Has anyone extensively used RightNote which is being offered today on BDJ? The pro version even with a discount is pricey and I have been sorely disappointed in some outliners inability to export RTF notes to MS Word. (I test drove UR and when I cut and pasted txt files from the Web into the UR database as RTF files they would not export to MS Word. By contrast, Writing Outliner exported those notes perfectly because Writing Outliner creates MS Word notes as outline nodes.) Btw: don't underestimate MS Word's outlining capabilities especially with the advent of the Navigation pane. When MS Word and OneNote are both open together, OneNote stays docked to MS Words and you can create notes in the latter that are linked to text in the former. Still very early in my experimentation with both products interacting with each other, but I am hopeful, they will expedite the transformation of research into a publishable or at least presentable document.

"I test drove UR and when I cut and pasted txt files from the Web into the UR database as RTF files they would not export to MS Word"

what do mean that RTF files would not export to MS word? RTF *is* MS proprietary format.

I can't say I have extensively tested RightNote, but I have tested it enough to buy a licence using the BDJ offer.

Since my last test, crucially, RightNote has added web page capture (which seems to work very well, even on complex pages). The combination of the simplicity of the program (which is inspired by Keynote) with web page capture, tempted me.

There's a thread over at DonationCoder where the writer of Keynote (going under the name 'Tranglos') opens the conversation by saying that RightNote is Keynote 'done better', quite a compliment:

http://www.donationcoder.com/forum/index.php?topic=29504.0

And I added in that conversation that the addition of web page capture puts RightNote in competition with all the other apps fighting for the "information dump" market (Ultra Recall/TreeProjects/MyBase/EverNote/Surfulater/etc).

CRIMP means I have licences for all of those bar MyBase. But I always seek simplicity, which brings the shortlist down to RightNote and TreeProjects. And RightNote, in my testing, has more reliable full-page web capture, as well as a decent "clipper" (partial page captures).

Another plus for RightNote is that is offers a range of editor options: plain text, RTF, and my favourite, Rich View (http://www.trichview.com/ a very powerful editor, much better than RTF. RightNote has all the other critical features I require (global search across all notebooks, and excellent configuration options).

For future information dumping, I plan to use RightNote, and if all goes well, I will gradually move information to it from other programs.

Re export: obviously only you can satisfy yourself on that issue. The Rich View editor does support export to Word, but RightNote has not implemented that yet. On the BDJ offer page, the author says he would like to do so soon. So if you buy, email the author and encourage him to stick to his plan...

JohnK wrote:

"And I added in that conversation that the addition of web page capture puts RightNote in competition with all the other apps fighting for the ?information dump? market (Ultra Recall/TreeProjects/MyBase/EverNote/Surfulater/etc)."

A significant feature of RightNote vs. most of the other programs mentioned is the Spreadsheet Note type. This is integral in RN, vs the OLE solution (embedded Excel object) that is offered by UltraRecall among others.

This is day number three for RightNote on Bits du Jour. It must be very appealing or tempting and I would probably get it if I didn't already have OneNote. But a second app for note taking would only make me work harder at devising a system to use them both and without overlap.

Wow. Someone who is actually imune to CRIMP. There is hope!

JoGirl wrote:

This is day number three for RightNote on Bits du Jour. It must be very appealing or
tempting and I would probably get it if I didn't already have OneNote. But a second app
for note taking would only make me work harder at devising a system to use them both and
without overlap.

Wow. Someone who is actually imune to CRIMP. There is hope!

Well. Maybe "JoGirl" is in fact a girl. That would explain everything ;-)

Gentlemen,
I am a girl but that has nothing to do with non-crimping. I am on the brink of crimping, though, since I downloaded the trial version of Rightnote because I could not stop thinking about it. I'm sticking with OneNote, The Journal, Scriviner, and Writer's Blocks. I almost know how to use all of them and cannot afford, time-wise, to add to my collection.

JoGirl wrote:

I'm sticking with OneNote, The Journal, Scriviner, and
Writer's Blocks. I almost know how to use all of them and cannot afford, time-wise, to
add to my collection.

It's that kind of rational thinking that I just don't get! ;-)

Steve

I am a civil rights attorney and an insufferable late-60s feminist, but I must correct you on two counts: First, you are a woman and not a girl and second, CRIMPing has everything to do with gender. CRIMPing is another manifestation of Boys-and-their-toys syndrome. We males are not actually interested in efficiency; we are interested in talking about efficiency. If I spent half as much time writing as I did testing writing tools, I would have actually produced at least five times more publishable material than I have. Researching sucks; writing sucks; but messing with outliners is (perversely) fun.

I am not saying that outliners and relational databases are not important tools to use in academic writing; they are but as you say: find something, master it, and then use it to write. The point is that: we don't want you to say it. We already know it. And if you want to be a member in good standing in this men's club, you will want to abide by the unwritten rule that we want to pretend in public that we are on a solemn quest to discover the perfect outliner for a legitimate, compelling, and urgent business-professional need. Either lie or leave. The choice is yours (and why do I have to follow this sentence with a smiley face when hopeably anyone can see my cheek protruding because my tongue is pressing against it?)

"CRIMPing is another manifestation of Boys-and-their-toys syndrome"

I disagree. CRIMPing is actually a form of compulsive shopping disorder, which effects both males and females.

"I know why women buy so many shoes. It's because they're always on their feet, walking around the shops, buying shoes." -- Jimmy Carr

First of all, I sincerely hope that JoGirl accepts this forum's members' sense of humour and is in no way offended; I can vouch that it is well meant, smiley or no smiley. I need to say this because I know that there have been misunderstandings in the past (always between boys as far as I remember) and that the forum is poorer thereof.

Having clarified this, I have the following contributions to make:

- Statistically speaking, I need to agree with Mitchell. I would say that any kind of tool, from cars to gadgets, awakens the boy in most of us rationally minded (figuratively speaking) men. One need look no further than the magazines reviewing such consumer products: how often have you seen men in their covers? Don't you trust their publishers having researched the market for their buyers' demographic profile?

- However, demographics don't count at the level of the individual, just as the average annual temperature of a place says nothing about the actual weather on a certain day. So if JoGirl feels that her gender is irrelevant re her choice of software, I am more than willing to accept her word on it. As it happens, I am happily married to a woman who'd rather own a grey than a pink computer (which for some perverse reason was actually much cheaper for the same specifications).