Evernote Web Clipper saves content better than bookmarks.
Is your browser packed with bookmarks to read later? Do you use a service like Pocket (formerly Read it Later) or Bitly as a way to save links to visit later? Have you ever pinned on Pinterest or posted a link on Facebook as a reminder to yourSELF to read something later? It's okay, we've all been there—but there's a better way to save articles and websites of interest: Web Clipper for Evernote. |
| Evernote Web Clipper is available for all major browsers (and Internet Explorer (*zing!*)). |
The Web Clipper is my new favorite Evernote application/extension. The control over how much of a web page it clips, the ability to direct it to a specific notebook or tag it right there while you're saving the web page is invaluable. And of course, in Evernote, once it's in, it'll never take up future space so you can save it forever. You know, in case you suddenly want to tell someone about something you recently read. Whip out your phone and type in a keyword or tag and BOOM, derailed conversation thread saved!
Let's answer a few questions...
Why not Pocket?
I love Pocket, and I used to use it all the time for quickly archiving articles I wanted to read later (especially helpful when you notice something at work or while you're busy that you don't want to forget to find later when you have time to read/watch it). In fact, it's probably the best quick bookmarker tool out there, and it does also have a mobile app. But for me, I started to wonder why I'd use Pocket as a middle person when Evernote is where I spend most of my time, archive articles, and make to do (including "to read" and "to watch" lists)?Coming from the Pocket bookmarklet, the Web Clipper extension is a SLIGHTLY longer process—instead of the Pocket bookmarklet click and a 3-second sync, it's a 3-second sync to slide out the sidebar of options, and then you can select TYPE of clip (Article, Simplified Article, Full Page, Bookmark or Screenshot, pictured below), NOTEBOOK and TAGS of the note that the clip will become — or you can simply "Save" and deal with organizing it later. I find that taking the extra few seconds to organize and sync at the time saves from a nightly shuffle of tucking in all the articles to their appropriate notebooks, tags, etc.
Why not bookmarks?
If you use browser bookmarks, Pinterest, or Pocket to save things to read later, you run the risk of losing that content if it's moved or taken down. When you clip an article, whatever part you've clipped lives in your Evernote account, so even if the article is deleted or the site goes away, you still retain the article, whereas a bookmark will lead you to a sad error screen. Plus, bookmarks are just plain cluttery, and may not be available on all of your devices.What about mobile? EverClip for iPhone, etc.
If you use Evernote on your phone, you can always paste a link right into the app. But if you want more than JUST the link show up, there are several clipper apps available. I use EverClip as an interim—much like bit.ly, when you open the app after having copied a link, it'll pop up asking if you want to save that link. It'll then post to your Evernote similarly to the browser extension—with a preview photo/blurb, etc.What else?
Bonus! Evernote, as always, learns from your behavior. You'll notice after you start clipping a fair amount of articles, it'll guess with a pretty good accuracy rate what notebook and even what tags you are going to want to select. Pretty nifty. I'm guessing it uses the type of article, keywords, and maybe even location to figure out context, but I'm not entirely sure (if you know, please post in the comments!).Here are screenshots of various types of clips:
Article
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| "Article" cuts off before the comments. The "+""-" buttons can be used if you want more or less than it automatically selects. |
Simplified Article
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| "Simplified Article" removes background and extra noise. |
Full Page
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| Shown here as clipped into Evernote, "Full Page" captures full web page, down to the footer (shown below). |
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| A bit of formatting is lost, but the full page is indeed saved. |
Bookmark
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| "Bookmark" captures a link preview similar to a Facebook share link. |
Screenshot
Screenshot captures just the part of your browser screen that is visible—as opposed to "Full Page," but while of course retaining formatting, since it's just a screencap and not a copy of the text/images/links, etc.
You'll note that Skitch controls are also on the side for marking up the captures as well, if desired.
For more extensive info on Web Clipper, visit this helpful guide on the Evernote site.
Do you use Web Clipper already? Have another mobile app to recommend? Any other tips?