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Tag: notes

  • Simple Notes With Elephant

    elephant

    Elephant, currently in rapid development and at Release 7 as of this review, is an open source java based note taker or organizer with an old Evernote type interface. It is no install software and doesn’t use a database, all files are stored and organized in plain text and folders. The storage location is chosen at first launch.

    The interface is divided into three panes where notes are parts of notebooks. A preview of notes belonging to the chosen Notebook is visible in the middle pane. The right pane is where the note editor is, it supports several common formatting options, markdown and inline images via drag and drop. PDFs can also be dragged and dropped with inline preview. Tagging and search as you type features make notes organization much more effective. It is also possible to search using Tags: tagname or notebook: notebookname to narrow the search to specific locations. There are keyboard shortcuts for every action such as New Note (Ctrl+N), Move to Notebook (Ctrl+M) and Edit Note Tags (Ctrl+Quote)

    Being java based Elephant is available for Windows, OS X and Linux computers. There is more to come but Elephant promises to remain lightweight. The program’s window title is ‘Elephant Premium’ but the author is keen to say that “Premium is free, no ads of any kind”.

  • O2 Is A Different Data Organizer

    O2

    O2 calls itself a data organizer, it is designed like a file folder where Objects are created and each holds any kind of data.

    After launching the program create a new database and then right click anywhere in the main section to create new Object. Each Object can be given a name and tagged. Tags can be created on the fly by typing them in the Tags input or add an existing one from the dropdown. Each Object can have fields associated with it for example to store names, account numbers and any other similar information. Additionally notes can be added to Objects as a form of descriptions.

    Two Objects can have Relations to be connected, like if you want to group all your car repair data separate but dependant on each other. Ctrl and Click or highlight the Objects and right click to relate them together via New relation. When one Object is active (clicked on) the Relations tab displays its connection(s) to other Objects.

    Click the Rules tab, right click to create a new rule and extend an Object’s fields. For example a password, a link, an email address, or an expiration date. Rules are basically extra attributes that can be added to an Object. Its implementation is not the most intuitive when it comes to every day use mainly because Rules stay visible when clicking on different Objects.

    The program’s search can find data by Object name, date, tag or rule. The program is available as a portable download as well. O2 can export all data in XML, HTML or its own format.

  • CherryTree Excellent Cross Platform Notes Organizer

    CherryTree
    CherryTree is an open source cross platform notes organizer with numerous features. Crucially it stores notes in xml (or sqlite) files and has numerous export and import options.

    CherryTree is two pane and hierarchical. Nodes and subnodes are used to organize notes. A wide range of formatting options make it possible to change the look of everything stored and kept. If it is used for programming code many syntax highlighting options are present with the option to have the notes in a “codebox” as shown in the screen shot above (Edit—>Insert codebox or Ctrl+Alt+C). Everything from C++ to php, LaTex and sql is present. Images can be inserted anywhere and like text can be justified or moved to the right or elsewhere in a node, the same can be said for tables, ordered and unordered lists and check boxes to create to do lists. Text and images can be linked to internal or external locations and even to another node.

    Copy/pasting from many applications into CherryTree works and depending on the source images can be pasted directly inside a node as well. Copying and then pasting a number of files from an explorer windows creates nodes for each file.

    The find in CherryTree is not as you type but there are separate (Ctrl+F or Shift+Ctrl+F) hot keys for searching in the current or all nodes. Nodes can be bookmarked for easier and quicker access. The import options are for importing from plain text, html, EssentialPIM, BasKet Note Pads, KeepNote, KeyNote, Tomboy, Zim, Treepad, Gnote and others. The export options are to pdf, html and plain text. These options also exist for individual nodes. There are options to sort nodes via the menu or keyboard (Tree menu).

    Nodes can be made to Read Only. The program preferences (Edit –> Preferences) cover the default font and colours, the program theme such as changing the background colour to another, the icons to use in the tree pane and the number of backups to keep.

    Official downloads for all Windows versions are available in exe and portable versions and these are complimented with deb files and a PPA to add to the software sources lists to keep up with CherryTree releases when using the Linux version. CherryTree is currently at v0.34.1 but it has long been a stable option for note keeping.

