Latest Springpad update lets you customize your notebooks
ATTENTION: This post contains details about a previous version of Springpad. To learn about the updates in Springpad 3.0, check out this blog post: “The New Springpad Makes It Fun and Easy to Share.”
We’re happy to announce a new feature that allows users to customize their Springpad notebooks for their own specific needs – whether it be making a list of movies they want to see, books they love, or recipes to try!
A Few Custom Notebooks to Try!
We’ve created a few notebook templates to get you started. Check them out & let us know what tweaks or improvements would take them from good to great!
- Recipe Notebook – Clip recipes from other websites or use the built-in search to find popular recipes from the web. Use the notebooks to organize and access your recipes by tag – great for cuisine, course, or main dish. Get it now!
- Gift Ideas Notebook – Save products you see at the store with the barcode scanner, clip ideas from shopping websites, or just type in notes. Use this notebook to start getting ready for the holiday season by saving all of your ideas in one spot. Get it now!
- Book Notebook – Save books by title, clipping them from Amazon, or with the barcode scanner on your iPhone or Android. Use this notebook to make a list of your favorite books, books you want to read, books you want to remember, books you want to buy. Get it now!
Customize Your Notebooks
With our new configuration tools, you can customize each of your notebooks to make it work best for your specific topic or project. Modify the add menu to only include the relevant types and customize the notebook navigation to work best for you. This will reduce the time it takes to save new things to Springpad and will help you to organize and view your stuff just how you like!
Learn how to customize your Springpad notebooks.
Share Your Notebook Templates
Once a notebook is customized, you can use it as a template for other notebooks and even share it with other Springpad users! We see this as a great way for you to create custom ways to save and organize your stuff, then pass along your expertise to friends or fans.
We’ve got a few more notebook templates in the works that will help you save and share movies, notes and restaurants, among many other things… But, we want to hear from you – tell us how you’re customizing your notebooks and how you’re using Springpad in your daily life!
38 Responses to “Latest Springpad update lets you customize your notebooks”
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Rachel says: Love the Recipe Book! This is a great option since I like to organize my notebooks by type.
Is it possible to sort All My Stuff by items not in a notebook? I have a few recipes that haven’t made it into the Recipe Book, but with a few thousand it’s hard to find the handful that are missing from it. Thanks!
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Hey Rachel – Glad you like it! We don’t currently have a “not filed” filter or sort, but here’s what you can do: Open My Stuff, view only your Recipes, change the view to the most compact one (list view), then scroll to the bottom of the page until all of your recipes load. Then use Bulk Edit to add them all to your recipe notebook – http://blog.springpadit.com/2010/12/use-bulk-edit-to-update-multiple-items-in-springpad/ Hope this helps!
April says: No offense Katin, but unless I missed something, all three examples use the same notebook layout, though they contain different item types. Do you have some other templates or can you give examples of different layouts we can use?
I have a Books & Recipes notebook & I did just change the layout to look like your templates. I also use GTD & have a “Next Actions” notebook that has items in common with other “project” notebooks. I have different filters saved in the Next Actions notebook to filter by context and I often look at Everything in that notebook & sort by Date to see what is due coming up.
I’d like to see some other examples of templates to give me some ideas on how I can view items in a notebook to make it more meaningful to me.
I LOVE the fact that different view settings per notebook are saved so I can set up each notebook as I want without the settings applying across the board.
-
Hey April – thanks for the feedback. Yes, the three examples use the same layout. But you could imaging a task or note template that you’d want to use a list view rather than a gallery view. The real differentiator is the changes to the quick add menu, which gives immediate access to recipes, books, products, etc instead of the generic add menu. Also, you might imaging using pre-defined tags for recipe courses or GTD context in your customized navigation.
April says: Thanks Katin!
I’ll play around with the pre-defined tags & such!
Chit says: Hi katin,
I have stopped using springpadit cuz I had a hard time figuring out how to use it yet it is so attractive want to make a go of it again. ..but does not seem to be user friendly.
Please help me. I am trying to use the recipe notebook. How do I enter a new recipe from a website? I have the recipe in my home screen (am suing iPad). I just simply want to move it to my recipe notebook.
Thanks for a little tutorial.
Chit from the Philippines
Kathleen Popa says: Please oh please add a journal template!
