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eclipse

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 18, 2005
986
13
Sydney
Hi all,
I've been asking questions on another thread about Evernote verses Onenote, but it turns out neither have what I need. AFAIK, neither can a comprehensive search & replace function that goes across a whole stack / notebook / project. Any ideas? I'm asking on the Evernote forums to see if I've just missed something basic?

I'm after a GREAT personal wiki that I can use at home on my iMac and sync to my iPhone for browsing and tinkering at work, and search & replace is vital. (Imagine if I've written hundreds of pages of character backstory, plot details, world development history etc and decide to change a character's name?) Must have search & replace!

Would also like:-
* Universally customisable styles (if possible, but not essential)
* Stores on my iphone or imac rather than *just* in the cloud would also help.
What else should I be looking out for?
 

eclipse

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 18, 2005
986
13
Sydney
I could see how some users would like Onenote, but when thinking of using some note software as a wiki for storing all my novel notes for backstory, names, places, items, history, etc, it makes me nervous that many big note apps (OneNote or Evernote) don't have a search & replace!

I use iMac and iPhone, and Onenote doesn't even seem to let you change a notebook name on iMac, let alone search & replace. There's an extension for Onenote that *does* do search & replace called Onetastic that's free to download, but it only works on Windows, not imac. Lastly, I tried downloading it on my kids PC and it was a disaster because I couldn't get Onenote to recognise MY sign in versus my kids Microsoft account. I logged out, logged in again as myself, and tried and tried to get it to work, but no. Very frustrating.

Evernote is internet dependent on your iphone, so not much good to me either as some of the quiet rooms at work don't get good coverage. I might need to stick with something simpler. Shame simplenote doesn't support images, otherwise I'd use that. (I need lots of images and faces etc when writing).
 

eclipse

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 18, 2005
986
13
Sydney
OK, I'm writing a book and want to backup any cloud notes solution once a month. That rules out Evernote! I could *easily* end up with more than 60mb of photos & images for my book's wiki, and downloading it all uses my data allowance! I simply don't want to pay $45 a year for a notes app!

So, I'm trying Onenote again... and although the App Store says it can rename Notebooks, I can't for the life of me figure out how. Anyone?

How do you rename Notebooks in Onenote?
 

eclipse

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 18, 2005
986
13
Sydney
I have been using Microsoft Onenote which has been playing up lately and making me nervous, and does not let me export and archive easily on a Mac. (I'd have to log into someone else's PC and log out their onenote and log in with my own and archive it on their PC and email it back to myself).

But there is one good thing about Onenote for my specific purposes, and that is the structure. I know everyone loves tags (as in Evernote & KEEP), but I like the 'physical' order of Onenote. The structure. Notebooks, sections, and then within sections individual notes. It lets me order my notes by just dragging them up or down a section tab. This is essential for me. I'm a writer, and use each 'note' as a plot scene. As I move notes (scenes) around in my mind, I can just drag them up or down a Onenote Section (that I use as an Act within my book). For me, it's less about Google KEEP storing individual notes that I search through, and more about where they sit within an overall structure.
Can anyone visualise a way I can add structure to my Google KEEP like this using the tags, or do I have to number each note manually, and how would it export?

If not KEEP, then what? Any other open source software that syncs with Google Drive? Should I just use Google Drive as my 'wiki' with using folders and numbered filenames for structure, or is there something better and more powerful I could use?

REQUIREMENTS FOR SOFTWARE:-
  • Some kind of structure for easy moving of scenes up or down the play
  • Can sync between imac and android tablet
  • Easy to export or save to other formats
  • Accessible files saved locally on tablet or imac that then sync with Drive would be best, just for the security of having an actual file saved in case my web account gets hacked.
 

eclipse

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 18, 2005
986
13
Sydney
Whaaaaaat? This could have a big impact on my love for Onenote! Microsoft are cutting their free cloud storage from 15G to just 5G. Not an issue yet, but do I really want to commit to Onenote if they're still figuring out what they want to use it for? (Onenote is the software I use for my novel's wiki and plot development.)
http://www.cnet.com/how-to/onedrive...which-cloud-storage-service-is-right-for-you/

This really bugs me, as I only just committed to onenote after wavering on their lack of export functionality on a mac. I only just figured out how to retrieve a Time Machine archive in the event that my account gets hacked. (Turn off internet, go to Time Machine date, retrieve Onenote file and open). I wish there was a one-click export to word or something, but there isn't. In the event of an emergency, I comforted myself that at least I could retrieve the Time Machine archive, open Onenote on my mac completely separately from any online catastrophe or hacking, and copy and paste stuff manually into something else. If necessary. But now? 5 gig? I like to have lots of character and place photo's to help me write. Blaaaaarrrghh!
 

T'hain Esh Kelch

macrumors 603
Aug 5, 2001
6,330
7,204
Denmark
Evernote searches everything just fine here, unless i misunderstand you?

Scrivener also sounds like what you need, apart from the Android sync, unless you can live with pure text sync.
 

eclipse

macrumors 6502a
Original poster
Nov 18, 2005
986
13
Sydney
I hear you on Scrivener, which I love, but doesn't sync to the android tablet that I write on in the only part of the day when I'm fresh. I'm mac at home, android tablet at work and I (sometimes) write at work. Too tired in evenings. If I had the money I would just go buy an ipad & keyboard and sync between Storyist, which is very similar to Scrivener.

I like Onenote's structure because it's free, and it drops and drags up and down logical wikis. Evernote's update per month limit is actually too limiting for me because I upload images of the characters I'm using and images of story structures. I also just don't write as much as I should to justify the annual fee for Evernote. Maybe I should.

But here's why I really don't like Evernote. I know everyone loves tags (as in Evernote & Google KEEP), but I like the 'physical' order of Onenote. The structure. Notebooks, sections, and then within sections individual notes. It lets me order my notes by just dragging them up or down a section tab. This is essential for me. I'm a writer, and use each 'note' as a plot scene. As I move notes (scenes) around in my mind, I can just drag them up or down a Onenote Section (that I use as an Act within my book). For me, it's less about storing individual notes that I search tags through, and more about *where* they sit. Drag it up, and that scene outline moves up the order. Drag it down, or to the next Section Tab, and it could move to the next Act.

Can anyone visualise a way I can add structure to Evernote like this using the tags, or do I have to number each note manually? How would this effect the export function?
 
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