"Automatically Import Folder" - Workaround on Mac's

[cseder 3]

I've understood that there is no "native" way to automatically import stuff from a given folder in the Mac version of Evernote, without resorting to AppleScripts that may or may not work after an update to either the operating system or Evernote.

But, in the Windows version you can do this from Evernote itself.

So this is something of a workaround, but if you use Dropbox or any other Cloud storage service (who doesn't these days?) AND you have access to a Windows computer that stays on most of the time, like a media sharing machine at home, your computer at work, in the basement or whatever, you can set up Evernote for Windows on that one, and set the Import folder to be a folder in your Cloud service.

This way, any file that is placed in this folder from any computer, will be synced to Evernote through the Windows machine automatically no matter where you happen to be when putting it in there.

The caveat is that the Windows machine must stay powered on at all times for this to work seamlessly.

If you just want to be sure that the contents gets into Evernote eventually, you can rely on it being imported when you power on the Windows machine, anyway.

Just a clumsy workaround for something that should be implemented on all versions of Evernote!

Chris

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Chris, I have found the AppleScript Import to work very well, and it has never been broken for more than a few days.

For those few days, it is easy enough to drag-n-drop the file from the Mac Finder to either an existing EN Note, or to the EN icon in the Mac dock.

[cseder 3]

Also, if you only put files into a folder that you know that Evernote can open, you can just follow this simple video, to set up an Automator Workflow:

http://www.mentalhub.com/videos/EvernoteWorkflow.mov

(made by yours truly...)

[Roscoe Eugenius 4]

I've tweaked the workflow just a bit, as I want to automatically empty the import folder once the added items had been imported into Evernote. Attached is a screenshot of the Automator workflow I came up with. You can change the "pause" length to the amount of seconds, minutes, or hours of your choosing. I found that if you don't have a pause before the deleting step, the import would work correctly.

Enjoy,

Roscoe

[cseder 3]

I've tweaked the workflow just a bit, as I want to automatically empty the import folder once the added items had been imported into Evernote. Attached is a screenshot of the Automator workflow I came up with. You can change the "pause" length to the amount of seconds, minutes, or hours of your choosing. I found that if you don't have a pause before the deleting step, the import would work correctly.

Yepp, that's a way to do it if you want the items deleted after import... :-)

[stefanlasiewski 22]

Also, if you only put files into a folder that you know that Evernote can open, you can just follow this simple video, to set up an Automator Workflow:

http://www.mentalhub.com/videos/EvernoteWorkflow.mov

(made by yours truly...)

 

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

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I prefer the Applescript developed by Veritrope.  It is well maintained and the developer is excellent, publishing a number of other scripts as well.  It is well-written, and easy to modify to suit your needs.

 

See Evernote Import Folder Using AppleScript from Veritrope.com

[righteousdork 203]

I prefer the Applescript developed by Veritrope.  It is well maintained and the developer is excellent, publishing a number of other scripts as well.  It is well-written, and easy to modify to suit your needs.

 

See Evernote Import Folder Using AppleScript from Veritrope.com

 

I believe I'm using the same thing and it works great for me...as long as I'm using the direct download version of Evernote (not the App Store version).

The only issues I've ever had with it are when I've downloaded PDFs from certain sites using Chrome.  It's as if a placeholder for the actual file gets uploaded to Evernote.  Only seems to happen at certain sites.  Could be a PDF size issue maybe.  Like the Applescript is moving the file before it's fully downloaded.

[Anne Wind 1]

Is there an reason that Evernote doesn't include this functionality with its iOs apps? Is it a restriction imposed by Apple? I realize there are external work arounds that work currently. But if there is no plan to include in an update to the iOS app then I'd rather not start to do it at all. 

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Is there an reason that Evernote doesn't include this functionality with its iOs apps? Is it a restriction imposed by Apple? I realize there are external work arounds that work currently. But if there is no plan to include in an update to the iOS app then I'd rather not start to do it at all. 

 

Well it's not likely that you will get a direct response from Evernote as to what they will, or will not, do in the future.

 

Having said that, all of the mobile Evernote apps have significantly less capability than either EN Win or EN Mac.

So if you are trying or planning to use EN iOS as your primary or only EN client, then you may want to reconsider that strategy.

You will likely be very frustrated.  Of course, it depends entirely on how you want to use Evernote.

[Anne Wind 1]

That's very helpful. Though I started with Macs in the 1980s, I transitioned to Windows in the 1990s and have moved back to Apple recently (a few months). I've just started to understand the pros and cons of official "apps" versus software. I've installed the EN Mac program. I think that will meet my needs better. Thanks for the input. 

[sparky_1966 0]

If your question is why don't they support this on Mac Os X- who knows, it seems like it should be fairly straightforward. As to why they don't support sync folders on iOS, there really aren't any folders like a normal operating system where you could drag a bunch of files, things are pretty compartmentalized. The best you can get is being able to send things to Evernote directly from several apps like articles on Zite or photos.

[weaverh 4]

Also, if you only put files into a folder that you know that Evernote can open, you can just follow this simple video, to set up an Automator Workflow:

http://www.mentalhub.com/videos/EvernoteWorkflow.mov

(made by yours truly...)

