What's a good online notebook?

September 8, 2005 1:38 PM

I have been using the highly useful Forty Internet online Notebook for a couple years and was horrified to see a recent note upon login- the service is being discontinued. The Forty Internet people suggest Backpack, a similar service. But it requires payment for the service after like 5 posted notes, and it's annoying to navigate. So, my question is, can anyone recommend a good online note service?

I would use it a lot, I'm a big fan of jotting down ideas online, at any computer, at any time. Forty was pretty bare bones (really, just like an online textedit); I'd be willing to pay for a high-quality service.

posted by willns to Computers & Internet (11 answers total)

If you have any Web space, you could install a wiki.
posted by hyperizer at 1:46 PM on September 8, 2005

Specifically, I would recommend PeanutButterWiki.
posted by frykitty at 1:59 PM on September 8, 2005

Why not create a webmail account for notes to yourself? And on machines you use frequently, create a bookmarklet with mailto:[e-mail] as the address? Then you can use the webmail host's features (folders, tags, etc.) to sort and organize your notes. Might not be as slick as a dedicated service, but it's free, platform independant, and even supports cellphones and the like.
posted by arto at 2:07 PM on September 8, 2005

"I would use it a lot, I'm a big fan of jotting down ideas online, at any computer, at any time."

Not to be snarky but - Normally this sort of thing is called a blog. Any reason you don't want to go that route?
posted by y6y6y6 at 3:02 PM on September 8, 2005

Response by poster: y6y6... yeah i was waiting for that. well, i've been using blogger and found that its just not quite as streamlined as i need. first off, from login to post, that thing is sloooow. second, i don't want anything to be public. third, blogger is built to include images and junk- all things i don't need and only act to complicate and slow stuff. really, i want to login in to a no-frills thing, have my 10-15 things right there, click on one of 'em, edit it or whatever, and move along.
posted by willns at 3:21 PM on September 8, 2005

I am looking for the same thing myself. I just signed up for a beta account at writely. So far so good. Basic formatting (including shortcuts like Ctrl+B, ctrl+I, ctrl+U). I can edit the HTML directly if I want something fancier.

It's not plaintext, but it's pretty clean. If you find a plaintext service online (that lets me enter REAL TABS!!! and not convert them to spaces) let me know, would ya?

I have tried personal wikis, and I hate relearning markup syntax and having HTML stripped out etc etc.
posted by misterbrandt at 3:24 PM on September 8, 2005

Despite it being an email service, gmail can be tweaked to do this.

If by some odd chance you do not have a gmail account I have plenty of invites to give away.
posted by O9scar at 3:34 PM on September 8, 2005

Best answer: Protopage?
posted by gramcracker at 7:21 PM on September 8, 2005

Wow! I love protopage. I'm using it for all my mental notes!
posted by Lockeownzj00 at 10:24 PM on September 8, 2005

why not using tiddlywiki on USB stick. It's really easy, fast, and you can personalise the CSS. All is stored in one file (unless you link to local images). It supports tags. I use it everyday and as it's stored on a USB stick it's easy to carry and to plug it (even on a computer that does not have an internet access...).
posted by vincentm at 1:05 AM on September 9, 2005

Not sure if this is what you're thinking of, but tadalist is cool. Another vote for tiddlywiki, too. Very snazzy.
posted by stavrosthewonderchicken at 1:28 AM on September 9, 2005