MyInfo 7 on BitsDuJour

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Posted by Lb
Jun 7, 2022 at 01:00 AM

Talking about MyInfo 7, noticed it’ll be on sale at BisDuJour.

https://www.bitsdujour.com/pc-download

Posted by Nomatica
Jun 8, 2022 at 05:08 AM

I am curious who is using this and their thoughts on it?

Posted by megatron
Jun 8, 2022 at 06:43 PM

I use MyInfo for some of my information needs.

Version 7.0 was released at the end of 2020, which had a UI and storage format overhaul. I liked the new UI and the storage format is database-backed and can handle a tree with 4,000 documents I imported without issues. Version 7.0 was lacking in features relative to the 6.X branch. The fourth point release (7.3) of the 7.X series came out very recently. The point releases added web clipping, backlinks, and the ability to open documents in multiple windows. I’ve been very happy with the progress since the initial release.

Each notebook is a separate database file on the system, which is convenient for ensuring there is no overlap between work or personal. Notebooks have tabs and each tab features a tree editor used for structuring notes. The user can add metadata to notes that are displayed in the tree to assist with sorting, filtering, or conditionally formatting the entries. I use conditional formatting often to highlight tasks that are due soon or external documents - it is a flexible feature. There is a concept of views that are saved combinations of grouping, filtering, and sorting notes. For example, one could have a task view that filters down to task-type notes and groups on task owner and displays the due date. There is a templating system that allows you to create forms for certain types of notes, assign metadata, and apply icons. I find this part of the system klunky. It takes many mouse clicks to create a new note with the desired template and it is challenging to switch a note from one type to another.

The note editor uses the same framework as Evernote prior to the electron rewrite. On the positive side any content can be cut and pasted into the editor and render correctly. On the downside, All fonts look washed out, and you can paste formats into the editor that cannot be deleted or changed. The editor has a styles system that allows you to customize the font and has a few basic paragraph formats. Tables are present and they look and feel like MS Word. Images are displayed inline. I don’t like is how the editor takes the entire window width, which can be much too wide to read comfortably. I sometimes add panes to get a read-able width.

I very much like how you can drop text, PDF, HTML, or MS Office documents into the tree. MyInfo indexes the contents of the files. In this regard, it would be appropriate to manage a large library of documents and allow for full text search.

Export options are okay - there is text, docx, or HTML export. You will always be able to access your notes, but you may not be able to edit them, so there is an element of lock in.

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