December 11, 2016

Notebooks a Multi-Pronged Toolset for macOS and iOS

Notebooks Icon

Product: Notebooks 8
Price: $6.99
In-App Purchase: PDF Reader($2.99)

Product: Notebooks for Mac
Price: $19.99

Notebooks is a product which has been around for a while, but it doesn’t get anywhere near the kind of love that it’s due.

The initial release of Notebooks was on iOS and then came the macOS version. The iOS version has more features than the macOS version. I am going to write about the macOS version first and then include some thoughts on the iOS version. Interestingly Notebooks is available for Windows. I have no interest in testing that out, but it is available for those of you saddled with that particular beast.

Conceptually Notebooks is a collection of multiple apps. In no particular order of importance, these are the kind of apps whose functionality is included in Notebooks:

Notetaker: Allows you to take plain text notes.
Markdown Editor: Notebooks can be used as a full-featured markdown editor for text files. This is the task I use the program the most for.
Task Manager: Allows you to create and maintain task lists characterized by boxes you can tick when you complete tasks.
Word Processor: Allows to create and format styled rich documents.
File Storage: You can use Notebooks as a file storage system. It allows you to import text, HTML, RTF, PDF, MS Office, Apple iWork documents, iPhone and iPad notes, Palm memos, pictures, websites, web archives, audio files and videos. You can use Notebooks as a portable knowledge base.
HTML to Markdown Converter: Notebooks lets you convert between HTML and Markdown.
Clipboard Manager: On iOS, you can create new documents from the contents of your clipboard.
PDF Converter: You can convert any document or group of documents to PDF.
eBook Converter: On iOS, any document or group of documents can be converted into ebooks.

One of the reasons why Notebooks doesn’t garner more attention is because it is difficult to slot it into a particular category. Specifically it is easier to write about a task manager or a markdown editor. Notebooks versatility makes the product difficult to describe. The good news is that you can just start using the product features which make sense to you and then incorporate other features as your needs change or grow. It is a stable, well designed application on both iOS and macOS, and it deserves more love.

The macOS Notebook

Three-paned Notebooks

Notebooks has a three paned design. A list of folders which are called books in Notebooks, followed by a list of individual files in a specific book, and the editor window displaying the contents of a selected file.

The editor window is where most of the work gets done and it has the choice of a nice notebook background. It has a running word and character count.

Notebooks Preferences

The preferences of Notebooks are well thought out. I am going to go through some of the choices which make me like this application.

Markdown as Default

The ability to assign a Markdown document as the default document type in Notebooks is appreciated. The other choices are plain text and formatted.

Notebooks Font Choices

I like the ability to choose my own font. I like writing in Operator Mono and I am happier when I can see my words in that font.

Notebooks Backgrounds

There are a few backgrounds you can choose from in the editor window and I like the lined-notebook ones.

Notebooks Lined Backgrounds

Notebooks Auto-Saves

I like that Notebooks automatically saves my documents and I don’t have to be worried about that.

Notebooks Full Screen

Notebooks has a nice full screen mode. The one thing it is missing is typewriter scrolling. But it is a clean window to work in and it is a pleasure to see full screen mode implemented well for large screens.

Notebooks is distinguished by the use of plain text files. All the files created by Notebooks can be plain text files. It does not tie you to a proprietary file format or a proprietary database format. For those of us who are living in text files, this is a product feature whose absence is a deal breaker. I am glad to be able to use my existing text files in Notebooks. I am elated that the documents I produce in this application are accessible to any other program I choose to use.

Task Manager

Notebooks has an interesting implementation of a Task Manager. You can create a folder and within that you can have multiple folders. Each of these nested folders can be designated as a Tasklist.

Notebooks as Tasklists

⌃+Click on the folder title, you are going to get a dropdown menu. Choose Show as Tasklist. You can create individual tasks within the folder. Each of these tasks is an individual file. You can write in it.

Notebooks Task List of Blog Entries

I maintain a task list for the blog. Firstly I decide on a topic for the blog, I make a new document in my task list. I write the first line, a header for the topic. I input the relevant URL’s I need to talk about or link to. I can start writing in this document. It is like a task list and document for the topic all in one. At any given point in time, I have twenty or more of these blog articles I want to write.

Notebooks Color Label Tasks

I color label them depending on where they are in the workflow. Red for articles which are being worked on now. Green for articles which are ready. Yellow for articles which are in process. Without the aid of Notebook, I would have a hard time figuring out what I need to work on and what is the progress on each of these topics. In Notebook they are all in the same file. One glance and I am ready to write and/or edit and the process of preparing articles for the blog moves along.