  • Notation Is A Simple Note Taker

    notation

    Notation is a lightweight and simple note taker not too dissimilar to CintaNotes. Its interface can be called minimalist and its features focused on one task. Perhaps crucially Notation doesn’t insert text via a shortcut, it only creates a new note.

    At first install the program checks if its default ‘New Note’ shortcut or hot key is used by the system and offers the user a change from the default Win+N. The New Note and Search (default Win+Shift+F) hot keys can be changed anytime and even disabled in Notation’s settings (Edit —> Settings).

    To add notes one starts by typing in the bottom portion of the program window, the notes are automatically saved and the first line or few words are used as the note title. The search is as you type highlight across all notes and seems fast. Notation can import text files and exports to html files. The export supports the markdown syntax.

    Notation saves the notes in xml format. To help make the notes portable across devices Simplenote is supported, the details should be added in the Simplenote tab of the settings. Notation works on Windows Vista and newer.

  • Notes Keeper: New Notes Organizer

    Notes Keeper

    Long time reader Asen alerted me to a relative new entry in the Notes Organizer category. Notes Keeper currently in Release Candidate or beta stage looks to have potential and already features a good set of useful features.

    On first start the user is prompted to create a new database (Ctrl+Ins or via the Note menu). The program interface is divided into cells listing the saved notes. The next step is no create a new note (Ctrl+N). Here a more familiar word processor type – with all the expected formatting options – window pops up. The note title can be edited, it can be added to a group and tags added. The group and tag can be created on the fly. Many other features are available such as inserting images, password protecting notes, using transparent mode, working in full screen, attaching files and always staying on top. There is also a search bar at the bottom of the main window which as of this review seems to search through note titles only.

    Notes Keeper

    Notes Keeper is portable and requires the .NET framework. At version 0.5 it is very interesting to see what the future brings and follow it to 1.0 and beyond.

  • List.it: Notes In Browser Sidebar

    list-it

    List.it is a no frills notes keeper that resides inside Firefox’s sidebar. It is simple and open source and provides an option to synchronize notes but they are kept locally if the user does not use or ignores the sync option.

    Install the add-on and access the sidebar interface via Ctrl+Shift+F. Enter any text and save, access the settings by clicking the gear icon. By default the top line of a note is shown, click the arrow icon to expand all. Click x if a note needs to be deleted and use the garbage can icon to view the dustbin where deleted notes can be restored or permanently deleted. It is possible to edit notes by clicking on them, and search or print them too.

    Right click anywhere on a page to bookmark the page in list.it or highlight, right click and copy text to list.it. In the latter list-it will also append the url of the page the text was copied from (see first note in screenshot)

    If using the synchronize option click the yellow triangle icon and sign up for their service and install list.it where you need the notes. For security quoting the About and FAQ pages:

    List.it is a research project from the Haystack Group at MIT CSAIL by a small team of students led by Prof. David Karger. List.it’s chief designers are electronic Max and Greg Vargas.
    List.it is released as free and open source software under the MIT License. The source code is available on our Google Code Project.

    With respect to data handling policies, we use strong-grade SSL (AES-256) to encrypt all client server communications (HTTP traffic) and have signed our server with a certificate.

    List-it should work on Firefox 3.0 and later.

  • Note Shell: Simple Notes Manager

    Note Shell (version: 1.5) is an open source, multi platform notes manager or note keeper as its author describes it. It is bare bones with nodes and sub nodes holding text with only color and font size as options.

    Note Shell

    Create a new node or child node by clicking the add button and start typing. To make sure a child node – instead of a sibling node – is created click the check box to the right of the the add button. Click on the node name to rename it to something more descriptive. Note Shell does require using the Save button, text is not auto-saved.

    The button with the question mark on it is not only the help file for the program but also where the settings are found. The settings include the aforementioned color and font size settings and the option to change the default files location. Changing the files location comes with two warnings:

    when setting different path to folder, first copy folder to destination, then set the path in program, else you can destroy node structure

    and

    be careful when setting different path to folder don’t forget / at the end of line

    There are a few keyboard shortcuts as well, the most notable is Ctrl+F to search inside the current node.

    Every node is saved as a text file in the program’s files folder. Note Shell does not require installation and is available for both Windows and Linux.

