I just want to encourage those who have not tried Infoqube to take a deep dive. I would really be astonished if there is anything like it, anything nearly so rich in different ways to gather and organize info. You can employ any number of different models depending on what you are trying to do. You have the tagging model, the outlining model, the grid model, etc. etc.

Sometimes I have thought that Pierre was taking a wrong turn by focusing on certain features. For example, by working so much on the editing capabilities of the "Document Pane", or the new tagging system. I've wanted him to focus more on grids and fields instead. For example, I'm just not a great believer in putting my notes into document pane html documents, because in that pane, you don't have the slice and dice capabilities of the grid and outliner. BUT I'm learning to like it - there is a nice Home Page feature where links to all my grids appears in an HTML documents and I use it all the time. I just need to use my imagination more to discover what I how I can use the document pane.

But I've been using the hierarchical tagging system lately, and my eyes are being opened. It is particularly good for the "initial" categorization of data. And the thing is, the one model for organizing data can be used to facilitate the application of another model to the same data, in a synergistic fashion. For example, once you have categorized your items with hierarchical tags, that categorization will facilitate the application of the grid / table / rows / columns model. You can find the items that have been assigned a certain tag, and then make them the children of a certain parent item (outline model), or assign a certain field and value combination (database / table / spreadsheet / grid model).

It really is a great playground just waiting for you to use your imagination.

With all respect to the folks to who are devoted to Ecco Pro, or are looking for its true successor, Infoqube is like the Starship Enterprise compared to the Horse and Buggy. HAHA!

Agreed, it seems like every time I go into full CRIMP mode and question my choices in life I take another look at InfoQube and see that Pierre has added several huge functions. Just within the last year or so it's gained hierarchical tagging (WITH inheritance!), mapping, and related items (which is a true two-way link between items). Wow.

I agree completely that it is a wonderful piece of software. I'm also a former Ecco user and just love IQ. Before retiring as a database designer, I made heavy use of IQ to manage my work. Now that I'm retired, I continue to use it to track health data, legal and financial meetings and readings, and my photography hobby. How I use it since retiring has changed but this points to how versatile IQ is. Since I love to tweak and fiddle data structures, it has been incredibly enjoyable for me. I bought a license several years ago and it's been well worth the investment. Congratulations to Pierre for his work.

Thanks Jim, nathanb and DataMill !

InfoQube is all about providing users with tools to manage their information. No single model suits all needs, and this is why IQ supports many models:

- Flat lists of items
- Outliner with data columns (à la Ecco Pro)
- Outline of Rich-Text / handwriting documents (2-pane outliner)
- Calendar, Gantt and Timeline date-based views
- Mind map / Concept map 2-D views
- Index cards 2-D view
- Kanban board state processing (Trello-like drag-drop)

The beauty of it, is that these are not in separate silos as in many other apps.
By this I mean that for example, in Outlook or Google services, a calendar event, a task, a contact, a Notes card are **separate** entities viewable in their context.
Not so in InfoQube: any item, whatever its characteristics, can be viewed in any of these views.

Last but not least, items have a rich set of links and custom properties:

- Graph structure of multi-parent children links (less limiting than Tree structures)
- Ad hoc two-way links ("See Also" links)
- In-text hyperlinks
- Custom field values with optional rules and equations
- Best-in-class tagging system
- Sync with Google services (Calendar for now, Contacts and Tasks in dev.)

It's been a long journey, but we're really getting close to v1.0
(or should it be named v10.0, as in: Windows 10 and 10X, macOS 10.??, Surface Pro/X ... LOL)

Pierre Paul Landry
IQ Designer
http://www.infoqube.biz/

Having worked as a database designer, I had one foot in the Windows world and the other in the Mac world. There's nothing in either world, in my opinion, that works as well as IQ to manage data. I run it on a Surface Pro 6 and take it with me, so I have my data when I need it. I realize that there is a huge push to have it on every device we own but it has seemed to me that there is a price to pay for this capability. Obviously, others may see it differently but for me, IQ has been wonderful and has surpassed ECCO and many others.

Mike

Pierre, InfoQube is great. I agree with 100% of the comments above. Just please make installing new versions smoother? It seems like a non-standard process, and Windows 10 always complains about the unidentified author, etc. Then InfoQube always forgets my license info and I have to find the email with the code.

