Hi,

Great site, it's very gratifying that I'm not alone in my search for the Holy Grail of "mental crutches."

Maybe someone has some ideas for my particular search: I'd like to combine my hierarchical (nested, collapsible) list of what are essentially GTD tasks with a structured tree note database, plus sync it all to companion Pocket PC/Windows Mobile program(s).

I was using PocketThinker for the list, and while I loved that, I let my trial expire after it stopped being sold. Now my list is in ListPro on PC and Pocket PC, while I don't like it as much as PocketThinker, that works. I need the ability to schedule these tasks as Pocket PC Tasks as well. I used to use ShadowPlan on my Palm before it (the Palm) died, and used that feature there. If it's in ListPro, I haven't bothered to find it, as I really am hoping PocketThinker will become open source, as mentioned elsewhere here.

Anyway, what I'd like to add to my list setup is rich text notes like one can make in TreeDBnotes or OneNote, and sync those to Pocket PC as well. These could by synced as Pocket PC Notes, Word docs, or they could be in another program, not even necessarily the same one that gets the list, but I'm thinking there's a PIM or similar out there that does all this. I like OneNote, but I don't think it does collapsible outlines. And I like EssentialPIM, but I don't think it does longer hierarchical lists well, or can sync them (could be wrong).

One last requirement is that it have nothing to do with Outlook on the PC. That's required at my workplace work, and while I will be using this software there, I want to keep personal info separate. Along that same vein, password protection or encryption would be a plus!

Let me know your suggestions!

Thanks,
Dewey

Have you tried Bonsai? (http://www.natara.com/Bonsai/Index.cfm It would seem to have most of the features you are looking for. Here's the list from their web site:

True synchronization with a conduit for Windows HotSync™ Manager
A complete Windows application for creating and editing outlines
In place editing of multi-line outline text
Mix 3 forms of outlines anywhere; outline, to do, and tasks
Rearrange the outline by dragging, or cut and paste
Link to other outlines, built-in To Do's and Events.
Use icons for categories and keywords
Sort the outline by any of the attributes
Filter the outline using multiple attributes
Categories at both the outline and item level
Supports both a local and a global find command
Export to DayNotez™, or memos, or Palm Doc format
Custom Template based export from the desktop for Power Users!!
Link with To Do's, Events, and other outlines.
Support for high resolution devices
Color outline by category, due date, priority and level
Stowaway™ portable keyboard support
Support for PalmPrint™ and TealPrint™ for handheld printing
Bonsai U3 version for use with U3 USB flash devices. Use Bonsai as a portable application on a USB drive.

Of course, Bonsai is very similar to ListPro, so if ListPro isn't working for you, perhaps Bonsai won't either.

Steve Z.

Thanks, but I believe Bonsai is Palm + Windows, but I need Windows + Windows Mobile. Also, I can't tell from the screenshots alone, but I don't see a notes function, at least not of the length I'm thinking.

Dewey

Ooops. I just realized that Bonsai is only for Windows and Palm, not for Pocket PC... probably makes it a no-go for you on that count.

Steve Z.

dlmesser wrote:

I'd like to combine my hierarchical (nested, collapsible) list of what are
essentially GTD tasks with a structured tree note database, plus sync it all to
companion Pocket PC/Windows Mobile program(s).

-------------
I don't use a PDA, but MyBase has both a desk-laptop version & a Pocket PC version that it says synch. Mybase is a tree-based PIM with a very capable RTF editor that I've used a lot. (It also can save almost all Web pages if you add its WebCollect add-in.) Here is the Web site: www.wjjsoft.com

-c

P.S. Here's what the MyBase help file says about Outlook:

To import Microsoft Outlook items, choose the 'Capture -> Import Microsoft Outlook Items' menu item. The Outlook folders will be listed on the popup window, whereby you can choose which items to import.

Note that before using this plug-in, you will need to have Microsoft Outlook properly installed on your system.
---
If you use Outlook Express as your default email client program and would like to import messages into myBase, you can drag the messages and drop onto myBase note pane, the messages including header information are copied into myBase, and save as the item's text notes.

If you want to save messages including attachments, please drag the message from Outlook Express to Windows Desktop to generate .eml files, and then drag the .eml files and drop onto myBase attachment pane, this way, the messages are inserted as attachments.

==============
Also see my Feb. 21 post, "Indexing content of PDFs, cloning, internal links, etc. in MyBase/WebCollect." MyBase on desk/laptops indexes both RTF text & html and can index some attachments in other formats.

I forgot to mention that the RTF does not have a ruler, but as I just discovered, MyBase does have a seek by time function. It also has a basic HTML editor.

I REALLY should look at all of the functions on its menus. I'm sure I'm missing a lot of useful features!

-c

dlmesser wrote:

Thanks, but I believe Bonsai is Palm + Windows, but I need Windows + Windows Mobile.
Also, I can't tell from the screenshots alone, but I don't see a notes function, at
least not of the length I'm thinking.

Dewey

For anyone interested in Bonsai (great outliner, great features list - I'll keep on using it on my PC even after Palm and its works have sunk into hardware history): Bonsai copes very well with long notes.

