Seriously trying the DT way, but not quite there

[alexwein]

@ChemBob

Ultimately it’s all a matter of what works best within your workflow and what feels right when you are doing it. Just experiment around and enjoy yourself. Perhaps I’m a nerd but part of what I do for fun (who needs video games!?, LOL) is experiment around with trying out new programs and fiddling with features I’ve used very little in programs I already own (DT, DA, NoteTaker, etc.) to see if anything works better than what I’m currently doing. Good luck with your endeavors in these explorations!

Hahaha! I thought I was the only one who did that. It’s how I learn most of what I know about my programs—by fiddling (sometimes endlessly, and sometimes when I should be working!)—that and checking out this forum, which is full of great information!

Alexandria

[Tryll]

@ChemBob

Ultimately it’s all a matter of what works best within your workflow and what feels right when you are doing it. Just experiment around and enjoy yourself. Perhaps I’m a nerd but part of what I do for fun (who needs video games!?, LOL) is experiment around with trying out new programs and fiddling with features I’ve used very little in programs I already own (DT, DA, NoteTaker, etc.) to see if anything works better than what I’m currently doing. Good luck with your endeavors in these explorations!

Frankly, as a contracted software developer who works in about a dozen programming languages and environments, this sums up about 50% of my entire life. I spend hours every day learning the ins and outs of software tools that enable me to do my job. I’m a super-“nerd” when it comes to exploring software, I have to be.

For my own data management, I’ve been on a quest to simplify, and use less overall tools - but use ALL of the features of the one I choose. The reason I’m so anal about tight integration with the OS tools is that I currently have different kinds of data, stored in all different kinds of tools. NoteTaker, OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle, Curio, and countless (it seems) others. Using the OS for things like Mail, Address book, and iCal keep things closer to where they belong, so my data management needs to integrate tightly with them. As I’ve mentioned, recently I “explored” the heck out of all of these tools. I wanted DT to be the solution, even though it is the only one of the bunch that I don’t currently have a license for. I just couldn’t make it work within the particular demands I have. If I were willing to continue using one of the others alongside, then DT offers some excellent features which no one else does, but I want to consolidate down to a single tool and interface.

[alexwein]

@Tryll

For my own data management, I’ve been on a quest to simplify, and use less overall tools - but use ALL of the features of the one I choose. The reason I’m so anal about tight integration with the OS tools is that I currently have different kinds of data, stored in all different kinds of tools. NoteTaker, OmniOutliner, OmniGraffle, Curio, and countless (it seems) others. Using the OS for things like Mail, Address book, and iCal keep things closer to where they belong, so my data management needs to integrate tightly with them. As I’ve mentioned, recently I “explored” the heck out of all of these tools. I wanted DT to be the solution, even though it is the only one of the bunch that I don’t currently have a license for. I just couldn’t make it work within the particular demands I have. If I were willing to continue using one of the others alongside, then DT offers some excellent features which no one else does, but I want to consolidate down to a single tool and interface.

Tyrll, I feel your pain! I myself tried to do this very same thing (consolidate down to a single, do-it-all tool) with much angst. I finally gave it up and settled on using three different primary tools and CP Notebook for personal use (journalling and the like). My needs are different than yours, but my desire is very similar—to find what someone once called the ‘holy grail of writing programs’ (being a writer, not a developer). Once I accepted that it didn’t exist, my frustration level went down and I got more work done!

I’m not suggesting at all that this is true for you. I guess I’m just empathizing. I WAS able to get it down to just a few programs that really did what I needed for them to do well. DT is my primary workhorse, where I store and organize hundreds and thousands of items collected from all the different areas of research I engage in, with all the different mediums that entails. I think Bill DeVille calls DT pro the best research assistant he’s ever had. I think that’s a good way to characterize the program. I can do limited writing in it, but find for some projects I need the outlining capabilities and features of a program like Mori (used to be Hog Bay Notebook).

I still hold out hope that one single program will fill all my needs. I’d love it to be DT, since DT is the program I depend on the most—but until that happy time, I’m doing pretty well now with my three programs (the third being Mellel for anything needing footnotes and for larger projects).

Take care,

Alexandria

[bamb]

Maria,

could you tell me the adress of the Japanese user’s discussion board?

I use Japanese and had a lot of discussions with Christian about how to make the software more usable with East Asian languages. There were some improvements, but if we are many, we might push some pressure on them for using concordances and word indices etc.?

pc7.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/mac/1113656666/
pc7.2ch.net/test/read.cgi/mac/1101652421/

Best,

bamb

[Tryll]

@alexwein

My needs are different than yours, but my desire is very similar—to find what someone once called the ‘holy grail of writing programs’

Thanks Alexandria, I think there are probably a lot of us with the same desire.