More OneNote Features to Rock Your Researching World

5/16/2012

OneNote, where have you been all my life?

If after my last OneNote video tutorial you weren't convinced that you should blow the dust off your OneNote icon that's been sitting patiently on your desktop just waiting for you to notice it and just click it, then this next video tutorial should do the trick.

This video tutorial is jam packed with more features I've discovered that are great for organizing and simplifying both your online and offline research workflows. It's SO jam packed that I went over the 15 minute limit for YouTube. So I had to edit it, and what exactly hit the cutting room floor?

The BONUS I have for you. That's right. Another freebie. It's like Christmas around here. It's like I'm insane or something. [No comments, please.]

So. The freebie is the NEW & IMPROVED research plan template in OneNote format for those who are using OneNote. If you don't have OneNote but want the new & improved research plan, you can get it to cut & paste.

***Update: Due to popular demand, I have now made a convenient page for The New & Improved Research Plan in OneNote, Evernote, and other versions.***
All you have to do is CONTACT ME [or use the Contact tab above] and give me your email. I'll use the Email-a-Page feature in OneNote to email it to you. [I emailed it to myself, and it worked.] #PreachItLiveIt

Hope you like it. [And I'm sorry for the edit at the end. But? I'd already recorded 3 Xs and kept going over. =) ]

And? HOW are you using OneNote for your genealogy and family history research? Let me know in comments below. OR write a blog post and link back to mine.

~Caroline

17 Comments

Tessa Keough link

5/16/2012 04:20:57 pm

Caroline - you do know you can ask YouTube to take that 15 minute limit off your account? As long as you are not a problem user, it seems to be pretty freely given. In any event, I love OneNote (always have) and think it is one of the most under-rated programs PERIOD. Microsoft should really be pushing this amazing program. Thanks for you videos on this.

Caroline Pointer

5/16/2012 08:35:23 pm

Tessa, agreed. Definitely underrated.

On video limits, I'd have to be invited to their Partnership Program to get it limited & I'm not big or popular enough for that yet. I can upload directly to my site (less than 100mb) but I want them on YouTube for added exposure & SEO. Plus keeping them short is better for my audience.

Thanks for stopping by!

~C

Caroline Pointer

5/16/2012 08:37:54 pm

That is, the limit lifted, not limited. I'm on my iPhone. :)

~C.

Amanda E. Perrine link

5/16/2012 11:28:23 pm

Thanks for posting these videos! I love OneNote and it's great to see how other genealogists use it.

Caroline M. Pointer

5/17/2012 12:58:23 am

Thanks, Amanda! I'm glad you enjoyed it. =)

Thanks for reading & commenting. I appreciate it!

~C

Lynn Palermo link

5/17/2012 12:50:28 am

another great video tutorial Caroline, may I ask what your using to record your videos?

Caroline M. Pointer

5/17/2012 01:01:08 am

Thanks Lynn. I'm using the Pro version of Screencast-o-matic which is just $12 per year. They have a free version, but there's more post-recording functionality to the pro version, like it uploads to YouTube WAY faster. And its only $12. Cheap. 2 fancy coffees cheap. LOL. =)

Thanks for commenting, Lynn! =)

~C

Elyse Doerflinger link

5/17/2012 02:16:39 am

Once I've recovered from school and don't hate OneNote (since I keep my school notes in there too), I'll have to make a video on this. I just love OneNote and I really couldn't live without it.

I wish I had an iPhone just so I could use the app. I have an Android but it is 2.2 version and not 2.3 so there is no app for me. But that is OK - I still love it and find it worth it.

Mariann Regan link

5/21/2012 09:15:37 am

The great thing about OneNote is that it mimics the handwritten system I used to use in college (most of us used it, I guess) to write research papers -- scribbling little notes in the margin (now neatly in boxes!), cross-referencing pages (now you just click!), rummaging around for a footnote (now it's automatically pasted in!), saving tidbits you might use somewhere (now it's unfiled notes). This is a delight.