  • A Note: Open Source Sticky Notes

    A Note (Version: 4.2.4) is an open source desktop sticky notes program. It is lightweight and a portable version is available via portableapps.com

    A Note

    By default a new sticky note can be created by a single click on the program’s tray icon or by right clicking it. Sticky notes resize automatically when text is added, they can have different background colors, text colors and fonts. By default every note has three buttons. From left to right the first is the slide or dock, this docks note(s) to either the right or left side of the screen. The second is the minimize or maximize button which in A Note’s case is like roll up and roll down. The third is delete. A-Note has a built-in recycle bin with restore so deleted sticky notes can be restored later. Right clicking inside a note one can change the note title – also possible by double clicking inside the title area – and also assign an (audio) alarm to the note.

    The program options include the following. Changing the default new note title and default note color. Altering the behaviour when tray icon is single clicked or double clicked. Setting a transparency for notes in normal and minimized states. Setting a hot key to show notes and setting a maximum number for notes held in the program’s recycle bin. Adding strikeout, bold, underline, italic and bullet point to the note toolbar is also possible and finally one can set the language and character set. A Note currently supports 16 languages.

    Notes can also be printed or emailed. A Note should run on all Windows versions.

  • Redhaven Outline: Freeware Notes Organization

    Redhaven Outline (Version: 2.3.6.3736) is a freeware (donationware) outliner. A repository to not only write information down but to have it organized as naturally as possibly. Outlining or organizing software, much like a traditional pen and paper method, work differently for everyone and the software created for such purpose may or may not suit everyone at first or at all. First use of a software like Redhaven Outline is not necessarily easy or intuitive. Admittedly writing about such software is not very easy either, as you will notice when I describe some of Redhaven Outline’s features below.

    Redhaven Outline

    Redhaven Outline can hold and keep open several outlines or databases. One can start a new outline via its file menu, start new nodes (via right click in the node tree area) and start typing or just bring in text written elsewhere. The first line of text written in a node becomes its title so the node title gives an indication of its content, this is one example of how Redhaven Outline manages organization. Nodes can be copied and moved across an outline to better organize thoughts and notes. Nodes can be colored and use different fonts to add emphasis. Child nodes are created from text and Redhaven Outline treats new lines and tabs as child nodes automatically.

    Redhaven Outline has a good search features to find any word or phrase anywhere and using the Summary and Key Words (much like tags) fields provide a better method for future information retrieval. Using key words inside nodes is perhaps another way of maximizing an outliner’s usefulness. Searches can be saved for future re-use (see the bottom of the search dialog). There is also a ‘Build Reference Search’ that saves a search inside a node. This is another feature whose usefulness is not necessarily apparent at first or may not work for everybody because one needs to be organized about creating them to be organized later!

    Redhaven Outline

    The program can also create reports or exports outlines for external viewing. External references can be added with links to sites, files, sounds or images. Add the link or path and when needed click the Reference button to launch the file.

    There is lots to be said about any outliner but probably the best way is to use it, read its tutorial and also in this case go to http://www.youtube.com/user/RedhavenOutline to watch tutorial videos (one can also launch the video tutorials within Redhaven Outline by following the external reference links.) Redhaven Outline runs on Windows 2000 and newer.

  • Easy Sticky Notes With Simple Sticky Notes

    Simple Sticky Notes (Version: 2.0.0.0) is a freeware and lightweight desktop sticky notes program.

    Simple Sticky Notes

    Double click its tray icon to create a new note. Double click in a note’s title area to roll it up, resize using its corner and hide it using the x button. The arrow button provides access to notes features such color, opacity, title edit (F2), share (on Facebook, twitter or via email), alarm, print, delete, minimize, and always on top. The Alt+N keys are another way to create new notes and there are several other shortcuts to work with and format text like bold (Ctrl+B), bullet list (Ctrl+Shift+L), double line space (Ctrl+2), Insert date and time (Ctrl+D) and others. Right clicking a highlighted text offers the same formatting options plus a search using google one.

    Simple Sticky Notes’ settings include options to show notes on program startup, changing the default new note appearance, configuring hotkeys which include interesting ones such Go to next note (Alt+G) and New note from clipboard (Alt+V), choosing a sound for the alarm, picking from one of 11 languages and importing, restoring, backing up and if required changing the default database location.

    Simple Sticky Notes runs on Windows XP and newer, including Windows 8.