As long as the website and the initial user experience is so terrible the program will not have any success.
I found learning Org mode (as someone growing up with Emacs) more easy then Infocube.

Lothar Scholz wrote:

As long as the website and the initial user experience is so terrible the program will not have any success.

Thanks for your **constructive** comment...

How is your own Infosqueezer coming along ?
Lots of work isn't ?
One-man shows are always a lot of work because there is so much to do and one can't be expert in everything
(development, bugs, user support, web presence, marketing, etc)

Pierre
https://infoqubeim.com/drupal5/?q=node/4658

InfoQube is an extraordinary piece of software.

… and that’s why I keep asking Pierre to produce a Mac version (oh, and an iOS version, too, Pierre, please).

What? You’re a solo developer? Pshaw, what kind of excuse is that!!! ;-)

Very nice to hear such lavish praise of a single-developer app, actually. If I was still on Windows, I would certainly invest!

MadaboutDana wrote:

that's why I keep asking Pierre to produce a Mac version (oh, and an iOS version, too, Pierre, please)
You’re a solo developer? Pshaw, what kind of excuse is that!!!

Yes, I am the a sole developer with zero net revenu for many years
(Big thanks to those who donated... but it barely cover licensing / web site costs)

In this context, I do not have the resources to hire a macOS / iOS developer
So until I can make some money off the Windows version, the chance of seeing a macOS version is null. Period

The only way for you to use IQ on your beloved Mac is to do like others have done and run it through VMWare / Parallels. It runs just fine, really.
And if you then find in InfoQube a useful tool for your information management needs, you'll get over your dislike for Windows.

Respectfully,

Pierre

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

Yes, I am the a sole developer with zero net revenu for many years

If you don't treat a business like a business it will never become a business.

When i follow your community link and see the top "recent question" highlighted if this software runs on Windows 2000, then you should know whats wrong.

There is still a market. That is not the problem.

Lothar put it bluntly, but his point is still valid: it is so difficult for users - especially casual users, the vast bulk of the market - to get a handle on InfoQube that they give up (as I did).

InfoQube is the art film adored by critics but seen by few. If that's your intent, congratulations; but if you really want to turn a profit, I'd discount comments like "extraordinary piece of software" and take a long, hard, cynical look at why your net revenue has been zero for many years.

Lothar Scholz wrote:

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

>Yes, I am the a sole developer with zero net revenu for many years

If you don't treat a business like a business it will never become a
business.

When i follow your community link and see the top "recent question"
highlighted if this software runs on Windows 2000, then you should know
whats wrong.

There is still a market. That is not the problem.

tightbeam wrote:

Lothar put it bluntly, but his point is still valid: it is so difficult
for users - especially casual users, the vast bulk of the market - to
get a handle on InfoQube that they give up (as I did).

Same here. I trialled IQ in March/April on a small project, and gave up after a lot of trial and error. I found it clunky and difficult to grasp.

In March I suggested building a stripped-down version and - at Pierre's request - listed a feature set that I thought would be fine for beginners (I guess Pierre must have overlooked my suggestions).

Here is my old post: https://www.outlinersoftware.com/messages/viewm/34459

----- citation -----
Franz >>And you could think about a stripped-down version of InfoQube :-)

Pierre >No problem, just list the stripped-down feature set and I’ll do it !

;-)

OK, Pierre. A lite version of IQ (for me) would consist of
- Inbox
- Calendar
- Projects
- plus the Welcome and IQDoc grids

What I would disable: the Tags pane, the Tags and Link columns (what is the Link column for, anyways), and the Item Properties window(s). And throw out the Pivot commands, the Visual Basic Editor, Google Connect and other stuff most users will never need.
But please, make the Documents pane sticky (maybe with an option to hide it but not close-able). I closed that pane accidentally and cursed you because I couldn’t find a way to re-open it. I searched up and down the View and Grid menus, till - in my despair - I discovered the “View - Documents - New Document Pane” command.

That would make a much cleaner interface. Right now, I find the interface overwhelming and too noisy.

