Taking Notes in WordPress

One of the problems with WordPress is that it is too easy. Yes, too easy to work with. I can quickly add posts, Plugins, Themes, make a change in my code, or get into the source code and make changes there. While all of this is just too darn easy, the process of gathering information and research for writing an article in WordPress hasn’t been easy.

Using the WordPress Press It Bookmarklet, I tend to grab anything and everything I see on a website to add to a collection of Draft Posts. The reality is that I want to use information from a lot of these to make one article, not a bunch of posts. Each draft gets a post ID number which I didn’t want. I just wanted a way to keep notes on research I was doing, fast and easy, and then compile them into an article, all within WordPress.

I found a WordPress Notes Plugin, which was okay, then Chris J. Davis came up with an EVEN BETTER mousetrap for taking notes in WordPress with the full version of WordPress. I love it when competition makes life better for everyone.

Chris J. Davis’s WordPress Notepad Plugin takes the concept of “taking notes” in WordPress and makes it not only a useful tool, but an invaluable one.

The plugin installs as with most WordPress plugins today, with an upload and an activation click. It adds two “menus” to your WordPress Administration Panels. One is under Manage and the other under Write Post. You click Add Note and enter in your notes however you want them. When you are ready to turn them into a post, choose Convert to Draft and instantly the note is added to your Write Post Drafts. You can then edit it, assign it categories, and turn your note into a post, fast and easy.

Click on Admin > Manage > Notes and you have a screen for adding notes of any kind to its own table within WordPress’s database. It’s very simple to use. You add a title, type in your notes, and then save it. It’s there to refer to at any time.

This is a great way of keeping the information together in one place, reminding me of what worked, didn’t work, and what changes I made. But this is but one use of Notes.

The Notes plugin can also work as a to-do list. Or reminders, or even notes you gather from around different sites for research. I’ve asked him to include some kind of category system for sorting these notes in the future…looking way into the future.

And it doesn’t stop there. Chris has added a bookmarklet similar to the WordPress Press It Bookmarklet which you can click and drag to your Bookmark or Links bar in your browser and when visiting a page, click the link and that page’s link and title will appear in a new window holding a condensed version of your Write Post Admin Panel. You can add information from the article or any other notes and then save it. It will later appear on your Manage > Notes Admin panel. WOW! That is fast note-taking.

I hear that even more powerful features are in the works and this makes taking notes and accumulating research information for posts so much easier. I can pull the info from the notes themselves into the article I’m working on, or turn the whole note into a post. That’s versatility and power. I love it!

And this is a great example of a plugin author is thinking like an end user, adding features that increase functionality and usefulness. Keep up the great work, Chris!

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Copyright Lorelle VanFossen, member of the 9Rules Network, and author of Blogging Tips, What Bloggers Won't Tell You About Blogging.