Docxmanager - https://docxmanager.com - is the outgrowth, as i understand, of the Word extension, Writing Outliner.

I've communicated in the past with Edwin Yip, who seems to have cheerfully clung to his mission when there were serious complaints about the product. I don't know him personally, but what I've seen is admirable.

It has a corkboard view now, along with Scrivenerish features to manage multiple documents.

From the looks of his website, it's almost enough to make me consider using Word. I mean that as a compliment to Mr. Yip.

Has anyone used Docxmanager?

Yep, and its predecessor. I'm not sure what the "serious complaints" were, because I've been using it (and WritingOutliner) for well over a decade, it's stable and I've never lost a byte of information within it. I use it to manage and edit a many-thousand page reference book which I couldn't do using Word (or any other word processor that I've tested) alone. If Edwin manages to improve the web output I'll be able to use it to replace my projects in ConnectedText too.

Graham

Worth mentioning that, according to the website, this is only available for Windows.

Graham Rhind wrote:

Yep, and its predecessor. I'm not sure what the "serious complaints"
were...

I believe the initial release, a long time ago, was recalled. My recollection was full refunds were offered. I declined, preferring to see development continue.

The problems, as I recall, were driven by changes in Word's API, and I thought the developer showed a lot of integrity.

I'm very glad to see the product grow, even though I'm not a Word user.

He had to leave the previous version for a while due to... life.
He's a good guy.

After (repeated) bad experiences with Writing Outliner, I'm not trusting anything that developer produces, ever again.

He might be a "great guy" but ime he's an incompetent programmer. Having a Scrivener equivalent within Word is a great concept but having your work vanish? Not so great. Not just with one version, but EVERY version I tried. After #3, I finally got the message that the guy didn't actually know what he was doing.

Perhaps he's caught on to the whole programming thing since those early days, but I'm not about to find out.

Basics: if no auto-back system in place for a work folder(s) which even many non-techie do, I found it's vital to backup my important doc files after changes regularly, takes a second. Regardless of the app as the drive itself can crash. Common sense everyone learns.

Edwin just released vs 1.7 with these feature highlights:

• Document Label (with icons).
• In place editing of document metadata such as the synopsis, notes, tags, and so on, in the Table View.
• Easier navigation of the project structure for both the corkboard view and table view by using the left outline pane.
• Manage (rename or delete) document tags.
• Pick list for Document Status and Labels in the metadata pane on the right side.
• Auto conversion of the old .doc Word file format to the new .docx format upon opening a project folder and when importing a WritingOutliner project.
• A list of small enhancements and fixes that's too long to fit here!

And he offers a time-limited, 60% off coupon: GMMPJRYZ

I think his product has evolved quite a bit.

From my view, the same wariness should be applied to Word.

For at least a decade after the master document feature was released, Word would irrevocably cross-mungulate documents controlled by a master document. Undo didn't work in those cases, and it was a matter of "when," not "if" it would happen.

I have to use Word at work, but most of what I write is in regards to things running under Linux or Unix. Vim in markdown, pandoc to docx, and I fit in with the crowd without actually touching Word.

Listerene wrote:

After (repeated) bad experiences with Writing Outliner, I'm not trusting
anything that developer produces, ever again.

He might be a "great guy" but ime he's an incompetent programmer. Having
a Scrivener equivalent within Word is a great concept but having your
work vanish? Not so great. Not just with one version, but EVERY version
I tried. After #3, I finally got the message that the guy didn't
actually know what he was doing.

Perhaps he's caught on to the whole programming thing since those early
days, but I'm not about to find out.

Hi guys, I'm Edwin Yip, developer of DocxManager here.

Thanks @Amontillado for mentioning DocxManager here and thanks for all the input/comments by everybody.

The way I see it, getting feedback or from the actually user and prospects is the first step to getting a software being enhanced.

Thanks @Listerene for his criticism. I confirm what he said is true - I did receive bug reports from users about losing their data with the old WritingOutliner, I think it's a result of the imperfectness and complexities of the design of the old WritingOutliner, I apologize to @Listerene and the others again for the inconvenience caused, I fully understand the feeling of losing work and I'm sorry for the old WritingOutliner wasn't stable enough to prevent that happens.

While the old WritingOutliner worked for most other people, the imperfect design of it is the main reason why I've completely re-design it as the new DocxManager, as a result, DocxManager is very stable in terms of preventing data loss, because besides asking Word to save/load your documents it doesn't alter your Word document at all.

Give it a try again, at least keep an eye on it - DocxManager will being enhanced constantly in the future - I must say I'm very proud of its new architecture which is very flexible and allowed me keep adding more and more new feature and enhancements to it.

