Thursday, November 30, 2006

Set Alarm to note(s)

In note menu (right mouse click on note) you have option "Set Alarm". When you click on that menu item you will get dialog where you can choose alarm settings.


As you can see from picture above. For this note I set alarm with sound at 14:50 which will be repeated every month on day selected in "Date" text box. If you have more than one note, you can set different alarm settings on each one. After you set and apply alarm settings to note, small alarm icon will appear in note title on left side.

When note alarm you, it will play a sound and will popup in front of all other windows you have on your screen, so you will hear it and see it for sure. Also small alarm icon in title will change color to red.

In note menu you have also "Set Expiration" option. With this you can set when note will expire. When note expire it will be deleted. Dialog settings are similiar with alarm settings.

Regards to all,

Ozren Sirola
ShixxNOTE program developer

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

Windows Firewall and ShixxNOTE

Windows 7 Firewall security dialog where you must click Allow Access button to enable sending and receiving notes
If you have Windows Firewall activated on your computer and it is "On", after ShixxNOTE program first start you will probably get Windows Security Alert dialog. If you have Windows 7 installed then you will get dialog (first picture above) asking you to allow access to ShixxNOTE program ; if you have Windows XP then dialog (second picture) will appear asking you to unblock program (check the picture above). This is normal because ShixxNOTE is multi thread client/server application (LAN messenger). You can send note and receive notes to others in your LAN. For sending and receiving notes ShixxNOTE program communication port must be open. So if you get this dialog you have to click on Unblock or Allow access button to enable sending and receiving note(s) feature. After you click "Unblock" or "Allow access" ShixxNOTE program will be added in Windows Firewall - Exceptions dialog and will work properly in your network.

Windows XP Firewall security dialog where you must click Unblock button to enable sending and receiving notes
If you have Windows 7 installed then you can open Windows Firewall with Advanced Security dialog and if you allowed access to program you will get dialog like picture bellow.

Windows 7 Firewall with Advanced Security dialog (click to see larger image)
If you click Cancel or Keep Blocking button then you will not be able to receive notes from others. Because Windows Firewall will block incoming note data for ShixxNOTE program.

Also you can always open ShixxNOTE communication port "2000" manually in "Local area connections" - "Advanced tab". If you don't know how write me and I will help you.

If you have any problems with sending or receiving notes in program, check your firewall settings first. If you didn't fix the problem ask your network administrator to help you.

And finnaly write me if you have any problem regarding sending and receiving notes, or any other problems with program.

Ozren Sirola
admin@shixxnote.com

Monday, July 31, 2006

Save your own note theme

If you click (right mouse) on note you will get note menu with many options. One of them is "Theme" which contains submenus with few default themes. And when you click on i.e. "Green", selected theme will be applied on note. Maybe you didn't know but you can create and save your own theme under some name and then in Theme submenu you will get new created theme listed. This is the way you can create your favourite theme(s) with other colors for note and for note title. Here in this picture you can see that I have more that 6 custom themes which I like and use. "Blue Invert Cool" is my favourite. You just need to change colors and go to "Theme -> Save Theme as ..." option, you will be asked for a name for your custom theme and that is all. Your new custom theme will appear under Theme submenu always.

Click to see big picture

In program there is plenty of options you can use to customize your notes. So investigate program options and you will see how many cool stuff can be done with notes.

Regards to all,

Ozren Sirola
ShixxNOTE 6.net
www.shixxnote.com

Tuesday, June 13, 2006

Network neighborhood in ShixxNOTE

In this article I will tray to explain how ShixxNOTE 6.net program works in your network neighborhood. Maybe you didn't notice but on program start, small dialog appears above the task bar. In that moment program is reading your network neighborhood. Dialog disappear after second or less (if you are in big company with more than 100 computers then reading of your network neighborhood may be longer than second).

ShixxNOTE Reading Network dialog

After that all computers in your network neighborhood will be written in ShixxNOTE data file (NETBIOS name of computers) as a list. One thing, your computer name will be excluded from that list, but you can send note to yourself if you want (write your computer name in text box). Network neighborhood list is useful because when you send note to other(s) and you are in "Send To Dialog", program will read that list (computer names) from data file and will show it under "Network Neighborhood" list.

ShixxNOTE Settings dialog and Send Note dialog

Then you can select computer(s) which program found and add it to recipients list ("Note recipients"). Other sticky notes programs with sending note feature doesn't have that. If you are in "Send To Dialog" you can always click on button "Refresh", which task is to read your network neighborhood again, save the list in data file and refresh dialog "Network Neighborhood" list. For example if you start ShixxNOTE but in that moment other computers are not online or they are shutdown, program will show you list from data file (list may be old), then you can click "Refresh" button to retrieve new situation in your network neighborhood.

Also if you check picture above you can click (right mouse button) on computer and you will get small menu, one option is "Add", another is "Show IP Address". So you can find out easily IP address of other computer(s) in your network neighborhood. As you know, you can add to "Note recipients" list computer name, IP address or email address and program will deliver note to all recipients (how it will be delivered check on ShixxNOTE program homepage).

In main program "Settings Dialog" (right mouse click on program tray icon) on tab "Network Settings" there is option "Read network neighborhood on program start" which is by default set to "Yes", if you don't want program to read your network neighborhood on program start, because for example you have more than 200 computers in network and reading lasts more than 10 seconds, select "No". Then later you can always click on "Refresh" button in "Send To Dialog". Also there is option "Refresh network neighborhood interval period" which is by default set to "0" min. If you set period to i.e. "30" minutes, program will read your network neighborhood every 30 minutes and will save computer names (as a list) in ShixxNOTE data file after reading.

