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OneNote finally has custom tagging
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Posted by rafael costacurta
Jan 23, 2019 at 06:23 PM
I try to like OneNote, but sometimes it’s a difficult task.
The thing that annoys me the most is that each version lacks something, and are always different things.
1. In the mobile (iOS/Android) it is not possible to share a link of the note
2. The iPhone version has the abiliity to transform a note in a outline, very useful with notes that has the “to-do” tag. But neither the iPad or the Android versions have this feature
3. The Mac version is way behind the Windows version
4. The web version is another different beast…
And so goes on
Posted by nathanb
Jan 23, 2019 at 07:39 PM
Ken wrote:
> I am using MLO, which is
>quite powerful and somewhat overly complicated, but I currently have it
>set up for how I want it to work. I use Todoist and paper for personal
>tasks, but that is mostly light duty work. The other minor thing that I
>really hate about OneNote is the lack of being able to “dock” a window.
>The whole blank sheet of paper thing drives me crazy as there is no
>“structure” to the page. I know that this is a plus to many, but I hate
>dealing with adding/moving windows to ON pages.
>
>—Ken
I got a kick out of the MLO comment as I’ve used MLO intermittently and really like it. MLO does have a desktop Outlook tasks sync that works well, but the thought of trying to keep OneNote linked tasks synced to desktop MLO through desktop Outlook….ah brings me back to the manual syncing days of 2006.
I’ve been in constant limbo mode over the past 10 years or so on whether to have ONE combined work and personal task/note system or keep them separate. My work has ALWAYS revolved around desktop Office and my personal stuff is a combo of Microsoft/Google cloud services and a synology NAS. As of today (might change tomorrow), Todoist is my personal tasks manager now. I prefer task hierarchies. I do like how MLO works compared to ToDoist, but only just barely, so Todoist’s cross-platform ubiquity and automatic sync keep me there. MLO’s capabilities are impressive but I’ve found that I’m just too undisciplined to take advantage of it’s deeper features. For work I am trying out Microsoft ToDo and actually really like it. I was a Wunderlist junkie for a while and it reminds me what was so good about that.
And I’ve been going on about the OneNote task integration, which I’m going back to in a light way with some of my ‘work’ tasks but I’ve learned that CRIMPING and relying on specific digital links between systems is a bad idea. Over the past few years I’ve been using zettel codes as searchable links between my files, notes, and tasks. It’s rudimentary, but rock solid, and it gives me total freedom to change out any of the platforms.
I’m curious what you mean by OneNote’s lack of floating windows as a bad thing. My long-running desktop default has been to have two instances of OneNote running at all time. One is a ‘docked’ window in that ‘full page view’ mode which is a quck-note, daily tasks/journal thing. The other is in normal browse mode where I can see the notebook structure and it’s constantly used for reference or project management.
I know it seems like I’m a Microsoft employee here, but I’m well aware of OneNote’s big limitations, especially for people in this circle. I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it since 2007. All my notes could certainly be on a WAY more powerful platform where they are more findable and relatable. Yet my lazy and meandering habits have mostly evolved around it for 10 years and I actually can dig up what I’m looking for most the time. So I have to give it credit, I wish it were a ferrari but it’s been a reliable honda in my life.
Posted by Ken
Jan 24, 2019 at 04:44 AM
nathanb wrote:
>
>Ken wrote:
>> I am using MLO, which is
>>quite powerful and somewhat overly complicated, but I currently have it
>>set up for how I want it to work. I use Todoist and paper for personal
>>tasks, but that is mostly light duty work. The other minor thing that
>I
>>really hate about OneNote is the lack of being able to “dock” a window.
>
>>The whole blank sheet of paper thing drives me crazy as there is no
>>“structure” to the page. I know that this is a plus to many, but I
>hate
>>dealing with adding/moving windows to ON pages.
>>
>>—Ken
>
>I got a kick out of the MLO comment as I’ve used MLO intermittently and
>really like it. MLO does have a desktop Outlook tasks sync that works
>well, but the thought of trying to keep OneNote linked tasks synced to
>desktop MLO through desktop Outlook….ah brings me back to the manual
>syncing days of 2006.
>
>I’ve been in constant limbo mode over the past 10 years or so on whether
>to have ONE combined work and personal task/note system or keep them
>separate. My work has ALWAYS revolved around desktop Office and my
>personal stuff is a combo of Microsoft/Google cloud services and a
>synology NAS. As of today (might change tomorrow), Todoist is my
>personal tasks manager now. I prefer task hierarchies. I do like how
>MLO works compared to ToDoist, but only just barely, so Todoist’s
>cross-platform ubiquity and automatic sync keep me there. MLO’s
>capabilities are impressive but I’ve found that I’m just too
>undisciplined to take advantage of it’s deeper features. For work I am
>trying out Microsoft ToDo and actually really like it. I was a
>Wunderlist junkie for a while and it reminds me what was so good about
>that.
>
>And I’ve been going on about the OneNote task integration, which I’m
>going back to in a light way with some of my ‘work’ tasks but I’ve
>learned that CRIMPING and relying on specific digital links between
>systems is a bad idea. Over the past few years I’ve been using zettel
>codes as searchable links between my files, notes, and tasks. It’s
>rudimentary, but rock solid, and it gives me total freedom to change out
>any of the platforms.
