Slashdot Mirror
A Simple Note Taking Software - Which One?
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?"
I run a Wiki on a personal web site. So long as there is a netorked computer nearby I'm in business.
www.wordpress.org
Sounds like you're looking for a personal wiki. WikidPad is Windows only, but I've seen others that are multi-platform.
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
just open bash at the begining of class and start typing: $ echo "The history of roman macaroni art originated with the rise of phillial nostalgics within those things in which amongst themselves were forever between the scrawled text of a man who should probably be saying 'foo' instead of all this...
just remember to say ">>notes
at the end of class
You know, like everyone else.
-- 'The' Lord and Master Bitman On High, Master Of All
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.
I highly recommend PmWiki if you have a web-server. It is both Apache (Linux) and IIS friendly. Responding to your requirements:
* HTML format to view in web browser
Well, PmWiki is wiki software that relies upon a browser. The output will be HTML. The individual pages are in flat-files, and there are ways to retrieve the text without converting it into HTML.
* Available for both Windows and Linux systems
Works on IIS and Linux. Since it works in a browser, it should be cross-platform compatible. I have a script that tars up the source files so you can have off-server backups.
* Not heavy duty like 'Go Live'. It is too heavy for quick, frequent use of jotting down notes.
Wikis are ideal for writing. There are recipes in the PmWiki Cookbook that allow for a 'blog' type approach.
* WYSIWYG software
Hmm, almost. There is a "preview" tool. But, after you write wiki markup, it gets pretty close to WYSIWYG
* Reasonable formatting options for the text and figures (gif/jpg) I include in the notes.
Yep, and yep. You also have the ability to upload files, so you can archive documents and provide a link to said document on a page.
* Able to provide template (for log).
PmWiki allows for templates. PmWiki is different than other wikis in that it allows pages to be freely organized in groups. You can create a different template for each group. So, you can have "Logs" group that has a specific template. If you have standard reports, then you can have a similar group for them.
* Which note taking software do you use?
Depends. I use PmWiki when I want universal access (i.e., access from more than one computer). I use vi when I want quick writing for only one computer (I also use it to write up PmWiki pages).
I'm a law student, so right now I write a lot of notes. I tend to use PmWiki for them.
What those who want activist courts fear is rule by the people.
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
I tried, multiple times, to go electronic with my notebooks (I'm a grad student in astronomy.) It never panned out, mainly because paper and pen are just way more convenient and have that "scribble" factor: you can get things down without being quite sure what you're trying to say. Later, you can write things up in "proper" form (which for me is LaTeX.)
In my experience, having an additional layer between brain and note (the syntax of an electronic journal program, whether it's HTML or not) shorts out this process. (I'm reminded of the time I tried to use a tape recorder to record notes: I would just come up speechless.) Oh, and having your own clever electronic notetaking system really gets in the way when you meet your advisor and he wants to scribble herself.
But, if you don't want the benefit of my experience, here are the things I tried:
LaTeX. Easy, good looking output with simple math syntax (actually, I do something use LaTeX when I'm writing out complicated maths, instead of doing it by hand. Makes it easier to edit mistakes in a long formula.) My old college roommate does EVERYTHING in LaTeX (he's a mathematician now) -- all his notes, everything. He is also a little weird.
NoteTaker. Cute "metaphors" that seem to get in the way of actually doing anything.
omnigraffle. I thought I would use this to diagram various systems I was looking at. No go, too complicated to figure out.
In the end, I went with this. It's open source!
Protect your liberties. Donate to the ACLU
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
The best outliners to user are:
........
... although some people do like windoze interfaces ... :]
OSX:
Omni Outliner
- Awesome Programmers at Omni
- Nice Outliner with very good config
NoteTaker
- Very good program full of many good features including:
-- XML file saves
-- HTML viewer (free)
-- Cross browser version expected hopefully this year.
Windoze:
Ecco
- Free PIM with excellent outlining UI
- No HTML support as it was written over a decade ago
- Has ton's of features but I only use it for my brainstorming, pseudocoding, requirements gathering todo lists, shopping lists
Linux:
There are quite a few *nix outliners but all that I've seen are very early in the development cycle and are best avoided for now.
For the time being, it would be best to just run Ecco over wine.
Rule - Avoid multi panel outliners as they are generally ugly abstracted interfaces. From a UI perspective, single panel outliners are the best way to go
JsD
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.
Someone has ported tomboy to windows... (announcement and screenshots), but haven't yet released it.
- 0.2.2-.tar.gz
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
If you can access the net, take your notes in Gmail. Gmail is pretty nifty for that. Simply type up an e-mail (HTML formatting) and save it as a draft. One-click note-taking. Or, with a bit more effort, send it to yourself, and set up labels and filters to categorize your notes. :-)
Behold, the power of G's.
Nothing to see here. Move along.
Am I simply misunderstanding what he's asking for?
Yes.
I've run into this a few times, and while it doesn't piss me off the way it used to, I still find it frustrating.
While I agree that HTML isn't hard to learn, especially for what the poster was asking for (maybe 3 tags, total), it's not what he wants. He wants something like a notebook, where he can scribble down his thoughts as they come to mind, or jot down what he just did in case he needs to know later.
I tend to write my term papers in HTML, usually using vim, because my profs can't seem to agree on a format, and at least they can all read that. But, even now that I'm used to it, it breaks the flow of my thoughts to have to add a paragraph tag, or figure out how to make the thing insert a tab. Those few extra characters force you to switch your frame of reference from "written english" to "HTML code," which can slow you down and make a quick note kind of a hassle.