding to my suggestion. 

I tried your hover idea, but do not see a brief summary. 

For example:

• Hover over >Tools >Options and did not see anything.
• Hover over  "Set New Note Title to Focus" and did not see anything.

Screen captures below

Evernote Version 6.1.2.2292 (302292) Public

[Austin G 527]

 The summaries are currently displayed in the  6.2.1 beta's new options menu.

 These features are scheduled to be included in the next GA. I edited my previous post to clarify that. Here's a preview:

• "Assign selected tags to new notes"
  • Check this option if you want currently selected tags to be assigned to new notes. This is helpful if  the way you work with Evernote involves contexts defined by a notebook and one or more tags.
• "Print all PDF document pages"
  • Check this option if you want an attached PDF document pages to be printed along with the note's text. If this option is not selected, only the portion of the PDF displayed inline will print. 
• "Show clipping notifications"
  • Check this option if you want currently selected tags to be assigned to new notes. This is helpful if  the way you work with Evernote involves contexts defined by a notebook and one or more tags.
• "Synchronize shortcuts"
  • Check this option if you want shortcuts changes on this client to be synchronized

[jbenson2 2,147]

1 hour ago, Austin G said:

The summaries are currently displayed in the  6.2.1 beta's new options menu.

Super! That is even better than I expected. Thanks again.