#Nimbus ![[nimbus note.png]] ### Documenting new tools Every time I change to a new tool I spend time documenting it investigating, searching through all the functions. I started this note to document what I like and what I don't like about Nimbus. ### Use Case for writing My workflow sets some requirements for Nimbus. Interested in comparing my use case with those of others, and following how the software evolves.  My needs are to dictate, transcribe and write holistically, bringing disparate content together, bottom-up and top-down. I’ve been trying to do that for 3 years. I started audio notes on Todoist. Effective recording but difficult to organize content with Todoist. See my evaluation of [[Ayoa project planner and mind mapping]]. Complicated workflow with Ayoa and Evernote, mixed experience promoting notes from Evernote to Ayoa. I have had some success using [Focusing Evernote actions with Kanbanote.](https://www.notion.so/Focusing-Evernote-actions-with-Kanbanote-f6f1b938a39042b0907bbc558558e711)  # Nimbus Likes Nimbus might not be the panacea but it feels right. ### Tasks inside the note It’s very GTD to have the task list in context rather than copy everything to the task manager. The task manager then links back to the note for the detail. It's a shift change to have the tasks OUTSIDE the content of the text. That way you can prepare the text cleanly. In Evernote, the todos are part of the text, and so have to remove the tasks to publish or create a new note for the draft text. ### Global Task List However, the advantage of the Evernote task system is to have a global list of tasks. Its current failings are that [tasks are not sorted correctly in due date order](https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/138470-tasks-by-due-date-not-in-the-correct-order/) on mobile. When you're writing content, you want to have the tasks outside of the note to instruct yourself to do something or research something. The Nimbus approach is excellent for writing content. Tasks are outside the content and therefore don't pollute the content. However, the new Evernote task system with embedded notes and a global task list is powerful (or would be [but its broken](https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/139129-task-system-is-shot/?tab=comments#comment-636908)). I would like both tasks inside and outside the note. Nimbus and Evernote both have checkboxes for tasks inside the note but excluded in the Evernote global task list. ### Planning Tools Nimbus has it right to have tasks in context. I don't care about my plan when composing a text. I want to list the actions to get it done. The scheduling is down to the master planner (Todoist) to determine task priorities, evaluate the load and decide what to do. But in the composition, it’s the pure reality of what needs to be done. This system is a bit complex and requires duplication of tasks in Todoist. Evernote has the edge on global planning despite the bugs, but tasks in the note context are very effective. ### Other Nimbus likes - Can embed a public note in a web page - Sharing notes publicly seems easier, more powerful - Could create a blog just by sharing page code - The editor is better than Evernote. I can work on the phone - Immediate sync between web and desktop - The outline block is very useful - Being able to give a note colour, helps to focus on certain notes - Nice editing audio note in nimbus. Was able to record an audio note, download to edit, trim with NCH Wavepad. - Desktop, Web and Mobile versions of Nimbus are virtually identical. Evernote fails on this. Updates are not systematic on all platforms. ### Outline Block Is Very Useful It really helps to be able you can put an outline object anywhere in the document. And when you click on the outline, you go to the section. This for instance is a link back up to the content block of a note.  I've never had anywhere, in any editor be it word or Evernote an effective outline like here in nimbus. For the first time, I can see, dynamically, a summary of my composition. It really helps those of us who get drawn into tangents so easily. Very useful. One of the reasons I came back to Nimbus was that I just so badly wanted a content block when composing text. ### Content pane You can also open a content pane, which, like the content block, reflects the H1, H2 and H3 header levels established. ### Links to Headers You can link directly to a section within a note. Pretty interesting. You can even provide a link straight to an image block. Evernote invites you to store separate notes. Nimbus invites you to add a new idea into an existing note because you can refer to it by paragraph. This means you can create a library and content at the same time. Cross-references are king. ### Translation of Links to Public Notes Tested. Great news, internal links on public pages are translated to public links if the target is also public. ### Chrome Add-on for Video Recording Nimbus has an excellent video screen recorder. Recorded videos can be directly embedded in notes. # Nimbus Not So Likes ## Exporting from Nimbus It’s very difficult to export pages from Nimbus. I tried one, and it only worked on the local version of the local app because it was accessing the local image assets. The only export options from Nimbus are PDF and HTML. With the PDF option, you can just attach the PDF to a Notion note, but you can't copy the text and images. If you do, they are unformatted. As for the HTML option, Nimbus creates an HTML file and a folder of attached assets (images, recorded audio). When you go to import the HTML header file, Notion only imports the header file and not the assets. Maybe that’s a Notion problem. I mentioned it on this [Reddit comment](https://www.reddit.com/r/NimbusNote/comments/qb7xls/warning_nimbus_notes_export_options_will_trap_you/hhmtf43/?context=3). It shows that there is an image there, but does not display it. You can click on the original, but the image is not displayed inline. - Requested note merging here on the Nimbus Forum - Can’t move more than one note at a time on the iPhone - Annotation is a showstopper. The chrome extension for Nimbus is OK, but I want to edit the image from a note, and for it to be saved back to the note like Evernote. Nimbus is clearly nicer to use except for annotation. However, I have now mastered annotation in Nimbus Note. Once edited, an image can be copied to the clipboard and pasted back into the note, the original deleted. - Problem on Android copying text with images - only the text was pasted - - On the iPhone, the