http://www.collectycut.com
Reviewed December 2007

What’s It Do?

CollectyCut is intended to neatly and orderly manage extensive collections of quotations.


Does it do what it Promises?

Reviewer 1: Yes. CollectyCut saves and retrieves pieces of text, such as excerpts from reports, memorable remarks, jokes, instructions, or any other short statement, be it from a Web site, an email message, a word-processed or text document, or almost any other source read via a computer. Simply highlight the passage to save and hit CTL-C twice. The passage is immediately copied to CollectyCut’s main screen where one or more tags (e.g., “Humor,” “Car,” “PDA,” “Restaurants”) can be added. This helps in locating the passage later by searching on one tag or a combination of tags using “AND” or “OR”.

Reviewer 2: CollectyCut professes to be able save sections of text from documents, Web sites and other sources, much like a clipboard. It is supposed to allow you to “tag” these clips (CollectyCut calls them “quotations”) for later organization and searching. That is a great idea, but I could not get the tagging function working properly.

Reviewer 3: Yes, it does. There are a lot of applications that one can use to capture scattered bits of information for later use.. However, most of them try, and sometimes succeed, in doing many things and get too complicated to be really useful. CollectyCut uses a simple and easy-to-remember method (Ctrl-C twice) to copy selected text and pastes it into the CollectyCut "Quotations" pane. Each quotation can then be assigned one or more "tags" to categorize each of the quotations. These can then be sorted and displayed.

Reviewer 4: Yes. It allows one to easily store, tag, and organize snippets of information for later recall and use


Was it easy to install?

Reviewer 1:  Yes; however, at first I found myself unable to register my copy. I put in my name and license code, but the software continued to say “Unregistered.” I wrote to CollectyCut support for help. I received a very quick response, even though it was a Sunday, and a few hours later I received a fixed version.

Reviewer 2: No, not at all. Actually, it did install quickly and actually ran the first time. But when I tried to call it up from the desktop icon or the system tray icon after shutting it down or minimizing it, it crashed every time. Working with the developer via email, I was able to get a working copy after about 5 tries. The custom bug fix version did work. The challenge of a new program should be in learning HOW to use it, not in getting a working version.

Reviewer 3:  Yes, it installed easily, and I was able to place the program and its shortcuts where I wished. I was also impressed with the simplicity of the EULA (End Users License Agreement). Nowhere to be seen are the pages of legalese, disclaimers, warnings, and the other escape hatches so beloved by the lawyers who must advise most software developers. This EULA says that one can use CollectyCut for a trial period of 15 days, then must buy it, and can "use CollectyCut on one computer at a time." This is a model EULA, and should serve as the standard for the software industry. Simplicity, by the way, is the hallmark of this program.

Reviewer 4: Yes. It is a tiny 1.23MB download that installed quickly, smoothly, and effortlessly using a standard-type installation wizard, and taking only a scant 10MB of space on my hard drive. The program also uninstalls easily and cleanly, leaving no junk files remaining and a minimum of empty keys in the Registry. This is the mark of a program with well written installation/uninstaller code.


Good Points.

Reviewer 1: Although there’s much that I like about this program, I think its primary strength is the responsiveness and dedication of its developer. I have written to him several times, twice about problems and other times about suggestions. His responses were always very prompt and helpful. He dealt with the two problems I encountered by quickly creating new versions that fixed the problems. Some of my suggestions had already been planned for an upcoming major new version, which unfortunately is scheduled for release shortly this review. Although I expect that the upcoming version will be even better, there’s much to like in the present version of CollectyCut (version 2.0). It saves passages easily and quickly from a wide variety of sources (unlike some programs that save only from Web sites); tags can be added to search efficiently; tags can be renamed and the change will automatically appear on all relevant saved passages; many saved passages can be seen at once (unlike some programs that only show saved items one at a time); it doesn’t hog resources; and it has an Export feature that can turn a saved collection into an HTML file that can be placed on the Web for others to see. Unlike some programs, CollectyCut respects the user’s wishes. It gives the option of starting when Windows starts, and it gives the option of having it create a desktop icon and/or a Quick Launch icon. I find myself increasingly annoyed when programs just insert themselves into the Start menu without asking, or create icons when I don’t want them (or fail to create them when I do). I appreciate CollectyCut’s much more reasonable approach. CollectyCut’s very sensible EULA (End User License Agreement) states simply that the registered user may “use CollectyCut on one computer at a time for any legal purpose.” Thus, one may install the program on all computers, as long as they are only used one at a time.

Reviewer 2: I could not say that I found any “good points” since I never got it to really do what is said it would with the tagging system.

