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Feature request: run more than one account at the same time


wordmuse

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I have two accounts with Evernote - one premium, the other not. I use one as a giant libary and reference reporsitory. I use the other for active work.

I could really use some help here by letting me have both accounts open at the same time. It's slow and frustrating to have to go back and forth. I am forced to use a go-between Word document to copy the reference and then log out of the reference database and open the in-work database. And then log out again and log in again. Once or twice a day is no big deal, but on an ongoing basis every day - it does get to be a bit much.

I guess I can use the desktop client for the active and the web based client for the second, but the web-based client is so clunky and slow compared tot he desktop client that I'd really rather have what I'm asking for.

I have no idea how difficult it would be to implement this. But if it's at all doable, I'd very much appreciate it. Maybe others would too.

- Bal

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Since you could use one account with the desktop client & the web client with the other account, it's doubtful this would be added anytime soon, if ever. IMO, the web client is pretty good & certainly a lot better than the workflow you're using now.

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IMO, the web client is pretty good & certainly a lot better than the workflow you're using now.

The web client is good on a desktop, but it's only OK on a laptop - and pretty bad on a netbook.

So - we've got one opinion about the adequacy of the web client - apparently under all conditions.

Anyone else?

I'm not taking a poll about what I want. I know what I want - and a thousand other users telling me it's junk doesn't change what I want. It does affect Evernote's business decisions, however. So if we could get more than just BurgersNFries praise of the web client, that would be appreciated. If more than just me wants the ability to run two+ sessions at the same time with the desktop client, maybe the Evernote Team will take notice. If not, then obviously, I'm an outlier and there's not much point to basing business decisions on the preferences of an outlier.

- Bal

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The web client is good on a desktop, but it's only OK on a laptop - and pretty bad on a netbook.

Yeah. I agree in general with those comments.

Unlikely that you will see support for more than one instance of Evernote for Windows client any time soon.

However, and very much mileage may vary, you could try using the Nixnote (Nevernote) client for your free account. I have had mixed success with this client, mainly related to resource consumption for larger databases, but...

http://sourceforge.net/projects/nevernote/

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  • Level 5*

i'm still unclear about why you have two accounts. what is the benefit?

i have two. i started one, lost the password at some point, and just decided to start another one. found the password, and now i am slowly migrating notes over. for my use at least, i only need access to both in order to get rid of one more quickly ;)

i wouldn't use the feature if implemented. i'd be too worried about corrupting my library. but, i occasionally see others on the forum talking about two accounts, so you are not alone.

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wordmuse,

You can make switching between accounts a bit easier by starting Evernote with /DebugMenu command line option: all your existing accounts will be listed under [Debug] menu, so choosing the active one is just a matter of selecting a menu item.

Another way to deal with two accounts within the same client instance is to share notebooks from one account with the other one.

/Peter

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wordmuse,

You can make switching between accounts a bit easier by starting Evernote with /DebugMenu command line option: all your existing accounts will be listed under [Debug] menu, so choosing the active one is just a matter of selecting a menu item.

Another way to deal with two accounts within the same client instance is to share notebooks from one account with the other one.

/Peter

Evernoted!

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I appreciate all the replies. I'll look into NixNote. It's nice to know that I'm not a total outlier.

The question about the benefit appears to be one of genuine curiosity, so I'll make an effort to explain. Let me acknowledge again that I know that I'm in the minority here. Given that, I'm no longer trying to persuade anyone. I'm just explaining why I want this, for whatever it's worth to whoever reads it.

I began with EN several years ago when it still had the Timeline Bar (that I sorely miss to this day, BTW - in case anyone in EN management would consider bringing it back). I upgraded that account to Premium when I saw that I was using the program a lot.

Over time, the complexity of information grew. I found myself "walking my mouse" up and down the Navigation tools along the left and using the search functions. Why? Because as I was doing my active work, I needed to refer to something in another note. So I'd look for that note, find it, maybe copy some text or graphic (along with the formatting, perhaps), go back to the in-work note and paste it there for immediate reference or to modify for the current purpose.

