An Academic Writer's Suite- DT, BE, and Mellel

[jwilhelm]

Hi,
i'm not sure if this new linking feature between DevonThink & Bookends has been mentioned so far. If so, i apologize for repeating.
http://www.devon-technologies.com/scrip ... ess/?p=150
Johannes

[Luhmann]

I prefer Journler to DT.

[danzac]

I prefer Journler to DT.

Journler is a great product no doubt, and trumps DT on a few things (better UI, iLife integration) but there is no database on any platform that surpasses the search functionality and AI of DEVONthink.

[pds1602]

Don't know why mellel is in the list. It has no proper table of contents (i.e. multiple ones for table of tables, tables of figures etc.), no indexing, and no cross references. Without these it's only a toy and useless for writing a thesis. May be ok for some paper styles though.

[danzac]

Don't know why mellel is in the list. It has no proper table of contents (i.e. multiple ones for table of tables, tables of figures etc.), no indexing, and no cross references. Without these it's only a toy and useless for writing a thesis. May be ok for some paper styles though.

May I ask what you use?

[pds1602]

Don't know why mellel is in the list. It has no proper table of contents (i.e. multiple ones for table of tables, tables of figures etc.), no indexing, and no cross references. Without these it's only a toy and useless for writing a thesis. May be ok for some paper styles though.

May I ask what you use?

Latex for papers. For my thesis I'm using word, reluctantly and with fingers crossed. Mellel simply can't do it, well not if you want to retain your sanity.

[danzac]

Don't know why mellel is in the list. It has no proper table of contents (i.e. multiple ones for table of tables, tables of figures etc.), no indexing, and no cross references. Without these it's only a toy and useless for writing a thesis. May be ok for some paper styles though.

May I ask what you use?

Latex for papers. For my thesis I'm using word, reluctantly and with fingers crossed. Mellel simply can't do it, well not if you want to retain your sanity.

To each his own I guess. I prefer WYSIWYG editors, and nothing causes insanity quicker than Word. Mellel takes getting used to, but it pretty smooth sailing for me now. Still waiting on cross-refs though.

[rickl]

Any thoughts on Nisus Writer, now that it has a Pro version, vis-a-vis its suitability as a replacement for Mellel or Word as an academic word processor.

And can it accept those links from Bookends that DT, TextEdit, and Scrivener can?

[Jon]

And can it accept those links from Bookends that DT, TextEdit, and Scrivener can?

Apparently not.

Jon
Sonny Software

[danzac]

I haven't tried the new Nisus yet, mostly for lack of time. But I have heard good things about it from people I trust, so that is a big bonus. And I must say its commitment to development is really great. In one big swoop it has implemented all of the features that Mellel users have been desiring for a long time. I, and I'm sure a number of other Mellel users, have been a little dismayed at the wait for cross-references.

That being said, I highly value the tight integration between Bookends and Mellel and am not sure I want to give that up. I know Nisus uses a Macro to process BE citations, but the added features between BE and Mellel aren't there. And my hope is that one day BE and Mellel will get to a cite-while-you-write functionality. It is a way off I am sure, but it is more likely to arrive between Mellel and BE by the looks of things.

If BE were to increase integration with Nisus to the level it is at with Mellel, the temptation to switch would probably win me over.

[thecritic]

And can it accept those links from Bookends that DT, TextEdit, and Scrivener can?

Please submit this as a feature request:

http://www.nisus.com/support/SubmitFeatureRequest.php

[Luhmann]

Journler is a great product no doubt, and trumps DT on a few things (better UI, iLife integration) but there is no database on any platform that surpasses the search functionality and AI of DEVONthink.

I find DT's AI gets in the way. It is probably the number one reason I don't use it even though I own a registered copy.

[nicka]

I have also been re-evaluating which word processor to use. The first requirement is that it works with Bookends, so Papyrus is out. The second requirement is that it isn't Word.

NWP has cross-references, indexing, text wrap around graphics, scripting, customisable shortcuts and import and export to Word of styles and auto-numbering.

Mellel has more versatile auto-titling, better Bookends integration, better outlining (outline items are draggable in the outline pane), more versatile foot/endnotes, easier baseline correction for equations and better stability, particularly with long documents.

Both Mellel and NWP lack support for change-tracking and commenting. Neither exports live links/ tables of contents to PDF.

Like danzac, I'm staying with Mellel and praying for cross-references.

[danzac]

I find DT's AI gets in the way. It is probably the number one reason I don't use it even though I own a registered copy.

Wow, I have never heard that complaint before! I'm not sure how it gets in the way though, since it is the user's choice to harness it or not in the searching.

To each his own though! Lots of great choices on the Mac to suit the varying needs of users.

[thecritic]

Both Mellel and NWP lack support for change-tracking and commenting. Neither exports live links/ tables of contents to PDF.

Yeah, you need Word for Windows to do all that. Sometimes there are reasons for sticking with Word.