Capturing Tidbits

Folding and expanding objects

Note

This article describes features that are only available in Pagico version 5 or later.

To reduce visual clutter, you can fold and expand objects, such as notes, lists, and files.

To fold or expand single objects, please hover your mouse over the designated object and click on the arrow icon located at the left-upper corner of the object.

If you need to expand or fold all the objects in the current view, just click the “Expand All” or “Fold All” buttons located in the toolbar.

This feature is available for projects, contact profiles, and your Inbox.

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Inbox

Note

The feature described in this article requires Pagico v4.0 or higher.

Replacing the original QuickNotes feature, the Inbox becomes the primary “Collect” feature in your entire Pagico-based workflow.

Unlike the old QuickNotes feature which only accepts notes, and also unlike the standard Inbox concept found in the GTD system in which the Inbox only handles tasks, the Inbox in Pagico handles everything including notes, lists (tasks), and files.

The number (see screenshot above) in the Inbox item indicates the number of tasks currently stored in your Inbox. It is NOT the number of lists, notes, or files.

Information in your Inbox is included in the database search, and tasks in Inbox are also shown in the Dashboard schedule flowchart.

Categorizing and Processing

Inbox is the place for you to capture and store un-processed information as quickly as possible. When you do have time, you can sit down and digest those captured tidbits by categorizing them into the corresponding topics or contact profiles. But the Inbox is just like a fully functional topic, that means you can create new, use, re-order, edit and delete existing data just like you would in topics. So, for small tasks you can even use them and get rid of them right here in Inbox.

Inbox is accessible in all your databases

The data in Inbox is stored independently on your computer, instead of in any specific database. That means you will be able to see and use the same Inbox in all your databases. That enables you to capture information as quickly as possible, without thinking about categorizing them in the first place, thus optimizing your entire workflow.

Also, a standalone light-weight application called Pagico Helper is available for you to enter data quickly.

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Pagico Helper

Note
The feature described in this article requires Pagico v4.0 or higher.

The Pagico Helper is shipped as a standalone application, which can be found in the same folder with the Pagico main application.

To launch it, simply double-click on the Pagico Helper icon. Once launched, the it will reside in your menu bar area. To use it, simply right click on the Pagico Helper icon in your menu bar area to display the menu.

The Pagico Helper application works independently, so you don’t have to keep the Pagico main application running in the background.

What does it do?

The Pagico Helper allows you to enter new information into your Pagico easily and quickly in the following ways:

  • Writing new notes
  • Writing new tasks
    Pagico 4 has enhanced way of handling tasks. Learn more→
  • Adding new files

Where is new information stored?

All your new information will be automatically stored in your Inbox, which is accessible in all your databases. So you don’t have to worry about choosing databases when you’re in a hurry.

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QuickNotes (deprecated)

Note
Starting from Pagico v4.0, this feature is replaced by the new Inbox feature.

The “QuickNotes” feature is designed to help you capture random notes. Whatever it is, a phone number, an address, a temporary note as a reminder, etc. Anything that you don’t think you’re gonna need it again in the future, you can save it as a QuickNote.

Writing a note

In order to write a note, simply switch to the “QuickNote” section in the left panel, then write in the big box located in the right panel.

To save what you write, simply use the keyboard combination “Ctrl + Enter”. Someone may ask: why in the earth there is not a “save” button? Okay, the reason for not having a “save” button is, to save your time. We’re kind of “forcing” you to use the keyboard shortcut, so you don’t have to move your hand away from the keyboard.

An alternative way to save a note is to press “enter” key three times in a row. This feature is designed for users who are taking lecture notes.

Color-Coding your notes

When you have dozens of notes, assigning colors for different notes would become a very simple but effective classification. For example, “red” for urgent, “blue” for not-so-important. Or, “red” for John, and “green” for Judy, etc.

Notes can also be inserted to topics or contact profiles if you need. Learn more about this.

Tasks in the notes can be recognized and used directly, thanks to the Data Detector.

