Notion’s Evernote import has frustrating design flaws. Here’s how I got around them

I began writing my weblog posts for ZDNET in Evernote again in 2012. With just a few minor exceptions, each a type of posts was written, and had a primary edit, in Evernote.

I fairly like Evernote and pay for an expert plan. One of many key advantages of Evernote was (be aware the previous tense) that I may sync between computer systems. I normally write my articles on my MacBook Air. As soon as the article is finished, my spouse (who has years of expertise as a managing editor) does an modifying move with me from the sofa, utilizing a Mac mini that’s related to an enormous display screen in our household room. I then submit the edited article to ZDNET’s editors for evaluate.

Sync failures

However then Evernote’s sync began to recurrently fail. Typically it would not sync in any respect. Typically, the edited model could be reported as a battle, and Evernote would create two copies of the article.

I reached out to Evernote’s support team, and was informed to verify I had the newest model of the app (I did). I used to be additionally informed to not edit the identical be aware on two units without delay. My follow has at all times been to stop the app on one machine earlier than modifying on one other. Assist additionally instructed me to test to see if the be aware synced to the online (which had already turn into an obsessive follow). After which, I used to be informed:

I can’t assure that this may remedy the problems, however relaxation assured that we’re conscious of this suggestions, and we’re doing our greatest to enhance the syncing strategy of the Evernote app.

Not encouraging, that. Then, when Evernote determined to create three separate copies of an article, I noticed it was time to discover a totally different resolution.

The necessity to import Evernote notes

The important thing requirement, for no matter Evernote different I discovered, was that it had to have the ability to import Evernote notebooks. I’ve two key writing notebooks I exploit daily: Blogs Full and Blogs-in-Progress.

Blogs Full incorporates all my posts as soon as they have been printed. It has 1,364 notes. It must be searchable, as a result of I usually reference it to see what I mentioned in a earlier put up.

Blogs-in-Progress is the mission-critical pocket book. It not solely has the present weblog put up I am writing, however concepts and notes for upcoming posts and initiatives. I usually mine this pocket book for brand new put up concepts if I haven’t got a subject for the day. And as I work on larger initiatives, I hold monitor of the main points of every challenge in its personal be aware. I then flip these notes into articles when the initiatives are full. Blogs-in-Progress has 406 notes.

An entire bunch of applications import Evernote, together with Apple Notes, Obsidian, Ulysses, Notion, the open supply Joplin be aware app, and even Microsoft’s OneNote. Since I am a heavy consumer of Notion, I made a decision it might take advantage of sense to deliver my running a blog notebooks into Notion.

Evaluate: Notion app: Why (and the way) I depend on this highly effective productiveness software

This didn’t go easily. A part of it was Evernote’s fault. A part of it was Notion’s fault.

The Notion conundrum

Evernote, because it seems, has a published and reliable export format called .enex. You possibly can export a set of notes, or perhaps a set of notebooks containing notes, and Evernote will create an XML file that different applications can import.

So, does Notion use this printed and dependable export format to import Evernote notes? Nope. Why make something simple?

As an alternative, Notion makes use of the Evernote API and turns into an software shopper to Evernote. This requires Evernote to authenticate in Notion, and grant your Notion occasion permission to entry Evernote knowledge from the cloud.

So I did this. I first tried importing the smaller pocket book, however it solely imported 350 of the 406 notes. I attempted importing the bigger pocket book, however that simply hung. I let the import dialog sit there in a single day, however nothing occurred.

So, I contacted Notion. Apparently, they know there’s a problem as a result of I used to be informed this:

I am sorry to listen to you are having hassle importing content material from Evernote. This has been occurring for a small variety of customers and it is on our to-do checklist to repair, however we do not at present have a timeline for when will probably be resolved.

The help agent urged that imports generally fail with massive Evernote notes (like notes with graphics on them). The agent additionally urged splitting the notebooks into smaller batches and making an attempt once more.

It is right here we begin happening the rabbit gap. It begins with the issue of splitting notebooks into smaller batches. There are three issues you should learn about shifting notes in Evernote:

1. You possibly can solely choose and drag a number of notes within the desktop software.
2. You possibly can solely transfer 50 notes without delay.
3. As soon as you progress notes from one pocket book to a different, you should anticipate that motion to sync to the cloud so as to have the ability to import them into Notion.

However, as we have established, Evernote has sync reliability points. So the thought of flinging hundreds of mission-critical notes round and hoping they sync correctly and do not break was a deal-breaker. However that is the one approach Notion can get notes out of Evernote.

