It probably makes sense to lock this thread. It seems to have run its course. Thanks for listening.
To be clear, Iām also just a user and have no affiliation with the company. DEVONtech employees have the company logo attached to their avatar.
Perhaps I misread you, but āI donāt understand Devonās resistance to making their usersā lives a little easierā came off as a very general statement. Thatās what gave me pause.
If DEVONthink doesnāt already do what you want, thereās a good chance you can script it. I think thatās one of many ways the developers do their best to make userās lives easier.
Sure, a built in solution is more convenient. However, DEVONthink does so many things and can be used in so many different ways that you canāt optimize for everyone.
You started out inquiring about integration with Drafts. I donāt use it myself and thus canāt verify, but it looks like you received several helpful responses in that regard.
Then you shifted to a wish for something not involving other text editors. I already showed you a way to achieve your goal with a single keyboard shortcut, but you just complain and call it a workaround. I donāt get what the problem is. My solution is pretty simple and takes a few minutes to set up.
If you want a button in the menu bar, you can save the script in ~/Library/Scripts and access it everywhere from the global Script Menu:
Enabling the global Script Menu
You enable the global script menu from the preferences of Script Editor.app:
If you want to give it a distinct icon, you can create a shortcut that runs the script and pin it in the menu bar:
You can also add shortcuts to the Dock if you like.
Creating such a shortcut is very simple. A single Run AppleScript action, leaving the input blank:
I have a feeling you will still call it a workaround and complain. Maybe someone else will learn something and find it useful.
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Everyone always thinks their own needs are the most important and obvious. Big surprise.
At some point the discussion starts getting very sarcastic, tired and repetitive, wasting bandwidth which otherwise could have been very useful. Just wanted to say that despite this, some people will still offer good help and suggestions - You know who you are, thanks! - and that in my 20 years using DT, I NEVER felt that it didnāt progress substantially, and I NEVER felt that it became bloated either. I use a number of apps, shortcuts, applescripts in conjunction with DT, and I wish other apps I use a whole lot where that flexible. It doesnāt bother me, and I donāt make it a war horse. Jim, time to closeā¦
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Iāve used Evernote for many years for notetaking. Since DEVONthink appeared on my horizon it has taken over the majority of my archiving and research, and Iāve exported most archival material out of Evernote. However, Evernote still reigns supreme in day-to-day notetaking for two reasons: 1) easy access from Mac, Windows, iPhone, web, and so on, and 2) easy, drag-and-drop links among notes. I export most items of value, including Evernote daily journals, to DEVONthink each month, and its HTML focus versus the .md focus of DEVONthink is only slightly annoying.
I really appreciate this thread, itās a good reminder of how the DT community is made up of people coming from very different perspectives and backgrounds. Frankly, I think one of the problems here is that DT does such an incredible job at so many different things, that itās hard to categorize it as suitable or not suitable for something as ambiguous as note-taking which people accomplish in so many different ways.
Personally, I do wish there could be a grater focus on simplifying note-taking within DT. I say it this way because as this thread shows, there are ways to add keyboard shortcuts, to create actions in Drafts, to accomplish just about all of the things I would ever want to accomplish where note-taking is concerned, however, these solutions may not be obvious to someone who is new to the product, or to someone like myself who has never written a script on their Mac.
I do really appreciate all the information in this thread. Iāve been thinking of how I might use DT as my primary note-taking tool because itās handy for so many other things that I do day-to-day, this thread has given me some great ideas.
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I used the Shortcuts app to have a 1-click way to create a new Markdown journal entry with the date in the format I want it.
Once thatās set up, the icon can be placed right in the dock.
Similarly, on the phone I created a shortcut:
One tap and Iām in DTTG with a new dated Markdown note ready to start typing.
I use Drafts as well. In drafts I have a āSend to DEVONthinkā action like the one posted earlier in the discussion.
Another option on the Mac is Shortcuts again, but this time have the shortcut run AppleScript:
on run {input, parameters}
set currentDate to current date
set isoDate to do shell script "date +%Y-%m-%d"
set dayOfWeek to do shell script "date +%A"
set noteTitle to isoDate & " - " & dayOfWeek
set noteContent to noteTitle
tell application id "DNtp"
-- Create the Markdown note in the global inbox
set newNote to create record with {name:noteTitle, type:markdown, content:noteContent} in incoming group
open tab for record newNote
end tell
end run
So various options, you can customize them to start the new note with exactly the content you want, and once you set them up theyāre one click. (Well, two for Drafts.)
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Sometimes I think people forget to have a little humility and remember that their One Way Of Work To Rule Them All is rarely the same as someone elseās. And thatās ok, we all have our specific ways we like to do things, and we shouldnāt place value judgements on other peopleās preferences (unless you think Microsoft Word is a good note-taking app, in which case we need to have a chat 
).
For what itās worth (not much, as I said itās just how I like to work), DT (and DTTG) are rarely where I like to start a note. For me, DT is my library and thinking space. I prefer that things only enter it once Iāve decided I need them for longer than a week.
I do use Drafts for starting nearly all my markdown files, and Iām happy with this. Most actually do end up in DT (via the one-click Draft actions, which work on iOS and MacOS), but some donāt. Some get deleted either because they were only meant to be temporary or because they donāt really turn into anything (e.g. maybe I start a note about an idea and after thinking on it I realise itās not worth pursuing).
I was (and still am to a degree), a heavy paper note taker, and for me itās the difference between writing something down on cheap sheets of paper (=Drafts) and copying it into a permanent notebook (=DT).
(Out of interest if anyone is wondering, I also use Tot, thatās my equivalent of post-it notes. Its main job is holding a quick thought for me, or holding some text I need to action in a couple of hours.)
Dedicated keyboard keys
Just because Iāve not seen anyone mention this and my keyboards are heavily customised, I will also just mention that I have dedicated keys on my keyboard for opening a new note in Tot and Drafts, and a dedicated key for opening DTās main view. For me, that makes life easier when Iām working, I donāt have to remember any shortcuts, and I can quickly pull up whatever I need then get back to what I was doing. I use Alfred for running the workflows behind this, but itās possible with MacOS or other launcher software.
Edited to add: Iāve not done this but it would be a 10 minute task to programme a dedicated key to open a new markdown file in DT, if one of the other ways discussed in this thread doesnāt suit. Alfred can handle that, but you can do it solely via native Apple software using Apple Shortcuts. Itās an interesting idea: though I donāt think Iād have any use for it personally, I can see that someone else might prefer this to my Draft and Tot buttons mentioned.
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