Notebooks Status of Tasks

Clicking on the round circle next to the title changes the status of the task. You can switch between open, started, done, or cancelled to denote the status of the task. Gives you a sense of where you are in the process. I sort the list manually. The tasks I am working on are on top, followed by the tasks I have decided to do, but haven’t started, followed by the tasks which are done and then the ones I have canceled or given up on.

Notebooks Set Due Date

⌃+Click on the document in the file list and you get the above drop-down menu. This has a few interesting choices. The first one is Set Due Date…. You can set a due date for the task.

I love the Task Manager component of Notebook.

Other Comments

An interesting choice in the drop-down menu from above is Open(⌘O). The markdown file opens in the markdown editor you have assigned in your system. In my case, the file opens in iA Writer. So, I can keep writing in my chosen editing environment and the file gets updated in Notebooks. Notebooks supports Markdown but it is better implemented in iA Writer. So, I switch to iA Writer to write when I know I am going to be dealing with a lot of links and images and edits. Notebooks lets me use iA Writer to edit and work on the file and does it seamlessly. I love this feature.

Notebooks supports document syncing through Dropbox. It works reliably and it makes it possible to work on the same document through multiple devices.

One of the problems with Notebooks having a dedicated folder irrespective of where you host it is that you might be already using a system of dedicated folders to host your text files. Would you have to change it to incorporate Notebooks into your work flow? The answer is that you don’t have to change anything. In the Notebooks folder make aliases of the folders that you normally work in. For instance, I have a notes folder in Dropbox. It has all my notes. All 3000+ of them, at this point. I manage this folder in nvALT. How do I bring them into Notebooks? Simple I make an alias of the notes folder and put it in the Notebooks folder. That is it. All files added, or edited in nvALT are now available to Notebooks. Conversely, when I choose to add, or edit something to/in this notes folder in Notebooks, those files with its changes are also available to nvALT.

Note: You make an alias of a folder by highlighting the folder in the Finder and typing the keyboard command ⌘+L. This creates the alias. It has an icon with an arrow in it. The file name is highlighted, you can choose to change the name and then drag it into the Notebooks folder. Conversely you can also hold the ⌘ and ⌥ keys and drag the folder into the Notebooks folder. This will make an alias which points to the original folder.

Notebooks is feature rich and you might find other uses for it which I have not covered. I suggest you start using it and you will find new and interesting uses of what is essentially a knowledge manager.

At this point the three features I like most in Notebooks for the Mac are:

All of the files created by Notebooks can be plain text files. So, I am not tied into any one program and my repository of text files continues to be useful. There is no proprietary file format or proprietary database format to be worried about.
The interface is lovely to work in.
Managing writing tasks in it using the Task Manager feature.

The developers have two versions of their Notebooks for the Mac. One is available from the App Store and the other is available directly from them. The direct version is not saddled with the limitations of sandboxing. What that means is that the direct version has the ability to support folders of files stored anywhere on the computer. The App Store version needs to have all of its files residing on the assigned folder for Notebooks. My recommendation is to buy the direct version. If you already have the App Store version, you can ask the developer to change the registration to a direct version. It is a simple process, you send the developer a pdf file of the receipt of your purchase from the App Store and the developer issues you a license file for the direct version.

Suggested Improvements to the macOS Version

Typewriter scrolling. I would love it if the editor window gave me the option of using typewriter scrolling. I am used to this feature and hate looking at the bottom of the document when I am writing in Notebooks.
Focus Features: Writing environments provide the ability to focus on the sentence you are working on, or the paragraph you are working on. Would love to have this included in Notebooks.
Grammar Check: Notebooks automatically checks the grammar of the content you are working on. It uses the system feature and puts a green squiggly line under content it thinks is not grammatically correct. I would like an explicit option of turning this stuff off and on. Ideally I work best with spell checking turned on and grammar checking turned off. I would like these choices to be explicit. I can reach these options now by ⌃+Clicking the editor window, and choose the options, but it doesn’t provide me with any visual feedback on what is selected and what is turned off (see the screenshot below)

Notebooks Missing Feedback

iOS version

Notebooks iOS Version

The iOS version is more capable than the macOS version.

