Product Reviews

Since the last major release, Journler has been given a makeover. As well as a shiny Web 2.0 website, it now sports a more professional-looking icon and a snazzy disk image design. Of course, the application itself has seen some changes, too.

The most fundamental change is that Journler is no longer just about writing a journal. Developer Phil Dow has seen it used for many other purposes, and this release deliberately blurs the boundaries to make it a more flexible application.

The application's description reflects the changes. It now says 'Journaling and entry-based information management for the Mac,' which is accurate enough. Journler has broadened its horizons and now competes with a variety of applications in different areas - MacJournal for journalling, Yojimbo for storing digital flotsam, and even DevonThink for organising and finding links within large data sets.

First and most important among the new features are new ways to get data into Journler. Drag anything to its Dock icon and it imports it, at least in theory. We found web pages were only imported by dragging them to the Journler Drop Box, a folder alias that's added to the desktop when the application is installed. It points to a folder buried in your user Library, which acts as an inbox for anything you wish to add to Journler's database. The benefit of this system is that things can be added even when Journler isn't running, and they'll be imported

ADVERTISEMENT

when it next starts up.

Using a folder alias on the desktop feels clumsy, though, and isn't something lovers of tidy desktops will be keen on. You're better off dragging this alias to the Dock.

There's also a new system-wide Service for adding stuff to Journler, and an item added to contextual menus in the Finder.

Second, Journler is now much more tightly aimed at writers. There's a live paragraph, word and character count in the status bar at the bottom of every editing window. It includes limited support for some weblog hosts, but not many of them; even Dow himself admits that 'substantial work' is required to make Journler a 'Pro' blogging tool. It's now easier to make links between entries, and to files (even applications) elsewhere on your Mac.

Taking a leaf from applications such as DevonThink, Journler now includes a feature called the Lexicon, which tracks usage of individual words throughout your database. The idea is that, over time, it will help you spot relationships between entries you didn't know existed. It's a nice idea that will appeal to those with a need to compile data for research, but don't expect instant results. It depends on a large and well-used database for success.

One of the most appealing things about Journler is its flexibility. It has enough features to keep even the most hardcore Getting Things Done freaks amused, but can also be instantly understood by the freshest of Mac newbies, who'll appreciate its simplicity and the ability to avoid messing about in the Finder with files and folders. Auto-save and instant search make it all the more attractive.

Free for personal use, Journler remains good value even if you use it in a professional capacity and are obliged to buy a licence. If it suffers from anything, it's a tendency towards feature-creep, and the default window layout may be too busy for some new users to take in at a glance. However, don't let that put you off getting hold of it if you've been looking for a means of storing words and ideas.