VoodooPad - any future for the product???
Could someone from Primate Labs provide a statement regarding the future of VoodooPad?
I am still using it but get more and more doubts about any further developments and enhancement like the long time missing iCloud sync support.
Thanks
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1 Posted by Lisa Spangenber... on 20 Aug, 2021 06:45 PM
Hi
I really love VooDooPad. I'd buy a new license for an upgraded version, I'll help with testing, I'll help with technical editing of the docs and/or help files.
I really want to see this product thrive.
2 Posted by Natalia on 26 Aug, 2021 05:58 PM
I also love your software (Mac-User). All my notes are in it.I am very interested in the future of development. Are there any updates?
3 Posted by fgasbill on 27 Aug, 2021 04:39 PM
I am extremely concerned about the total lack of communication from the Primate Lab support staff. If there are doubts about the viability of continuing the support of VoodooPad, I would consider it a matter of common courtesy to keep your user base up to date.
I am a long time user of VoodooPad but am desperately concerned that it, and it's users, have been abandoned. Or at the very least, left in the dark for far too long. Give us some idea of what the situation is so we can plan our software strategy for the future.
Please.
Support Staff 4 Posted by John on 31 Aug, 2021 12:41 AM
Hi folks!
I apologize for the lack of updates regarding VoodooPad. We're short-staffed at the moment due to COVID (our dedicated VoodooPad developer quit and we haven't been able to hire a replacement) so VoodooPad development is slow at the moment as the other developers here are only able to work on it in their "spare" time.
I'm hoping things will get back to normal once the pandemic is over.
Best,
John
5 Posted by fgasbill on 31 Aug, 2021 04:22 PM
Thanks for the update John.
Let's hope things get moving again soon.
6 Posted by svs on 12 Sep, 2021 05:13 AM
I'm really sorry to say this, but I would not put my hope in Primate Labs pulling this off. Version 6 has been promised since 2018 and still isn't here. It has never been a priority and developers working on it in their "spare" time demonstrates this.
There are now many apps that do what once only Voodoopad could do. Voodoopad has been left in the dust. Roam research, Notion, Craft and Obsidian are all an easy replacement of Voodoopad and more. Obsidian being free if you don't need sync. I've moved everything into Obsidian and don't miss Voodoopad at all. Obsidian has been developed from scratch in just over a year including an ios app. Primate Labs have not produced a single version upgrade since they acquired it in 2017.
7 Posted by Paul on 28 Oct, 2021 03:45 AM
Don't see how those apps compete for:
- multi platform support synching documents
- encryption
8 Posted by Pablo Culebras on 29 Oct, 2021 04:38 PM
I don't agree with you svs. I have checked all the apps you say and none of that can do all this things together:
- Easy creating links with aliases
- Easy html export with functioning links between pages
- Desktop app (so, no depending on the browser memory or internet connection)
-No lock-in (with Roam, Notion... you depend on the software existing, and you have to keep paying a fee to access your knowledge. That's not the case with VP (nor Obsidian, but there, it doesn't export html)
VP is the easiest and more stream-lined app to simply create a wiki, and convert "magically" an array of words (aliases) into links document wide at any point.
9 Posted by john on 02 Dec, 2021 06:55 PM
I agree in sentiment with Pablo. The other apps mentioned, while powerful, are clearly not real Mac apps. Unfortunately those of us who appreciate an app that leverages all the power and "groundedness" of the Mac OS, rather than of Electron, must not be very many!
10 Posted by Darin on 21 Jan, 2022 11:53 AM
Dear Primate Labs,
Any update on VoodooPad?
Dear other forum denizens,
Any suggestions for alternates?
Losing hope,
Darin
11 Posted by John on 21 Jan, 2022 12:26 PM
Darin, for work I have been using just a pile of text documents in BBEdit, which is not at all a replacement, but at least BBEdit is rock solid and will be developed forever, apparently. The new Notes feature in v14 is about as basic as you might think. Absolutely no inter note linking.
For personal stuff, I use Ulysses, which is another extremely robust native Mac app. This one is closer in use case to VoodooPad, and really has a great feel to it in use, but again, no inter-note linking. People do request the feature and the developers are, I believe, considering it. In the meantime my notes simply contain snippets of “see also ~name of other note~” which, actually, I’ve grown used to. Switching to a somewhat expensive subscription model has, I think, been very good for the developers, allowing them to budget for boring things like “keep up with the Mac OS” without having to worry about what feature to add to draw new users in.
I used to use DevonThink, which does have inter-note linking, but something about the look and feel of it never agreed with me, it felt a little like a generic kitchen sink Mac app, and the temptation to throw all kinds of files in it led to it becoming sort of just a recreation of my hard drive. However others may be able to use it with more discipline.
In summary, I’ve found extremely robust writing apps that will be supported for a long time, but which really are not trying to scratch exactly the same itch as VoodooPad.
12 Posted by Darin on 22 Jan, 2022 01:58 AM
John, Thanks for those suggestions. These give me some places to start in trying to assemble a set of applications that come close to what I do with VoodooPad.