Listerene wrote:

After (repeated) bad experiences with Writing Outliner, I'm not trusting
anything that developer produces, ever again.

He might be a "great guy" but ime he's an incompetent programmer. Having
a Scrivener equivalent within Word is a great concept but having your
work vanish? Not so great. Not just with one version, but EVERY version
I tried. After #3, I finally got the message that the guy didn't
actually know what he was doing.

Perhaps he's caught on to the whole programming thing since those early
days, but I'm not about to find out.

Good for you, Edwin – what a refreshingly honest, straight-from-the-shoulder update.

I’m impressed!

Best wishes,
Bill

1. I can confirm Edwin has been super responsive to user feedback. I have recently corresponded with him about an issue re: dragging the splitter and he fixed it within a matter of hours.

2. Also, many people are either not aware of this or haven't thought through its implications, but Google has recently made it possible to edit docx files directly in GoogleDoc. For me, this has been an absolute game changer, because it allows me to completely dump Evernote in favor of a collection of docx files stored in my Google Drive (which I use DocXManager to manage). Among other things, this means

* you can edit your notes on your phone with GoogleDoc, and the changes sync in real time in the opened (!) file on your desktop. No more merge conflicts or doing manual syncs which have been one of the biggest pain points of Evernote
* GoogleDoc for Android is, I suspect, the single most optimized Android app there is. The editing experience is just superb, and it doesn't slow down even when you have huge files that span hundreds of pages. It's a much better experience than Evernote. A lot more options too. (Probably the feature I use/repurpose the most is Comments, which allows you to insert tangentially relevant material / digressions / note to selves without interrupting the main flow. Nothing like that in evernote)
* Zotero integration is a big plus for those who have need of this
* All of your notes are files. Not plain text files to be sure, but the fact that they are exposed as files as opposed to in a database as in Evernote means you can perform all kinds of operations that's a pain to do in Evernote. For example you can use PowerGrep to do bulk search and replace in many docx files while preserving formating
* No more tinkering with Evernote notebooks, just do it the intuitive way, with folders
* And of course Google Drive search is just as good as Evernote's if not better

The only downside is Evernote's global incremental full-text search is really good and not easily replicable in this setup. But incremental project wide search is a new feature introduce in DocxManager. I haven't been able to get it to work on my machine yet (could be because of the ancient Word version (2010) I'm still sticking with) but I have little doubt it can be made to work eventually.


Edwin Yip wrote:

Hi guys, I'm Edwin Yip, developer of DocxManager here.

Thanks @Amontillado for mentioning DocxManager here and thanks for all
the input/comments by everybody.

The way I see it, getting feedback or from the actually user and
prospects is the first step to getting a software being enhanced.

Thanks @Listerene for his criticism. I confirm what he said is true - I
did receive bug reports from users about losing their data with the old
WritingOutliner, I think it's a result of the imperfectness and
complexities of the design of the old WritingOutliner, I apologize to
@Listerene and the others again for the inconvenience caused, I fully
understand the feeling of losing work and I'm sorry for the old
WritingOutliner wasn't stable enough to prevent that happens.

While the old WritingOutliner worked for most other people, the
imperfect design of it is the main reason why I've completely re-design
it as the new DocxManager, as a result, DocxManager is very stable in
terms of preventing data loss, because besides asking Word to save/load
your documents it doesn't alter your Word document at all.

Give it a try again, at least keep an eye on it - DocxManager will being
enhanced constantly in the future - I must say I'm very proud of its new
architecture which is very flexible and allowed me keep adding more and
more new feature and enhancements to it.

Listerene wrote:
After (repeated) bad experiences with Writing Outliner, I'm not trusting
>anything that developer produces, ever again.
>
>He might be a "great guy" but ime he's an incompetent programmer.
Having
>a Scrivener equivalent within Word is a great concept but having your
>work vanish? Not so great. Not just with one version, but EVERY version
>I tried. After #3, I finally got the message that the guy didn't
>actually know what he was doing.
>
>Perhaps he's caught on to the whole programming thing since those early
>days, but I'm not about to find out.

Speaking of which for those wanting, OEM versions (same function & registered rights as packaged physical versions) of Office 2019 Pro (desktop lifetime version, better than v365 annual subscription for most) are dirt cheap, and legit, millions sold on ebay so far.

Just check recent feedback of seller to see if most of his buyers are happy.
After getting the key (serial), can/should register with Microsoft, no problem.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_nkw=office+professional+plus+2019&_sacat=0

washere wrote:

Speaking of which for those wanting, OEM versions (same function &
registered rights as packaged physical versions) of Office 2019 Pro
(desktop lifetime version, better than v365 annual subscription for
most) are dirt cheap, and legit, millions sold on ebay so far.