Reviewer 3:  This program is actually very easy to use, once acquainted with the rather sparse and somewhat unusual appearance of the program's main (and only) window. Here is displayed not the standard File, Edit, View, etc. list of Menu Currently, the program captures only text. At first, I thought that this was a weakness in the program, but now that I have become comfortable with it and I prefer it this way. The program remains small and quick, and I can find other ways to capture images if that is my need. This is a neat little program, that helps me to do a quick capture of an idea, a thought, a silly joke, a tip or trick, all of which are words and not pictures. I always feel that the support offered by a software developer to be an important part of the whole picture. I have found the CollectyCut people to be quick and helpful in their responses. Not only is the support readily available, there is even a link for feedback. This indicates people who believe in their product and who are interested in how their users feel that they can improve it. items across the top of the window, but only a few icons to carry out all the functions of the program.

Reviewer 4: This is a very simple program to use with a clean and intuitive GUI (Graphic User Interface). It allows the user, with a couple of clicks, to cut and paste selections of any text on the screen to a library of sorts which can then be organized, grouped, or identified through the use of tags. The easiest way to think of this is not unlike the mailbox section of one’s email program to organize, identify, and store emails in folders that can be named.
 

The program runs in the background if allowed so that it is always at the ready if one finds something of interest to save for future use. It is then simply a matter of selecting the text, and pressing Ctrl+C twice to store it. One can also open the application from the icon in the system tray and then drag and drop the selection to the desired folders (“tags”). CollectyCut has a very small footprint, uses minimal resources, and is an attractive application. It best feature, however, may be the technical support. While the program offers only email support with a promise of a 24 hour turnaround time, my experiences were that support was nearly a one-on-one interaction with the developer himself, Andrey Borodaev, who seemed always willing to almost customize the program if necessary to eliminate any small glitches that might be unique to one’s own computer configuration. I had no serious problems with this software and thus need for any real support other than in an advisory way, and it was impossible for me to test support in my usual way in these circumstances by inventing a problem needing a solution, as the developer seemed to have been alerted either through registration numbers or otherwise as to our possible identities as reviewers.

Weak Points.

Reviewer 1: Although I find CollectyCut very useful, there are several ways in which it can and should be improved. I might add that some of these changes are planned for the forthcoming version. One thing I’d like to see is flexibility in organizing the list of tags. Currently, one can add, delete, or rename tags, but can’t change the order in which they are listed. With a large number of tags, it can be difficult to find the one wanted. I’ve been told that the next version will add the possibility of arranging tags alphabetically or in terms of frequency of use. Although I’d ideally prefer total control over the tags’ organization, I’ll be happy with these new options. Another change I’d like to see is a more flexible search mechanism. Currently, one can only search using by using tags. With a lot of quotations, searching by tags is rather limiting. I understand that the new version will be able to do a full-text search of the quotations. A third change I’d like to see in CollectyCut is the ability to edit quotations: to add or omit information, to copy just part of a quotation that I’ve saved, and to combine parts of two or more quotations into one. I’ve been told that work has already begun on this feature, and that it too should appear in the next version. CollectyCut would also benefit from a more visible Help file. The CollectyCut interface contains no mention of a Help file, although Help information is available on the Web site, and the same information can be downloaded as a pdf file. Also, as with many programs, CollectyCut accesses Help via F1 when the program is open, but this is not evident from the interface.

Reviewer 2:  I never did get the “tagging” function working as I expected it to. Quotations could be tagged but when searching on the tag, CollectyCut would just display all the quotations saved in the “library”and there was no “filtering” effect. Anyone could create a huge text document with a list of various quotes etc. In fact, in MS Word, one could edit the quotations, the links would be active and the graphics would come along too and a search could be made on key words. While the tech support via email was excellent, the documentation is weak with not enough detail and actual point-by-point “how to” information. It was not all that intuitive and took a bit of experimentation to finally figure it out. CollectyCut does not save any graphics or active content of any kind. No active links are copied and there is no way to make them active within CollectyCut. Copied links are text only and will need to be converted to active links in the target application. There is no way to edit the quotations captured by Collectycut from within the program. They must be edited before hand or in the target application after pasting. This is an extra step that makes CollectyCut less useful.

