Bucket List App

[BlueHighways]

We all hear/read/learn of places to go through contacts, forums, podcasts, magazines, etc. Does anyone know of an existing app that would quickly and easily record a name or location? It would need to be shared data and work across multiple platforms.  Ideally it would allow more in depth info such as site number, contact info or . . . .?
 

I’m wondering about RV Trip Wizard or something else that I’ve not heard of.  We have an app like this for groceries. Both of us can add items and the other can see it. However, it is meant for temporal data and not a lot of information depth. 
 

I can build a spreadsheet or dB but, that’s not quick or easy data entry!

David

[topgun2]

Dude - 

As I recall - DavidS discussed such a thing or way of doing something like what you are after, but, unfortunately I can not search for it at this moment.  Perhaps a PM to him would be a quicker way to go.

Bill

[BlueHighways]

So many David here! Thanks!

[dhaig]

If you are looking for an app to record all sorts of miscellaneous information, I recommend Evernote.  See www.evernote.com.  The free version is quite capable.  There are versions for all popular platforms, including WIndows/Mac/iOS/Android.  There are also web clipper plugins for all major browsers, which enable quickly saving of webpages, or portions of webpages.  Multiple notebooks can be created with unlimited notes in each.  The search capabilities are good and keywords are also supported.  Evernote is cloud based and capable of syncing to multiple heterogeneous devices.  The premium (paid) version add capabilities, but I recommend first trying the free version.

I have been saving info found on the Oliver forums in Evernote to be able to categorize useful information I might use in future.

 

[Jim_Oker]

In a similar vein there's also OneNote, which I think fills a similar niche as Evernote.

[DavidS]

@DCdude sent me a PM asking me about apps that allow one to record travel destinations quickly and easily. The post that @topgun2 remembered is here, where I briefly posted about my notetaking strategy. 

As an academic, I have been taking notes for many years. I want my notes in an outline form where one can focus on the task at hand, with extraneous information still present in the document but hidden. I have used these outlines to plan and then write papers and grants, plan experiments, plan vacations, and also to both shop for my trailer. I currently use my Oliver outline to plan trips and to record information from research on items that I am considering purchasing for the trailer. I have used outliner software for many years now. Good outliners allow you to reorganize the contents (up or down, promote or demote), and have powerful search functions.

The screen shot on the left shows what my Ollie outline document looks like. Some of the sections in blue (Power, Battery, Solar, Generator, Water Supply, Boondocking, etc) contain notes on these topics from my early research (before owning Ollie), along with links to websites, blogs, YouTube videos, and forum posts. Outliners work by having multiple levels, and on the right you can see how I expanded the Power, Battery, Solar, and Generator level, and you can see that several lower levels can be selectively expanded. Thus information can be hidden or revealed. 

Here are two screen shots from my Earlier Research section on trailers before I decided on the Oliver. When someone posted about a kitty litter box in an Oliver, I was able to find the solution I had worked out, but not implemented), in the Travel with Cats in the trailer? section, and posted it here. 

@DCdude's original post asked about recording information such as campgrounds and campsites. Here are screen shots from my Places to Camp section, showing how much info you can easily record via copy/paste. @ShallowGalrecently posted about a nice campground on the Mississippi River, and I put that into my list of campgrounds. 

 

So if you want to use try to use an outliner, what to use? Evernote and OneNote were mentioned. I have tried both, but neither were satisfactory for my needs. In fairness, I never gave them a full trial, like I have with other outliner apps, and I had been spoiled by more full-featured outliner apps. I just did a search found two recent websites that discuss outliners. The servenomaster.com web site describes what an outliner can do, and has info on a number of outliner apps. The zapier.com site lists what platform each outliner run on (Mac, PC, iOS, Android, Web), and lists some features, pros/cons, and prices. (They had the incorrect price for the software I use, below.)  

I have test driven many Outliner programs over the years, and for a long time I have been happy with OmniOutliner Pro, a Mac program. It is more expensive than others, but IMHO OmniOutliner is better than the others. I have used these outliners intensively for my work, so it was a good investment for me. There is an iOS version of OmniOutliner that syncs with the Mac; unfortunately, you have to buy the Mac and iOS versions separately. If you want to try OmniOutliner, I would start with the “Essentials” version for $20, which has fewer features than the Pro version, but probably fine for what is needed here. Mac App store link. A trial version for iOS is free to download; my guess is that eventually one needs the in-app purchase of either the Essentials version for $20 or the Pro version for $50. iOS App store link. 

 

[Ray and Susan Huff]

I'm a finance person, so familiar with Excel spreadsheets.  Way back when I was in college (not so long ago second time around), I learned how to use Excel as a database, but since learned Access, which took some doing.  Now that I'm retired, I fall back on Excel for planning.  I just need to remember the data base functions to use it more effectively. 

I know, there are better tools in today's world, but I don't want to waste precious time learning new tricks, "old dog" that I am.  And you don't want to know how many little notebooks of info I have laying around, the result of paper/pencil planning 

[Moonlight Mile]

On 10/31/2020 at 11:32 PM, dhaig said:

If you are looking for an app to record all sorts of miscellaneous information, I recommend Evernote.  See www.evernote.com.  The free version is quite capable.  There are versions for all popular platforms, including WIndows/Mac/iOS/Android.  There are also web clipper plugins for all major browsers, which enable quickly saving of webpages, or portions of webpages.  Multiple notebooks can be created with unlimited notes in each.  The search capabilities are good and keywords are also supported.  Evernote is cloud based and capable of syncing to multiple heterogeneous devices.  The premium (paid) version add capabilities, but I recommend first trying the free version.

I have been saving info found on the Oliver forums in Evernote to be able to categorize useful information I might use in future.

 

I love Evernote and have not been using it lately and this is a FANTASTIC app and idea for using it. FWIW, I also use SimpleNote (and add tags for easy searches, you can also pin notes etc). Nice simple interface.  Great idea for use of Evernote, and I gotta get with it!

[Jim_Oker]

On 11/3/2020 at 5:22 PM, Susan Huff said:

Excel spreadsheets

FWIW OneNote plays quite well with Excel,  as you might hope and expect. E.g. by letting you  paste  in sheets into  a notes  page but then  you can  also paste in clipped photos or free form notes that often don't fit the very structured rows and columns of Excel.