Re: [MLO] Formatting Notes

[Lisa Stroyan]

This doesn't seem to work for me; all of the formatting is stripped. Dwight, can you verify that this works for you, and if so what program are you using? I've tried open office and chrome, which will paste formatting between each other, but neither pastes formatting into MLO.

On Tue, Apr 23, 2013 at 2:04 PM, <m...@grantsmiths.org> wrote:

1.       Go to some other program like a word processor for instance, and type your note there

2.       Format it so that it looks how you want it

3.       Copy the formatted text and paste it into MLO

--
Lisa

---

Lisa Stroyan, mailto: lstr...@gmail.com

[Metta Zetty]

I couldn't get the cut-and-paste of the formatted text to work either.

What software did you use for the source file of your cut-and-paste into MLO?

With appreciation and interest,

Metta

[Dwight Arthur]

Hi, Metta. I had left some foolish suggestion in this thread about using cut and paste to introduce formatted text into a task note in MLO. The suggestion was clearly incorrect and didn't work. I have no idea why I thought it worked but clearly I was making some sort of mistake. I've deleted the original, mistaken post and I hope you (and Lisa) did not waste too much time trying to make it work.

-Dwight

On Saturday, November 15, 2014 7:28:11 PM UTC-5, Metta Zetty wrote:

I couldn't get the cut-and-paste of the formatted text to work either[. . .]

[Alexis]

Dear Dwight, I guess the urgent need to have formatted text made us believe it could work somehow! ;-)

Alex

[Metta Zetty]

Thanks for your prompt feedback, Dwight.  I do appreciate your confirmation since I had not found a way to make the cut-and-paste work  (FYI, I didn't spend much time on it at all after the 1st attempt didn't work.)

Also, FWIW, I have created a work-around for the plain text notes that I'm testing now, and so far it seems to be working pretty well.  

I am a huge fan of TheBrain software which includes a web-based option for accessing all the data in any "brain" (database) you create.  TheBrain also includes the option to create notes with full text formatting, tables, etc

-- http://thebrain.com/

What I've been doing is this:

-- For MLO tasks that don't require any note formatting, I simply use the plain text editor provided in MLO.

-- For tasks that include more data and require more complex formatting (including bullets, tables, highlights, color and bold text), I simply create my formatted note in TheBrain, and then put a link to this brain note in my MLO.

Because TheBrain provides both local and web-based URLs for every note you create, I could actually use either type of link.  However, since I run MLO from within Dropbox and I access it from 2 different computers, I've opted to use the web-based version of the brain links and this allows me to access my formatted notes in TheBrain from whatever computer I'm on.

I realize this work-around may not be an option for some people given the cost of maintaining a webbrain account:

-- http://thebrain.com/store/version-details/

However, for me TheBrain, and access to it from the web, are both indispensable -- and, paired now with MLO, this is now, without a doubt, the very best task and information management solution I've ever had. 

Hope this helps others who are looking for a formatted note work-around! :-D

Metta

[Dwight Arthur]

Hi, Metta. This sounds like a great solution for users who are redy to pay the price. It's pretty similar to what I do with Evernote. Question: does TheBrain handle attached files and inline graphics?
-Dwight
Mlo betazoid on Android sgn2

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[Alexis]

Wow, what an expensive workaround for having formatted text!  219 $ once and extra cloud costs each month.

Alex

[Holmes245]

Andrey, hint, hint. How about bringing MLO to the present and include RTF. I've been wanting formatted text for some time now and it would actually prevent me from having to create so many tasks for one task.

Joel

[Metta Zetty]

Dwight: TheBrain handles attached graphics and inline graphics beautifully -- and, IMHO, TheBrain is far more versatile and feature-rich than Evernote, but I know everyone has their preferred system.  

However, it certainly is worth checking out TheBrain since you can download and use a full-featured version for 30-days at no charge: http://www.thebrain.com/products/thebrain/download/

Alexis: Check out the preceding link. I should have pointed out earlier that after the 30-day trial (using all the "pro" features), you could actually continue using the free version of TheBrain indefinitely and still benefit from most of the Rich Text formatting TheBrain provides. (Tables are the only Rich Text feature you would lose reverting back to the free version.). 

The full price for TheBrain only applies to the "Pro" features and the "WebBrain" access which I am using, and for me, these features are well worth the price since TheBrain is The central hub out of which I do ALL my work.  

In fact, I use TheBrain for EVERYTHING except managing my daily task list (MLO) and my calendar (VueMinder):

> information management

> project management

> research

> writing

> contact management

> notes management

> file management

> bookmarks, etc.

In fact, I can't imagine how I'd work without TheBrain now that I've come to rely on it so heavily -- and realistically, after the initial purchase of the software, the actual cost of maintaining the pro features works out to only $13.25/month which I feel is an exceedingly small price to pay for the tremendous value, functionality and versatility TheBrain provides.

[Lisa Stroyan]

Ha! You know me too well :-) But have no fear, I'm barely skimming this month and next.

[John Cesta]

I rarely need any formatting. If I need extensive notes and data I use Evernote or fiinote on android and reference it in mlo.

[pottster]

I'm with you John. I used to want formatting but now I just link to CintaNotes for more comprehensive note taking which gives me superb tagging functionality as well. It's useful to have formatting stripped out when I paste into MLO notes and not have the notes become a distraction with a myriad of different font sizes and styles. Having said that, I wouldn't wish to deprive those who want it as long as it's optional i.e. destination formatting can be maintained when pasting (as in MS Office) and doesn't add significantly to the overheads of file size, performance or syncing.

