#nvalt

I just published Save to nvALT, a Chrome extension for saving pages to nvALT, a note taking app for Mac OS X. Pages are saved as clean Markdown, without any fluff. Like Readability or Instapaper.

Download Save to nvALT from the Chrome Web Store.

How do I use Save to nvALT?

Click the Save to nvALT buttom in the Chrome toolbar to save the current page to nvALT.

Alternatively, you can select some text, right click and "Save note with selected text."

What's nvALT?

nvALT is a simple and fast note taking application. It's an updated version of Notational Velocity.

Save to nvALT is non-intrusive

Save to nvALT is designed to be as non-intrusive as possible. Unlike most Chrome extensions, it requires no special permissions to run:

This is made possible by a new Chrome extension setting that keeps Save to nvALT disabled until you click its button.

Open Source

Save to nvALT is open source and license under the MIT license. You can view the source code on GitHub.

Credits

Based on the original extension by David Halter

Icon design by Chris Griffith

Favicon design by nvALT authors

Page content extraction logic by node-read

Navigating Tags In nvALT

Brett Terpstra 是我个人十分敬佩的一位独立开发者，其独立开发完成的知名应用和效率小工具数不胜数，如：Marked 2，nvALT，Brett’s PopClip Extensions 和 SearchLink1 等。最最重要的是，Brett 不但码得一手好代码，写作能力也甚为突出，其主笔的独立博客 Brettterpstra.com 在业内受到广泛的关注与赞誉。

Workflows between iOS and OS X using text are common and integral to daily life. Whether it’s jotting down reminders, grocery lists, contact information, cool songs and movies or ideas, the ability to capture text easily on any device and organize and process on any device is critical.

Apps I’ve used for Note Taking:

iOS

Stock notes app, Evernote, Clear, OmniFocus, Vesper, Drafts & Byword.

OS X

Browser based (Evernote, Google Docs and Sheets & Google Keep), Desktop based (Evernote, Stickies, TextEdit, Word, Clear, OmniFocus & Byword)

Windows

Browser based (Evernote, Google Docs and Sheets & Google Keep), Desktop based (None)

I also capture quotes in Quotebook and recipes in Paprika.

There are countless other apps I’ve heard about, asked about and learned about (BBEdit, nvALT, 1Writer, Notesy, Notability, etc), but haven’t bought or tried yet.

I want to figure out my optimal workflow, and simplify down to that specific workflow, so that I don’t have to juggle a multitude of different apps.

Current uses: * Drafts: First entry of all text based notes when on iOS. * Evernote: long term notes, archive of recipes. Hardly ever use on iOS. * Clear: Very short term tasks. Entry on both iOS and OS X. * OmniFocus: Anything beyond very immediate tasks. Entry on both iOS and OS X. * Vesper: Not part of my current workflow; used sparingly. Beautiful app; the addition of an OS X app may bring me back. * Byword: Used to compose all blog posts. I use both OS X and iOS apps. * Google Keep: Used for non task based note taking on OS X (and Windows on my work machine) * Stickies: Hardly used anymore * Apple Notes app: Hardly used anymore * Microsoft Word: Used for composing documents; rarely used.

Summary

My workflows involving text continue to evolve. Due to my complicated setup (iOS and OS X for personal use, but Windows while at work) a diverse set of applications is an unfortunate necessity. If Google Keep develops a native iOS app (likely?), or if Clear develops a native Windows desktop app (unlikely), it will significantly simplify my text workflows.