I got tired of having to label something as reference or make sure it was in the right notebook, etc. I wanted a repository that I knew was reference only and another that was for in-work material only. A second account served the purpose. The old account - being premium - could store any kind of file. The newer account was my own material, so I didn't have to concern myself with file storage, and could simply write within EN's environment for eventual finalization in something like Word, Excel, or PowerPoint - before being finalized in a PDF.

I have a macro tool (Macro Toolworks) that I've customized to let me me quickly close and open specific Evernote databases. But it's still not like being able to Alt-Tab between instances. BTW - this is another reason I prefer not to use the web-based client. I'd either have to have a dedicated window devoted only to Evernote, or I'd have to accept that once I flipped over to Firefox (or Opera, etc.) I'd then have to go through the tabs.

None of this is a major problem. It's not world hunger. It's not even a stubbed toe. It's a preference.

Were I in charge of EN, I'd ask a few questions:

1 - Is the idea without any merit whatsoever? If yes, stop. If not, continue to #2.

2 - Is there a significant number of users who would like this. I don't know the answer to this; presumably, the folks at EN do. If there is no significant block of users, then drop it. If there are a number of users who would like it, then continue on to #3.

3 - How hard would it be to implement this (including making sure that the corruption of libraries concern mentioned by GrumpMonkey is handled)? Can it be assigned to a low-level grunt who can accomplish it in an afternoon while s/he's embroiled in a feud on Twitter? Or will it take a development team of 20 more than a year to get it done? I'm guessing somewhere in between these two points. But I think it sets some far out boundaries that would not be easily exceeded. If it is so difficult that it would divert focus away from truly important tasks, then drop it. If not, go on to #4.

#4 - Are there any good reasons - even after all this - to not do it? if yes, drop it; if no, continue on to #5.

#5 - Do we simply not want to do it anyway? If yes, drop it. If no, well - then maybe I could get what I'm looking for.

- Bal

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Hi Bal,

Simultaneous accounts would bring up some issues, like if you were using the native clipper, which account would it go into? We'd also need to do work to allow the web clippers to switch accounts (a lot of this infrastructure assumes only one active account at a time).

When I'm in a flow sorta similar to yours, I end up opening multiple single note windows. I find that I really just need a few notes in separate windows, but not an entire separate Evernote Window. Is there something about having a second window that I'm missing?

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Hi dlu,

Actually a second visible window would be welcome too - though it's not the same as having a second database open.

The value of a second window is pretty straightforward, and it is easily observed in the behavior of people who have two monitors running at the same time. It let's them glance and take notes without having to exert much in the way of remembering. It also enables you to at-a-glance see that something is different or the same between two iteraations of the same thing.

Regarding two databases, the value is the same as the above with the added ability to go through the reference database without losing track of anything I'm doing in the in-work database. When I do this in Microsoft Word, I can have two documents open and drag content from one into the other. Presumably, I'd be able to do something similar in EN since I can currently drag from Word and drop into an EN note.

Additionally, in my situation, I sometimes don't know which reference note I'm going to need next. Having the reference database open at the same time I have the in-work database open would be amazingly (not just marginally) helpful to me. For example, I could click on a tag in the reference database for IRS (shiver). Then in my in-work database I could have tagged documents for "tax audit". The relationship is pretty straightforward, I think. This is just one of many examples that could be considered. A vendor database open for writing up a quote. An articles database for writing up my next story. To me this seems very intuitive and useful.

Regarding the problem you identified, I understand. One way to handle it would be to have the clipper go to the database in the active window (since there's only one active window at a time in Windows - so far as I know). Another less useful way would be to specify at the time of opening the second database which one was to receive the clippings. Again - I acknowledge total ignorance about the technical difficulties of implementing the request. I'm just saying that if you were a magic genie, this is what I'd want.

Thanks for letting me clarify this.

Regards,

Bal

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The problem with the active window, is that you're clipping from something outside of Evernote. So you're in another program or clipping a screenshot of your desktop etc. So the active window is something else and you have to choose between two non-active windows.

If you know of any magic genies, please send them my way :)

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I see your point. Then I still have the second way I proposed, yes? Or make the clippings feature inactive when two databases are open. I personally use the clipper function far less than I would use the two databases. And it wouldn't change a thing for those who find it uncomfortable to operate in more than one open database, so it's simply an expansion in my general direction without any negative impact on anyone else.