Best,
Darin
13 Posted by Lisa Spangenber... on 22 Jan, 2022 02:07 AM
I'm moving away from VoodooPad.
I may go back to vanilla static HTML pages.
But I already use Bear.app for writing. Bear supports the Markdown convention of double square brackets [[ to make a link.
You can link to other docs within Bear, and to subsections determined by the headings in a document.
The pro version (I think it's $40.00/year) also exports in a variety of formats, including vanilla but usable html.
I'd be trying Obsidian; which I find attractive because of the way it sits on Markdown and text files, but it's not well documented, and I don't want to tinker. I want to concentrate on writing.
14 Posted by Pablo Culebras on 25 Jan, 2022 10:39 AM
Thanks John, for your suggestions. I keep using Voodoopad (5) because I simply didn't find any other app that can better suit my Workflow: I tried Ulysses but as you said, it doesn't allow note linking. Exporting knowledge wikis with html interlinked pages is a big need for me, and with Voodoopad this can be done in a streamlined way. I hope developers won't abandon this nice product, because to my knowledge, there is not any better alternative to fit this niche.
15 Posted by Chloe on 26 Jan, 2022 07:14 PM
Just received a noticed while updating my computer that voodoo pad may not be supported with new Mac updates. I would also would be happy to pay a fee for an upgrade. I definitely have gotten my money's worth (and then some!) with the current version.
Support Staff 16 Posted by John on 26 Jan, 2022 08:49 PM
Chloe,
We've looked into this issue and if you don't use the Python plugin then VoodooPad 5 should continue to work on future versions of macOS. Furthermore VoodooPad 6 shouldn't be affected by this issue at all -- let us know if that's not the case!
17 Posted by markscohen on 27 Jan, 2022 04:00 AM
I received the warning that Voodoo pad may lack future compatibility with MacOS. It would be a real loss if this application were to become unavailable. I hope that the developers will let us know if there is anything that your customer base can do to preserve this great tool..
On the other hand, it would also be terrific if you were able to release a recommending strategy for preserving the documents that we have, perhaps by converting to a stable format...
18 Posted by Pablo Culebras on 27 Jan, 2022 11:55 AM
I'm glad to hear from John from Primate Labs, and to hear that there is a workaround to keep Voodoopad running on macOS Updates. As I stated above, I really hope Voodoopad will keep active, it's really unique in its way to organize and manage large amounts of knowledge and expor interlinked HTML! please John, don't give up! ; )
Support Staff 19 Posted by John on 30 Jan, 2022 06:30 AM
VoodooPad 5.4 is out which fixes the compatibility warning on macOS 12.
20 Posted by MacDefender on 29 May, 2022 09:24 AM
I will go with DokuWiki for now. I really loved VoodoPad back a few years but there were also some parts I never really liked as no open storage format. In the past years there were multiple apps I loved to use that either just vanished or switched to a subscription based model (that I won't pay for). And nearly all of these apps used theit own storage format making it very difficult to switch to some better alternatives.
I learned from my failure and will never again put my data into apps that store them in their own secret format. And I won't accept a 'you can export it to whatever' as this isn't an option if the app won't work anymore as they shut down their license server or simply won't start on a newer system.
So I will only consider paying for VoodoPad 6 (and I would love to buy an upgrade even if $50) if they use an open format like markdown or html. If additional functionality is required just add sidecar xml files or whatever. For now I prefer Obsidian and DokuWiki as the both can do the same and are I can access any data with any text editor. And syncing data is really easy with build into macOS tools like rsync or additional software like ChronoSync.
Support Staff 21 Posted by John on 31 May, 2022 02:24 PM
The VoodooPad 5 document format isn't documented, but it's (mostly) text files. For example, Markdown pages are stored as Markdown, RTF pages are stored as RTF, and plain text pages are stored as text.
The directory format makes things convoluted as files are named using the page UDID and not the page title, but it is possible to get to the raw files themselves. If you're comfortable using Python we've created some scripts that make it easier to manipulate VoodooPad 5 documents: https://github.com/primatelabs/voodoopad-tools/
Our current plan is to for VoodooPad 6 to use the VoodooPad 5 document format.
22 Posted by Mark Cohen on 29 Jul, 2022 06:42 PM
I've used VoodooPad for (many) years, and still prefer it to any alternatives that I've seen. I'm here to cast my vote for PrimateLabs to continue your support of this useful tool.
23 Posted by Andrew on 03 Aug, 2022 09:18 PM
Agree with many other posters that VooDoo Pad is still a great solution, but am increasingly worried that it is going to break (M2, anyone?) and I'll be left with the enormous task of trying to move hundreds and hundreds of VDP pages to some other app.
I am EAGER to pay for an upgrade.
I also don't care for these browser-based solutions and their usually awful interface compromises.
24 Posted by buysj on 10 Aug, 2022 05:53 PM
> "any future for the product???"
I highly doubt it.
25 Posted by Andrew on 21 Oct, 2022 03:58 PM
Just want to echo what others have said--I am very ready and eager to pay upgrade fees for VP 6. There is nothing as good as Voodoo Pad, and over the years I've tried many many note taking apps. Voodoo Pad is the best.
Please! Take my money!!!!