TravelNote - User Guide

TravelNote has been designed with convenience and simplicity in mind, eliminating the need for lengthy explanations. However, I have provided this quick overview just to get you started.

If you don't have it already, you can download TravelNote from Apple's iTunes App Store:



Main Map Screen

When you open TravelNote for the first time, you will see an empty map on the screen. As you add notes, these will appear as coloured markers on the map; the pins will be green if you rated the location 5/10 or higher, or red if you rated it less than 5/10. The map allows scrolling and zooming, and if you click on any pin a bubble will pop-up displaying its title, rating and the date you visited the location. To view the note you made about the place, simply click on the detail button in the bubble.

Adding a Note

Tapping ‘Add Note’ on the right hand side of the toolbar at the bottom takes you to a screen where you can enter a note about your current location. You must enter a title and rating, but the notes section is optional, depending on how much time you have to spare.

Title: The title can be anything, but I suggest you use something easy to remember that clearly describes where you are. The better your title, the easier it will be for you to search for it later if you can’t remember exactly what it was called. For example, instead of just “Café”, I would use something like “Café, Paris”, so you can find it by searching for “Paris”. Of course, you don’t have to follow my advice :-)

Rating: The rating slider is initially set to 5/10; all you need to do to change your rating is drag the slider. TravelNote will automatically convert the position of the slider to a rating out of 10.

Notes: The notes you make can be as detailed or as brief as you wish. I suggest writing down what is memorable about the location, or why you gave it a particular rating, but you can write anything that’s going through your head which you may want to recall later. Perhaps you’re a poet and a particular vista is just so inspiring you can’t help noting down a few lines of verse!

When you tap ‘Save’, TravelNote automatically adds the GPS coordinates of your current location and the date and time to your note. Notice, too, that the ‘Add Note’ screen uses a map as a background, showing your current location as a purple pin just to the right of the coordinates.

Finding a Note

In recognition of the fact that people think in different ways, there are two ways to locate and view particular notes in TravelNote.

The first method (and my personal choice, because I think based on location) is to zoom the map to the approximate region (for example, if you’re trying to pull up a note about a café in Paris, zoom in on France until you can distinguish individual pins), then start tapping pins until you find the one you’re looking for. Once you’ve found it, tap the detail button, and you’ll be taken to a screen that displays the details of your note. This option is best if you associate your memories with location – you remember roughly where that café was, but you simply can’t remember what it was called!

The alternative is to search for the title of your note. Tap the ‘Search’ button on the left side of the toolbar at the bottom and you will be taken to a search screen. The titles of all your notes are listed in a table, which provides a search field at the top where you can type the title of the note you’re looking for. When you find it, select it’s name and tap ‘View Note’. This option is good if you need to find a note quickly, and you remember what it was called. This is where using clear, obvious titles becomes important!


Viewing and Editing a Note

When you have selected a note to view, TravelNote displays all the information stored about it, including its title, rating, date and time, coordinates and any notes you made. You will also notice that the faded map in the background displays the location about which the note was made; the pin colour depends on what your rating was.

You may find, looking back over your notes, that in your rush you make some spelling mistakes, or forgot to mention something important that has just now re-entered your mind. That’s  OK –  TravelNote allows you to edit the title, rating and notes for any note. The only fields you can’t change (and I’m sure you can understand why) is the date/time and coordinates. All you have to do is tap ‘Edit Note’, change the fields as appropriate, then click ‘Save Note’. It couldn’t be simpler!

Deleting a Note

If you ever want to delete a note, all you need to do is tap the ‘Delete Note’ button at the bottom of the screen displaying your note information. Couldn’t be simpler!