Jump to content

Adding Web Content to Notes in the Evernote Editor


Recommended Posts

  • Level 5

Hello Everyone, 

Web pages can be complex, and pasting or clipping their contents into notes can have unexpected results.

In this installment of Behind the Scenes, CEO Ian Small chats with Chris, an engineer at Evernote, about the work he and his team are doing to improve the way content is copied from the web into Evernote. Customers will soon have more control over how information is presented, giving them the flexibility to edit or preserve it as needed.

Subscribe to our channel to follow the journey, and join the conversation on the Evernote Forum.

 

  • Like 7
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
  • Level 5*

>>Adding Web Content to Notes in the Evernote Editor

Currently, I find it works better to keep web content separate from note content.  
S
creenshots copy/paste with no issues.  I'll review this when the new editor is available.

I'm clear about using the Evernote editor for basic notes.
I can get quite fancy, within the enml/html format limits.

When it comes to web content, I use a web browser app (Safari on my Mac/iPad).
 I don't edit the web content

One option is to save web pages in web archive format, stored as attachments to a note.
I just have to figure out how to use a web archive file on my iPad.  It seems to be browser/platform specific.

Link to comment

Just a quick note to say, thanks for the videos and I have a quick question... I notice today that Chris said to use Cmd Z to switch over to the HTML version, which is a MAC command... Is it safe to assume that the same action in Windows will be Alt whatever the Cmd is on MAC... In this case Alt Z?

John Bankson

 

Link to comment
  • Ex Employees
20 minutes ago, jaxchile said:

Just a quick note to say, thanks for the videos and I have a quick question... I notice today that Chris said to use Cmd Z to switch over to the HTML version, which is a MAC command... Is it safe to assume that the same action in Windows will be Alt whatever the Cmd is on MAC... In this case Alt Z?

John Bankson

 

Good catch, we should have said "Undo" instead of command Z.  So it is the Undo equivalent.  Sorry for the confusion.

  • Like 1
Link to comment

Being able to manipulate the content from the web clipper in different ways sounds interesting...

One thing I would like to see is improvements in the formatting for the Simplified article option on the web clipper. Right now I don't think the experience is optimal. I think you can improve the formatting – read-later apps like Pocket do beautiful and simple formatting for clipped articles.

I'd absolutely love it if we had the option to present clipped content in a beautiful, distraction free way like a read-later app (but still be able to edit it). I like to have consistency in the formatting of my clipped notes (rather than using the formatting from the original source).

Of course I understand this is only my own preference and it would not be valid for the whole user base. But I think I speak for a lot of other users too who prefer a more simple formatting for all notes and focus on the content itself.

  • Like 5
Link to comment
7 hours ago, lrlazarov said:

I think you can improve the formatting – read-later apps like Pocket do beautiful and simple formatting for clipped articles.

I'd absolutely love it if we had the option to present clipped content in a beautiful, distraction free way like a read-later app (but still be able to edit it). I like to have consistency in the formatting of my clipped notes (rather than using the formatting from the original source).

Can you unpack your suggestion here a bit more? This sounds like a feature request (see instructions below in my signature). But, I'd like to hear more about what exactly it is that Pocket/Instapaper or similar read-later apps are doing that "Simplified article" clipping format isn't doing for you? In the video, it looks as though the containerized Web clip can be morphed into simplified formatting that can be edited. Once edited, I think it would be difficult to revert that back to the original content without saving duplicate amounts of data (out of sight) within the note. Thanks; I'm curious about this as well as the note editor gets overhauled. 

  • Like 1
Link to comment
19 hours ago, DTLow said:

I just have to figure out how to use a web archive file on my iPad.  It seems to be browser/platform specific.

With the current iPadOS beta, it seems like the browser is capable of doing what the desktop macOS is capable: https://www.imore.com/ipados-public-beta-ultimate-guide. I wonder (though hardly able to confirm) if that will help you out here with your web archive file. 🧐

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
9 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

What is described here is not available in v. 6.19.2 of the Windows Evernote program (as far as I can tell in a brief test). Is there any information about when it will be?

No, they're not giving a timeline. I think once they've stabilized the features in the Note Editor inside Evernote Web, they'll have a better idea about timelines for pushing this to the desktop and mobile software. 🙏🏼

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
  • Level 5
2 minutes ago, Ray Sidney-Smith said:

No, they're not giving a timeline. I think once they've stabilized the features in the Note Editor inside Evernote Web, they'll have a better idea about timelines for pushing this to the desktop and mobile software. 🙏🏼

OK, thanks. Really wish they would indicate something to the effect of "coming soon to a Windows computer near you," rather than presenting these features as if they were already generally available.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
  • Level 5*
1 hour ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

OK, thanks. Really wish they would indicate something to the effect of "coming soon to a Windows computer near you," rather than presenting these features as if they were already generally available.

