...Info management AND project/tasks management, or only info management? For those of you using a separate project for project/task management, what software are you using?
Thanks
Comments
A bit of both. I use the free "todolist" for task management which is on codeproject - it doesn't have the powerful data manipulation IQ does but is great for that area and is in C so it's super responsive. No native gantt chart though.
For info management I used Evernote v2 until they stuffed it up with v3. Surfulater is also very good at capturing webpages with all formatting and could be used for notetaking but is very basic in that area.
I am using IQ in parallel for some 'test' areas and will move fully to it once a proper 'undo' function is in place. I couldn't stand to lose a meeting worth of notes with a wrong keypress!
Well, I am very eager to use IQ for serious work, but it is not there yet. Ultra Recall is formidable and quite competent for my information management and project needs. For calendaring, gantt charts (not great, because it cannot do time) and outlining, I continue to rely on Ecco Pro. It is quite a remarkable program.
Why do I say that IQ is not ready? The need to refresh, close grids, or re-start the program is a rough edge and an irritant that needs to be addressed sooner than later. In another thread, I commented on losing information contained in a pop up list. This was confirmed by others and makes me a little nervous about committing vital information to IQ. I would also like to have a choice of linking or attaching (embedding) files. Linking is not always sufficient, but for now I can live with it. Then there are the odd crashes and settings that don't stick between sessions (scratch grid vs. search grid).
Please don't get me wrong. IQ is a wonderful creation and I am anxious to make the transition from using it experimentally to accomplishing serious work with it.
- General info management : web clipping, references, etc.
- Finance management (nothing very sophisticated though)
- Project management (nothing huge, but still...)
- Tasks-todo management -- but only those which are tightly related to specific projects only. I manage everything else with Outlook (calendar, tasks, etc.) because it syncs with my PDA and gmail (calendar, etc.)
- Research (thesis, etc.) : Data analysis and synthesis of different kinds,
- Creation : writing and preparing complex directing scores (multiple fields, with various conditional formats, automated categories, etc.),
- Personal diary using graphs (using multiple and different field types, etc.)
- System elaborations
etc.
IQ is one of the most flexible software out there and offers great ways to organise data, analyse it, view it, etc. That's why I use it.
However, a few things prevent me from using it more.
One additional remark. An information manager marketable to the general user needs to be able to construct sophisticated searches and auto assign without resorting to programming language. The search function in Ultra Recall comes to mind, although its auto assign features require a knowledge of syntax on the part of the user.
I plan to use it primarily for addressbook/contacts (migrate from EccoPro) and as a outliner (I loved Zoot's 3 pane user interface). No plans for using it for project management. I am also looking at EfficientPIM and EssentialPIM. But none of them mimic EccoPro which I love. InfoQube is close but I have a lot to learn as the learning curve is very very steep. My advice would be not to make the application so full of features that it scares the casual user away. Maybe offer a personal version and a pro version.
So as not to take up un-necessary space, I use IQ pretty much the way Armando does. I still have data in UltraRecall but only because Pierre hasn't written import code yet (coming soon he promised). I decided to commit myself to IQ. The only thing I use on a day to day basis is google calendar because it syncs automatically w my Palm Pre. I'm hoping I can talk Pierre into finding a way to sync IQ calendar w Google calendar.
My goal in my data life is to use a single program. I have been thru many of them starting w Lotus Agenda too many years ago. I think IQ will eventually come the closest to filling the bill for me -- more so than ever before.
Comments
Why do I say that IQ is not ready? The need to refresh, close grids, or re-start the program is a rough edge and an irritant that needs to be addressed sooner than later. In another thread, I commented on losing information contained in a pop up list. This was confirmed by others and makes me a little nervous about committing vital information to IQ. I would also like to have a choice of linking or attaching (embedding) files. Linking is not always sufficient, but for now I can live with it. Then there are the odd crashes and settings that don't stick between sessions (scratch grid vs. search grid).
Please don't get me wrong. IQ is a wonderful creation and I am anxious to make the transition from using it experimentally to accomplishing serious work with it.
Jon