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MobileNote (deprecated)

Note
Starting with Pagico v4.0, this feature, together with the QuickNotes feature, is deprecated. Instead, a more powerful Inbox and an online service (Pagico Cloud Service) are introduced to fill the gap, providing more feature and streamlined user experience.
The MobileNote service is still going to be available for free for Pagico v3.x users. Currently there is no plan to interrupt this service.

Ever wanted to take notes on your iPhone (or any smartphone), public computers at school (or office), and deal with these notes when you’re back home to your own computer? The MobileNote feature is designed for you to do so. To learn more about this feature, you may go to the Official MobileNote Website.

How does it work?

In short, after activating the service, you’ll get a MobileNote address, which is a standard email address. Whenever you need to write something, just compose an email, and send to your MobileNote address. The message will be handled by our server, and synced to your Pagico software automatically. The messages wil be saved as QuickNotes.

Activate before use

Activate before use

Activating the feature

Before you can use the feature, you need to activate it. Go to “Preferences” by clicking the icon in the toolbar, then check the option for the MobileNote feature.

When activating, make sure your computer is connected to the internet. If successful, you’ll see your MobileNote address being displayed in the right panel.

The MobileNote address is consist of two parts: your name in the program, and a random number.

So setting up your “Real Name” in the database preference before activating the feature will make your MobileNote address a lot more eaiser to memorize.

More about the MobileNote address

First of all, your MobileNote address is permanent for you. That means you can add this address to your address book and use it in the future. That also means that you cannot change your MobileNote address, even after turning the feature off and turn it back on.

Also, try to keep your MobileNote address private, as you definitely don’t want somebody disturbing you by sending you lots of messages to your Pagico software. If this happened, please contact us, and we’ll change the MobileNote address for you manually.

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Data Detector (Deprecated)

Note

This feature has been discontinued since Pagico v4.0. It is replaced by a better feature called Click-and-link.

It’s very easy to write out tasks, dates, or other information in plain text, but not so easy to add them to the right place — re-writing them is definitely boring.

A recognized task

Pagico can recognize important information such as tasks (action items) and dates from plain text, so you’re one-click away from adding them as a task into your Pagico.

Whenever something is recognized by Pagico, they’ll become click-able, and by clicking on it, you can add that information to the proper place, such as, set up a date for a recognized task, or set up an appointment with somebody for a recognized date.

This feature is available throughout Pagico — text notes and list descriptions in topics, tasks and activities from profiles, or even QuickNotes and MobileNote you sent from your shiny iPhone.

Just imagine you wrote an action list on the go, and when you’re back, just a few clicks, these words are turned into tasks.

Tips & Hints for writing tasks

Just write something like this:

- Buy milk

- Call phone service

…

or, this would work too:

1. Buy milk

2. Call phone service

…

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Setting up tasks (todo lists) in projects

Watch the Video Tutorial!
To set up tasks (or Action Item) in a project, you need to create a list first.

To do so, simply click the “Add…” button, and “List” in the menu.

After doing so, you’ll see an “Untitled” list is created, and you’re focusing on an list item. Go ahead and enter the task name, for example: buy milk. Then, set up the due date by clicking in the “Due Dates” input box, and selecting the date in the popup mini-calendar.

The description line is optional. Click “Save” or hit “enter” to save the task item.

You can edit the title of the list (by default is “Untitled”) to something that makes sense to you, such as “Tasks”.

There also advanced (more flexible and faster) ways of entering the dates, too.
Read More »

Also posted in Managing Projects and Events, Managing Schedule | Back to Top | 8 User Contributed Notes.

Inserting QuickNotes into topics or contact profiles

QuickNotes can become useful, too. So when they do, you can always insert them into relevant topics or contact profiles. To do so, just hover your mouse onto that QuickNote item, then click on the “Insert to…” button to see the selector panel (new feature in v3.3). With the selector panel, you can easily insert the selected note to one or more topics and/or contact profiles.

You can also type a few characters in the “Search” input box to filter the result list, which is updated real time as you type.

After insertion, the original QuickNote is not deleted. You can still keep it in the QuickNotes section, or go ahead and delete it.

Note

This article involves a newly introduced feature in Pagico v3.3.

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