Bits du Jour ( http://www.bitsdujour.com/ ) is offering today a discount on Offline Explorer Pro.

See http://www.metaproducts.com/mp/Offline_Explorer_Pro.htm for info on this product.

-c

Cassius, thanks for posting the info.

ExplorerPro looks very comprehensive, and am somewhat surprised I haven't seen it before.

The products the company uses in its comparison chart with competitors are also virtualoly unknown to me.

Am I that ouf of touch with this part of the market, or are we accustomed to limiting our discussions to just one segment of the web capture market?

I noticed that ExplorerPro has a "big brother" that costs several hundred dollars, and I couldn't figure out from the listing comparing the company's own products what would make it so costly? Does anyone know?

Does anyone here use any of the products, and if so, how are they?

Daly

Cassius wrote:

Bits du Jour ( http://www.bitsdujour.com/ ) is offering today a discount on Offline
Explorer Pro.

See http://www.metaproducts.com/mp/Offline_Explorer_Pro.htm
for info on this product.

-c

Daly,

I notice that while Offline Explorer Pro mentions that one can add comments, I could find no mention of RTF capability, something I think that most of us require.

I expect that there are pages that OEP can download that our "usual" PIMs cannot, but I'm unwilling to give up RTF for that. In my case, if I come across an occasional page that myBase can't properly download, I can copy it as an image and then paste it into a MyBase RTF panel. I can also copy and save the text for search purposes. (Supposedly Evernote can even identify words in images, but I've never tried it.).

I really think that for most of us, one or more choices among UltraRecall, SQL Notes, MyBase, WebResearch, Surfulator, and Evernote will suffice, with Inspiration as apparently the only known available single-pane outliner, even if it is clunky. (NoteMap being disqualified because I've had it lose text.)

Does anyone use Evernote? Does the desktop version really do everything it claims?

Excessive CRIMPing is detrimental to ones sleep and job.

-c

Cassius wrote:

I really think that for most of us, one or more choices among UltraRecall, SQL Notes, MyBase, WebResearch, Surfulator, and Evernote will suffice, with Inspiration as apparently the only known available single-pane outliner, even if it is clunky.

Just for the record, SQLNotes is a single-pane outliner with an optional second-pane for large pieces of text, web capture, etc.

See the definition of single-pane (aka intrinsic) outliners here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner
Screenshot here: http://www.public.sqlnotes.net/download/SQLNotes/images/singlepane.png

Cheers!

Cassius wrote:

Does anyone use Evernote? Does the
desktop version really do everything it claims?

I use it for daily notes; it is terrific for that. The text recognition in images works quite well -- as good as advertised, I'd say. Syncing works well, and the web and iPhone interfaces are usable. I've not used it for web capture beyond snippets; it handles those well.

The PC version is still a bit rough around the edges, but it's been reliable for me -- no data loss.

Excessive CRIMPing is
detrimental to ones sleep and job.

So true. I'm a reformed CRIMPer; I'm down to web apps only, as my system count is too high to keep stuff in one place.

Regards,
Wes

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

"Just for the record, SQLNotes is a single-pane outliner with an optional second-pane for large pieces of text, web capture, etc.

"See the definition of single-pane (aka intrinsic) outliners here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner
Screenshot here: http://www.public.sqlnotes.net/download/SQLNotes/images/singlepane.png

Pierre,

The screenshot looks great! Quite some time ago, several people in this forum expressed a preference for single-pane outliners. I don't know if you were part of this forum back then. Do you have a Web page that describes the capabilities of this outline view?

For example, can one expand/collapse suboutlines, rearrange outline items, promore or demote items, etc.?

Thanks!

-c

Cassius wrote:

For example, can one expand/collapse suboutlines, rearrange outline items, promore or demote items, etc.?

Yes on all counts. Those functions are be basis of any good outliner. You can also add: split/join items, hoisting and viewing specific non-contiguous items (with or without context) to the list. Oh and multiple outlines at the same time of course, in a window either split vertically or horizontally. The same outline can even be opened in 2 windows to view different parts.

You can view SQLNotes as the combination of 4 parts:
1- A rich-text outliner
2- An outlining spreadsheet with built-in Gantt chart
3- PIM features
4- A rich text word-processing pane for large pieces of text, web clippings, advanced editing (can use MS Word as the editor if desired)

But the parts are not separate components put together (as in MS Office for example). An item can be all of this at once.

This brings me back to the new post by Daly (http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/742/ ), which I'll take time to answer directly later on, SQLNotes is conceptually extremely simple. And I don't want to seem condescendant in saying this. If it appears complex, it is (1) because, while simple, it is a rare concept (Ecco Pro is the closest example), and (2) I've done a very poor job at explaining it and making it look simple. The current wikispace ( http://sqlnotes.wikispaces.com/ ) is an attempt, but there is much to do still.

Pierre, actually bro I think you have done a pretty good job based on what I saw on your web site in terms of a getting started package.

I think the simple/complicated dichotomy is more apparent than real. To me, first glance -- and several after that! -- it looked complicated.

But having gone back to it several times, and reading the help file starting guide today, I can also see the underlying simplicity and elegance of what is there.

Part of that approach is my learning style for new info -- it seems I am easily overwhelmed or give up too easily at the beginning, so I know I have to keep coming back and coming back until my brain says, "oh, I get it now."

And, btw, there's nothing condescending about what you wrote.

Daly



Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

This brings me back to the new post by Daly
(http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/742/ ), which I'll take time to
answer directly later on, SQLNotes is conceptually extremely simple. And I don't
want to seem condescendant in saying this. If it appears complex, it is (1) because,
while simple, it is a rare concept (Ecco Pro is the closest example), and (2) I've done a
very poor job at explaining it and making it look simple. The current wikispace (
http://sqlnotes.wikispaces.com/ ) is an attempt, but there is much to do still.

PPL,


Thank you! I will now make an exception to my "look but do-not-touch" CRIMPING pledge, and will try SQL Notes. I am (I hope!) about to start a new book and pray that SQL Notes outlining capabilities will help in its creation.

-c