I have a MacBook Pro. I ordered a Mac FTM. I think most of this will work on a Mac, and if not, I'll drop back and punt.

Thanks so much, Caroline!!!

Jana Last link

5/25/2012 12:15:26 pm

Thanks so much for your awesome videos about OneNote! I'm definitely going to have to give this a try! Thanks again for taking the time to create these helpful tutorials.

Michelle Goodrum link

6/10/2012 02:45:08 pm

I've been using OneNote for a few years now but these two videos have been an amazing leap forward. Thanks.

4YourFamilyStory

6/11/2012 12:17:13 am

Michelle, I'm glad you enjoyed the OneNote videos. OneNote is very powerful and easy to learn for those of us who already use Word, Excel, or PowerPoint.

Thanks for stopping by & reading!

~C

Mark

6/22/2012 11:16:57 pm

I really like onenote but I complety don't understand the things. First - why text formatting is so limited? You can't have nice looking tables, and if you copy text from Word then 70% formatting is removed.

And second - why is it not possible to browse your notes using an ordinary, hierarchical tree. The latest version supports three levels but in my opinion it would be much better to have a normal tree control.

With these two features one note wins everything. Have no idea why these two important features are missing. Sorry for my english.

What do you think about this Caroline?

4YourFamilyStory

6/22/2012 11:36:59 pm

Mark,

Good points. I'm going to guess (which is all I can do since I don't work for Microsoft) that because OneNote is meant to be a note-taking system & not a place to create a finished product, that that is probably why it doesn't support advanced formatting. When creating notes, I've not had a problem with the formatting because I'm too busy with the actual information I'm putting in there. So much so, that I've not come across anything I haven't been able to do that I wanted to do, format-wise.

I've been pleased with how my tables turn out. If I were writing down notes on paper - and these were truly notes - I wouldn't get caught up in how pretty my notes & tables look. But that's just me. What kind of formatting are you trying to do in your notes that is not supported?

As far as hierarchy is concerned, I think they give you enough especially since you are able to do an any word search of all your notes. Browsing & searching through hierarchically organized notes can be time consuming. It's much easier to type a keyword in the search box & let OneNote retrieve the notes containing that keyword than it is to look for it manually.

It'd be nice, I suppose, if it had these additional features, but quite honestly I've not run into these problems. I don't use OneNote to create a finished product.

Thanks for stopping by & reading. :)

~C

Mark

6/23/2012 02:57:12 am

Thank you for your opinion. I simply believe that for these people who want to take their notes quickly - enabling advanced formatting wouldn't change anything. But people like me who want to create a nice looking notes (which will be then reposted to others) should have the ability to all formatting features like in Word or Powerpoint.
I work as an IT consultant preparing many educational materials which I would like to keep in one place so formatting is very important for me.

For example - you are not able to create tables which have grouped cells or colored cells.

When we talk about hierarchical views - that's also important. When you read the book - it has it's own hierarchy. When you browse your hard drive - it is organised in hierarchy. So it would
be great to have "real" hierarchical views in OneNote. Still don't know why they haven't implemented it yet. From the point of view of programmist - this a very simple function which could be disabled for people who don't want it.

But I must admit that in my opinion OneNote is one of the best note-taking software.

Greatings from Poland,
Mark

4YourFamilyStory

6/23/2012 04:41:45 am

I agree with you, Mark. I don't understand why Microsoft doesn't advertise OneNote more as well. MSOffice 2012 will be coming out soon with OneNote v.15. Perhaps it will include some of these updates. At any rate, have you suggested your ideas to Microsoft?

Thanks for commenting!

~C

Mark

6/23/2012 07:40:03 am

I'm going to send them my suggestions soon. Here's a good place I think (if you would like to send them suggestions also)

https://connect.microsoft.com/onenote/Feedback

Have a nice weekend,
Mark

Find your family story.

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