Hey guys
I am fairly new to the world of outliners and PIM, but I am super excited by the idea. Ive searched for a community who might help me find the right fit...and here you are!

Honestly right now Im looking for a full featured PIM...Im considering MyInfo, UltraRecall, Black Hole Organizer, and...what seems to be the most featured, yet least documented, doogiePIM.

Any thoughts?

Hi Barrage and welcome,

It's interesting that you mention DoogiePIM; as noted recently below, it's the reincarnation of DoOrganizer that has been around for many many years:
https://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/8800
Search for DoOrganizer in this forum and you'll find many references from the past.

If you are looking for what we usually call a two-pane outliner, such as MyInfo and UltraRecall, I would suggest also taking a look at RightNote and MyBase. Each of these has its own strengths.

A more powerful option is InfoQube--though at first it will probably seem overwhelming.

That said, the main issue is to define what you would like to do, then assess which tool fits your particular needs and situation.

Hi Barrage, welcome to the forum.

If the world of Outliners and PIMS excite you, then you've come to the right place.

I'm not a hardcore user like a lot of people here are, but I can offer a few suggestions for you just starting out that would have saved me some time and money. Actually, I still would have spent the time and money on them, it's just fun in a strange way.

One of the first things you could do is make a list of what you want and what you want to do. Even if it's just basic, the more things you discover the more you can add to it to evaluate against the different softwares. Also, you can post the basics of what you want on here and that will narrow things down for anyone to answer.

Here's a few suggestions for starting out. Think of what you'd want in the future also.

-First and foremost which operating systems are you going to be using. Windows, IOS, Linux etc.
-Do you want it Web based or Local file based.
-Are you going to want to Sync it to your phone or tablet. Does the program actually do that and have those apps in your devices OS.
-Do you want a PIM that's basically the Calendar, Tasks, Contacts, Notes, Mail, Passwords, etc. or more of an Outliner.
-Do they have any programming capabilities to use to manipulate data. Like InfoQube uses SQL (I believe) and NoteCase Pro uses Lua.
-How do you want tags to work.
-How does it handle Import/Export of data. What formats does it support. What information does it include, etc.
-How does it do searches and what can you do with the results.
-Does it use Attributes. Do you even want or need them.
-Do you use Markdown,

You get the idea.

I think most if not all of the software has trial periods. Check them out, see if you like the way they look and feel. Use one of them to keep a record of the things you like and don't like about them. Run them against your list and also change your list as you discover the varied ways the different programs work. If you find you like how X program does tags, then change your list and re-test and test the different programs.

One thing I would definitely suggest is to get a trial copy of InfoQube and play around with it. It's going to be overwhelming, but just know that. Jump on the forum and learn a little each day. It's a really cool piece of software.

As of now I'm using EssentialPIM, MyInfo and NoteCase Pro as my regulars. I also use InfoQube, but more to learn at the present.

Here's some of them that I tried. Also, I don't know if cost is something you're considering, but there's open source ones out there that are free and they range to a few hundred dollars.

EssentialPIM (EPIM)
DoogiePIM
Zoot XT (Don't know if the XT has been dropped in lastest update.

Cherrytree
TreePad (I think this one recently has gone under though. Probably can't buy a license for it even if you locate a download copy, but not sure)
RightNote
InfoQube
myBase
MyInfo (Version 7 may be released soon, but you still get it if you buy version 6 now)
NoteCase Pro
KeyNote NF
Ultra Recall

Connectedtext
and a few other personal wikis.

I'd also go through this Forum and see what programs people are talking about and trying them out. Even if they're old posts. I've found out a lot of new ones from that.

Ecco, if it is still out there and runs under Windows.

Jeffery Smith wrote:

Ecco, if it is still out there and runs under Windows.

I was not aware that the stock Ecco software package would run under Win10. Unless one wanted to consider whatever workarounds are out there, I think that IQ would be a better bet given that it is supported and more current. And I say this as a die-hard Ecco fan.

--Ken

LB wrote:

Connectedtext
and a few other personal wikis.

Could you name the wikis? At this point in time, I am looking for such a programme.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

LB wrote:
>Connectedtext
>and a few other personal wikis.

Could you name the wikis? At this point in time, I am looking for such a
programme.

Sure, I didn't try them out heavily, but I tried out DokuWiki, TiddlyWiki and I think Zim, but not sure if I just dowloaded that one. I tried others but those were the main ones.
DokuWiki has a lot of plugins which you have to manage, can be good or bad depending on how you look at it.
Here's a link of one of the places I looked at. https://www.slant.co/topics/1491/~best-single-user-wiki

Thanks! DokuWiki is also the one I am looking to (again).

