The Ugly Side of Evernote

[Helios One 7]

I wish to offer my take on the ugly side of Evernote (EN is not ugly mind you, just some implementations of it).

 

https://www.evernote.com/pub/helios_one/public

 

Sincerely,

 

A Premium User tired of paying & waiting.

[markbc 0]

These are very good ideas!

 

While I don't think EN is particularly ugly, the notion of a document program vice a note program is an interesting recommendation.

 

Adding these features certainly would make my notes more distinctive.

 

However, I fear that adding the functionalities you mention might create drag or lag in the program. 

 

That would concern me since, lately I already have seen some lag when starting to type in the search line, or when changing note titles  (6000+ notes on a Mac, Surface Pro 3, Tab-S, GS-4).

 

So, while I would welcome the additional document styling, I would not want to take a performance hit for it. 

 

Also, EN currently is great in delivering my notes cross-platform --I wonder if styles would diminsh that flexiblity or fungibility.

 

 

 

 

[Helios One 7]

These are very good ideas!

 

While I don't think EN is particularly ugly, the notion of a document program vice a note program is an interesting recommendation.

 

Adding these features certainly would make my notes more distinctive.

 

However, I fear that adding the functionalities you mention might create drag or lag in the program. 

 

That would concern me since, lately I already have seen some lag when starting to type in the search line, or when changing note titles  (6000+ notes on a Mac, Surface Pro 3, Tab-S, GS-4).

 

So, while I would welcome the additional document styling, I would not want to take a performance hit for it. 

 

Also, EN currently is great in delivering my notes cross-platform --I wonder if styles would diminsh that flexiblity or fungibility.

Hello Mark,

 

I don't think Evernote is ugly either, just that it has an ugly side (or rather, a frustrating one as I mentioned in the note).

 

As for lag, you may have a point if the size of the note is large (multiple images and other media, etc.) but for me, using the various colours and formatting has always been fast when synchronizing as my notes are usually mostly text, a few images and the odd attachments. Where I have seen lag however is with badly rendered web clippings (some of them actually crash the app either on my laptop or mobile devices). As I mentioned in the note, I have now steered away from Evernote Clearly.

 

Adding a background color or repeating pattern would only require a few bytes, which would not create lag. Some mobile applications do that and more, but they don't work on Macs or PCs. They are usually clunky as well. Evernote has added a lot of functionalities over the years but I'm amazed at the time still required to get my notes just the way I want.

 

FileMaker 14 Server and FileMaker Go use a lot of granular customization, rulers and such, plus a powerful search engine and there is no lag. It's blazing fast. I use it in the workplace and it rocks. If Evernote would add even just a tiny fraction of the FM features to allow Premium Users to create elegant notes very quickly, I would be happy.

 

I really appreciate your feedback,

 

Best regards,

 

Mario

[JEFFUK 0]

The poster of this thread is far too patient and frankly polite - I would not purchase Evernote (or use it) it its current hideous form . . . grey notebooks on grey background - are you trying to make it difficult to view - if so - bravo!  job done.
This reminds me of freeware from the eighties!!

 

Stylewise - its hideous.
Functionality - excellent and then some.

[markbc 0]

Thank you for the tips, Mario!

 

You were right... some of the lag was when using EN with images. . .however it also sometimes just has lag in note-starting: with that "auto title" feature where it names the note with the 1st line of text.

 

It sounds like you've got a lot more experience with on-line graphics and art programs than I - my biggest artistic venture is using photos in Evernote to capture some documents or activities that might otherwise be only a text comment entry! :-)

 

As to purchasing EN, well I've been a premium user, maybe for years now. It is not about the looks for me -it's all about functionality. I can read and see all my notes and content on all platforms so I am not sure what the issue is. I am sure Evernote could be prettier, but that's not my concern.

 

I just need something where I can build notes at home or work and then pull them up on the tablet, the laptop -or even the phone when I am out and need to reference or display that information. Evernote does this.

 

It's better than Onenote by MS (btw).  Onenote, which is great (better even for handwriting, especially on a Surface Pro) just does not have the flexibility or speed of EN and compared to EN, Onenote is a bit clunky. . .I think I might be able to adjust the backgrounds in ON, come to think of it, but again that's just not important to me -sorry!

[chemie 17]

I have used MS OneNote and implemented it at work for daily logs and project management. I love the formatting and other flexibilities it offers. Search is great too. We capture many screenshots regularly and it searches through those screenshot for text as well. 

There are ton of formatting features that Evernote lacks, there is no doubt about that. 

 

But one thing that keeps EN way ahead of its competitors is Tags system and fast search. flexibility to import notes. I created 6500 notes from excel within matter of seconds. There is no way I could have done all the with MS OneNote. I can create my custom template, little bit of XML code editing and you can create you own backgrounds and everything.

 

Hyperlinking within notes, seamlessly syncing across multiple devices etc are so much better, sharing, setting reminders etc. 

 

I said this at many different occasions in many different context, i am sure it will work here as well. 

"You could find millions of excuses for not to do things , rather try finding one reason to do it"

OR

"You could find millions of excuses for not like things , rather try finding one reason to like it"

 

Same goes for EN, find one reason why you like it and thats all matter. 

my 2¢

 

for whatever it is worth - here is a screen shot of changed background color, I know it is not intuitive but did not take me long to figure this out either, and I not in IT and not a programmer by profession. I  change the background on a simple test note, I can save this on my desktop as template and import it to my notebook.