I was so excited to partner with Springpad on the Family History Organizer custom notebook late last year and early this year. I used it for tracking my research and to-dos and when I worked with them to create it, I had no reason to think that I wouldn’t be using it for years to come.
But, alas, on Friday I was notified that Springpad is closing its doors on June 25. I don’t know why, I’m assuming it has everything to do with it being a start up, funded by venture capital. It’s surprising, though, since Springpad is a venerable start-up; it’s been around since 2008, a long time in that world.
In any case, I wanted to announce it here. If you’re using the Family History Organizer notebook, you’ll want to find a substitute. Evernote is probably the most logical choice, since so many resources are available to learn how to use it for genealogy. (I’ve dabbled with Evernote over the years, never fully clicking with its interface, but I’m giving it another try.)
I have dozens of Springpad notebooks, so I was relieved to learn that they are developing an export tool to make it easier to access my data in other apps. That is supposed to be released this week. On June 25, user data will be deleted from Springpad’s servers, so it’s important to export your data by then, or it will be lost.
I really enjoyed working with the folks at Springpad and I wish them all well. I am going to miss Springpad as a resource; it really did help me organize information and it was the first electronic task manager I was ever able to successfully use.
But now I’ll explore other options for task management. (TeuxDeux is the current frontrunner.) And I’ll let you know if I can make Evernote work for my genealogy resources.
Oh no! I love Springpad. I read about it on your blog and instantly put it to use to organize work tasks and events. How sad. Evernote didn’t click for me either. Thanks for the suggestion of TeuxDeux. I hadn’t heard of that one.
It really is sad, Patti. I just loved Springpad and I’m glad you did too. In giving Evernote another try, I bought the book Evernote Essentials by Brett Kelly, and found it helpful. Let me know what you think of TeuxDeux!
Have you tried OneNote? I have really been using it a lot lately and have it on my desktop, ipad, small tablet, phone and laptop, a lot of tools! But I love the ease of it and that whatever I am working is synced across those devices. I really like how they work like binders, only a lot less weight to carry! But, love Evernote, using that more for quick notes, recipes and articles I want to read.
Maria, I use a Mac, so I can’t use OneNote. But I really am going to give Evernote another try. I already miss Springpad.
So many years ago, but I still miss Springpad! Nothing ever really clicked for me, and I stopped looking after a while.
Surfed here via a search regarding citations and workflow and a few clicks around got here. LOL!
I miss Springpad too! In my real life (not so much genealogy life) I’m using Trello, which I’m enjoying. I’m looking forward to using it more for genealogy when I decide I need to switch something up. (Evernote’s working well for me now.)
Glad you found the blog!