Still HORRIBLE formatting capabilites

[Alexei Mironov 11]

Years bass by but Evernote note editor stays the same. Fust google "evernote formatting issues" and you will get the picture. Its not even the medieval - its stone age comapred to anything else which has text editing capabilities. Every single time i try to make a new note from the scratch copying text from different sources (web pages, office documents ets) i end up swearing in filthiest words i have learned through my 35+ years. You only can be satisfied with the result if you dont care about how your data is represented at all. One only way to make your note look decent is to paste content via windows Notepad so it is stripped of any formatting.

• Why i paste as text (Ctr+Shift+V) some text from web into the table cell inside the note i get nested table with the content being pasted distributed across its cells instead of the pure TEXT? what is the point of the function which does not do what it should?
• Why there is no vetical alignment for table cells possible? So after pasting you very easy end up with differently formatted cells and the result looks terrible.
• Why Remove formatting and Simplify formatting apply to the whole note instead of selected or latest pasted part making thos functions nearly useless?
• Why is there still no format painter at least?
• Add bugged Undo option which functions unpredictable and you can destroy your note easily to the extent where the only option will be clear all the formatting and start from the very beginning.

The only one thing Evernote is relatively good for is to keep tagged pile of short notes and documents with search possibility. But dont forget that you wont be able to export and share them easily - all hail Workchat.

 

I know that there is good old tradition to ignore user feedback in Evernote company and dont expect any changes here, just thinking about cancelling my subscription more and more often.

 

[Liam Gretton 86]

I completely agree with everything you have said!

 

It's thoroughly depressing when EN release with a fanfare some new version of the client, having completely disregarded all the feedback about the dreadful editor. This has been going on for years.

[dignin 2]

Hopefully folks at Evernote are listening. I have had the same complaints about the editor ever since I started using it. I'm also finding myself less and less interested in the direction Evernote seems to be heading as a company ...

 

Work Chat ... honestly guys and gals ... I could care less. It's a waste of time / resources. It is not your core competency and you aren't going to become a chat company.

 

I asked Evernote to incorporate the "Clearly" functionality into all of their clients and it should be relatively easy since the code clearly exists for the web - and was met with crickets.

 

Booo. Booo.

[spip72 10]

I'm with you guys on this rant! Working professionally with Evernote could be a lot smoother. 

[gazumped 11,657]

The editor could be a lot better on all platforms,  but anyone who can code up an editor that works the same in all the OS's that Evernote services should probably grab a lottery ticket because s/he's running with better luck than most.  I can see why this would be a difficult thing for Evernote to produce - which is why I'm not waiting,  I just use workarounds.  Sooner or later Evernote will do this and I'll be able to streamline a workflow (or maybe not.)  Until then I don't see any point in stressing out or harassing the company - they know it's necessary,  they're probably working on it,  and they've never reacted to public pressure in the past several years,  so I wouldn't expect any sudden (or any other) reaction.  They'll do it when they do it.  Or not.

[jtcr17 2]

Same here feedback here. I think evernote is great however oneNote from MS is doing better in this area

[jasowen 2]

The formatting of pasted content is really bad. When I use Paste as text and lose all formatting, I have to spend time reapplying formatting in the new note. Conversely, if I use the Paste option, the pasted content includes formatting that is very frustrating (if not impossible) to effectively change. Please, please improve the formatting functionality. The features that have been provided in recent releases may be part of the EN strategy to provide a complete solution but if EN doesn't provide solid editing functionality then it's going to falter. I'm currently testing using a solid text editor with Dropbox and Drive to provide multi-platform support. I don't look forward to moving all of my content out of EN but I do not have much confidence that the editing functionality is going to be improved soon. Hopefully I'm wrong.

[JJZ 0]

I've been a loyal user of EN Premium from the beginning, but I've started to look at other alternatives because the text editor is just that bad. I'm not asking for the ability to do fancy formatting as I understand that there are challenges in building a consistent cross-platform editor, but most of my notes are one font, one size with basic italics/bold highlighting. I think basic things like consistent bullet behavior would be a great start. Every text editor for the last 20 years has been able to lock this down. Have you tried to create a bulleted list in EN and do anything more than a 1-level indentation? Embarrassing. Pasting text, even if you strip out all of the formatting, often yields additional empty lines in EN that you can't delete and other strange behaviors. Anyone who has created and edited more than a handful of notes in EN must have seen this kind of behavior, which makes me surprised when it doesn't get addressed year after year. This makes the editor issue doubly frustrating. Not only am I hampered and frustrated by the basic functions of a tool that is a critical part of my work/life process, but I'm starting to question whether the EN team is focusing on the right features and direction for the product. Now that Microsoft OneNote has support for all platforms, a growing list of similar features, and clearly tried-and-true editing capabilities, EN has to be careful that Microsoft doesn't eat their lunch. My annual EN premium subscription is up pretty soon and I'm seriously considering not renewing. I haven't been able to find any response to any of the many posts about the text editor from anyone at Evernote with any information about what the hold-up or challenges are, or when we might see improved editor functions. Has anyone found something?