Bonnie Lemons says: I got Springpad for recipes, but it still doesn’t appear to do what I have in mind: let me photograph each of my hundreds of clipped recipes. I don’t want to be limited to finding recipes on the Web or typing them in. After I photograph my recipes, I want to be able to sort them and write notes on them. Is that possible now? In the future? Thanks.
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Bonnie – You should be able to take photos from the mobile app… Are you using the iPhone or Android app?
Adam says: While these are good, the books notebook still lacks the ability to sort or filter based on the “I have read this” or “I want to read this” tags. I really like how easy it is to change a book from “want to read” to “have read”, but what I really need is the ability to filter so that I can just look at the books I haven’t read.
Great work in general, I really like being able to customize the notebooks!
[...] feature, which was announced the day after my conversation with Jeff Janer, is the ability to customize each notebook. Imagine having twenty or more notebooks, each one with its own look and feel, including custom [...]
So can one set a default notebook to use as an “inbox” yet? (My unsorted stuff quickly got lost in the All My Stuff notebook)
It’s pretty key for my GTD workflow.
-
Scott – We are considering making a default notebook for creating all new items… Stay tuned!
Tammy says: I agree with Kathleen. I am trying to use Springpad for most everything I want to save online and I think a journal would be great. Another suggestion, adding a calendar that will sink with Google calendar.
April says: Scott,
I have the same problem. Now when I spring anything w/ the “Spring It” clipper, I have to remember to choose my “In Box” notebook. It has worked for me since I implemented GTD awhile back, but there are tons of items in “All My Stuff” that still belong to no notebook since they pre-date my GTD implementation. Hard to get down to the bottom of “All My Stuff”. Wish we could do some real queries instead of just the standard choices in Filtering. I need to filter to find items NOT assigned to a notebook and also when searching for something, I would like to omit results found in my “Archive” notebook.
-April
Andrea says: Hello Katin,
I’m on Android and just recently downloaded an started using Springpad. It seems like a useful application – a fun and easy way to organize information. My only disappointment is that many of the new features do not appear to function on Android. Your track expense function is clearly noted “for iPhone.” What other functions do not work on Android? I just attempted to squire one of the above mentioned templates and received a “yikes” message. If I remember correctly it said something about a bad link. Would you please help to clear up my confusion and let me know which features do not function on Android.
Thanks,
Andtea
-
Andrea – You’re right about ExpensePad (it’s an app built by another company for iPhone only). As for templates, you should be able to use them on the Android app, too. If you continue to have issues adding one of the templates, please send us your account details to feedback@springpartners.com so we can look into it!
I would love the ability to create a new note book white I am adding a new item using the Firefox addon.
James says: You guys are reallllllly mising the boat here. A default inbox is mandatory to make springpad work effectively. Please refocus on basic issues and you will really see the fans come your way
Theresa says: I gave up on springpad I found it not to be new-user friendly. It seemed too complicated for beginners. YouTube videos did not help just seemed to be a sales pitch New updates spark an interest to try again. Any help is appreciated.
-
Theresa – I suggest you read through some of the content here to help you get started: http://springpadit.com/support
Theresa says: Thanks I will.
Andi says: Very nice, thanks.
I like the Gift Ideas template, but I would need to be able to keep it away from prying eyes!
Would it be possible to add a PIN screen to individual notebooks (rather than the whole app)?
Thanks for all the work (and I’ll add another voice to request for an inbox).
John says: Uhm,
I can’t seem to edit/configure any of my notebooks. Is this a feature that hasn’t been rolled out yet? This update makes it sound like I should be able to do it right now.
ja
-
John – Be sure you open the notebook before you hit the little wrench at the top (all on the web app).
John says: Oh, THAT little wrench. 
You might put something in the verbiage to float the mouse cursor over the name of the opened notebook, because my little wrench doesn’t show up until I do that.
ja
IanL says: Here’s how I’m trying to use Springpad:
I really have no use for home consumer stuff like recipes movies to see etc. For me its primarily a business tool for organizing related stuff. I belong to several different groups and organizations so I have 1 folder for each of them. I am also trying to to to master a GTD workflow method, if you really want to shine create notebooks for that with some easy ways for some automatic routing to occur as an object or task gets done is missed etc.
What about folder in folder or sub notebooks for better organizing? ie Recipes followed by Cake Recipes inside? This would avoid the huge scrolling list syndrome that happens. I know I can tag but sometimes its faster to just drop stuff into a separate notebook or folder.
