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Looking for a good journal application

S

skp574

macrumors 6502
Original poster
Jan 16, 2005
280
0
greenwich.london.uk
I am on the look out for a good journal type application.

I am training to be a teacher and need to file all sorts of information, things such as word documents, excel spreadsheets, PDFs, web links, web archives, etc, etc. I need to be able to tag items so I can cross reference entries.

So I am looking for an app that can handle smart folders based on criteria I specify. Also, some sort of diary facility, so I can make day to day notes would be good.

I have a ton of files that I have accumulated and need to be able to quickly find them. Using Spotlight on its own doesn't quite work for me.

If anyone has got any recommendations. I don't mind paying for a descent bit of software if it makes my life easier and I can find things.
 
You should also check out MacJournal. There's another app called SchoolHouse which you might find useful.
 
I tried several, including Journler, and found MacJournal to be the best IMHO. It is not free, but it is well worth the price, and it can be downloaded free for a trial period.
 
jbeauchamp26 said:
This is a good one I use for day-to-day note taking for scripts I write. It has a "smart playlist" feature thats really useful, as well as iLife intergration. Check it out, I hope it's what you need. http://journler.com/
Click to expand...

I recommend Journler also.
I use it to organize everything...from my blog posts to my lectures at uni, notes, to do notes, etc.

while journler is still freeware (for personal use) it will be shareware with version 2.5 according to the developer.
 
skp574 - - - -

Please let us know what you decide to use, and your reasons.

Thanks,
L
 
un1ty said:
You should also check out MacJournal. There's another app called SchoolHouse which you might find useful.
Click to expand...

last i heard, Schoolhouse had a ton of problems; it might be best to stay away from it until the developer decides he's ready to make the necessary fixes.
 
lugesm said:
skp574 - - - -

Please let us know what you decide to use, and your reasons.

Thanks,
L
Click to expand...

I have gone with Journler for the time being. First of all it is free (for the moment) so I can give it an extended test drive. So far no problems with it working in Leopard.

It seems to do everything I'm after: smart folders, tagging, spotlight integration for searching. It handles attachments the way I want: can either be imported or linked externally. I like the way that a journal entry can be contained in multiple folders, either by dragging it in there or creating a smart folder based on criteria I can specify and do it automatically.

I am working with 100 entries at the moment, but I can lay my hands on a piece of information really quickly. I don't have to hunt around in Finder to find the file I am looking for.

As a teacher, there is a wealth of information that I gather from the net. Teacher resources, lesson plans, publications, snippets from websites, I can file then the way I want and don't have to work to a set layout that an app like MacJournal seems to take.

It works with PDFs, Word docs, Excel spreadsheets, Keynote presentations, web links. It will handle any file as an attachment, but has native support for Word docs and PDFs. There is a web browser built-in so there is no need to for it to open up Safari in another window.

One nice touch is that you can open an entry in a separate floating window so it will stay on top. Great for referring to information when say word processing in NeoOffice.

Also I really like way that websites can be added as an archive so they can be viewed offline.

All in all a very good well rounded app. It does everything I require and is free. I think future releases will have a cost attached, but I will certainly be paying my way and supporting it.

One thing I have noticed is that it creates quite a large database of entries. All of my files are externally linked in their original locations, but the database is approaching 100MB in size??? Not sure why. Also there is no backup facility built-in. I would really like this option. I would hate to lose all the information I have accumulated.
 
you can export the entries in journler...
however, when you import them back the folder structure is gone and somehow the entries are imported in folders of the dates when each entry was created.
this is kind of annoying but other than that I think this piece of software is really good.
 
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