From the outset, this series has been all about things they're grappling with, possible approaches to customer pain points, eliciting early feedback to possible solutions, and how they're thinking about solving them. They've never said that the stuff they're showing is generally available. No promises except that they're listening, and any changes will go through beta cycles before they deliver them. I've found some episodes of the series more interesting than others, but all well worth watching.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
2 hours ago, Ray Sidney-Smith said:

Can you unpack your suggestion here a bit more? This sounds like a feature request (see instructions below in my signature). But, I'd like to hear more about what exactly it is that Pocket/Instapaper or similar read-later apps are doing that "Simplified article" clipping format isn't doing for you? In the video, it looks as though the containerized Web clip can be morphed into simplified formatting that can be edited. Once edited, I think it would be difficult to revert that back to the original content without saving duplicate amounts of data (out of sight) within the note. Thanks; I'm curious about this as well as the note editor gets overhauled. 

It's hard to put into words so I've attached two screenshots with how a given clipped article would appear in full screen in both Evernote and Pocket for example. For me personally the second environment is much more distraction free and focused for both reading and editing. It's the small details like these that could improve the Evernote writing/editing experience for me. If you need further clarification, I would be happy to help.

Screenshot 2019-07-19 at 20.22.46.png

Screenshot 2019-07-19 at 20.22.32.png

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 2
Link to comment
  • Level 5

@Kruger2147 Thanks for reaching out!

Currently, we’re running some experiments via a preview program for Evernote Web, and enrollment in that preview program is now closed.

Once we have completed those experiments and launch a public beta of Evernote Web, we will add Evernote Web to the Evernote Beta forum sections.

In the meantime, please go here to enroll in our Evernote Beta Program if you're interested in trying out future betas.

Let me know if you have any other questions!

  • Like 1
  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
On 7/19/2019 at 2:15 AM, lrlazarov said:

Being able to manipulate the content from the web clipper in different ways sounds interesting...

One thing I would like to see is improvements in the formatting for the Simplified article option on the web clipper. Right now I don't think the experience is optimal. I think you can improve the formatting – read-later apps like Pocket do beautiful and simple formatting for clipped articles.

I'd absolutely love it if we had the option to present clipped content in a beautiful, distraction free way like a read-later app (but still be able to edit it). I like to have consistency in the formatting of my clipped notes (rather than using the formatting from the original source).

Of course I understand this is only my own preference and it would not be valid for the whole user base. But I think I speak for a lot of other users too who prefer a more simple formatting for all notes and focus on the content itself.

 

Link to comment

This looks fantastic. My only question is when can I get access to those beta features!!! (I have signed up for new beta.)

If it works as well as demo'd across a large majority of web sites and syncs properly across devices, this will be the first seriously impressive new feature in years.

Link to comment
On 7/19/2019 at 1:29 PM, lrlazarov said:

attached two screenshots with how a given clipped article would appear in full screen in both Evernote and Pocket

So, it looks like all visual formatting, which seems like it could be done via these new "containers" from the original clip from the EWC. Thanks for the clarification! I think it would behoove Evernote to create something like this, narrowing the body content, slightly more readable typeface and larger font size. Although, Evernote seems to have a stronger contrast ratio than Pocket...not sure how that fits into WCAG 2.0 accessibility ratings and user experience. But, yes, this sounds like a great improvement once/if this new container-ized Web clip option comes to Evernote.

Link to comment

@Ian Small ... Just in case you truly are lurking in the background of this forum and reading replies to your 'behind-the-scenes' series, which again is great, an idea for a video might be about how you/the team address/monitor/evaluate User Feature Requests.  

Like many others, for me one of the biggest features I need, would love-to-have etc, is a Dark Mode for Windows.  Rants and Nagging aside, it would also be awesome if you/team could also address the likelihood/possibility of this being nailed and to what timeline.  Cheers

Link to comment
  • Ex Employees

@RavBoy... always lurking.  But also not inclined to make commitments until I know we are going to deliver on them.  Trying to get us into the underpromise and overdeliver habit, which is harder than you might think!  Right now we are 100% focussed on trying to make the existing Evernote we have work better, by stamping out bugs, unifying the codebase, and making the Evernote experience more coherent and more consistent across devices.  Hence the focus of pretty much all the Behind the Scenes videos so far.  That being said, let me take your specific question under advisement.