Reviewer 3: The program opens with a collection of quotes that illustrate the range of bits and pieces of text that one might be interested in snipping and pasting, and then tagging with the CollectyCut Tags. However interesting, and a bit off-the-wall though they are, I would suggest that the first two or three should be quotations to explain how to use CollectyCut. I suggest that the very top one should be: To add a quotation to CollectyCut: Select the text to be added to Quote List in any application (Notepad, Word, Web browser, etc.) and then press Ctrl+C (or Ctrl+Ins) twice. The data will be copied to clipboard, and CollectyCut will save it in its database automatically. Thought this may indicate my own mental fogginess, I had to fumble around quite awhile to find this particular nugget of information on the CollectyCut Web site. Once I began to understand the rather unique way the program works though, I found it to be very simple to use.

Although the Search by the Tags is helpful, I do miss the ability to search through all the text for particular words or phrases. I am not sure if this would add heavily to the overhead of the program, but if it can be implemented without bloating the program code, it would be a most useful feature. I am not sure why the choice was made to export to html files. It seems to me that it would be much more useful to be able to export to text files, which can then be edited or manipulated by many word processors or text editors. Perhaps that could become a choice in the Export function.

Reviewer 4:  This was a program that I really wanted to like and one for which I had great hopes. As a research scholar, I am constantly finding material which I need to reference and cite, and I thought this would be the perfect tool. I could collect information and citations, tag them (put them in folders) to identify them by whatever document I am working on, and then call them up and paste them into my document as needed later. Since Window’s clipboard is useless for this, I am normally left with the old cut and paste to notepad, save, and then open notepad later to reverse the process. I thought CollectyCut would also be a boon to students working on research papers. Unfortunately, and this is its big weakness, one cannot paste what has been collected into CollectyCut, into another document — or at least I could not find a way to do so; rather, the saved document must be exported into an .html document and into a file created on one’s computer. While, it is nice to have all of my saved “quotations” or information snippets located in place where they can be organized, identified, and where I can even do a search for within the collection, not to be able to then paste them to an actual document limits the practical use of this program for me. One other suggestion I would make is that the method of cutting and pasting text to the program by clicking Ctrl+C twice is very cumbersome. For this to be useful to most users, a more simple key board shortcut must be developed. I would suggest that ideally this function needs to be added to the right click context menu to be really useable.


Comments.

Reviewer 1: Even though I already own two excellent programs that in theory permit me to save small pieces of information—Web Research and ClipMate—I quickly found myself preferring to save snippets with CollectyCut. Web Research is better suited to saving longer articles and reports, while ClipMate—an amazing clipboard replacement—gets cluttered with the hundreds of irrelevant and/or duplicate passages I send to the clipboard each week. CollectyCut, by contrast, is designed only to save and retrieve short statements that I want to keep, and it performs this task well. The next version should be even better.

Reviewer 2: During the email conversations with the Developer, he told me that we were doing a great job in helping him debug the software. I am evaluating the software from the viewpoint of the “normal” user that would buy this “off the shelf” or via the Web site for download. I do not think that a “normal” user would have stayed the course through 5-6 tries to get working software. The NeatNetTricks Review Panel tests and evaluates full working versions of software and, as a policy, never a Beta or development version. I feel that CollectyCut has potential but fails to meet this standard. I could not recommend it at this time.

Reviewer 3: At first, I thought of CollectyCut as a program that would help me to capture all kinds of information, and organize them in a kind of permanent database of bits and pieces, from which I could easily retrieve any one of them at will. However, since the search function is dependent on the tags, I have since found the program to be most useful as a kind of on-the-fly, temporary storage bin for things that I want to be able to retrieve quickly, but also to send off to some other place for more permanent storage, if necessary. For this, CollectyCut provides two methods of moving the data out of the program: Copy to the Clipboard (with or without Tag), where it can then be repasted it in whatever information storage system used, or export to html files. I now prefer this way of using the program, and have grown quite fond of it on that basis.

Reviewer 4: This is a young program and one which it is obvious that the developer is still working on improving. It is one on which I will keep an eye for future improvements. For the hobbyist or casual user it does what it does well; but for the serious writer or scholar, its limitations make it impractical.


Will you continue to use it?

Reviewer 1: Yes.

Reviewer 2: No. I have other applications that do a much better job that I have been working with every day for several years. CollectyCut did not have the functionality or overriding benefits that would make me switch.

Reviewer 3: Yes.

Reviewer 4: No.

Andrey Borodaev, CollectyCut’s developer, responds: I’m very pleased (with) reviewer’s approach: active answers to support, qualitative critics, and broad outlook in software questions. I like (the) structure of (the) review and (the) questions’ design. Unfortunately, not all reviews were positive, but .. equitable. I’m working at fixing weak points of CollectyCut and think (the) next version of it will solve most of (the) reviewers’ problem.

OPERATING SYSTEMS USED IN THIS REVIEW
Windows XP Pro, XP Home

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