[Glennie 112]

The lack of explicit identifiable response from Evernote to requests and heads-ups appears to be generalised.

There is a sphinx-like silence over on the Web Beta forum too. 

You offer up some suggestion and all you hear afterwards is time passing......

 

Evernote's inability to interact with its users is remarkable.

We pay up but that seems not to give us a right to expect any kind of attention, at least in terms of responses to what is posted here.

 

For me at least, it is a model case for analysis on a Marketing course...on practices to avoid.

 

Perhaps the real function of this forum is like that of one of those dummy inflatable bosses that Chinese employees get to beat with a stick to deal with their frustrations. 

 

Let Off Steam on the Forum!   

[gazumped 11,657]

The "The lack of explicit identifiable response from Evernote" is actually a company policy.  Evernote do not comment (except,  I suspect,  where I go out on a limb and someone needs a cheap laugh) on their ongoing plans or on features in development.  

 

If you think about it they're doomed either way - if they do say what they're working on,  there will be complaints about all the other features they're not dealing with;  they'll be told they should have implemented the feature in 20 different ways when it does arrive,  and even then they'll be told it should have been done years ago and not left until now.  Let's not even think about what happens if the feature gets released later than they initiailly planned...

 

Staying quiet is the sensible option (from Evernote's point of view) - it means they can just get on with their work...

 

As to letting off steam here - the answers you see are all from volunteers who give up their own time to try and respond in some form or other to pleas for help.  I don't know how others deal with the situation,  but if someone just says "I think Evernote should have a red theme" I leave the post be.  It seems false to thank the poster for his suggestion,  although it will get noted - developers read (they say) the posts here for feedback on releases and ideas for the next versions.  If you ask for red themes - or a better editor - they'll factor it in to the ongoing plans.  What they choose depends on a voodoo of business targets,  ease of implementation,  whether there's a 'y' in the day - who knows.  But suggestions are noted.

 

Rants will normally get some sort of response - but we're users too;  rants can go both ways...  just sayin'.

[Glennie 112]

Thanks for that.

 

I think some of my confusion comes from the fact that Evernote/Google and the rest so often present themselves as "A Company With A Mission To Help", for obvious reasons. It's an attractive message given that so many of us feel so helpless.

 

And perhaps if you read enough of their "propaganda" you actually begin to believe it, or begin to want to, foolishly.

 

Because, just like any other company, the mission of Evernote is to make a profit (that thing they call "shareholder value") and what it does or does not do will always be determined by the effects of its actions on its profitablity. It can't be any other way: a charity is a charity and a business is a business.

 

Evernote may very well help thousands of people but it will always be on its terms. 

So if your request for a feature gets ignored, well it just didn't fit the business plan. 

[Time Ahead 1]

I agree with OP, formatting is terrible. I hope they will do finally something about...

[Krunoslav 197]

+ 1 on formating options, reallly bad. And needs to be priority over work chat and things like that.

[DesiQ 8]

I want Evernote to know that because of its continued poor support of basic formatting and accessibility features in its Windows app, I have removed my credit card details and allowed my Premium subscription to expire without renewal. When Evernote learns to prioritise usability and efficiency, then I will resubscribe.

[s2sailor 2,186]

For those that have been fighting the inconsistent bullet behavior, in case you are not aware, there is an option in the latest couple of Windows releases to enable beta features and updates.  This will enable the work in progress new editor which I have found to fix the problems that I had with buller behavior.  It also has the new tables and checkbox changes.  There may be other editor changes but those are the ones that I've noticed.

 

To enable: Tools -> Options -> General Tab -> Enable beta features and updates

 

I still have problems when copy and pasting text with check boxes into other applications, so I have to disable the beta settings before I do that, but I'm hopeful this will be fixed in a future update.

[dlu 628]

Thanks for that.

 

I think some of my confusion comes from the fact that Evernote/Google and the rest so often present themselves as "A Company With A Mission To Help", for obvious reasons. It's an attractive message given that so many of us feel so helpless.

 

And perhaps if you read enough of their "propaganda" you actually begin to believe it, or begin to want to, foolishly.

 

Because, just like any other company, the mission of Evernote is to make a profit (that thing they call "shareholder value") and what it does or does not do will always be determined by the effects of its actions on its profitablity. It can't be any other way: a charity is a charity and a business is a business.

 

Evernote may very well help thousands of people but it will always be on its terms. 

So if your request for a feature gets ignored, well it just didn't fit the business plan. 

 

 

Well yes, Evernote as a company is going to try and make a profit. But it does that by trying to make software that (to some degree) fulfills their mission. Sometimes there's more business target voodoo, sometimes there's less. I can understand the frustrations, but trust me it is a tough job. It is hard enough to just collect and synthesize the feedback, but trying to respond to the many posts here, set expectations on when things will be released and sometimes just trying to stay out of an argument feel impossible.

 

Anyways, apologies for the ramble

[gazumped 11,657]

Good to see @dlu back on the forums... 

[dlu 628]

Aww Gazumped, it's good to be back. Had a few spare cycles today. We'll see how long that lasts O.o