grammar correction bar does not show. - You can copy a note from Nimbus desktop app to WordPress but from Nimbus, web images get left out. - No merging One of Evernote's strengths is the ability to merge notes. - Copying audio content of a note to another note - don't get the audio object but the text title of the audio object - report on the forum - Ask Nimbus developers to make Annotation like Evernote with an ##edit this image button##. Exporting from Nimbus is not easy. The only options are PDF or HTML or export with Notion capture, which works better, but only one note at a time. # Evernote Against Nimbus My conundrum is what to do with these multiple systems. [This article on the Evernote forum](https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/130884-evernote-vs-nimbus-note-is-it-worth-to-switch-to/) discusses the pros and cons of Evernote. I'm trying to qualify what I observe about Evernote and Nimbus from a sort of no man's land between two sets of functionality each with advantages and disadvantages. Is it possible to use both systems with Evernote as the library and Nimbus as the content editor? Do they need to compete? Nimbus does need to memorize but use Evernote for the heavy-duty storage, prep. Nimbus can be the editor composer, like going to the library! ### Limits on Evernote Selecting >50 notes since v10. Legacy Evernote allowed many notes to be moved and tagged and it was very fast. ### Nice Annotation on Evernote The downside is image annotation. In Nimbus, it’s really difficult to annotate images. In fact, it’s a real pain and I would like Nimbus annotation to be as good as Evernote. The current process is too complex. You have to open the image in something, annotate it then either save it to nimbus or download it and re-paste it into your note. Annotation on nimbus is done with chrome extension - not native in the app - and this is becoming a showstopper. I want to edit images just like in Evernote.  Image annotation is much better in Evernote and is in-app. You can annotate an image on all platforms and save it back easily. The arrows are better on Nimbus but using the chrome add-on takes too many steps. You have to 'capture' the image, edit it and then copy the image back into the note. You should be able to 'annotate this note' like in Evernote. An alternative is Zoho annotator which has the option to annotate an image. The image can then be downloaded and copied back into the note without losing resolution. In Evernote, you just get to click on the annotate button and once annotations are complete, the embedded document is updated automatically. This is a much easier procedure. ### Editing Is Easier on Nimbus The Nimbus editor is like the Gutenberg editor in WordPress, as Evernote should have been. Evernote is becoming the bad guy. I can't rescind all the good I've said about Evernote all these years: I retain the principle of the business memory and document library, but now we have a Gutenberg-like editor right in your library. The Nimbus editor is much more effective than Evernote. Legacy Evernote is much better than the web versions. Suffering in silence, Loyal Evernote Trooper finds the ultimate tool that he never knew existed, NimbusNote. - Editing (on android) really doable. - Recording audio, transcribing on android - Sharing - even headers - by unique URL The editor still feels better on Nimbus. The screen moves around too much on Evernote android, with too many menus opening. Nimbus has a ##nice menu bar (below)## with all the functions that you need.    As I was hoping, editing is much easier on Nimbus iPhone than Evernote iPhone. The menu that comes up is small and convenient, the screen doesn’t jump around like Evernote. However, I found it difficult to copy the contents of a note in Nimbus to another note, particularly embedded images and audio. Try copying note contents again. ### Merging Notes Merging notes is great on Evernote but absent from Nimbus. Merging notes is a big function on Evernote. I have lots of content. If I write things in separate notes, I want to combine them into one note. Evernote v10 now allows you to merge them in order. Then when I have one note, how easy is it to reorganize the sections? In Nimbus, you have a content block that immediately gives your work more structure. This content menu and block doesn't exist in Evernote. ### Drag and Drop Content You can easily move paragraphs by picking them up by the handle. If you select several paragraphs, you can also move them up, which is just what you want rather than having to cut and paste. Focus mode allows you to focus on the text, although focus mode is also available on Evernote. ### Paragraph Link You can refer to paragraphs with a unique URL. It’s very useful to refer to internal links within the document. ### Evernote and Kanbanote Sandoche Adittane has created the excellent Evernote clip-on [Kanbanote](https://kanbanote.com/) which I use to filter Evernotes for action and as a replacement for Ayoa. ### Creating a Site With Notes Evernotes can be displayed on a site using [postach.io](https://postach.io/). But with a business account, Nimbus allows you to create a subdomain with a CNAME. You can already easily share notes. However, I'm no longer working on creating a Nimbus Technical Site. Rather with Notion # No tool is perfect If you find the right tool, it may not be perfect, so evaluate it and hope devs will improve it. I didn't see the faults in Evernote because of a lack of comparison: a loyal subject who only complained. I found Nimbus, hoping that they will solve the imperfections, but you can feel that it’s right and for many things, better than Evernote. Evernote is strong on data capture, archiving, annotation but not that inviting to write. In Nimbus even on Android, recording audio and writing are easy. The editor doesn't jump around the screen like Evernote Android. # Nimbus Feature Requests - Provide a search and replace in note text - Make image annotation as good as Evernote - Note merging is great on Evernote, why not on Nimbus? - Sync reminders with calendar - Ability to [comment on a public Nimbus note](https://www.reddit.com/r/NimbusNote/comments/pz3s96/how_could_someone_comment_on_a_public_nimbus_note/), like with [Disqus](https://disqus.com/). ### Sync Task Dates With Calendar [Task dates are not synchronized with the calendar](https://discussion.evernote.com/forums/topic/138517-sync-task-due-dates-with-google-calendar/), so scheduling is hard. Both Evernote and Nimbus have note reminders but neither sync with the calendar.