Feature request: Set reminder without a note

[RScott 5]

I'd like to be able to set a reminder for a task without having to create a note for it. I often just want to get a notification for a quick one-off task that I don't need to refer to later. I end up having to create a blank note with the title of the reminder, then find and delete it later.

I use a few different apps for task reminders, but it would be good if I could keep everything in Evernote.

[DTLow 5,736]

3 hours ago, RScott said:

I haven't posted on the forums before, so maybe I put this in the wrong place...

If there's another place to send in feature requests, let me know.

You posted the request.  It's at the top of the discussion and users can indicate their support using the voting buttons.
This is the Windows Feature Request forum, so it's valid.  General Feature Requests might have been a better forum choice.

This is the discussion area; adding more content to the request and alternatives/work-arounds.  You don't have to  participate  in the discussion.

>>I then have to go back and delete the note later

I don't delete my old reminders.  They're a record of my completed work.

 

[DTLow 5,736]

15 hours ago, CalS said:

For me I'll create the note, with the text in the body of the note with a checkbox, and a reminder date.
...
I also have a hot key that puts _Completed date and time in the body 

I see additional benefits with this process

• multiple reminders per note
• not being locked into Evernote; the reminders are available wherever they're stored

Currently my task search includes   reminderTime:..... -reminderDoneTime:*
This could be a text search instead

[CalS 5,280]

3 minutes ago, RScott said:

Interesting. I thought about using a text expander before, but never got far with it. I might try that for timestamps, and see if there's anything else I can do with it. Thanks.

You are welcome.  Feel free to DM me if you have any questions.

[RScott 5]

Interesting. I thought about using a text expander before, but never got far with it. I might try that for timestamps, and see if there's anything else I can do with it. Thanks.

[CalS 5,280]

I use a text expander called PhraseExpress, there are others, AutoHotKey has been mentioned in the forums as well. 

I set up a hotkey with PhraseExpress such that when I press Shift+Alt+C,  _Completed 08/29/2018 07:49 PM  is entered (the text to the left is a result of that hotkey).  It's basically a completion time stamp.  I also have a _Paid... hotkey for the obvious purpose.

One point, the leading _ is to facilitate searching, the _ being the one special character that is searchable in EN.  An example of its use outside the classic to-dos would be music.  I will hear a song I would like to add to my collection and I will add a note with the artist/title as the title and !Get.Music as the tag, no reminder date.  A search for tag:!Get.Music -_compl* will return all songs I haven't as yet acquired.  Acquire the song, use the hotkey, and it's off the list.  

This help?

 

[RScott 5]

7 minutes ago, CalS said:

I also have a hot key that puts _Completed date and time in the body when needed.

Can you explain this? It might be something I can use.

I had to look up horses for courses, never heard that before.

[CalS 5,280]

5 hours ago, RScott said:

Ok. The blank notes with reminders that I delete are just one-off tasks like "Check voicemail and call back this person". It's not something I need to refer to after it's done.

Horses for courses with this stuff.  For me I'll create the note, with the text in the body of the note with a checkbox, and a reminder date.  I have a set of reminder searches for action time.  Sometimes even my simplest to-do's don't have the courtesy to get done on time.

If needed, not always, I can put any notes re the to do in the body of the note.  I also have a hot key that puts _Completed date and time in the body when needed.  Some of this is overkill for some to do's but works nicely for others.  So kind of same process for simpler to-dos but with different toppings available.  In your example, call someone back, the note is a logical place to make a record of the call if need be.  FWIW.

[RScott 5]

Thanks jefito, no problem. It's just something I thought of based on how I use Evernote.

I don't usually post on forums or even ask about new features, so I'm new to this. Thanks for all of the comments here.

[jefito 5,589]

2 hours ago, RScott said:

I haven't posted on the forums before, so maybe I put this in the wrong place, or I'm not explaining it well enough. This was just a feature request, something I'd like to see in Evernote.

Sure, we all understand this, and this is the right place, and feature requests are fair game, and welcomed, by other users and by Evernote itself  (And DtLow is probably correct; it's more of a general request and should go into that forum, and I'd or someone else would be be happy to do so if you wished it)

In any case, my take is that Evernote is primarily a note management system with some extra capabilities, like reminders and light todo' lists, etc. Its whole architecture is built around note management (and that includes its programming API and server architecture): notebooks contain notes; tags apply to notes, stacks are used to organize notebooks, etc. But what you seem to want is a whole new separate object in the system; a lightweight reminder. So the task is then to define how to organize them, and and how they interact with other objects in the system (notes, notebooks, tags), how do you search for them, and on and on. Are they fully integrated (a lot of work), or just a box on the side (minimal work), or somewhere in between? Now I don't speak for Evernote, and am not privy to their plans, but I'd guess that this would be on the "nice-to-have-but..." list, i.e. a pretty low priority item for them; it just doesn't seem like their primary focus, particularly when there are lots of solutions to simple reminders out there and available 

So nobody's saying that this is not a good & valid idea, the fact that it generates discussion means it's got something going for it. Just might not be the quite right thing for Evernote, but they'll see this, and that's for them to decide.

[RScott 5]

8 minutes ago, DTLow said:

You posted the request.  It's at the top of the discussion and users can indicate their support using the voting buttons.
This is the Windows Feature Request forum, so it's valid.  General Feature Requests might have been a better forum.