I would like to be able to remove The Friends stuff or toggle it as hidden, its just wasted real estate for me as I don’t want to share or read others un related stuff.
Thanks for a great program, I found it much more suited to how I like to work vs Evernote.
Will there be a way to select a different font size, change the font type, and also change the font color?
Thanks.
Kim
Ramana Murthy says: How do I move my ‘old’ book list on All My Stuff to this new Books notebook?
Thanks in advance
G Kullmann says: It would be really helpful if you could email from recipe file.
April says: G Kullmann, my Springpad (from within the Chrome app) does let me email a recipe. It’s under Quick Links under the recipe (Send via Email). Is that what you meant?
G Kullmann says: I’ve typed in a few recipes ( 20 maybe) and only one has an email option under quick links. The others only let me post or twitter.
Scott says: You guys really need to offer something with the fonts. Even if it’s a button that strips the font styles already applied to text you’re pasting in. Right now I have to use notepad before using springpad to strip out things that are bold and big and I don’t want saved that way.
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Love the Recipe Book! This is a great option since I like to organize my notebooks by type.
Is it possible to sort All My Stuff by items not in a notebook? I have a few recipes that haven’t made it into the Recipe Book, but with a few thousand it’s hard to find the handful that are missing from it. Thanks!
Hey Rachel – Glad you like it! We don’t currently have a “not filed” filter or sort, but here’s what you can do: Open My Stuff, view only your Recipes, change the view to the most compact one (list view), then scroll to the bottom of the page until all of your recipes load. Then use Bulk Edit to add them all to your recipe notebook – http://blog.springpadit.com/2010/12/use-bulk-edit-to-update-multiple-items-in-springpad/ Hope this helps!
No offense Katin, but unless I missed something, all three examples use the same notebook layout, though they contain different item types. Do you have some other templates or can you give examples of different layouts we can use?
I have a Books & Recipes notebook & I did just change the layout to look like your templates. I also use GTD & have a “Next Actions” notebook that has items in common with other “project” notebooks. I have different filters saved in the Next Actions notebook to filter by context and I often look at Everything in that notebook & sort by Date to see what is due coming up.
I’d like to see some other examples of templates to give me some ideas on how I can view items in a notebook to make it more meaningful to me.
I LOVE the fact that different view settings per notebook are saved so I can set up each notebook as I want without the settings applying across the board.
Hey April – thanks for the feedback. Yes, the three examples use the same layout. But you could imaging a task or note template that you’d want to use a list view rather than a gallery view. The real differentiator is the changes to the quick add menu, which gives immediate access to recipes, books, products, etc instead of the generic add menu. Also, you might imaging using pre-defined tags for recipe courses or GTD context in your customized navigation.
Thanks Katin!
I’ll play around with the pre-defined tags & such!
Hi katin,
I have stopped using springpadit cuz I had a hard time figuring out how to use it yet it is so attractive want to make a go of it again. ..but does not seem to be user friendly.
Please help me. I am trying to use the recipe notebook. How do I enter a new recipe from a website? I have the recipe in my home screen (am suing iPad). I just simply want to move it to my recipe notebook.
Thanks for a little tutorial.
Chit from the Philippines
Please oh please add a journal template!
I got Springpad for recipes, but it still doesn’t appear to do what I have in mind: let me photograph each of my hundreds of clipped recipes. I don’t want to be limited to finding recipes on the Web or typing them in. After I photograph my recipes, I want to be able to sort them and write notes on them. Is that possible now? In the future? Thanks.
Bonnie – You should be able to take photos from the mobile app… Are you using the iPhone or Android app?
While these are good, the books notebook still lacks the ability to sort or filter based on the “I have read this” or “I want to read this” tags. I really like how easy it is to change a book from “want to read” to “have read”, but what I really need is the ability to filter so that I can just look at the books I haven’t read.
Great work in general, I really like being able to customize the notebooks!
Thanks for the input, Adam!
[...] feature, which was announced the day after my conversation with Jeff Janer, is the ability to customize each notebook. Imagine having twenty or more notebooks, each one with its own look and feel, including custom [...]
So can one set a default notebook to use as an “inbox” yet? (My unsorted stuff quickly got lost in the All My Stuff notebook)
It’s pretty key for my GTD workflow.
Scott – We are considering making a default notebook for creating all new items… Stay tuned!