 

 

I've just switched from Windows to Mac and feel like my hands are tied without my many import folders.  Is this video available somewhere else?  It's no longer at this link, and since I'm entirely new to Macs, it would be very helpful to me.

[Tony Dehnke 0]

Is there a way to have this work and not have evernote pop up and ask what notebook to save to and what tags to add?  Just to automatically save the file to evernote and I can work with it later?

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

Is there a way to have this work and not have evernote pop up and ask what notebook to save to and what tags to add?  Just to automatically save the file to evernote and I can work with it later?

 

I'm not sure what process you are referring to, but if it is the Veritrope Import Applescript, you can easily modify the AppleScript to NOT ask any questions and import to a specified Notebook, with, or without, and pre-set tags.

 

I prefer the Applescript developed by Veritrope.  It is well maintained and the developer is excellent, publishing a number of other scripts as well.  It is well-written, and easy to modify to suit your needs.

 

See Evernote Import Folder Using AppleScript from Veritrope.com

[EdH 1,670]

I prefer the Applescript developed by Veritrope.  It is well maintained and the developer is excellent, publishing a number of other scripts as well.  It is well-written, and easy to modify to suit your needs.

 

See Evernote Import Folder Using AppleScript from Veritrope.com

 

Absolutely ridiculous this is the solution rather than an IMPORT FOLDER feature like Windows has.

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

@EdH:

 

I don't see anything "ridiculous" about it.  The EN Mac Applescript Import is much better than the built-in EN Win import.

It's easy to use, and easy to customize.

[EdH 1,670]

Well, to set it up in Windows, it is a click and point.

 

To set it up on the Mac, it is me printing off a page and downloading stuff and trying to figure it out.

 

No one is saying the built-in support is better, but for those of us that only need that functionality, setting up the script seems to be overkill.

[fncll 1]

 

Is there a way to have this work and not have evernote pop up and ask what notebook to save to and what tags to add?  Just to automatically save the file to evernote and I can work with it later?

 

I'm not sure what process you are referring to, but if it is the Veritrope Import Applescript, you can easily modify the AppleScript to NOT ask any questions and import to a specified Notebook, with, or without, and pre-set tags.

 

 

I'd like to modify the Veritrope script to have a set tag and always go into a particular notebook...without the dialog. I'm not having any luck making that work. Could you help?

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

I'd like to modify the Veritrope script to have a set tag and always go into a particular notebook...without the dialog. I'm not having any luck making that work. Could you help?

 

Turn OFF the NB/Tag Dialog Window here:

 

(*

======================================

// USER SWITCHES (YOU CAN CHANGE THESE!)

======================================

*)

-- SET THIS TO "OFF" IF YOU WANT TO SKIP THE TAGGING/NOTEBOOK DIALOG

-- AND SEND ITEMS DIRECTLY INTO YOUR DEFAULT NOTEBOOK

property tagging_Switch : "OFF"

 

 

 

 

Put your Notebook name and Tag Name(s) in the below properties:

 

(*

======================================

// OTHER PROPERTIES (USE CAUTION WHEN CHANGING)

======================================

*)

-- IF YOU ARE RUNNING THIS SCRIPT WITHOUT THE TAGGING DIALOG

-- YOU CAN HARD-CODE TAG AND NOTEBOOK VALUES HERE…

property EVnotebook : ""

property EVTag : {}

[jayleishman 0]

I've got the script working fine. Delete does its thing well too. 

 

But id love to have a folder for taxes, expenses, screenshots on my Mac and have that content put into those specific notebooks. Any ideas?

[JMichaelTX 4,117]

22 hours ago, jayleishman said:

But id love to have a folder for taxes, expenses, screenshots on my Mac and have that content put into those specific notebooks. Any ideas?

No problem.  Just create a Mac folder for each of those, and create a separate AppleScript Folder Action Script that assigned the imported Notes to the correct EN Notebook.

[DTLow 5,736]

On March 24, 2016 at 11:26 AM, jayleishman said:

But I'd love to have a folder for taxes, expenses, screenshots on my Mac and have that content put into those specific notebooks. Any ideas

As well as separate import folders, you can modify your import script so it gives you options as to notebook, tags, title....

This can be hard coded, or interactive.  There are many options open to you when you're using AppleScript.

Example code: create note from file newFile title "xxx" notebook "xxx"
                            assign tag "xxx" to new_note

[Mill-Z 0]

ive tried the veritrope method and file however it runs but no file is transferred to evernote.

any ideas? ive followed the method exactly

good looking and simple code though, i just cant seem to get it to work

[DTLow 5,736]

6 minutes ago, Mill-Z said:

ive tried the veritrope method and file however it runs but no file is transferred to evernote.

any ideas? ive followed the method exactly

good looking and simple code though, i just cant seem to get it to work

Are you using the Version 10 product? - Applescript isn't supported  
Use the Evernote Legacy product    

[Mill-Z 0]

7 minutes ago, DTLow said:

Are you using the Version 10 product? - Applescript isn't supported  
Use the Evernote Legacy product    

amazing!! even better my scanner now sends directly to evernote (as it did until they changed it last year) thanks for your help!!