DocxManager also works with DOCX files created with Softmaker Office or LibreOffice.

Franz Grieser wrote:

washere wrote:
Speaking of which for those wanting, OEM versions (same function &
>registered rights as packaged physical versions) of Office 2019 Pro
>(desktop lifetime version, better than v365 annual subscription for
>most) are dirt cheap, and legit, millions sold on ebay so far.

DocxManager also works with DOCX files created with Softmaker Office or
LibreOffice.

That'll be specially useful for files coming from Linux too. Might also test & import a few doc files this weekend into DocxManager from android/Chromebook like AndroOpen, Microsoft apps etc.

SmallDog wrote:

I haven't been able to get it to work on my machine yet (could be because of the
ancient Word version (2010) I'm still sticking with) but I have little
doubt it can be made to work eventually.

@SmallDog,
In a short period of time I'll be able to look at the full-text Word document searching issue you are experiencing. It can be a great help if you can make a screen recording and send it to me.

In the past weeks I've been working on sending replacement DocxManager license keys to the WritingOutliner customers, with the following policies:

- WritingOutliner Customers with expired license keys get the current version of DocxManager Basic Edition with 2 months upgrades.

- WritingOutliner Customers with unexpired license keys get 2 more months of upgrades.

- DocxManager customers get 2 more months of upgrades (please go to Software Activation and click Refresh Info).

- If they want another one-year upgrade period, they can use this coupon: JBHEYE (valid for 2 weeks, 30 percent off on top of the already-discounted license extend cost).

- The coupon above can also be used to upgrade to Standard Edition if you need the website publishing feature from the Standard Edition.

- This is the last introductory promo, all past promos have been expired.

'm doing this because customers didn't receive enough software updates due to the development of WritingOutliner was stalled due to various reasons. This is the best I can do. Anyone with a special case can contact me separately.

Fiction at its best holds characters to the ideal of show, don't tell.

To my eye, Edwin Yip follows that maxim in real life.

My replacement license key arrived a few hours ago, based on a purchase of Writing Outliner many years ago.

Remarkable. Many thanks, Edwin. Best wishes for success.

@Amontillado,

Thank you and the others, for the kind words. And I wish you enjoy using the new version of DocxManager. Let me know if you have any questions.

Amontillado wrote:

Fiction at its best holds characters to the ideal of show, don't tell.

To my eye, Edwin Yip follows that maxim in real life.

My replacement license key arrived a few hours ago, based on a purchase
of Writing Outliner many years ago.

Remarkable. Many thanks, Edwin. Best wishes for success.

SmallDog wrote:

But incremental
project wide search is a new feature introduce in DocxManager. I haven't
been able to get it to work on my machine yet (could be because of the
ancient Word version (2010) I'm still sticking with) but I have little
doubt it can be made to work eventually.

@SmallDog,

I'm not sure how to contact you privately since you might have not noticed my last reply in this thread nor emailed me privately.
But would you try the latest DocxManager 1.8.168.2454 and see if the full-text document search works now? Thanks.

DocxManager developer here. For another time I've spent 1+ months for the redesigning of a more convenient and simplified user interface for DocxManager:

Version 2.0.207.2871
===
Lots of improvements and bugfixes since the first v2.0 release. Some highlights:
- Aware of any file/folder copying/deleting/renaming on disk in the project folder.
- Corkboard: Ask the user which background color to use when adding new index cards.
- Corkboard: Allow adding “folder cards”.
- Simple metadata are shown at the top, while multi-line metadata such as Synopsis and HTML page generation properties are on the right sidebar.
- Added: Auto extract synopsis from document content.
- Added: Convert pre-authored document synopsis on the index cards into document content if it’s empty.

Version 2.0 initial release.
- Redesigned/simplified the main user interface, resulted in a cleaner and compact workspace (see screenshot below)
- Supports opening multiple projects in the same time.
- Enhanced corkboard – displays the status, labels and tags on the cards.
- Enhanced document search – for example, search the word ‘do’ also matches ‘doing’ and ‘done’.
- Enhanced multi-column outliner – you can now edit and view/edit all metadata in the outliner view.
- The development of this new version involved a lot of other improvements not documented here.

I'm so happy that DocxManager has a very flexible architecture, expect more and more features to come!

Hello,

Author here and haven't been visiting this post for over half of a year.

I'd like to let you know that DocxManager now supports viewing:
- PDF documents,
- image files, and
- plain text files.

You can open it in new tabs or in the middle pane.

Plus other features such as the "Trash" folder, quick file switcher, and so on.

If you are interested check https://docxmanager.com/news.html

FYI DocxManager is currently on sale at 50% off on Bits du Jour
https://www.bitsdujour.com/software/docxmanager-for-word/in=todays-deals-home