I agree with Kathleen. I am trying to use Springpad for most everything I want to save online and I think a journal would be great. Another suggestion, adding a calendar that will sink with Google calendar.
Scott,
I have the same problem. Now when I spring anything w/ the “Spring It” clipper, I have to remember to choose my “In Box” notebook. It has worked for me since I implemented GTD awhile back, but there are tons of items in “All My Stuff” that still belong to no notebook since they pre-date my GTD implementation. Hard to get down to the bottom of “All My Stuff”. Wish we could do some real queries instead of just the standard choices in Filtering. I need to filter to find items NOT assigned to a notebook and also when searching for something, I would like to omit results found in my “Archive” notebook.
-April
The new gift album. Can you make lists for different people within this gift album?
Hello Katin,
I’m on Android and just recently downloaded an started using Springpad. It seems like a useful application – a fun and easy way to organize information. My only disappointment is that many of the new features do not appear to function on Android. Your track expense function is clearly noted “for iPhone.” What other functions do not work on Android? I just attempted to squire one of the above mentioned templates and received a “yikes” message. If I remember correctly it said something about a bad link. Would you please help to clear up my confusion and let me know which features do not function on Android.
Thanks,
Andtea
Andrea – You’re right about ExpensePad (it’s an app built by another company for iPhone only). As for templates, you should be able to use them on the Android app, too. If you continue to have issues adding one of the templates, please send us your account details to feedback@springpartners.com so we can look into it!
I would love the ability to create a new note book white I am adding a new item using the Firefox addon.
You guys are reallllllly mising the boat here. A default inbox is mandatory to make springpad work effectively. Please refocus on basic issues and you will really see the fans come your way
Thanks for the note, James – We’re considering a default inbox for a future update!
I gave up on springpad I found it not to be new-user friendly. It seemed too complicated for beginners. YouTube videos did not help just seemed to be a sales pitch New updates spark an interest to try again. Any help is appreciated.
Theresa – I suggest you read through some of the content here to help you get started: http://springpadit.com/support
Thanks I will.
Very nice, thanks.
I like the Gift Ideas template, but I would need to be able to keep it away from prying eyes!
Would it be possible to add a PIN screen to individual notebooks (rather than the whole app)?
Thanks for all the work (and I’ll add another voice to request for an inbox).
Uhm,
I can’t seem to edit/configure any of my notebooks. Is this a feature that hasn’t been rolled out yet? This update makes it sound like I should be able to do it right now.
ja
John – Be sure you open the notebook before you hit the little wrench at the top (all on the web app).
Oh, THAT little wrench.
You might put something in the verbiage to float the mouse cursor over the name of the opened notebook, because my little wrench doesn’t show up until I do that.
ja
Here’s how I’m trying to use Springpad:
I really have no use for home consumer stuff like recipes movies to see etc. For me its primarily a business tool for organizing related stuff. I belong to several different groups and organizations so I have 1 folder for each of them. I am also trying to to to master a GTD workflow method, if you really want to shine create notebooks for that with some easy ways for some automatic routing to occur as an object or task gets done is missed etc.
What about folder in folder or sub notebooks for better organizing? ie Recipes followed by Cake Recipes inside? This would avoid the huge scrolling list syndrome that happens. I know I can tag but sometimes its faster to just drop stuff into a separate notebook or folder.
I would like to be able to remove The Friends stuff or toggle it as hidden, its just wasted real estate for me as I don’t want to share or read others un related stuff.
Thanks for a great program, I found it much more suited to how I like to work vs Evernote.
Will there be a way to select a different font size, change the font type, and also change the font color?
Thanks.
Kim
Kim – We are not planning to offer font options in the near future.
How do I move my ‘old’ book list on All My Stuff to this new Books notebook?
Thanks in advance
It would be really helpful if you could email from recipe file.
G Kullmann, my Springpad (from within the Chrome app) does let me email a recipe. It’s under Quick Links under the recipe (Send via Email). Is that what you meant?
I’ve typed in a few recipes ( 20 maybe) and only one has an email option under quick links. The others only let me post or twitter.
You guys really need to offer something with the fonts. Even if it’s a button that strips the font styles already applied to text you’re pasting in. Right now I have to use notepad before using springpad to strip out things that are bold and big and I don’t want saved that way.
Hey Scott – We are considering something like this!