As noted, Devonthink lacks a web interface
Are there other benefits to journaling using Evernote?
I’m satisfied with DT for journaling with my Mac Mini and iPad
and an indexed Google Drive folder for web access
I moved all the historical Evernote data into DT databases
Likewise; all my data
I think of something – I toss the idea into the Evernote daily journal. It’s just handy, and there is sometimes less friction importing into Evernote than there is importing into DT when not in a structured computing environment.
I’ve been trying use the convention of doublecolon tag name eg ::tem or ::res in DT for tags.
That works fine in DT and smart groups find these tags as well
However in DTTG4 (although an item shows up the ::tem tag in the info panel), I cannot make a smart group search for the tag ::tem
DTTG replaces this with colon space colon ie : :tem and the search fails. Could it be that colons are a ‘protected’ term in DTTG?
Also, smart groups are not synchronised between DT & DTTG but there is no duplicate function for smart groups in DTTG - a shame as this function is a great timesaver in DT
Having no experience with DTTG, I leave the comments or explanations to others. I chose the double colon because it worked well with all the components of my software stack, was easy to search for, and worked well in scripts. Your mileage may vary.
The colon : is a search operator meaning matches.
In DTTG, you can save a Search and it becomes a Smart Group
Could it be that colons are a ‘protected’ term in DTTG?
Only alphanumeric characters are indexed for text searching
Ahah - thanks Bluefrog & DTLow
Funny how DT & DTTG exhibit different behaviours in this, despite their steady drift together
Now to choose a suitable marker instead of :: Perhaps §
Back to DT to update my tags ::tem & ::res with §tem & §res
Ian
You’re welcome and remember the underlying technologies between DEVONthink and DEVONthink To Go aren’t the same. Different platform, different, OS, etc. But we are bringing parity where it’s possible.
Further experimentation reveals that characters in addition to alphanumeric ones are recognised. The trick is to select ones that standout and appear at the top of a sort list. Double colons worked as easily visible markers eg ::tem but although they are ok with DT they don’t work in DTTG.
The section mark § is reasonable as a visible marker and works in DT & DTTG - so §tem and §res can be found in a tag search. I am pleased also that the caret symbol ^ also works - so ^2026 can be used in tags
Thanks to Robin for starting this hare running. My tags were a mess (they had grown like Topsy) and after some furious culling I am in a much better place to build on firm foundations
yes, clearly a good deal of thought has resulted in this thingy with name felixOrg - whilst reading and reviewing the article the concept of heterarchy or hypertext kept springing to mind. One may well wonder what felixOrg might look like if its development was informed by these concepts. Anyway, as is clearly presented at the end in section 10.6, it’s the information modelling that’s the key into how each of us can best create our own ‘picture of reality’ to serve our idiosyncratic purposes. What i appreciate especially about DT is that it is a good fit for my mental modelling without the need (or much need) to ‘bend’ it this way or that. Compliments to the author for sharing his design.
I would like to know more about this if possible.
Is “Timeline Date” date interval, like “2026-06-07 to 2026-06-11” ?
Is it possible to share the script ?
Thanks
I really enjoyed reading this and I think I’ve learn some new things.
Thanks for sharing Felix.
Cheers
For task due date, I use the notation yyyy-mm-dd hh:mm (hh:mm is optional)
For timeline date, I use notation yyyy.mmdd (mmdd is optional)
Examples:
2026.0607
1492
167
-50 (BC)
-60,000,000 (years ago)
For interval, I have an optional second tag Task Duration
Here’s a copy of the script to update my task list spreadsheet
-TaskUpdate.scpt.zip (33.2 KB)
Similarly, I use the following date conventions:
I use a double hyphen to separate the date-time-group (DTG) from the Name:
These conventions have worked well in scripting.
Two major areas I did not discuss were hypertext links and use of AI to script the interaction among data sources including DEVONthink, eBook libraries, and models. Scripting and automation are what turn this framework from a time-consuming but enjoyable toy into a useful daily tool, and AI is a useful power tool for quick script creation.
Claude Code can access DEVONthink’s MCP, Calibre’s native filesystem structures, and model import and export .csv files for search and updates. Evernote has also announced an MCP server for a future release, which should increase the scope of data interaction.
Really appreciated,
Thank DTLow