How I finally solved the issue

Let’s recap.

1. Evernote has a superbly good export format that does not depend on syncing, however Notion will not use it.
2. Evernote has quite a few sync reliability points, which Evernote acknowledges.
3. To deliver Evernote notes into Notion, we have now to interrupt up notebooks and depend on Evernote sync operations to work, and so they usually do not.

My resolution was to go away my Blogs-in-Progress and Blogs Full folders untouched in Evernote. As an alternative, from the desktop software, I exported each of these notebooks individually and saved them to 2 .enex recordsdata.

Nonetheless within the Evernote desktop app, I then imported these two .enex recordsdata, making a Blogs-in-Progress (Import) pocket book and a Blogs Full (Import) pocket book. On this approach, I bypassed the 50 be aware at a time transfer restrict, and successfully cloned my notebooks in Evernote. My plan was to make use of these clones for chopping up and shifting the notes round, leaving my originals untouched and preserving a backup within the .enex recordsdata.

I waited for the 2 pocket book clones to correctly sync to the cloud. I stored checking the Evernote Internet shopper. About three hours later, the sync accomplished. The brand new, contemporary sync of the pocket book clones succeeded with no lack of notes.

Again within the Evernote desktop app, I created a sequence of seven notebooks, named Half 1 by Half 7. My plan was to begin with the Blogs Accomplished pocket book, and put 200 notes in every of the seven Half notebooks. Very fastidiously, I moved 4 blocks of fifty notes from my cloned pocket book into the primary Half pocket book. I waited for that sync to work by confirming the notes had arrived in the correct pocket book within the Evernote net app. This took about 15-20 minutes for every tranche.

As soon as I verified all seven elements have been correctly within the cloud, I went again into Notion and imported every, one after the other. Most got here into Notion with no points, however just a few failed. I checked Notion to seek out out which be aware the import failed on, then went again into the suitable Evernote half pocket book to see if there was a problematic be aware.

On every of these events, there was a be aware with graphics in it, and it was that be aware that killed the import. Relying on how vital the be aware was for my information or work, I both deleted the complete failing be aware, or eliminated the graphics from the failing be aware. In any case, after coping with the failing notes, I used to be capable of full the imports into Notion.

I adopted the identical course of with my Blogs-in-Progress pocket book, however as a result of there have been fewer notes, it went sooner. All informed, it took about six hours of tweaking, fiddling, and ready for syncs to finish to maneuver the info from Evernote to Notion, however it did, finally, work.

Some apparent conclusions

First, a be aware for Evernote. When your service is a premium, paid-for service that particularly promotes the thought of getting your data on any gadget you want it on, letting bugs stay within the sync implementation is mission failure. Telling prospects, “We’re conscious of this suggestions, and we’re doing our greatest to enhance the syncing strategy of the Evernote app” doesn’t encourage confidence. Evernote, you should make this work.

I have been a paying Evernote consumer for a few decade, and have even written right here on ZDNET about how Evernote got here to the rescue throughout a hurricane evacuation. However when a elementary function fails repeatedly, it is time to transfer on. I will hold utilizing Evernote as an archive for some older information, however I am not going to depend upon it for day-to-day use.

Now, a be aware for Notion. Of us, you are clearly conscious of Evernote. In actual fact, you will have an entire page devoted to convincing folks to move from Evernote to Notion. You should pay attention to the sync issues Evernote customers encounter, since you highlight so many customers who’ve moved between the providers. So, what may have probably possessed your engineering staff to make use of a extremely unreliable cloud sync possibility when there is a printed and dependable export format?

I hold discovering new methods to place Notion to make use of, which works an extended method to substantiating how a lot of a assist it’s as a productiveness and administration software. However Notion is making an enormous pitch to its competitor’s customers. It wants a greater resolution than the cloud import mechanism it’s at present utilizing, and a greater reply when it fails than “We do not at present have a timeline for when will probably be resolved.”

That having been mentioned, this text was written within the new Blogs-in-Progress pocket book in Notion, and edited on a distinct machine with no sync points. So, yay!

Do you utilize Notion or Evernote? Have you ever migrated away from Evernote to a different software? Tell us within the feedback under.

You possibly can observe my day-to-day challenge updates on social media. You’ll want to observe me on Twitter at @DavidGewirtz, on Fb at Facebook.com/DavidGewirtz, on Instagram at Instagram.com/DavidGewirtz, and on YouTube at YouTube.com/DavidGewirtzTV.