This is the discussion area; adding more content to the request and alternatives/work-arounds.  You don't have to  participate  in the discussion.

>>I then have to go back and delete the note later

I don't delete my old reminders.  They're a record of my completed work.

 

Ok. The blank notes with reminders that I delete are just one-off tasks like "Check voicemail and call back this person". It's not something I need to refer to after it's done.

I'm already in Evernote, so I don't want to pull up another app to set a reminder for something so simple. 

[RScott 5]

I haven't posted on the forums before, so maybe I put this in the wrong place, or I'm not explaining it well enough. This was just a feature request, something I'd like to see in Evernote.

 

I'm talking about having a simple task list feature built in to Evernote. I understand that a note has to be created to set a reminder, that's what I do now. I would like it if there was a way to set reminders in Evernote without creating a full note, just a reminder for a task. I'll be working in Evernote and set a reminder for myself with a note that has a title, but no content. I just need the notification/reminder email. I then have to go back and delete the note later to avoid having my default notebook filled with blank notes for old reminders.

 

I have a notebook for every client, and one note for each project in that notebook that I use as a development log. Each day in the log will have it's own checkbox task list for that day. Emails are also forwarded to notebooks to turn into separate client notes and short task lists, and it's a lot to manage. Having one note for each task wouldn't work for me, I merge emails into one note as they come in. My idea is just to break out task lists into an optional feature separate from notes.

 

The feature I'm interested in would be similar to the Reminders app on the iPhone or Google Tasks, you just enter the title of the reminder in a task list and set the date and time. I use a lot of different apps for task reminders, and I'd like to be able to do everything in Evernote. It could just be a sidebar in the desktop app for task lists with reminders that can be closed if you don't need it.

 

If there's another place to send in feature requests, let me know. The Help page sent me here.

[DTLow 5,736]

10 hours ago, RScott said:

That still creates a new note, right? I was thinking of the option of setting a reminder from a task list without a note - just the title and reminder date/time.

We've been trying to show you that Evernote stores the reminder information in the note
This also applies to the title; it's stored in the note
So yes, a Note has to be created

>>Task List

In my processing, each task is a separate note.  My note list becomes the task list..

>>reminders have to be deleted when I'm done with them

Why?
I don't delete notes when I'm "done with them".  Filters ensure I never have to see these notes  unless I want to.

[RScott 5]

6 minutes ago, DTLow said:

How about sending an email to your evernote address      Subject !Reminder-Date

That still creates a new note, right? I was thinking of the option of setting a reminder from a task list without a note - just the title and reminder date/time.

I have a lot of emails forwarded to my default notebook, and the blank notes I have for one-off reminders have to be deleted when I'm done with them. I always have the phone or Windows app open, so I'd like to be able to do as much as possible without switching to something else. Plus a separate task list would cut down on multiple checkbox To Do lists within notes and notebooks. It's just an idea.

[DTLow 5,736]

20 hours ago, RScott said:

I'd like to be able to set a reminder for a task without having to create a note for it. I often just want to get a notification for a quick one-off task that I don't need to refer to later. I end up having to create a blank note with the title of the reminder, then find and delete it later.

You can email to your evernote address      Subject !Reminder-Date
Ignore that Evernote is creating a note to store the reminder; don't bother deleting the note.

[RScott 5]

Yeah it's just a feature request. I have a lot of simple To Do lists in different apps, but I'd like to keep everything all in one place, and associated with notebooks and tags that I'm using if I need to. I'd like to see Microsoft To Do or Google Tasks functionality somehow built into Evernote as an option.

It could be a separate app that syncs with Evernote to avoid overloading the main program. Anyone that doesn't want or need that feature wouldn't be affected.

[jefito 5,589]

To amplify what @CalS what we colloquially call a "reminder" in Evernote, is actually a note with reminder properties, specifically "Reminder", "Reminder Time", and "Reminder Done" fields, which you can see in one of the Windows client's list view (Top List is better for this). So there's no such thing as a standalone reminder in Evernote; there are only notes with reminder properties (I call these "reminder notes"), and notes without. Now reminder notes can cause reminder notifications in whatever OS you use, but in Evernote, all reminders are notes.

[DTLow 5,736]

18 hours ago, RScott said:

I'd like to be able to set a reminder for a task without having to create a note for it.

I have no problem using Apple Reminders and Apple Calendar for this purpose
I also see Evernote's Reminder feature is quite limited.

I recognize Evernote as a note service.  It's actually a filing service; notes are the container for files, and reminder date/time.

[CalS 5,280]

18 hours ago, RScott said:

I'd like to be able to set a reminder for a task without having to create a note for it. I often just want to get a notification for a quick one-off task that I don't need to refer to later. I end up having to create a blank note with the title of the reminder, then find and delete it later.

I use a few different apps for task reminders, but it would be good if I could keep everything in Evernote.

In essence stand alone reminders are notes in EN.  What you are doing is the process if the reminder is a one off, that meaning not specific to a note's content. 

I keep all my reminders/to-do's in EN (other than grocery list in Wunderlist).  The majority of my reminders are based upon the note, but occasionally I will add a reminder wherein the title and note content are the same.  I then use saved searches to navigate reminders.  FWIW.