Android - Evernote Note Links

[Scott Bray]

I use MLO on the PC and Android quite extensively (and love it!).

I also use Evernote as my tool for collection and simple organization.

When I capture a thought/task, it goes right to Evernote (99% of the time).  During review periods, I then review my Evernote notes and if a note is actionable, I simply copy the Evernote Note Link into a new (or existing) MLO task.

All good so far.

If I use MLO on the PC, I can access the note pretty easily by simply copying the Evernote Link (select + CTRL+C), pasting it into a Run command (Windows + R), and executing.  I have also tried the "file://" method and felt that although good on Windows, it may not be compatible with other platforms (and simply got tired doing this).

On Android, the Evernote Link within the task is not usable.  Parts of the Note Link are linked to other applications (like numbers to the Phone app), but this is just the OS taking guesses.

REQUEST:  It would be ideal if both the MLO Desktop App and Android App could treat Evernote Links (and OneNote links) as hyperlinked 'first-class' citizens.  This would make workflow so much easier by allowing users to simply click the link and open the content.

Please let me know if there is a more formal/appropriate way of requesting features.

Thanks!

  

[Dwight]

Hi, Scott. Like you, I use MLO and Evernote on Windows and Android quite extensively, so I will try to answer your questions.

 

First question, what’s the most effective way to submit enhancement requests? There are basically three channels available to you. First, you can post your idea to mlo.uservoice.com – this website was set up specifically to publicize suggestions from users such as yourself. Other users vote on which suggestions they would like to see implemented, giving the developers a way to tell which suggestions have broad appeal. Opinions vary as to the effectiveness of posting to uservoice – among other problems, new ideas are buried under a lot of older ideas, some of which are quite popular. Until a new idea somehow gets enough votes to get onto the first page (somewhat more than 50 votes) few users will even see it. Also, sometimes there are duplicate ideas and that splits the vote for the idea.

 

Second option is to discuss it here, like you are doing. Ideally you will attract several other people to join the discussion with you, proposing and discussing alternative solutions until one idea emerges as effective and not too expensive to build and without negative side effects on other users. Then the idea needs to get posted as an enhancement request on JIRA, the change management system used by MLO developers. Active participants in MLO beta testing have access to JIRA, you can either appeal to beta testers who have joined your discussion to post it for you, or you could volunteer to do beta testing and post it yourself.

 

Third option is to mail it directly in to the developers at sup...@mylifeorganized.net – this is not recommended for requests for new functionality as there’s no indicator of whether other users support your request and no discussion to show that your idea has been really thought through. This channel is more for when a change to MLO or to the environment(s) in which it runs makes it difficult or impossible to use,and you think that the developers would want to know so they could fix it right away.

 

My opinion wopuld be that you should use option 2 for this idea.

 

Here are my comments on your idea itself.

The link that you are talking about is the location within the file system of your PC of a file containing the selected note. That file location is essentially unusable from within MLO for Android. If you go into Evernote on Android and  use SHARE to send the note to MLO, the link MLO gets will point to the location within the file system of your phone of a file containing the selected note. That file location is essentially unusable from within MLO for Windows. Evernote takes care of keeping the Windows file and the Android file synchronized but each file is accessible only within its own system. In order for MLO to honor links of this type you would need a hybrid link that would contain the Windows address and the Android address within a single link. Evernote does not provide such links.

 

The published of Evernote recognized this issue and addressed it as follows: If you highlight a note and then select “Copy Note URL to clipboard” from the SHARE menu, Evernote will copy the selected note to a website and pass you a URL that you can paste into the Note of an MLO Task and use easily from MLO on any platform. The drawback is that it’s an unsecured website, which means that it would be a bad place for notes containing your online banking password or your company’s three year plan to annihilate the competition. RSVP and please let us know if this would work for you.

Thanks,

-Dwight

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[Scott Bray]

Dwight, thanks very much for the guidance on posting suggestions.

Regarding Evernote links, the Copy Note URL to Clipboard method works very well for certain types of notes - thanks for bring this to my attention.

Here are my (modified) rules for capture and reference using Evernote.  I capture most things into an Evernote "Inbox" and then process the Inbox content every night.  For things I find actionable:

• When capturing a simple reference (like a URL to an article) within Evernote, I simply create a new MLO Task and embed the article link in the task Note (instead of the Evernote link).  This provides a direct reference to the article.
• When capturing more complex notes (e-mails, thoughts, PDFs, things without links) within Evernote, I will use the Copy Note URL to Clipboard method - if the content is not sensitive.
• In all cases, I make the MLO Task name the same as the Evernote Note title which enables me to use the search facility within Evernote to access the note (for example, if I am offline).

For now, this method works with my system (and is light-weight).  Someday, maybe tighter integration will make sense.

Scott