And, Pierre. Thanks for asking.
----- citation end -----

What I referred to was IQ 0.9.112f

Dear Pierre,

I’m so sorry. What I wrote was supposed to be mildly ironic, light-hearted fun, acknowledging the very difficult experience of being an independent developer. I didn’t mean to touch a raw nerve, which I clearly did. So I apologise unreservedly.

I support a number of independent developers (clearly on macOS/iOS) and regularly write to them with encouragement/suggestions. I think that’s the least one can do when one is using a valuable product that is clearly the result of personal passion and perfectionism.

Just to be absolutely clear: InfoQube is obviously the product of enormous passion and commitment.

So anything I say about transferring it to macOS/iOS should be treated as humorous (although I now realise you’re not finding it even remotely funny - sorry again!), because I’m well aware you don’t have the time or resources to do such a thing.

As for Windows: On a more serious note, I realise you’re totally committed to the platform. But I have increasing sympathy with those among us who have switched to (various versions of) Linux, because that’s where all the least user-offensive/most politically aware activity is. As a UX, I regard macOS as vastly superior to Windows (and have explained elsewhere why that’s the case). But in terms of data collection, invasion of privacy etc., I recognise that the differences between Microsoft and Apple are nowhere near as great as the latter would like to pretend (the recent withdrawal of apps following censure by China is a classic example); here’s a rather good article on the subject: https://techcrunch.com/2019/10/21/apples-control-over-the-app-store-is-no-longer-sustainable/

Here in France, we have concepts such as Médiapart to demonstrate how political/commercial interests should be kept separate from journalistic integrity (in Apple’s case: integrity as arbiter of apps, artwork, journalism and pretty much everything else that relates to what has become a multimedia platform). Alas, the major U.S. corporates haven’t followed such a model, although there are very good arguments for believing they should. (More about the Médiapart model: https://www.mediapart.fr/charte-de-deontologie

What am I saying? That I might abandon my beloved macOS for Linux? I’ve made the attempt before, while still locked into the world of Microsoft Windows. But alas, it’s not yet feasible, although today it is perhaps more nearly feasible than at any time in the past, even for translators (one of my favourite translation management apps, CafeTran, is available for Linux). Those in doubt about the advisability of doing so should perhaps read Cory Doctorow’s outstanding “Little Brother”… So at some point, then, I will do so. And perhaps you will as well.

Keep up the good work!
Bill

Pierre Paul Landry wrote:

MadaboutDana wrote:
> that's why I keep asking Pierre to produce a Mac version (oh, and an
iOS version, too, Pierre, please)
> You’re a solo developer? Pshaw, what kind of excuse is that!!!

Yes, I am the a sole developer with zero net revenu for many years
(Big thanks to those who donated... but it barely cover licensing / web
site costs)

In this context, I do not have the resources to hire a macOS / iOS
developer
So until I can make some money off the Windows version, the chance of
seeing a macOS version is null. Period

The only way for you to use IQ on your beloved Mac is to do like others
have done and run it through VMWare / Parallels. It runs just fine,
really.
And if you then find in InfoQube a useful tool for your information
management needs, you'll get over your dislike for Windows.

Respectfully,

Pierre

"But I have increasing sympathy with those among us who have switched to (various versions of) Linux."

Pierre - I logged in just to comment on this. I've tried many times with wine/crossover but without success to getting IQ running. If you ever succeed in getting that smooth, I will gladly take another look, so I hope you will mention it here in this forum.

Paul Korm wrote:

Pierre, InfoQube is great. I agree with 100% of the comments above.

Just please make installing new versions smoother? It seems like a non-standard process, and Windows 10 always complains about the unidentified author, etc.
Then InfoQube always forgets my license info and I have to find the email with the code.

Hi Paul,

Thanks !
1- Yeah, it is time to get a certificate and start signing the app and setup programs. Currently they are virus scanned of course, but not signed.
2- v114j to be released soon should remember your license.
Also, you can use the Portable flavor. Feature set is identical, it is more isolated from the OS, easier to manage for users, and, it remembers your license !

hint hint, why not store your license information right within IQ, that way, you won't be searching for it in your emails !

Pierre Paul Landry
IQ Designer
https://infoqubeim.com/drupal5/?q=node/4658