stefanlasiewski

Thanks for providing the link to the new Evernote Web Clipper. The new Web Clipper has some features which are very similar to Evernote Clearly. Is the intention to merge the two products? This would be nice, as it would simplify my browser. Less is more. -= Stefan

There is no way to do this. One of the big problems with TSW is that changing priorities from 1-Now to 2-Next requires the cumbersome manipulation of tags. On Android this is particularly difficult. The behaviour for sorting tags is different on Mac and Windows, and Evernote Web doesn't allow you to sort by tags. You are right that a Notebook might solve this problem, but Notebooks can only be 1 level deep. TSW recommends a top level 'Tasks' and 'Cabinet' folder, and then an 'Action Pending' and 'Completed' folder under 'Tasks'. There is no more room for another layer of folders to designate priority. Some of the TSW workflows became harder to use with the introduction of Evernote 5. Among other changes, Evernote 5 deemphasizes the lefthand grey sidebar which is a key piece of TSW. On the Mac the sidebar no longer provides a way to easily move tags or create new tags, etc. Personally, I gave up on TSW and these UI incompatabilities are a major reason why. If you'll notice, the activity regarding TSW in this forum and on http://www.thesecretweapon.org/ have slowed down dramatically in the last couple of years, and the last couple of videos on http://www.thesecretweapon.org/ have said 'Coming soon' for about 18 months. While I'm happy that TSW works for the authors and I'm grateful that they provided the resources to create TSW, I imagine that the authors don't really have time to manage this not-for-profit venture, and I wonder if TSW was perhaps just a fad. When I first started with Evernote over 2 years ago I was told that 'Evernote is a note taking tool. It is not a task manager', and now I understand what they mean. I would recommend looking into another system. Perhaps Evernote 5 plays better with GTD-- I haven't had the time to look. Zendone looks like a nice tool, but at some point I just need to stop playing with new tools.

Fooey. Markdown here stopped working for me within Evernote Web. I'm using Firefox. Oh well, at least it works well in Gmail. -= Stefan

With Evernote Clearly, I can use the Highlighter to highlight text on a webpage. The highlighted text stands out nicely. Clearly's text highlighting is nice and simple. However, Clearly cannot annotate PDFs, but Skitch and Evernote can. Do Skitch or Evernote provide a simple highlighting tool similar to Clearly's Highlighter? I see that Skitch and Evernote have a marker icon which does 'free form' highlighting, but the marker is messy and I need a neater tool which simply highlights the text, similar to the Clearly Highlighter. Basically, I'm looking for a note taking and annotating tool which works consistantly for webpages, PDFs and potentially eBooks. Unicorns are optional. Thank you, -= Stefan

FYI, The video at http://www.mentalhub.com/videos/EvernoteWorkflow.mov is no longer there.

There are two big problems with workarounds and third party apps. 1. They introduce another unnecessary layer of complexity, which increases the chance of bugs, adds another layer of support issues (is the product even going to be around in 6 months) and make my life more complicated in general. Evernote is supposed to simplify and organize my life, and if it becomes too complicated to use then I stop using it. 2. Workaround and third party apps don't work consistantly across platforms, and often third party apps only work on one platform. This means I need to use one work flow on a Mac and a second workflow on Windows. Evernote already has enough cross-platform inconsistancies which interfere with my willingness to use Evernote. Markdown is fairly simple, and could provide a consistant, simple editing abilities on Windows, Mac and the web platforms.

I just learned about the Markdown Here browser extension for Firefox, Chrome and Safari. This allows Markdown to be used in the Evernote Web interface, as well as in Gmail, Google Sites and a smattering of other applications (Not Google Docs, since Google Docs has a different editor & API). It seems to work with Evernote Web as well, and the community says it "Works Great" with Evernote. Markdown Here is an open-source project hosted on GitHub: https://github.com/adam-p/markdown-here/blob/master/README.md Given Evernote Web's lack of keyboard shortcuts, Markdown Here goes a long way to improve keyboard efficiency. Check it out. -= Stefan

Markdown is a great way to format notes. It is simple, efficient and is a great timesaver. Markdown is used a bunch in the computer engineering world (GitHub & StackOverflow use markdown). And I will note that if I create a simple note from Evernote, pasted it into the VI editor from my Mac or Windows boxes, the result ends up looking very, very close to GitHub-flavored Markdown. Bold and Italic doesn't render correctly, but bulleted lists and numbered lists work great and Task List items (e.g. [ ] in GFM): testbolditalic[ ]todo[ ]todo2 * Bullet * Bullet2 1. number list 2. number list2What does this mean, it means that Evernote is already part way there.

I've been trying TSW with Evernote for the last month. Tasks which come in through GMail go to TSW, and I also add tasks by hand and through my Android phone. So far it's been easy to get stuff *into* Evernote, but I'm struggling with using Evernote as a task manager because the UI is getting in my way. A few simple UI improvements in the Evernote Web app would go a long way in supporting TSW. If I understand correctly, Everote 5 introduced some signifigant UI changes, and this makes it hard to learn and some of the methods described in TSW. I've found that the desktop app for the Mac looks and functions differently then what is shown in the videos. The lefthand sidebar is very different then what is shown in the video, and the default "Card View" is totally different. My work computer is a Mac, my home computers are Windows. The Evernote desktop UI is different on both Windows & Mac. I also have a Ubuntu workstation, and since there isn't an Evernote Desktop App for Ubuntu I use Evernote Web. But the Evernote Web UI is also different from the Windows & Mac Desktop applications, and I'm going a bit mad remembering all the little differences between the three different interfaces. I would prefer to use the Evernote Web since the UI is consistant between all of my computers and because I would prefer to use one less desktop application if I have a choice. Evernote Web seems simpler overall, and in this day of funtional HTML5 interfaces it could be just as functional as any desktop app. However, Evernote Web has a few downsides: Evernote will not sort by the 'Tags' column. A key point of the TSW tagging system ('1-Now', '2-Later') is that it's easy to sort by priority. But this cannot be done on Evernote Web. If I move a note from '3-Later' to '1-Now', the item now is now tagged with both tags. Removing the '3-Later' tag requires 4 clicks. If I'm reorganizing a dozen tasks all these clicks can get pretty tedious. Editing a task requires 2-3 clicks. The Evernote Web is pretty cramped on a typical laptop screen. The lefthand sidebar only shows 2/3 of the tags. I like using Evernote to store notes about everything and I *really* like decluttering all the "stuff" from my mind. However, every time I forward an item from GMail to Evernote I find myself thinking "Can't I just do this using Google tools? What does Evernote get me?" I want to use it, but I feel a bit like Evernote is the wrong tool for the job. I figure that some of this is simply part of the learning curve and perhaps I'm just not understanding how to use Evernote. But I also think that the UI on Evernote Web and Evernote for the Mac Desktop could use some UI changes. As a heavy user of GMail and Google Docs/Drive, using Evernote does add some complications even if it simplifies other parts of my mind. Evernote and Google's stuff definately has some overlap, and it can be confusing when deciding what tool to use. If Google does the right thing with Google Keep, then GMail, Google Drive, Google Keep, etc. could be as useful as Evernote. But for now I'm not sure Google will ever get there. -= Stefan

Hi Karol, This sounds great. It is mid-May and I notice that the Android client has not been released yet. Any word on when the Android client will be released? -= Stefan