Notebook Data Online

mojen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:38:53 +0000

I’m a long-time user of Notebook but it’s becoming increasingly difficult for me not to be able to update my data online.

Does anyone have any other solutions for exporting Notebook data into something that can actually be edited online?

Thanks in advance,

Fred B First commented

Fred B First — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 17:43:36 +0000

I’ve been using a notebook file (my main notebook) on the laptop or desktop by setting the file up in Dropbox so I can access that file from home or on the road. I know this isn’t the same as checking your notebook from a coffeehouse computer.

The other possibility is to set up Evernote notebooks for those topics you need web-accessible, then link to them (save the EN file name in spotlight) from within the CP NOtebook file. It’s a compromise.

And with the first method, I have to remember to CLOSE CPNB at home so I can access the notebook from the laptop, as only one copy can be run at a time.

Had to call my wife and try (and fail) to talk her through shutting down CPNP from the road last week. It wasn’t pretty.

mojen commented

mojen — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 23:31:08 +0000

Thanks for your reply, Fred. I know your pain – I’ve tried to open the application on multiple computers on numerous occasions.

I use the Dropbox method as well. But lately I’m on the go mostly without my laptop. I carry my iPod Touch and a Nokia E71 which is my mobile Wifi hotspot.

I use Omnifocus to keep me organized and Notebook as my permanent storage repository. Dropbox and Omnifocus have iPhone apps which suit me perfectly but Notebook and iPhone don’t seem to be a mtach that’s going to happen.

So I’m stuck – I have all of my reference data perfectly organized in a desktop application that I really like but I have to keep making websites or exporting PDFs in order to take it with me unless I have my laptop.

I am just now exploring Evernote, but of course the first thing I didn’t like was the user interface because it says it is a notebook but it doesn’t look like a notebook. I want my three-ring binder back. ;-) Sigh. It’s the simple things, really.

So if anyone has any suggestions, please feel free to post. All thoughts are greatly appreciated.

ptram commented

ptram — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:19:44 +0000

Mojen,

When I need a NoteBook archive, I export (as you suggest) as a web site. Since I don’t need to update my NB files while on the go, I’ve not yet felt a need for syncronization.

Notes on the go are taken in another app, for example a text editor called LightNotepad on the Nokia, and then copied in NoteBook and resorted; or with the usual paper notebooks. Entering notes in NB later is in any case a necessary step of revision.

Since the request for syncronization appears often, can I ask how other works with their notebooks, and how syncing would be useful?

Paolo

mojen commented

mojen — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:08:10 +0000

Paolo,

I use my notebooks to store client data that I reference when I am at a client’s location. Sometimes I’m onsite and need to change something in a particular notebook. As I can’t edit it, I have to write the update in another application, update the notebook when I get home, and then re-export the notebook to a website again.

This process is too cumbersome and prone to error (i.e., forgetting to type in an update or forgetting to export the website again after a change is made ).

I don’t expect that any application can cater to everyone’s specific usage habits. I was just wondering if anyone else encountered this problem with Notebook and how they worked around it.

ptram commented

ptram — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:18:16 +0000

Thank you Mojen. I have never felt the need for your type of immediate syncronization, because I admit that (1) I prefer to pass through a revision phase of all the notes and appointments I take when out of my office, and (2) most of the notes I take out of the office are long meeting or lesson sessions, that require revising in any case.

But I understand that you are doing a massive amount of on-field data collection, that would make my type of use very time consuming. Syncing/merging between notebooks would actually be a time saver for you.

Paolo