In our digital times, one of the most well-advised life hacks is organizing all your information in one place. The solution does not lie anymore in labeled ring files, but in their digital siblings – the information organizers that are either software or cloud apps.

Cloud apps are great for syncing and anytime-anywhere access, but for more hands on control it is difficult to argue with software like the ubiquitous Microsoft OneNote, the ever-popular Evernote, and many others who are trying to carve their own niche.

Today, we will be throwing in an easy to use information manager called RightNote into the mix and here’s hoping that you will love the versatility this alternative productivity tool has to offer.

How Does RightNotes Define Itself

how to organize your information

RightNote is a digital filing cabinet that allows you to store both large and small amounts of information in a single place, easily tag, categorize and organize that information, and most importantly: find what you're looking for almost instantly.

Download and Install

RightNote (version 2.5.3) is a mere 9.2 MB download and it has a portable version too. RightNote is supported on Windows 2000/XP/2003/Vista/Win7. The installation happens in the blink of an eye and there are no intermediary nag screens or customization screens for that matter.

How Is RightNote Organized?

This section is vitally important if you are starting to get interested in the software and what it can do for you. More than any other tool, the organizational design of an information manager is of critical importance as it sets not only your comfort levels with the tool but also the efficiency with which you can retrieve information from it after you have stuffed it with all your notes and data. RightNote doesn’t disappoint, and here are the salient features which in my opinion make it flexible enough for all types of information you trust it with:

The main unit of information storage on RightNote is the Notebook. A notebook consists of many Pages and is stored as a single file on your computer.

organize information

A page on RightNote has a hierarchical Note Tree on the left pane and the content editor taking up remaining part of the screen. All pages are represented as differently colored tabs.

The note tree is made up of Nodes (individual notes) hierarchically arranged one on top of the other. The Node is where you add your information and group it in a hierarchy that helps with retrieval. You can have unlimited number of notes grouped together this way.

So, the organization of information can be represented as Notebook -- Pages -- Notes.

The Different Types of Information RightNote Can Handle For You

In my opinion, the ability of RightNote to directly assimilate all kinds of information gives it a flexibility you should pay attention to.

The RichView Note type supports advanced text processing, tables, images, objects, and hyperlinks.

organize information

The Spreadsheet Note type is great for financial data and it can handle the import/export of Microsoft Excel format.

organize information

The Source Code Note type supports the common programming languages and programmers can use it to store code snippets.

rightnote review

The Memo is a simple text note sans the frills of the above three. You can use this for quick-capture of ideas.

The Webpage Note can be used to save an entire webpage with all its formatting intact.

rightnote review

Attachments and links can be easily added to any note type and linked to external content. The different formats are very usable as you can create your own templates and quickly save information there.

A Web Clipper and a screen capture tool give you more options to bring in any information you want to inside RightNote. RightNote handles preserves HTML and Styles so the original look of web pages are retained when you add them with the Clipper.

how to organize your information

The “Shadow” of Evernote

Okay, okay…everyone knows that Evernote has captured our mindspace when it comes to note taking applications and cloud syncing. RightNote bows its head and gives you full Evernote integration. You can store and sync your notes with Evernote and access them from anywhere. Do remember that this feature is available in the Pro version only.

The Little Tidbits That Make This Program worth Your While

If the sum of something great lies in the little parts, then RightNote has quite a few which I am not able to do justice to here. So, I will just skim over the surface and leave you with enough hints to discover them for yourself.

  • RightNote has tags for notes which make them more searchable. The full text search engine is pretty solid too.
  • There are customization options galore which help to tweak the look and feel of the notes (and the program) to your tastes.
  • A full set of keyboard shortcuts and a well-designed beginner’s guide.
  • Then there’s the industry standard 128-bit encryption to help keep selected notes or entire files secure.

It’s difficult to appreciate a note-taking and information management tool till you get your hands dirty with it. Suffice to say, the RightNote covers all the bases quite well and at least feature wise it definitely holds its own against any of the big guns out there.