Is it possible to have a detachable floating sorter window?
For instance, when I right click on the main DT program icon and select “take note” it opens the sorter in a fixed position centered on the iOS menu bar icon.
I mention this for two reasons: 1) the fixed sorter window sometimes covers the thing I want to refer to when taking the note (and it would be easier to move the sorter than the underlying document, since it is smaller); 2) visually when writing, the upper third of the screen is sometimes not as convenient as the center.
For the record, the integrated sorter with various note taking features is great. This is just an observation about the fixity of its position on the screen.
@BLUEFROG the solution you mentioned worked; with sorter disabled the note window will float.
That being said, I’d like to make a renewed call to have the fully functional sorter float.
(Or at least make it an interface option).
The reason I don’t really use it is that I can’t reposition it. On limited screen real estate it usually appears over part of the document or surface that I’m trying to work with. (unless I’m just not using it correctly!)
Out of curiosity, do you (or anyone) have any thoughts on taking notes with multiple windows open? I realize there is probably no ‘best’ strategy, but I’d be interested to hear what people find productive or useful.
I can, of course, take notes directly in DT, but sometimes I don’t need the entire interface. I was reluctant to disable the sorter just to get the ‘Take Note’ to pop the floating window because sorter has other useful functions. So I was using OSX Text Edit to take a quick note an then copy-pasting into DT.
Even with multiple monitors, my other observation with the sorter is that because the location is fixed, it’s not always the optimal position on the screen for composition. (and as I mentioned before it covers the underlying text at that location)
Right. I guess what I’m trying to say is not related to the content of the note, just text input window.
I’m just curious would others find a floating sorter / note (text input) window useful. Or like in practice they don’t even feel the need for that because they’re doing something else.
Maybe I’m not expressing it clearly, but do you see what I’m getting at?
Yep, I get it.
And I do understand your perspective. (Don’t forget I’m not just an employee here; I’m a DEVONtech user. ) To that end, I do use a variety of things at times.
I do make copious notes in DEVONthink, usually in Markdown. These are notes I will likely return to and develop later.
I actually use the Sorter as a scratchpad more than a notepad but more often with rich text. This is for transient things related to our apps, later saved but maybe not often returned to.
I use Stickies quite often. Inertia for sure, but it’s such a handly little utility. I’m still a big fan of the roll-up windows too. This is my ad-hoc OmniFocus/Things/etc.
PS: The issue I see often is people use the terms note and document too liberally, e.g., someone says “I want to take notes on a PDF. What do you mean ‘what kind of note?!?’ Highlights and rectangles and the like, of course!!!” Regardless if that means “taking a note” to that person, it’s called “creating annotations”. We try not to be pedantic, but diction indeed matters.
I hardly ever use the Sorter for anything (and never have done, in about fifteen or more years of using DEVONthink). If I want to jot something down quickly, I use Drafts app quick capture. Before Drafts app existed, I used nvAlt, so I guess it is an old habit of having something to the side of the screen for jotting things down. I usually don’t care too much where my jottings are inside a database, so “sorting” notes into groups is not a priority for me. I quite like the Zettelkasten idea that it is links between notes that are important, rather than the location of a note in a folder hierarchy.
I don’t see how the Draft’s quick capture is much different or any faster than the Sorter’s Take Note in its basic functionality.
I can press Command-Option-N, type a note, then press Command-S. It is automatically saved into DEVONthink at the last used location. I can also press Command-1 thru 4 to switch the note type from plain text, rich text, formatted note, and Markdown.
The only friction there is the ‘last used location’.
I do have a Keyboard Maestro expansion that I use whenever I make a note which dates and puts a prefix unique to my own notes in front of the title or first line: so then, if I wish, I can use a smart rule to relocate notes once they are in DEVONthink 3 wherever the sorter puts them. I don’t make a lot of notes or snippets really though.
I don’t think there is a fast way other than the drop down menu for ‘last location’ on the sorter?
I like to jot things down, then think about where to put them later – Tinderbox, DEVONthink, an email, etc. So perhaps that is the essential difference with Drafts – the jotting can go anywhere you choose to send it. I guess Drafts is a bit like a universal Inbox for me.
@BLUEFROG Thanks for this clear and considerate response. A model for sure!
Your point 2 is what I was getting at “Sorter as a scratchpad… more often with rich text.” That’s probably closer to my use case. Like you said in point 1, for making “copious notes” it’s useful to use the larger DT interface.
I agree it helps when we have some consensus on terminology. What I meant here by “taking a note” was inputting between 25-100 words of RTF text. Probably I should have included a screen capture!
@mbbntu I also did not use the Sorter all that much, but the reason has more to do with the fixity of its position on the screen rather than the functions (e.g. text note, audio record, video record, etc).
My comment was less about sorting per se, and more about the way in which the RTF input is contained within the Sorter interface and therefore will not float independently. It was a relatively modest observation, but one that I think has productivity implications.
Since you mentioned Zettelkasten…Based on my understanding (limited as it is) about Luhamnn’s Zettelkasten as described in Sönke Ahrens’ “How to Take Smart Notes” the classic Zettelkasten allowed for both sorting and linking. The reason the note develops a label like 1a2b3 is to show its relative location in a particular idea sequence, but the numerical code also allows for it to be referenced on another note, say 3b6a2, by saying something like “see 1a2b3” on that note. I would say that Luhmann’s notes are highly sorted, and that’s really the point of the slip box: so that the arguments build up in a logical way. I’m getting this from pp.17-19 in HTTSN revised version. But I think this is like “classic” Zettelkasten, and as an idea it can be expanded in many ways.
There has recently been a discussion about the Zettelkasten method in another thread, where I posted this:
If you want to know about the method, you can visit Blog Post Archive • Zettelkasten Method which goes back to 2013. There are various discussions about whether the Folgezettel is necessary or useful in a digital Zettelkasten.