Thanks to Dropbox syncing, the documents you are working on are available on all your devices. It works seamlessly and it is a pleasure to work in. In no particular order these are the many things that I like about the iOS version of Notebooks:

The iOS version lets me use Operator Mono which is made available by AnyFont.
The ability to control the spacing between lines is also much appreciated. I wish I had the same control in the macOS version.
The integration with TextExpander is welcome.
The extra keyboard bar when you are using a Bluetooth keyboard is useful.
The environment is great for writing.
You can password protect specific books. This is an iOS only feature.
You can read and annotate PDF files. This is an in-App purchase of $2.99

To improve your use of the iOS version, you need to download the Handbook. It is a comprehensive look at the features of the iOS version and it is going to help you learn how to use the program. I am not going to repeat the contents here. Go through the Handbook and you will discover that this is an unique program on iOS, and can claim to be a well-designed, document managing, knowledge base for your use.

I heartily recommend both the macOS and the iOS versions.

macosxguru at the gmail thingie

Markdown Task Manager macOS iOS

December 9, 2016

A List of Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season

To help you in the act of shopping. Here are some suggestions.

Software Gifts for Wanna-Be Geeks

Every aspiring geek needs some automation in their workflow. These three tools help that quest.

Software Gifts for the Aspiring Writer

An environment to write in. If they are interested in writing for the web, the product to give them is iA Writer. If they are interested in any other kind of writing, Ulysses is the answer.

iA Writer $9.99
Ulysses $44.99

Software Gifts for Readers

For the Mac user who loves reading, PDF Expert 2 to deal with pdf files. Clearview for everything else.

PDF Expert 2 $59.99
Clearview $9.99

Software Gifts for Thinkers

Every thinker would be happy with tools that help them think. An outliner and a mind map program.

OutlineEdit Free for the time being
iThoughtsX $49.99

Cloud Storage Gifts

Every aspiring geek needs to have some cloud storage.

Dropbox $99 per year
iCloud Ranges between $0.99/month to $19.99/month

Gifts for the Coffee Lover

The OXO is new and getting some very good reviews. The Aeropress is tried and tested. Can’t go wrong with either.

OXO On Barista Brain 9 Cup Coffee Maker $179.99
Aeropress Coffee and Espresso Maker $29.95

Gifts To Enhance Sounds

Envelop the recipient in sounds.

Code or Words Delivery Device

The keyboard. A geek needs a good one. The choices are between an 87-key and a full-sized one.

Aspiring Geeks Need Food Too

This is for the cooks amongst the aspiring geeks.

Stationery for the Unpretentious

You can spend some serious money on stationery or you can buy stuff which works without pretensions. These are for the unpretentious geek.

Some Music to Soothe a Soul

Esoteric sounds for the aspiring geek.

Books, Simply Because the World Can Be Improved by More Informed Folks

Two history books. One of them a comic. The other is fiction. If you haven’t read the Harry Potter series, I don’t even want to know you.

Everyone Should Read This

Whatever you do in life. You will have to write. A few sentences. A few paragraphs. A report. A book. Read this to avoid accidents.

The Accidents of Style: Good Advice on How Not to Write Badly $19.58

May your shopping be fruitful and appreciated. Merry Christmas folks.

macosxguru at the gmail thingie

Gifts Holidays

December 7, 2016

Caret, the Multi-Platform Markdown Editor, Shines on macOS

Caret icon

Product: Caret
Price: $15

A cross-platform markdown editor, Caret is an interesting new entrant in the markdown based text editor category.

If iA Writer is the markdown solution for writers, Caret and Typora are two examples of markdown editors for the more technical writer. Since Typora is in beta, I am not going to talk about it here. I am going to concentrate on Caret in this article.

Caret supports the original Markdown and the Github Flavored Markdown specifications. It is a complete markdown based writing solution with some interesting extras.

In addition to the usual Markdown syntax (bold, italic, links and images), Caret provides syntax highlighting for:

inline math
block math
footnotes
table of contents
YAML front matter

One of the areas Caret shines in is the assistance it provides in writing markdown syntax.

A feature in Caret, I love, is the ability to highlight a word and paste a URL on it, to form a link. The application encloses the highlighted word in square brackets and then encloses the URL in brackets and pastes it right next to the closing square bracket. It is an obvious and intuitive solution to making links in markdown and now I wonder why this is not supported by other editors.

To illustrate contrasting approaches to this task of adding links I am going to explain the process in iA Writer and Caret.

