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So far, we’ve been able to get an overview of Evernote and have taken a look at how to navigate the software via the dashboard. Now it’s time for the good stuff. Let’s examine all the many ways to add content and start building up your database.

You can add notes simply by clicking “Add note” and typing text directly into the application. This is probably the simplest and most cumbersome way, though. There are several other ways of adding content that distinguish Evernote from a simple word processor:

• Evernote Web Clipper: If you use Firefox or, less recommended, Internet Explorer 7, you can get this browser extension. Once it’s installed, simply go to a web page, select whatever you want to save (text or graphics), right-click and select “Add to Evernote”.
• Take a picture: One of the coolest features about this software is it’s ability to read text from a picture…whether it’s printed or handwritten. Ever been to a meeting where the presenter wrote everything out on a white board with a dry erase pen? Copying that down by hand is a real drag. Instead, simply take a picture and drag it into Evernote. Later, you can search for text within that image and Evernote will be able to find it and highlight it for you. Very slick, and in my opinion, one of the most technologically impressive pieces to this software.
• E-mail it: When you sign up for Evernote, you’re given an e-mail address to which you can send any content, and it will automatically be uploaded to Evernote.
• Handwrite it: Have a digital graphic tablet? Use the “Add note” feature as if you were going to type it, but click on the toggle button to use the Ink feature. You can use your mouse for this if you want to, but I can’t imagine why you would.
• Universal Clipper: Have something on your screen that you’d like to save, but for some reason can’t copy and paste it directly to Evernote? Go to Tools and click on “Install Universal Clipper.” An icon will appear in your Start tray.  Simply box in the area you want saved, click on the checkmark button when you’re done, and it’s done. 

I’m not really a PDA guy, but those of you with an iPhone or similar can combine some of these in just a few short steps.  For example, you can take a picture and e-mail it directly from your mobile device for instant clipping. 

I’m also probably missing a few other ways in here, so let me know if I’ve glossed over something.  Next time, we’ll take a look at searching and accessing your notes within Evernote. 

I’ve been away from worship team for a few weeks, so it was good to be back on keys this morning.  Here’s our set:

• Praise You All My Life, written by our very own Dave Florea.
• Let Your Mercy Rain, by Chris Tomlin, Ed Nash, and Jesse Reeves
• Holy Is The Lord, by Chris Tomlin
• Worthy, You Are Worthy, by Matt Redman and Chris Tomlin
• Above All Else, by Vicky Beeching
• Keep Me, by Andy Park (offertory)
• Come Holy Spirit, Hear Us Calling, by Mark Foreman (benediction)

As you can see, that’s quite a worship set.  Our worship service tends to run a little longer than other churches where I’ve played.  I’ve mentioned before that we have rotating members of our worship team, and I hadn’t yet played with this particular lineup today.  It’s always fun to listen to individual players and get to know their tendencies and be able to play off of them.  This was probably the tightest group I’ve played with yet.

I’ll be off again for the next few weeks, but I’ll be back for the last two weeks of July and first two of August.  Things change, though, and who knows?  I might fill in on bass at some point.   

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Last time, we looked at the basic functions of Evernote and discussed a general overview of this powerful software.  Today, it’s time to actually open up the software and take a look at the dashboard. 

First of all, you’ll need to sign up for an account at Evernote.com.    It’s fast, and the basic plan is free.  After that, download the software and install it to your computer.  Once you open it up, you’ll see a series of menus and commands:

Most of the menus don’t need a lot of explanation.  “View” lets you manipulate your layout and workspace, including an interesting “Time band” feature that graphically shows the dates when you posted items to Evernote.  You also have the option of expanding or collapsing individual notes.  “Tools” has a couple of features that I really find useful.  The first is “Launch Universal Clipper”, which allows you to take a screenshot of what you’d like to save, and then add it to Evernote.  We’ll look at this more when we discuss ways of adding content.  The second feature–and one I haven’t utilized yet–is “Install Evernote Portable.”  Apparently, you can also keep a version of this software on your USB stick, just like any other Portable App.  I’ll check that one out and get back to you.

Below the menu bar is a series of buttons you’ll need.  “Synchronize” links up the data on your computer to the database on the web.  “Email” lets you select all or part of a note and email it to somebody.  Conversely, Evernote has a feature that allows you to email information directly to the web itself.  I’ve tried it and it works as advertised.  “Tag” allows you to give a note a label, in addition to the folders that you set up.  For example, you might have several notes tagged as “technology”, but in different folders such as “work”, “home”, “school,” etc…  I don’t use this feature much, but I can see where it would come in handy when I get a large database filled up.  The last button in that row toggles your note list off and on, allowing you to take a quick glance at your note titles when you’re doing a search. 

That’s about it for the dashboard.  What I like is that it is reasonably intuitive, and allows me to hide features I don’t need all the time.  The web version is laid out a little differently, but you can find the basic functions you’ll need.  Just about any feature you need on your computer is also available on the web. 

Next time, we’ll take a look at the variety of ways to add notes to Evernote. 

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Think about the software that you use day in and day out, the ones you absolutely couldn’t live without. If you’re like me, that list probably includes an e-mail client, an office productivity suite, browser, and a messenger service of some type. I might also throw Windows Live Writer in there for my purposes, and you might have some other apps you use daily in your professional life. Next, on the useful-but-not-100%-essential list, I have things like image editing/storage programs (I’m partial to GIMP and Picasa), music software (iTunes) as well as some other fun goodies (Google Earth and Dreamweaver on my computer).

Evernote is software that is quickly moving from my second list and making it’s way onto the first one. It’s job is a simple one, but it does it quite well: Collect tidbits and snippets of information from a variety of sources, and archive them for later. This is a niche that has proven to be essential for me since I first signed up for the service a couple of months ago. Evernote sweetens the deal by allowing for multiple installs on computers and handheld web devices and providing syncronization to their web service. Find something at work, clip it to Evernote, and it’s waiting for you at home when you power up. Or, if you’re away from your own computer, you can simply log into your account via any web browser and access it from there. What’s more, Evernote indexes all of your information so you can quickly search for it later on.

Evernote contains some other powerful features as well, including the ability to recognize writing in an image file. In the coming days and weeks, I’m going to be publishing a series of posts on this impressive application. We will take a look at each of it’s features and run it through some examples.

I rarely get excited about a software title, let alone devote a blog series about it. This is one of the rare exceptions. Just today, Evernote moved from the invitation-only stage and opened it up for the public. Give it a shot, and follow me while we explore this together.

Next up: We examine the dashboard and operating environment.

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