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A Simple Note Taking Software - Which One?

Posted by Cliff on from the they-have-to-go-somewhere dept.

pxlpushr asks: "I am a EE major turned CS major who never got over the habit of maintaining a log book. Lately I have been obsessing over the idea of moving all my log books (yes, I have many of them: one for each Computer at home and work, and a couple for my work) to electronic form. I have searched and searched and found nothing interesting. My needs are simple: I would like HTML format so that when I am viewing I can use a browser. It it is available for both Windows and Linux systems, that would be great. I am definitely not looking for something real heavy duty like 'Go Live'. It is too heavy for quick, frequent use of jotting down notes. It should be WYSIWYG software, should allow reasonable formatting options for the text and figures (gif/jpg) I include in the notes, and should provide facility to load up a template for the log and fill in the details into the template. The closest I came across was the freeware Keynote . But two problems: it supports only the RTF, no HTML support and no Linux counterpart. So my question to Slashdot denizens is, which note taking software do you use?"

10 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. try wordpress (requires internet & browser) by zwendell · · Score: 2, Informative

    www.wordpress.org

  2. Personal Wiki by XCorvis · · Score: 4, Informative

    Sounds like you're looking for a personal wiki. WikidPad is Windows only, but I've seen others that are multi-platform.

    1. Re:Personal Wiki by Spoing · · Score: 5, Informative
      Better yet: TiddlyWiki.

      It's just a web page with java script. Nothing more. Variations on TiddlyWiki can be found all over the place.

      --
      A firewall can not protect you from yourself. Turn off what you do not need. Do not use the firewall to do your work.
  3. The obvious answer... by hp46168 · · Score: 0, Informative

    Why not a PDA?

  4. nvu by reznet · · Score: 5, Informative
    sounds like you're looking for a lightweight html editor. I recommend nvu which is a cross-platform wysiwyg html editor that's based on mozilla's rendering engine. I've used it for writing documentation as I code; I'll return later and clean it up. It supports gif/jpegs, css, and all the html goodies you'd expect from mozilla.

    As for templates, I see the word in one of the menus, but in 10 seconds I couldn't get it to do what you're talking about. Maybe it does, or you can simply create your own blank log file which you then open and save for your various needs.

    HTH

  5. Got a Mac? by delete · · Score: 5, Informative
    Probably not the answer you're looking for, but I've found that OSX has an abundance of high-quality low-cost note-taking software.
    • VoodooPad: An excellent WYSWIG Wiki-like notebook
    • Circus Ponies NoteBook: A visually impressive note-taking app that looks like a real lab notebook.
    • Hog Bay Notebook: Similar to the above, but lightweight and with IMHO superior outlining facilities.
    • PersonalWiki : A desktop interface to the web-based ZWiki.
    • Devonthink: A note/snippet/document management system, which includes semi-supervised classification algorithms.

    Perhaps it's due to the high use of Macs in education, but other platforms really seem to lag behind in this area. WikidPad is a Windows application that's similar in design to VoodooPad, while Tomboy is a very light-weight equivalent app for Linux. Unfortunately I have yet to discover an equivalent cross-platform note-taking tool.
  6. MS OneNote by KDan · · Score: 2, Informative

    Have to go with MS on this one, though I wouldn't normally. OneNote is solid, feature-packed, quick to use, and allows you to organise those notes so that you can find them again.

    Daniel

    --
    Carpe Diem
  7. Another angle by MadChicken · · Score: 2, Informative

    I like FreeMind for taking phone notes. It lets me put things down immediately even though I don't yet know the full context, then drag and drop later. It's Java, so it's portable, and the .jar is pretty small, if that's an issue.

    Another good option is EverNote a more linear product. Quite snappy at what it does.

    OneNote is worth a try, I have it but never use it, when weighed against the above two.

    Hope it helps!

    --
    SYS 64738 NO CARRIER
  8. Unfortunately, Windows only by arethuza · · Score: 2, Informative

    If you want a WYSIWYG Wiki try Perspective - which is Open Source (GPL). Note: I am the author, I do use my own private instance for personal note taking.

  9. Re:Tomboy by GiMP · · Score: 2, Informative

    Someone has ported tomboy to windows... (announcement and screenshots), but haven't yet released it.

    A quick google search has found the following file, however (NOTE: I have not tested and cannot endorse use of this file):

    http://www.polystimulus.com/UNSTABLE-tomboy-WIN32- 0.2.2-.tar.gz