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

LB wrote:
>Connectedtext
>and a few other personal wikis.
>Could you name the wikis? At this point in time, I am looking for such a
programme.

You may look at this also: outwiker 2.0. (WinOS)
It runs on a portable version, no server (local or otherwise) needed. There is a download zip file with all plugins included (30Mb in all).
Files are saved in html, and txt (or markdown) version using normal folders. It comes from a Russian developer. Russians are usually good as software makers.
Link: https://jenyay.net/Outwiker/English
Ram used: about 100Mb for a basic outline. (test on 32bit WinXp, which is compatible)
There is a v.3 on the way, but the author defines it still unstable.

Thanks for the info, Outwiker looks really nice, better than the others I've used. I'm going to try it out later today to see how it works.

Your comment also reminded me that DokuWiki comes in a portable flavor with a MicroApache included but it's kind of obscure, there's not a portable file option in the downloads page, but if you select the version you want, usually "Stable", before you hit the Download button go to the bottom of the page and under "Include Web-Server" check the box for " MicroApache (Windows)" and then hit the download button. It'll download the DokuWiki on a stick version for portable, trying it out purposes.

Anthony wrote:

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:
LB wrote:
>>Connectedtext
>>and a few other personal wikis.
> >Could you name the wikis? At this point in time, I am looking for
such a
>programme.

You may look at this also: outwiker 2.0. (WinOS)
It runs on a portable version, no server (local or otherwise) needed.
There is a download zip file with all plugins included (30Mb in all).
Files are saved in html, and txt (or markdown) version using normal
folders. It comes from a Russian developer. Russians are usually good as
software makers.
Link: https://jenyay.net/Outwiker/English
Ram used: about 100Mb for a basic outline. (test on 32bit WinXp, which
is compatible)
There is a v.3 on the way, but the author defines it still unstable.

LB wrote:

Hi Barrage, welcome to the forum.

If the world of Outliners and PIMS excite you, then you've come to the
right place.

I'm not a hardcore user like a lot of people here are, but I can offer a
few suggestions for you just starting out that would have saved me some
time and money. Actually, I still would have spent the time and money
on them, it's just fun in a strange way.

One of the first things you could do is make a list of what you want and
what you want to do. Even if it's just basic, the more things you
discover the more you can add to it to evaluate against the different
softwares. Also, you can post the basics of what you want on here and
that will narrow things down for anyone to answer.

Here's a few suggestions for starting out. Think of what you'd want in
the future also.

-First and foremost which operating systems are you going to be using.
Windows, IOS, Linux etc.
-Do you want it Web based or Local file based.
-Are you going to want to Sync it to your phone or tablet. Does the
program actually do that and have those apps in your devices OS.
-Do you want a PIM that's basically the Calendar, Tasks, Contacts,
Notes, Mail, Passwords, etc. or more of an Outliner.
-Do they have any programming capabilities to use to manipulate data.
Like InfoQube uses SQL (I believe) and NoteCase Pro uses Lua.
-How do you want tags to work.
-How does it handle Import/Export of data. What formats does it
support. What information does it include, etc.
-How does it do searches and what can you do with the results.
-Does it use Attributes. Do you even want or need them.
-Do you use Markdown,

You get the idea.

I think most if not all of the software has trial periods. Check them
out, see if you like the way they look and feel. Use one of them to
keep a record of the things you like and don't like about them. Run
them against your list and also change your list as you discover the
varied ways the different programs work. If you find you like how X
program does tags, then change your list and re-test and test the
different programs.

One thing I would definitely suggest is to get a trial copy of InfoQube
and play around with it. It's going to be overwhelming, but just know
that. Jump on the forum and learn a little each day. It's a really
cool piece of software.

I mostly use Windows, but do have one Mac machine.
I definitely lean toward local file based, and while reading/syncing with android would be a major plus, is not absolutely necessary. Ive seen this is still in the works with most programs (tangent: Deja Office, VC Organizer, thoughts?)
Do you want a PIM that's basically the Calendar, Tasks, Contacts,

Notes, Mail, Passwords, etc. or more of an Outliner. More so the first side...though my discovery of ActionOutliner is what started this madness heh.

I like the idea of notebooks/catagories more than tags, though either is nice, both is better!!

I tend to like moar features!! Heh