In iA Writer, I copy a URL, highlight a word and press ⌘+K, which is the keyboard command for links, the application encloses the highlighted word in [] brackets, and puts the URL next to it, after enclosing the URL with () brackets.

In Caret, I highlight a word and paste the URL on the word, the program encloses the highlighted word in [] brackets and pastes the URL enclosed in () right next to it. In Caret, highlighting a word and pressing ⌘+K, encloses the word in [] brackets and the application inputs the () next to it with the cursor in the middle of the brackets waiting for the URL.

Both of these approaches are great ways of making URL links in markdown. These are the touches which make both Caret and iA Writer an absolute pleasure to write Markdown in.

Caret makes the process of creating tables in Markdown pleasurable. It continuously helps you in the process by resizing the table as you type, creates new rows when you hit enter, and on the whole makes the onerous task of creating tables in markdown easy.

Caret treats images in the same intuitive way as links. You can drag and drop an image onto the text for a link to the image.

Caret autocompletes emoji, local paths, and languages in code blocks.

As an editor, Caret is chockfull of little touches which make it a pleasure to work in. I am going to highlight a few of those I am particularly fond of:

Spelling Correction

When you make a spelling mistake, hitting ⌥+Enter gives you the option of fixing the error. You don’t have to go to the mouse or trackpad for this. Hands on keyboard, fixing errors. Fantastic.

Counts

Caret Counts

On the top right corner of your editing window is a counter, it gives you a toggle between word count, character count, and reading time.

Multiple Cursors

I saw this first in Sublime Text. It is now in Caret. You can hold on to the ⌥ key and click in multiple places in your document to get multiple cursors, or you can press ⌃+D to highlight multiple occurrences of the same word or symbol to get multiple cursors. You can type ⌃+U to unselect the last one selected. Multiple cursors are an absolute god send to the task of editing. You are so going to get used to this.

Quick Context

You reach this through ⌥Enter. These are the things you can do with the Quick Context command:

fix spelling
search for selected text on Google
check / uncheck task items
convert list to ordered / unordered / task
convert reference link to inline
visit link
go to link definition (reference)
go to footnote

Another little feature which enhances the pleasure of using Caret. These are useful to have at the touch of a keyboard command.

Caret File Browser

⌘T gives you a file browser. Right in the middle of the document you are working on. Makes the file browser an integral part of your workflow. Not having used DOS or Windows machines for almost 25 years now, it was a bit of a shock to see this, but it is a great way of traversing the file system and finding the right file I was looking for. You can just start typing the name of the file to find the exact one you are looking for in this list.

Caret Recent Files

⌘E gives you a listing of the recent files you have worked in. Again a great way of getting what you are looking for without using the mouse.

Autosave

Caret autosaves your documents, so you don’t have to worry about losing your work.

Assorted Things Which I Like About Caret

The developers are very responsive to both bug reports and feature requests.
They maintain a github presence where you can raise issues you have with Caret. It has an active developer presence and is a great place to visit to read other Caret users suggestions for the product and the developers reaction.
I like typewriter mode and focus mode. Typewriter mode gives me the ability to type in the middle of the screen and focus mode highlights the current paragraph and dims the rest of the document.
Unlike most other Markdown editors, Caret makes making numbered lists easier. In most other editors if you have a numbered list adding items to the middle of the list screws up the numbering scheme. Not Caret. It dynamically changes the numbers of the items to give you a numerically exact list.
I like full screen mode in Caret, coupled with typewriter mode and focus mode, it is a great way to write.
I love the Go To commands. ⌘+G to jump to different headers of the document. ⌘+[ to go to the Start of a Block or ⌘+] to go to the End of the Block.
I like how the path of the file I am working on is displayed in the title of the window I am in.

Caret Path Indicator

Suggested Improvements

Caret doesn’t support the system settings of two spaces to period, and automatically capitalizing the first letter of a sentence. I wish they would do that. This feature is supported by iA Writer and I am getting used to this. I have to change my typing behavior when I come to Caret and that is a difficult thing to do.
Caret forces me to use the fonts that are included. Only three of them are included and I have my own monospace fonts I am fond of. The developer suggests that this is something that is on the roadmap for the product. It can’t come soon enough for me.
Needs better documentation. Finding all the keyboard commands is a pain. I made a first stab at listing the keyboard commands here.
I would like some control over the line spacing and paragraph spacing. The content is slightly crunched. Maybe there is nothing wrong with the spacing and I am just getting old. But my tired old eyes would like some control over spacing of both paragraphs and lines. Of course, increasing the font size helps that process.