>
>I’m curious what you mean by OneNote’s lack of floating windows as a bad
>thing. My long-running desktop default has been to have two instances of
>OneNote running at all time. One is a ‘docked’ window in that ‘full
>page view’ mode which is a quck-note, daily tasks/journal thing. The
>other is in normal browse mode where I can see the notebook structure
>and it’s constantly used for reference or project management.
>
>I know it seems like I’m a Microsoft employee here, but I’m well aware
>of OneNote’s big limitations, especially for people in this circle.
>I’ve had a love/hate relationship with it since 2007. All my notes could
>certainly be on a WAY more powerful platform where they are more
>findable and relatable. Yet my lazy and meandering habits have mostly
>evolved around it for 10 years and I actually can dig up what I’m
>looking for most the time. So I have to give it credit, I wish it were
>a ferrari but it’s been a reliable honda in my life.
Interesting post. We seem to be travelling on similar paths. I have been using MLO at work as my task organizer for all of the projects that I work on based on a recommendation here two years ago. I have used a whole host of programs since I had to leave Ecco behind (IT would no longer allow it to be installed on my work PC when we finally migrated to Win7 a number of years ago). We are a Microsoft shop and no users have administrative rights for security purposes, so anything I use has to be portable, web-based or installed on my own hardware. Like you, I am currently using Todoist for personal tasks, but that is not at all complicated.
Regarding OneNote, my previous manager used it as her manager used it, so I was asked to use the notebooks that they set up. These notebooks were mostly used for updates and reports, not task management, and I have a couple of notebooks of my own that hold some oddball data. My earlier comment about OneNote was actually directed at the notebooks, not the windows the program occupies. I appreciate that notebooks are “without lines” and can literally be used like a blank sheet of paper, but this totally free form ability to lay down windows also drives me crazy when I want a more “fixed” environment, not unlike an alignment grid that drawing programs offer. I also appreciate that OneNote’s tagging system has features that are not found in task managers, and I also appreciate all of the pages and books that can be created, but that is also its downfall for me. It is very easy for data to get lost. I am sure if could adapt the program to hold information, but I find that programs like MLO, Todoist, GQueues, RTM, etc. are better suited to how I manage tasks and keep notes on projects (although I do not like programs like Workflowy as they do not offer left panel navigation which I find essential).
—Ken
Posted by nathanb
Jan 24, 2019 at 02:57 PM
>...... and I
>also appreciate all of the pages and books that can be created, but that
>is also its downfall for me. It is very easy for data to get lost. I
>am sure if could adapt the program to hold information, but I find that
>programs like MLO, Todoist, GQueues, RTM, etc. are better suited to how
>I manage tasks and keep notes on projects (although I do not like
>programs like Workflowy as they do not offer left panel navigation which
>I find essential).
>
>—Ken
We do have very similar preferences. Info getting buried in OneNote is definitely it’s biggest con for any ‘power’ note user. I think my deep comfort with OneNote as my perpetual default has to do with discovering it on Office 2007 and it being my first ‘info-management’ platform. It was like a breath of fresh air at the time as I had never heard about Ecco Pro or any other pioneers in that area. So I learned how to flow my information the ‘onenote way’ and that formed habits that I still have a hard time breaking in my search for something better. The main thing is probably it’s free-form nature that I got really comfortable with and that has made most other info managers ‘feel’ clunkier to me than they really are. So with that aspect what turns you off OneNote is what draws me to it.
It also taught me to prefer the two-pane interface that you describe and I think you’ve made me realize that’s why I could never really ‘get’ workflowy. One tool I’m pretty excited about that might be the best fusion of two-pane organization, free-form noting, AND deep metadata capabilities is Notion. I’ve been tinkering with it a lot lately and it’s probably going to be the new permanent home for at least a third of my digital random things, if not more. Since we have similar preferences, it might work for you too.
Posted by Ken
Jan 24, 2019 at 04:36 PM
nathanb wrote:
>
>We do have very similar preferences. Info getting buried in OneNote is
>definitely it’s biggest con for any ‘power’ note user. I think my deep
>comfort with OneNote as my perpetual default has to do with discovering
>it on Office 2007 and it being my first ‘info-management’ platform. It
>was like a breath of fresh air at the time as I had never heard about
>Ecco Pro or any other pioneers in that area. So I learned how to flow
>my information the ‘onenote way’ and that formed habits that I still
>have a hard time breaking in my search for something better. The main
>thing is probably it’s free-form nature that I got really comfortable
>with and that has made most other info managers ‘feel’ clunkier to me
>than they really are. So with that aspect what turns you off OneNote is
>what draws me to it.
>
>It also taught me to prefer the two-pane interface that you describe and
>I think you’ve made me realize that’s why I could never really ‘get’
>workflowy. One tool I’m pretty excited about that might be the best
>fusion of two-pane organization, free-form noting, AND deep metadata
>capabilities is Notion. I’ve been tinkering with it a lot lately and
>it’s probably going to be the new permanent home for at least a third of
>my digital random things, if not more. Since we have similar
>preferences, it might work for you too.
Thanks for the Notion recommendation. I’ll need to check it out at home as it will not load on IE at work (our standard issue browser). This is the same reason hat I did not try to use AirTable to create my own task manager. The joys of a locked down network.
—Ken