Quick note command

[mikeg]

Is it time for a "New Note" or "Quick Note" command in UR? Today while creating several notes, I looked at the New command button on the Standard toolbar and wondered, "How many times have I created a new note vs. a new database?" The ratio must be at least 500 to 1. Yet there's a convenient command button for creating a new database while new notes typically take three or more steps. I've lost my train of thought a few times while creating a new note. It's enough of an issue that Kinook created a tutorial "How to quickly enter a note in Ultra Recall". A recent comment from J-Mac:

While Ultra Recall is great for information collecting and organizing, I don’t feel it is very good for jotting down quick notes.

$bill's excellent tip is perhaps the most concise:

Jotting a quick text note in UR:
Win-Z (global activation hotkey for UR)
Alt-5 (a Favorite set for quick access to an Info Item inbox where I put my quick notes)
INS (adds a new text item)
<Enter the name of the new Info Item>
TAB (moves cursor to the Item Detail Pane)
<Enter the text of the note.>

A command that handles steps 2 to 5 in one click would be awesome. Is it possible? First, I think most would agree a quick note is and should be a text item. One issue is a text item can be inserted anywhere thanks to the flexibility we all love in UR. A single-click command could open a quick note wherever the current selection happens to be. A fixed target would be preferable IMO. In a default database that would logically be the Notes item.

This brings up the next potential issue. If someone deletes or renames the Notes item, the command would break. So the target item needs to be user definable.

What about item 4 on $bill's list ("<Enter the name of the new Info Item>")? For this I created a quick note (text) template with Item Title: "Note" and Title Expression: "[Item Title] || coalesce(': ' || [Date Created], '')". But leaving user with the item title selected is not a bad option either. Would be nice if this were also user configurable.

So what do you think about the possibility of a quick note command for UR?

[quant]

what i do is this:
when i'm working in some app, there is usualy always somewhere to type text (be it address bar, search bar, text window, wherever i can type) ... i quickly type what i want to note there, ctrl+x, go to my favourites notes item, and do ctrl+v, it creates note item with title the same as beginning of the note.

it's the same method i use for quick copy paste from any doc, web, etc ...

[mikeg]

quant, thanks I should have included ctrl+x (or ctrl+c), navigate to an item, then ctrl+v if I had thought about it. Haven't used that recently and it's one of the best techniques.

This comes a little closer, but still doesn't achieve what I'd like for quick notes. Although it's clever and works for simple text strings, normally I couldn't use handy places like browser address bar or search bar because my notes tend to be multi-paragraph and often include lists/tables.

Once I get started, my notes can become fairly elaborate. Of course there will be short scraps as well, but the part that needs to be "quick" for me is note setup. When I stop to think about the best place to put a note, what should the title be, how should I organize similar notes, etc., I can easily get off on a tangent and the idea may fade or disappear.

So my ideal is: have a thought -> switch to UR -> Quick Note button (or shortcut) -> start writing. With my custom template mentioned earlier, I only need two more steps: select my Quick Notes folder -> press Ins key -> start typing. So yes, there are helpful techniques, custom templates, etc., but the point here is achieving a single command where possible to eliminate even just one let alone two or more steps for things we do on a frequent basis.

The other half of the quick notes vision is floating, non-modal note windows that can be pinned to stay open independently of the main UR window. Then sticky note apps are eliminated, a small advantage of continuous tape PIMs is mitigated and the last ghostly remnant of a favorite Info Select feature is put to rest.

Ha, but if this is not feasible to implement in terms of effort required, I can live without it. Just brainstorming at this point and seeing what others think. When you start with something as amazing as UR, it's easy to get inspired!

[Nobodo]

Old thread, but anyway...
What I do; YMMV:

1 - Change the Folder template to have a default child of 'Project'.
2 - Change the Project template to have a default child of 'Text'.

All my highest level nodes are Folders, below that are mostly Projects, and projects have a lot of text items.

Then I just select where I want an item and hitting the 'Insert' key puts the type of child item I want where I want it.

Thanks,
Mark.