Which note organizing software?

Joanna · 02-24-2012, 10:13 PM

Now that I've found my perfect e-book management software (= Calibre), I've started looking for my perfect note organizer. I spent literally quite hours googling, reading and downloading, and I am still not there.

So I thought perhaps someone here could share his/her solution (WinXP compatible) or recommend me some good forums to ask about it.

I don't think I have high expectations but they're quite specific, especially in terms of notes' structure.

I'd like to have a tree-like stucture with categories, subcategories etc. and in the same time the possibility to add tags and search for them. Most apps offer onde of these approaches only. I would need to view notes chronologically as well (a little calendar, where you can click on the day and see all notes created/modified in a given day, would be just perfect).

There should be some way to get the notes synced on two computers (e.g. a portable app stored in Dropbox, or regular app with notes being stored in Dropbox). Plus, the application should be light.

It would be nice (but not necessary) to be able to add some attachments to the notes (or have some workaround with links to the files on the hard drive), and to link one note to another.

I don't care about formating features.

I would prefer software that is free of charge but would consider paying provided that I could test the application before making a decision.

I'm sorry if it is a wrong place to ask, and I would appreciate any help.

Billi · 02-25-2012, 04:07 AM

I like the German program Zettelkasten very much. It's free, works with WindowsXP, it has an English version and website too, but maybe it is a little bit too big for your needs. It is not exactly light. Anyway, if you want to inform yourself about it, here is a link:

http://zettelkasten.danielluedecke.de/en/index.php

Joanna · 02-25-2012, 07:44 AM

Vielen Dank für den Tipp!
I think it is slightly too much for my current purpose (I basically need something to store and catalogue all my little notes that I would usually take in some random .txt files all over my hard drive) but it seems like a great program for structuring a research project, and that's what I'm looking for right now as well (which is a difficult quest BTW, as I'm still not sure what features and structure I need there).

In the meantime, I've managed to find a program which comes quite close to my expectations: TreeDBNotes 4 (the free version). It seems to have all the features I've enumarated, with the exception of a calendar-like view of notes. Other than that, the number of features is really impressive.

Still, I'm not sure if I am going to use it because it seems to have quite a counter-intuitive interface. There are plenty of tiny little things that work in a slightly different way I would expect them to (e.g. you need the right-click context menu to access most options, such as deleting a note - where pressing "Delete" is just enough in most software I know etc.). However, the program is highly customizable, with all keyboard shortcuts to define and menus to configure, so perhaps it just has a steep learning curve, plus you need some time to customize it and make it work for you the way you want. I'm still not sure whether I have enough time and patience for that or not, though.

02-24-2012, 10:13 PM	#1
Joanna Groupie Posts: 199 Karma: 76476 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Poland Device: none	Which note organizing software? Now that I've found my perfect e-book management software (= Calibre), I've started looking for my perfect note organizer. I spent literally quite hours googling, reading and downloading, and I am still not there. So I thought perhaps someone here could share his/her solution (WinXP compatible) or recommend me some good forums to ask about it. I don't think I have high expectations but they're quite specific, especially in terms of notes' structure. I'd like to have a tree-like stucture with categories, subcategories etc. and in the same time the possibility to add tags and search for them. Most apps offer onde of these approaches only. I would need to view notes chronologically as well (a little calendar, where you can click on the day and see all notes created/modified in a given day, would be just perfect). There should be some way to get the notes synced on two computers (e.g. a portable app stored in Dropbox, or regular app with notes being stored in Dropbox). Plus, the application should be light. It would be nice (but not necessary) to be able to add some attachments to the notes (or have some workaround with links to the files on the hard drive), and to link one note to another. I don't care about formating features. I would prefer software that is free of charge but would consider paying provided that I could test the application before making a decision. I'm sorry if it is a wrong place to ask, and I would appreciate any help. Last edited by Joanna; 02-24-2012 at 10:16 PM.

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02-25-2012, 04:07 AM	#2
Billi Wizard Posts: 3,388 Karma: 14190103 Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Berlin Device: Cybook, iRex, PB, Onyx	I like the German program Zettelkasten very much. It's free, works with WindowsXP, it has an English version and website too, but maybe it is a little bit too big for your needs. It is not exactly light. Anyway, if you want to inform yourself about it, here is a link: http://zettelkasten.danielluedecke.de/en/index.php

02-25-2012, 07:44 AM	#3
Joanna Groupie Posts: 199 Karma: 76476 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Poland Device: none	Vielen Dank für den Tipp! I think it is slightly too much for my current purpose (I basically need something to store and catalogue all my little notes that I would usually take in some random .txt files all over my hard drive) but it seems like a great program for structuring a research project, and that's what I'm looking for right now as well (which is a difficult quest BTW, as I'm still not sure what features and structure I need there). In the meantime, I've managed to find a program which comes quite close to my expectations: TreeDBNotes 4 (the free version). It seems to have all the features I've enumarated, with the exception of a calendar-like view of notes. Other than that, the number of features is really impressive. Still, I'm not sure if I am going to use it because it seems to have quite a counter-intuitive interface. There are plenty of tiny little things that work in a slightly different way I would expect them to (e.g. you need the right-click context menu to access most options, such as deleting a note - where pressing "Delete" is just enough in most software I know etc.). However, the program is highly customizable, with all keyboard shortcuts to define and menus to configure, so perhaps it just has a steep learning curve, plus you need some time to customize it and make it work for you the way you want. I'm still not sure whether I have enough time and patience for that or not, though.

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