Again - assuming no unintended consequences like performance hits overall, or corruption of databases, etc. I'm certainly not advocating something at the expense of a core function. Just saying - if it could be done...

Oh - and what's the going rate for referring a genie?

- Bal

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  • 5 months later...

I have the same issue. I have 2 separate Evernote accounts. Each one is set up for a different business.

I have it set up as two accounts because one of the businesses is owned by me alone, and for the other one I have a partner. For the one with the partner, we share the account. We both know the account name and the password, and we can each add to or modify the account. However, for the other business, I have limited the access to only myself - I'm the only one who knows the account name and the password.

I am working both businesses concurrently, so sometimes I want to add to one account, and sometimes the other. Being able to use the Web Clipper to choose between the two would be very nice, but is not critical because if I have to, I can just copy a webpage and paste into a new note. Being able to send emails to either account using the icon in Outlook would also be very nice but is also not critical, because I can forward to either account using the email forwarding links. However, what I really want is to have two different instances of the Windows tool open simultaneously, one for each account, so that I can sort the new note as soon as I send it to the appropriate Evernote account. That is the real problem. I believe that BurgerNFries made a suggestion above as to a way of doing that, but I didn't understand exactly how it works or how to implement it. BNF - please explain. Also, if there are any other ways of accomplishing the same thing, I would definitely appreciate hearing about them as well.

Thanks much.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 5 months later...

I am hooked on to Evernote ever since I discovered it last month :) Thank you guys.

 

Evernote has great features and I am loving it.

 

But I ran into problem or rather inconvinience when I wanted to take a backup of Evernote Database to Google Drive. I was hoping I could back up specific notebooks only. But EN stores everything into one DB. That makes it huge. I am storing everything on to EN but I do not want online back up of everything, I back up Local Notebook Data or rather want to back up Local Notebook Data on to external USB drive and not on Google Drive.

 

For this reason I would like to see notebooks on multiple DBs or the Client allowing multiple accounts which can interact with each other in the sense allow copy and view each account's notes without logging off.

 

I have read replies of some members and I do not like them. You just take in the suggestion, thank the person for the same but you do not have to commit them right away whether you are going to implement it or not. Its your prerogative, so just want to add my name in the growing list of people asking for this feature.

 

Thanks a lot

Raj

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The way that you would do this today is to share notebooks with your other account. The sharer needs to be a premium subscriber.

If you have issue about specific comments here, I suggest that you reply to them specifically, rather than being vague about who and what you are referring to.

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The way that you would do this today is to share notebooks with your other account. The sharer needs to be a premium subscriber.

If you have issue about specific comments here, I suggest that you reply to them specifically, rather than being vague about who and what you are referring to.

 

Thanks for the reply.

I guess that still leaves the question of separating those notebooks which I want to back up online and those which I don't.  I have looked at lot of threads in this forum and google but guess the answer I got is not possible at this moment.

 

About being vague, that was the general sense I got after going through so many posts here. I just felt suggestions and ideas are not welcome here. or they are discouraged by the language people use when replying to ideas.

 

If it is not clear you could just ignore my opinion.

 

Thanks again. I will wait for that feature.

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@betkiker: This is a user forum, and opinions and feature suggestions are welcome. The Evernote staff does read everything, though they don't always respond (though dlu has to this thread, mainly pointing out some of the things that might need to be overcome), and they rarely make promises about future features. That being said, if you are free to post your opinions, then you shouldn't be surprised that other people might have differing opinions. I've found it's best to reply directly to someone if you feel the need, rather than just assuming that there is a general tenor to the forums. There are a fair number of people who participate, each with their own points of view.

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@betkiker: This is a user forum, and opinions and feature suggestions are welcome. The Evernote staff does read everything, though they don't always respond (though dlu has to this thread, mainly pointing out some of the things that might need to be overcome), and they rarely make promises about future features. That being said, if you are free to post your opinions, then you shouldn't be surprised that other people might have differing opinions. I've found it's best to reply directly to someone if you feel the need, rather than just assuming that there is a general tenor to the forums. There are a fair number of people who participate, each with their own points of view.

Fantastic. you guys are doing great job, prompt replies. my apologies was just upset that I had to waste so much time to know the feature was not there. everything's looks fine right now. thanks.

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