On the PC, Bonsai allows a right-hand notes panel which can be as big or as small as needed. The note can contain clickable file links and urls. I've just added a 4000 word note; it transferred over to my palm pda without any problems.

Only "very well"? It doesn't do enriched text, rich text, rtf etc. Spell check. But no word count. So not quite there for serious writing.

As well as long lists with pretty long notes - books I'm reading, films I've seen etc, I use Bonsai for Getting Things Done (GTD): http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/3073

For this, IMHO, it's far better than LinkPro: http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/3091

Ike

Ike,

I do like Bonsai, but need something for Pocket PC, not Palm. I did use Bonsai on the Palm for a while, but switched to Shadow Plan to be able to use it with my Mac at home and my Windows PC at work. I have given up on the Palm platform, after three devices and dozens of programs over the years. Much as I liked it, I can't afford to keep having devices die on me like my last two did. One solution is StyleTap, which lets you run Bonsai, Shadow and other Palm programs on PocketPC, but it's understandably a workaround and not my first choice.

Your first link led me to a setup on the Natara forum that's very close to what I'm trying to set up. I have for years emphasized outliners in my planning, but lately have decided to incorporate longer notes into it. I'm a writer, and while I don't expect to write lengthy pieces on the PocketPC, it would be useful, crucial even, to be able to access info I've typed into something like OneNote or TreeDBNotes on my PocketPC. I'm using a pocket Moleskin Cahier notebook for capturing longer writing, then I want to transfer anything appropriate into some desktop software, then from there to PocketPC. I also capture short to-dos and list items directly on the PDA's ListPro or Tasks, or in desktop ListPro. My search is to combine these two types of capture into one planning tool and model.

I appreciate everyone's suggestions, keep them coming. I'm definitely looking into myBase. I'd tried it on the PC for capture before I had a PocketPC, and didn't realize it had PocketPC support. Now if it just does outlines ...

Dewey

dlmesser wrote:

I have given up on the Palm platform, after three devices and
dozens of programs over the years. Much as I liked it, I can't afford to keep having
devices die on me like my last two did.

I understand why you've given up Palm. I've been lucky I think - the hardware has worked well for me; no problems with my Tungsten E2 after three, four years or so. I've raved about it to friends - the power of a platform which has (had?) so many independent developers pouring out free or cheap software. But no joy for those who've taken up my recommendation, just several junked machines.

Your first link led me to a setup on the Natara
forum that's very close to what I'm trying to set up.

I've tweaked the Natara forum setup quite a bit. Very easy to do with Bonsai. Realise this isn't useful to you post palm - but, really, Bonsai is great to use, the first application which gets GTD working for me.

I'm using a pocket Moleskin Cahier notebook
for capturing longer writing, then I want to transfer anything appropriate into some
desktop software, then from there to PocketPC. I also capture short to-dos and list
items directly on the PDA's ListPro or Tasks, or in desktop ListPro. My search is to
combine these two types of capture into one planning tool and model.

Just comparing and contrasting your system with mine:

I don't really write on paper. Occasionally I print off relevant GTD extracts from Bonsai, add project notes and use Fineprint to create a one page paper pda. Any paper marks get added to Bonsai at the end of the week during my weekly review.

As well as GTD proper, I have a parallel short to-do setup.

If I'm at my laptop, I add short to-dos using Notezilla: http://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/1540 . If I'm using my pda, I add short to-dos using Memoleaf. These get meshed together when I carry out a Hotsync.

On my palm, the to-dos show up in Memoleaf, taking the data from the built-in Memo app, and in DateBk6 which allows a split page in the calendar's day view - taking the same data from the built-in Memo app.

I'm happy with this pc/palm setup. But worry about what I'm going to do when my palm stops working, when, say, I'm forced to use a smart phone.

Ike

Dewey

Have you looked at My Life Organized? http://www.mylifeorganized.net

Powerful GTD filtering (views), Windows & PocketPC editions and it's under active development.

Jack

Ike Washington wrote:

... even after Palm and its works have sunk into hardware history) ...
Ike

=============
NEW Palm! Just this evening, I saw at a mall an ad for a new palm that looks very much like a Blackberry. Two hours early, I had told my wife that the Palm platform was obsolescent.

-c

Jack Crawford wrote:

Dewey

Have you looked at My Life Organized?
http://www.mylifeorganized.net

Actually I had, but hadn't truly considered it. It's not quite the solution I'm looking for, as my writing is more like journal entries, so they're not tied to a GTD task. This does look though like something I'd like if I end up not combining outlines with the kind of notes I want. It seems like a better GTD solution than just a list of things, like I'm doing with ListPro. So excellent suggestion, nonetheless.

Dewey

I just noticed that ndexCards is planning a Pocket PC version... Perhaps it will satisfy your requirements. It does have a very nice outliner. How it handles tasks, I'm not sure. (I don't own a license and so this is not an endorsement.) But you might want to take a look at it.

http://www.ndxcards.com/overview.asp

No word about when the Pocket PC version might be available.

Steve Z.