  • Like 2
  • Thanks 3
Link to comment

Thank you for going over the Web Clipper. I use it a lot, and am excited for the improvements, and to see parity across the different platforms and types of clipping. Below is a screen recording (Google Drive link) of the differences of web clipping, depending on what platform/style of clipping. 

  • The "Simplified Article" in chrome grabbed the header image and text, but kept it in a slim paragraph. Whenever I click the "simplify formatting" button in EN Web, I get different behavior between the regular Web Client and the Beta.
  • The Article clip from Chrome, grabbed everything, even cutting off some text at the top, and all of the comments, and empty spaces
  • Android is unpredictable, this article clipped fairly well, which is about 50/50 for me. There is a lot of empty white space.
  • The API tie-in with Instapaper clipped the cleanest. It was simple, text only, kept the formatting that mattered, and was cleaned of everything else. I've started using this to save my articles, as it's the cleanest way to save an article for later. This creates and extra step, but is more reliable than the "Simplify Formatting" currently on either versions of EN Web. I'd like the SImplify Article to behave more like Instapaper, simple and clean, no need to reformat articles or text.
  • https://drive.google.com/file/d/1P9BtIlkkbl8kb1Bot-_lslbvjNllnaez/view?usp=sharing

Will we get a Simplified Article with the new web clipper? How will clipping work on mobile, will be get the options we have on desktop clipper? I know a lot of people use EN as a "read it later" service, having a good Simplified Article option will create a great user experience for that (I'm assuming) large customer base.

 

Quote

@Ray Sidney-Smith

Can you unpack your suggestion here a bit more? This sounds like a feature request (see instructions below in my signature). But, I'd like to hear more about what exactly it is that Pocket/Instapaper or similar read-later apps are doing that "Simplified article" clipping format isn't doing for you? In the video, it looks as though the containerized Web clip can be morphed into simplified formatting that can be edited. Once edited, I think it would be difficult to revert that back to the original content without saving duplicate amounts of data (out of sight) within the note. Thanks; I'm curious about this as well as the note editor gets overhauled. 

@Ray Sidney-Smith See above

Link to comment
  • 4 weeks later...
On 7/19/2019 at 12:07 AM, Shane D. said:

Hello Everyone, 

Web pages can be complex, and pasting or clipping their contents into notes can have unexpected results.

In this installment of Behind the Scenes, CEO Ian Small chats with Chris, an engineer at Evernote, about the work he and his team are doing to improve the way content is copied from the web into Evernote. Customers will soon have more control over how information is presented, giving them the flexibility to edit or preserve it as needed.

Subscribe to our channel to follow the journey, and join the conversation on the Evernote Forum 9apps cartoon hd.

 

hey, 

thanks for this video, it helped me alot.

Regards..:)

Link to comment
  • Level 5*
On 7/19/2019 at 7:52 AM, Ray Sidney-Smith said:

With the current iPadOS beta, it seems like the browser is capable of doing what the desktop macOS is capable: https://www.imore.com/ipados-public-beta-ultimate-guide. I wonder (though hardly able to confirm) if that will help you out here with your web archive file. 🧐

I can now confirm this; web archive format is supported in iPadOS.

  • Thanks 1
Link to comment
  • 2 weeks later...
13 hours ago, barrysingh101 said:

add web content to notes is an amazing feature ! i'm using it on my samsung galaxy tab.

Were you invited to test a beta or preview version of Evernote? Because I was under the impression this feature is still in development.

Link to comment
  • 1 month later...

I'm clearly behind here, but I am wondering if these improvements will also enhance a user's ability to copy/paste content from something like an email message. Right now, copying content from an email in Outlook and pasting it into an Evernote note can often result in very unpredictable formatting—random spacing issues and line breaks being the most maddening (at least for me). I'm really keeping my fingers crossed that these enhancements to the editor will make the archiving of my email in Evernote easier!

Link to comment

I'm not certain if this helps.   I've found that I have to use shift-cmd-v for pasting.  Otherwise I may get black on black.  The irony is that shift-cmd-v says it will KEEP the formatting.  I think it has something to do with dark mode.

Link to comment
  • 5 months later...
On 5/19/2020 at 6:56 PM, AudreyHodges said:

Thank you for your tutorial videos! These videos help me understand how to work with web content. I also watched some videos on SEO and realized that I want to create a good website for making a profit from its work. But to do this, I need to work on it so that Google bots will index and make my site visible. And so I found this service textroyal.com for creating good content. But I still have my doubts, so if you know where to find writers who provide quality content, please let me know. I will be grateful for your advice.

Where can I find some more feedback?

Link to comment
  • 1 year later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...