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UltraRecall on Bitsdujour today (27th June 2011)
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Posted by Dr Andus
Jun 28, 2011 at 02:57 PM
I have acquired UltraRecall a couple of years ago but so far it turned out to be a CRIMP mistake of mine, in the sense that I have not been able to find it a place within my workflow. Originally I bought it because I thought I’m going to use it to organise hundreds of PDFs that I had in hundreds of different folders but in the meantime I found that NVivo would be better suited for that task (I’m talking about analysing the contents of the PDFs and then coding them, i.e. classifying them according to the categories derived from the content).
So I would be curious to hear how others use UR in their day-to-day work. For collecting websites I use Surfulater, for gathering and organising data from PDFs into outlines I use Whizfolders. I imagine UR could do both, but at the moment I don’t have a convincing enough reason to switch.
Posted by MartyM
Jul 1, 2011 at 05:52 PM
I have used UR Pro for over 6 years. It is THE single app that keeps me able to control all the information that I need to handle every day. That includes email, PDFs, all Office file-types, web pages, reminders… It has a rather steep learning curve but there isn’t really anything it can’t do (that you’d want to do with a PIM). One of my databases is around 800M in size and searching is fast! I have the option to import a file as a link or import a complete copy. There is one way or two way synchronization for linked files. You can create your own tags and you can import your own icons. You can create your own forms and templates. I think that it is it’s almost unlimited flexibility that turns some people off. It comes with about 7 sample databases which give a glimpse of what is possible.
I would rather see a different UI as someone else mentioned but I’ll overlook that for the power. I usually have 4 databases open at once everyday. I can’t remember the last time it crashed (I have version 4.2b) but I don’t do alot with customizing the look and feel. I have a layout I like and each database pops up in it. I probably should try some UI customization, though…
It took me about a year of using it before something “clicked” and I suddenly went from novice to almost poweruser! I have used other SW (TreeDBNotes, Zoot, Personal Brain, several personal wikis, etc) but UR Pro remains my go to app. I also have occasional CRIMP desires, but if I pause long enough to read through the capabilities, I usually come to the conclusion that what I have is better than what I want. That doesn’t stop me from looking, however!
I know I sound like I own the company but I don’t. I’m just a long-time satisfied user. I have found the app that prevents me from having to use several apps that are all focused on different, specialized, tasks. I’m happy, your mileage may vary.
Marty
Posted by jimspoon
Jul 2, 2011 at 06:57 AM
Marty, your post encourages me. I am particularly interested in URs ability to integrate with external files. I’m frustrated with having to look for the same thing in several different information stores - and maybe UR can help me with that.
jim