ShixxNOTE main menu (right mouse click on tray icon)
There are many other network features in program which can be set different than default. So check main program "Settings dialog" tab "Network Settings" and see what other things can be changed in settings to fit your needs.

To get settings dialog you must click (right mouse click) on ShixxNOTE tray icon and select "Settings" item in main program menu. As you can see on picture above.

In next article I will write more about exporting and importing notes, sending and receiving note via email. Please write me or comment my posts if you have questions or suggestions regarding program.

Saturday, May 20, 2006

Security and Firewall

ShixxNOTE 6.net is multi thread client (you can create note, write text and send note to others) and server (one program thread is always listening and waiting on default program port "2000" for incoming note) application. If you have program installed and you can send and receive note(s) normally then everything is OK, but if you have problems with communication, then check your firewall settings. Firewall programs like Zone Alarm or Windows Firewall will block all traffic for programs which are not in list.

For example if you install ShixxNOTE 6.net and you have Zone Alarm installed also, you will get message "ShixxNOTE is trying to act as server 127.0.0.0 will you allow it ?". This is normal, because ShixxNOTE is really server, so if you want to receive note(s) from others you must allow ShixxNOTE to act like server.

If you have Windows Firewall on, and you are having problems with sending or receiving note(s), you must open TCP port "2000" and name it for example "ShixxNOTE Port". If you block that port ShixxNOTE will not work properly, sending and receiving of note(s) will be blocked. If you ever get this dialog bellow you must click button "Unblock", then ShixxNOTE program will work properly and you don't need to open port manually.

Windows Firewall dialog on Windows XP where you must click Unblock button to enable sending and receiving notes If you don't know how to change network settings ask your network administrator for help. If some other application is using port "2000" you can change ShixxNOTE port on "Network Settings" dialog (right mouse click on ShixxNOTE tray icon located in your task bar and select "Settings" option).

In "Network Settings" dialog change port to some other if you need. But then all other computers in your LAN or Intranet which have program installed must do the same (change port to new one) to receive note(s).

If you have any problem or question regarding this article please write me on mail admin@shixxnote.com

Kind regards,

Ozren Sirola
ShixxNOTE Program Developer
admin@shixxnote.com

ShixxNOTE Little about Sending Note


As you can see in picture above ShixxNOTE can read your network neighborhood and you can send note up to 20 recipients with one click on Send Note. Also you can save recipients in a group "Save Group" and saved group name will appear under the note menu.

If you can see group "Office One" have more than one recipients. Maybe you didn't notice but recipients can be Computer name, IP adress or email address. Program will recognize that and will send note to all. If email recipient is in group that your email client will be used to send mail.

One important thing is that you can send note to people who doesn't have program installed !! Then ShixxNOTE will use Windows integrated messaging (like NET SEND) to deliver note message (text only) to recipient.

So hope you can understand benefits of ShixxNOTE in better communication in your office.

Soon new version will be released and I will write new article in this blog what will be implemented in new version and what bugs will be fixed.

Till than try program,
ShixxNOTE Download Page


Regards to all,
Ozren Sirola

ShixxNOTE Network enabled sticky notes program


Full description:

ShixxNOTE 6.net is a personal organizer, desktop sticky notes (post-it) program, instant messaging application (LAN messenger) and a communications tool used across a local network (LAN), Internet and via e-mail. Easy to use personal info management application and powerful communication tool. It features an alarm, backup and restore function, and many other features. It is configurable and stable. It is multithread client/server network tool that lets you display notes on your desktop and send them through your LAN, Internet or via e-mail to other users. You can write anything in note, like what you want to do today, or something you want to remember. Note color, size, font, paragraph format and other settings can be changed. Custom note colors (themes) can be saved. You can set an alarm and expiration for any note. Also you can export and import note(s) to or from file. When you send note to other users, they will receive exactly the same note on their desktop if recipient have also program installed, otherwise program will use Windows Messaging Service (Net Send, WinPopup) and on recipient computer message box will appear with note text and sender name. It is powerful and most simple way to communicate with your colleagues on work or with your friends on the Internet. Program starts at system Start-Up and it is visible as a tray icon.

Another description of program:

Desktop sticky notes (post-it) program, that allows you to keep desktop sticky notes and also send them across the network to others. The program runs in client/server mode and transmits messages or notes to selected ShixxNOTE clients on the network. You can also send messages to machines that do not have ShixxNOTE installed, in which case the program will automatically use the standard Windows Messenger service to deliver the message.

In ShixxNOTE, creating a note is a matter of making a double click on the program icon in the system tray. Once created, a note is displayed on your desktop and can be instantly shared over LAN, the Internet or email with all the interested parties. You can share notes with specific recipients or groups of users, save, print, export and import notes, set alarms and expiration dates, save notes to files and fully customize their appearance to match your desktop theme.

It is multithread client/server network tool that lets you display notes on your desktop and send them through your local network (LAN), Internet or via email to others. Easy to use personal info management application and powerful communication tool. It makes writing notes to your self or to your colleagues very easy and instant. The sticky notes appear "stuck" on your desktop, and it is pretty hard to forget something that is written on them. It is configurable and stable.

All computer users which work in a small or middle office. Where they have all computer integrated in a Local Area Network. This user can be working in some dentist office, or can be some student on University.