[Dwight Arthur]

After further thought I've figured out what this cut/paste thing was about. You cannot enter a <tab> character in a task note. Even if you add shift, ctrl or alt in various combinations the result is to navigate around the MLO window or perhaps to other windows. However, MLO will appropriately display pasted text that includes tabs. This is useful for bulleted or numbered lists and some other fairly simple formatting. Also, once you have gotten a legit tab into your note you can use copy and paste to place it elsewhere throughout your note. 

I'm fully aware that this is not particularly easy to use, and that it is far short of a full RTF implementation. I also understand that a lot of other tab-related edits don't work, like first-line indent, first line hanging, or indent whole paragraph. However, for the user who may be frustrated by the inability to apply even the simplest of formatting to a task note, it may be a helpful workaround.

[Dwight Arthur]

In a post elsewhere Alexis notes that the secret hotkey <ctrl>-I will insert a tab.

[Stéph]

Thanks for writing what I was thinking, John and Pottster. I agree - I would want rtf to be optional. For me, MLO needs to be quick - it's not meant to be a replacement word processor and I want to spend the majority of my time carrying out my tasks, rather than managing and formatting my task management app.

(That's also the reasoning behind all my previous suggestions for shortcuts and automation of task properties, by the way.)

Stéphane

[Stéph]

Thanks for the reminder about the tab insertion hotkey that Alexis found, Dwight. I've found that pretty useful.

Another suggested work around - if you use Markdown formatting codes, there are apps which can import and recognise the Markdown instructions for bold, italic, etc. a quick MS Word recorded macro can do the same thing - converting key combinations into formatting instructions.

I often use __________ horizontal lines as dividers in my notes, as well as _underline_ and *bold* codes. These work well to give some formatting (headings) indicators to MLO notes.

Hope that helps.

Stéphane

[Dwight Arthur]

Apologies in advance for the longwinded reply that follows, I invite you to save yourself some time by skipping it.

For whoever's still here, I want to explore what it means for RTF to be optional, and also talk about how embedded graphics would allow me to spend more time getting things done and less time managing my queue of tasks.

RTF: My favorite Android email app, K@mail ("kat-mail") recently implemented RTF. It adds a row of buttons to the screen: bold, italic, underline, strikeout, superscript, subscript, font size, font color, background color. This row of buttons can be optionally hidden, which allows a slightly larger area on the screen for text composition. Hiding the buttons is not the same of opting out of the function, it just manages the limited space on the phone's screen. Even when the buttons are on display, you don't need to use them if you don't want them. If you don't use them, your text remains plain. RTF adds a small amount to the size of the message but if you don't click the buttons the added space isn't used. So, what does it really mean for it to be optional versus having it available and not using it?

About spending more time getting things done: Sometimes (frequently) I find that a picture is worth a thousand words. By snapping a picture of something that needs to be done I create a precise and complete task description in a couple of clicks, versus writing out the equivalent text which could be hundreds of clicks. When I encounter a situation which will take several tasks to resolve my preferred scenario would be:

- open a new task

- edit the note area of the task

- click on the camera icon (note: this does not yet exist)

- click to take a picture and embed it in the note

- save the task

Note that I would need to be able to see and act upon the picture across my desktop and mobile platforms.

What's available today is

- open a new note in Evernote

- click on the camera icon

- click to take a picture and embed it in the note.

- save the note.

If I decide to manage this task in Evernote I'm done. If I want to manage it in MLO I continue with the next steps

- select the saved note and click "menu"

- select the "share public link" option

- Select MLO as the target of the share

- In MLO, save the note

Managing the task in Evernote is faster but leaves me with some tasks in Evernote and some in MLO, which is undesirable. So I typically go through the somewhat-complex and timeconsuming extra steps to move it to MLO. This also leaves me with the responsibility of remembering to remove the note from Evernote after the task gets completed in MLO. This business of remembering to do your housekeeping is the opposite of the direct and efficient task management that we both prefer. 

Some of this discussion sounds as though people think the reason for formatting notes it to have artistic, well-designed, attractive notes. Maybe somebody wants that but what I want is to get more stuff done and spend less time writing out descriptions of what needs to be done.

-Dwight

[Metta Zetty]

Dwight, as always I appreciate your thoughtful and articulate feedback.  In this case, I share your question about what meaningful distinction there is between formatting being "optional" versus having it available and simply not using it.

Also, my interest in formatting has nothing to do with "artistry" and has everything to do with clarity. 

For example, for me, the bold, red and yellow highlighting options (along with manually created bullets) help in:

-- managing lists

-- segmenting chunks of task-related data, 

-- identifying questions related to the task at hand and

-- flagging critical task related issues.

For this reason, formatting actually *increases* the efficiency with which I can quickly scan and process the info in my task notes -- and, in the end, I suspect that those of us who value formatting features may simply have a more "visual" approach to processing information than others who feel no need for it at all.

[Stéph]

That's fine. As long as I can hide the formatting buttons, I'd be happy. In the end, I bet I'd find myself using a bit of bold and some bullet points. I'd be concerned about the effect of inserting pictures, potentially bloating and slowing my outline file, though.

[Dwight Arthur]

Hi, MLOers. I wanted to let you know that I have submitted a request via the beta testers forum for RTF implementation. For those of you who are beta testers (you know who you are), you can find this as request number 188 in JIRA.

-Dwight

On Tuesday, April 23, 2013 3:59:36 AM UTC-4, Pierrick Honorez wrote:

Hi,

I just want to know how to formating notes like bold, italic, font size in the notes of a task.

Thanks a lot for your answer:)

[Brian Tinkler]

Thank you!  That's been a pain of mine forever.

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[Metta Zetty]

Thanks, Dwight, for initiating this request.  Many of us appreciate your efforts, and we will be looking forward to any updates and progress reports on possible RTF formatting options.