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Pigeonhole
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Posted by MadaboutDana
Jun 26, 2016 at 02:12 PM
Just discovered a rather nice little app in one of my trawls through the Apple Mac Store.
It’s called Pigeonhole, and it serves a rather simple function, but does it rather well.
It allows you to import lots of different kinds of (text-based) files (including e.g. Word, Pages etc.), then copy bits of them to categories in a series of snippets. So on the left you have the source text, in the middle you have the categories, with a big + button next to each category for adding snippets, and on the right you have the list of snippets you’ve added to a particular category (you select a category in order to view the snippets in that category).
The left-hand window can be switched to a web browser that allows you to view a web page instead of a disk file. You can then select snippets from the web page to put into categories, just as you can with source files. The unique selling point is the way the app automatically keeps a record of the source of each snippet (source file or web URL), complete with the date and time the snippet was created (nicely done, in pale grey immediately under the newly clipped snippet).
There’s only one weakness at present: the developer clearly intends you to export your snippets to RTF(D) once you’ve compiled them, so there’s no way of searching through the actual snippets. You can search source files (on the left); you can search categories (in the middle) - indeed, the category search will find text in your snippets. But once you’ve zeroed in on the category you want, containing the snippet(s) you want, you can’t actually search through the snippets themselves (on the right). Odd, because the search function for finding text in source files is actually very good. The same thing could easily be set up for the snippets.
I’ve pointed out to the developer that a proper snippets search function would turn Pigeonhole into a highly desirable all-in-one research app - you’d simply have to load up a .pigeonhole file for a whole gamut of research on a particular topic (including lots of subcategories for that topic) to become available for searching etc. As it is, you have to save out your .pigeonhole file as an RTF file before you can really get to grips with the detailed content of your snippets.
But it’s still early days - the app is only at version 1.0, and already works very well. The import function is fast and stable. The snippet-clipping function is seriously cool.
Definitely worth a look for Mac users who like to organise lots of textual information! Please note it’s currently only available for the Mac, via the App Store.
More info at http://onewindowwonders.com/pigeonhole/
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by Paul Korm
Jun 26, 2016 at 04:34 PM
Thanks Bill
For a snippets “clipboard” I really like the Safari extension provided by Craig Scott’s iThoughtsX from toketaWare. The extension also captures text and link and adds it as a node in a designated mind map, ready for further mind map magic or export.
Too bad Pigeonhole does not have an available demo. I don’t think I’d pay $19.99 based on the video.
Posted by MadaboutDana
Jun 27, 2016 at 10:17 AM
Well, yes, I kind of see your point - if you’re already invested in iThoughtsX. But Pigeonhole is much cheaper, and for a text-focused chap like me, much friendlier. No need to mess about with mind maps, just a simple collection of congruent data assembled under convenient headings.
I’m already using it for a translation project involving lots of cross-references to previous documents. It’s proving extremely easy and convenient to use!
Just the lack of a snippets search function - that’s the biggest shortcoming. But at the moment I’m using RTFD files.
Cheers,
Bill
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Jun 27, 2016 at 05:11 PM
This reminded me of a piece of Windows software from long ago, also called Pigeonhole, that still seems to be available:
http://m8software.com/clipboards/pigeonhole/pigeonhole.htm
Posted by Idexis
Jun 28, 2016 at 09:25 PM
Thank you Stephen for bringing this one up. Used this application extensively for years. Will give it a go for nostalgic sake. Thanks, Sigurd