Using a PIM to catalog files and folders REDUX

Posted by Cassius
Jul 13, 2012 at 05:41 AM

Below, I’ve listed the PIMs that “our PIMmers” have suggested for the purpose of creating a catalog of files and folders (using drag-and-drop to add their links into the PIM). If there was uncertainty about a suggested PIM, I’ve placed a “?” after its name. Some PIMmers waxed soenthusiastically about a PIM that I’ve included their comments.

So far, I’ve been testing the idea using TreePad Business just to get a feel of how comfortable it is to create tree topics, drag-and-drop files/folders into the right pane corresponding to a topic, and later finding and retrieving a file of interest. I’ll try this later with other PIMs.

Here’s the list:

TreePad Business
MyInfo
The Brain (not dual pane)
Connected Text
Smereka TreeProjects
Topicscape pro 2 ?
Zoot
OneNote
InfoRecall
WhizFolders
Planz ?
Planz looks like a single pane outliner. I intend to test it for outliner flexibility as well as drag-and-drop ease.

TreeProjects XL:
Maybe TreeProjects XL could be an option:
http://personaldatabase.org/
(You need to install this to allow the indexing of pdf files:
http://www.adobe.com/support/downloads/thankyou.jsp?ftpID=2611&fileID=2457 )
TreeProjects XL is very stable, very fast and has a small memory and disk footprint.

UltraRecall:
ULTRA RECALL!! It does everything you require perfectly.

Just to expand on the other replies, in UR you can:

- Drag and drop office files, pictures, email (Outlook, etc.), rtf, etc. to the tree. The default action is to link the files, but with right click you chose can embed the files.

- View linked or embedded files either inline or by opening the external default program. This can be configured by the user.

- Drag and drop links to the main file pane. This is the scenario you mention to avoid deleting files.

- Drag and drop links to the notes pane. Thus, you could have files in the tree which are visible in the main window, with other file links in the notes pane.

- Drag and drop directories to either nodes or inside the main file pane. When you click on the directory, you get an explorer view of all files contained within.

- Have all linked or embedded files indexed.

In short, the power and customizability of UltraRecall is still amazing, and it suits your particular need exceptionally well.

Best, /Pavi