The time stamp records when the note is written to disk (since no other event has more primary significance) but you could write a macro to drop in a slug or anything else in the text box. The text box, that is, is subject to macro expansion.
The point of the slug, though, is to identify subsections of the master file larger than the note itself. When I go through Web sites looking for news items, I may collect half a dozen from one site and three from another, so I would change the slug just twice.
RE: 2
If you visit the Napkin thread, you'll see exactly how to do that in the discussion. And there's even a version with Control + Option + Hyphen to Save a note.
I'm not going to roll that into the current version because Webkit (which is the technology behind the Custom HTML Prompt) requires that Control + Option hotkey combo so it's far too easy to introduce a conflict with a similar Keyboard Maestro macro in someone else's system.
But if you want it, that discussion shows you how to do it. Just make sure you don't have an existing macro with the same trigger.
Thank you all for this workflow. I have implemented @BKammer's quick note system, but have one detail when appending to an existing text file. I want to make sure that the next text always appends to the bottom/end of the existing text document.
The way it is now, the macro appends the text from whatever point the cursor was last left in. Any way to simulate the Command + Down Arrow keystroke as part of the text being appended?
I'm not sure how that is happening if you don't have your note's text document open in a text editor while using the macro. If you don't have the actual note open in a text editor, the macro should always append to the bottom of the note's text document. If you've got the note's text document open and are actively editing it, and you're leaving the cursor at different points in the document, all while sometimes invoking the quick note macro and using it to also append to the document, then I can see how you might encounter problems.
The quick note macro is designed so that you can create or append to a note without opening the note's text document itself in a text editor (e.g., TextEdit). I made it that way because I didn't want to have to open or switch into the text editing app while taking notes (i.e., to manually insert the note directly into the note's text document via TextEdit). Operated in that way, with the actual note unopened, the macro automatically appends to the end of the note's text document, and I never have to leave the main app I am working with, or if I'm just noting down thoughts during a conversation, I don't have to open the text editing app or switch to it in order to take a note.
So, if you've got the actual note's text document open (e.g., in TextEdit) while you are taking notes via my macro, you are not using the macro consistent with its design and proper functioning, and it may insert text in a place you don't want it to, or it might not register the text entry at all. Further, if you're just going to have the text editor open while you take notes, you might as well enter the notes directly into the text editor where you want them rather than use the macro.
Bottom line: adding some elements to the macro to switch you into the text editor document and then scroll to the bottom of the document is surplusage which defeats the purpose of the macro and makes it something that is cumbersome and unpredictable rather than quick, reliable, and truly convenient. But if that's what you want to do, it's easy to insert an "Activate specific app" action followed by a keystroke like command-arrow down to get to the bottom of the document.
I am using the note system as designed - for quick note creation - and it works great. So thanks for that.
In addition, I had an idea to adapt it slightly for another purpose. It involves appending text to a text file I may or may not open throughout the day, and I would want to ensure the text is always appended to the end of the file. I thought you or someone else here may have a suggestion as to how to implement that. If so, great. If not, I'll keep plugging away and see what I come up with.
Keyboard Maestro includes an Action called Append Text To A File. Try adding that to your Macro or a version of your Macro designed for that specific text file.
@NaOH - Thanks. The quick note system already uses the Append Text To A File action. If you're curious, this is the other use case I'm working on. It's a translation macro to assist in learning a foreign language.