Recommendations

Caret is an innovative Markdown based text editor which brings some of its multi-platform ethos to the Mac marketplace. I love the product. I recommend it heartily for anyone looking for a Markdown editor.

Update

Changed the punctuation in the title.
Changed “an URL” to “a URL.”

macosxguru at the gmail thingie

Markdown Caret macOS

December 4, 2016

Winston the Typewriter Simulator - Gimmicky but Useful

Winston Icon

Product: Winston
Price: Free

I like typewriter scrolling. Ulysses has the best approach to typewriter scrolling that I have come across in text editors. Using Winston reminded me that true typewriter scrolling is different from the way it is implemented in text editors.

Let me explain. In a text editor like Ulysses, the point of concentration is a line. The cursor moves across a line till it reaches the end of the line and then on the next line, the focus is on the same spot on the page, where we have a new line. Typewriters don’t work like that. Typewriters focus on a spot. One spot. The paper moves along in the background letting you type on the same spot. The spot doesn’t move. The paper does.

Winston the Typewriter

I came across an application called Winston which is a text editor/typewriter simulator.

Winston Preferences

You get to customize some aspects of the experience:

The paper you use
The sounds
The type
Choose the animations that you want to see and turn off the ones you don’t care for.
Choose whether you want to auto wrap your text.
Choose whether you can amend text or not.
Show or hide the text cursor.

Winston gives you true typewriter scrolling. The focus is on one spot. The page moves behind the spot, like in a typewriter. It is an unique experience and I must say I like it. It is a gimmick. But it works for me. There is nothing else to the program. You get to save documents in its proprietary format and you get to export to a text file. There are some export options but they are meaningless. You are going to open the file in a text editor and deal with the text and the editing of the text there. So, you will not miss the lack of options on export.

How would I improve the product?

Allow me the ability to add text by copy and paste. Copy and paste text into Winston and out of it.
Fix the bugs.
Support text expansion. Since you don’t allow copy and paste, text expansions from Alfred or aText or TextExpander don’t work.
Support the text expansion from macOS. In macOS, two spacebar is equal to a period. I also get auto-capitalization in macOS. So, I can be sloppy and not worry about capitalizing the first letter in a new sentence. Makes the process of writing easier.

My suggestions are fringe use cases. The basic purpose of the product is typewriter simulation and it does a fantastic job of that. My suggestions are movements away from the typewriter simulation part of the product feature set. Might be a good thing to do but it will hurt the whole ethos of a typewriter. My only excuse is that this is a digital typewriter and probably can improve on an analog one.

Winston is recommended.

macosxguru at the gmail thingie

Writing macOS Typewriter

November 30, 2016

Keynote Extractor Is a Better HTML Export for Keynote

Keynote Extractor Icon

Product: HTML Extractor for Keynote
Price: Free

Keynote Extractor is “a better HTML export for Keynote.”

Keynote Extractor extracts a mobile-friendly package of images, html files and css files which turn your keynote presentation into a web presentation.

It displays the images right next to your notes and gives you a pretty presentation for the web. For an interesting example of its output go here.

It is an useful application.

I found the story behind the application to be particularly informative. Read story here.

I recommend the product heartily.

macosxguru at the gmail thingie

Keynote macOS

← Newer Page 37 of 56 Older →

Notebooks a Multi-Pronged Toolset for macOS and iOS

The macOS Notebook

Task Manager

Other Comments

Suggested Improvements to the macOS Version

iOS version

A List of Gift Ideas for the Holiday Season

Software Gifts for Wanna-Be Geeks

Software Gifts for the Aspiring Writer

Software Gifts for Readers

Software Gifts for Thinkers

Cloud Storage Gifts

Gifts for the Coffee Lover

Gifts To Enhance Sounds

Code or Words Delivery Device

Aspiring Geeks Need Food Too

Stationery for the Unpretentious

Some Music to Soothe a Soul

Books, Simply Because the World Can Be Improved by More Informed Folks

Everyone Should Read This

Caret, the Multi-Platform Markdown Editor, Shines on macOS

Spelling Correction

Counts

Multiple Cursors

Quick Context

File Navigation

Autosave

Assorted Things Which I Like About Caret

Suggested Improvements

Recommendations

Update

Winston the Typewriter Simulator - Gimmicky but Useful

Keynote Extractor Is a Better HTML Export for Keynote

Suggested Improvements to the macOS Version