(view this email in your browser)

Dear Hook Productivity newsletter subscriber,

In this newsletter:

• Hook 3.4.3: Obsidian support updated
• Hook 3.4.3: Other integration updates
• About Hook's search feature
• Sync your bookmarks to DEVONthink
• hook://search/ links
• Dealing with "New Look" Outlook lacking automation
• Linking Craft to your digital work: Training by Tim Stringer
• Hook 3.5
• Hook for iPhone and iPad

Obsidian support updated

Last week, we released Hook 3.4.3, which includes improved integration with Obsidian, a note-taking app that treats links as first class data objects. It enables Obsidian users to easily choose amongst three URL schemes: default (obsidian://), "Advanced URI" (obsidian://advanced-uri?vault=...&uid=...), and hook://file/.

Learn more about Using Hook with Obsidian.

Other integration updates

We've also recently:

• Added support for MarsEdit, which enables you to write, preview, and publish your blog from an app rather than from a web browser.
• Updated support for the Fmail Fastmail client for macOS, courtesy of Arie van Boxel. Hook now generates hook://email/ links for fast mail, using RFC-5322 compliant email IDs. That's the way to go for email. It allows you to send links to people who use fully linkable email software with Hook.
• Updated Drafts integration.

Meanwhile, we have several new features and integrations in the works, including for the impressive LiquidText app.

💡 Search doesn't always suck

One of our earliest and favorite slogans is "File less. Search less. Access." Sometimes you do need to search, however. Fortunately, Hook is also a uniquely innovative and nimble search tool. The next three sub-sections deal with search.

🔍 1. Search Hook's bookmarks in Hook

I hope you are making ample use of Hook's search tool. It has several advantages over traditional search/launchers:

1. It enables you to find information regardless of the app in which you linked it.
2. It does not require a plugin to find Apple emails.
3. When you move a file, Hook can still find it, treating it as the same item. If the file is not reachable, it won't show it to you (as of version 3.5, Hook marks it as unreachable). This can save you time.
4. You can use the found item as a launchpad to navigate to items to which it is linked.

🔍 2. Search Hook bookmarks anywhere with DEVONthink-integration by Zsolt Benke

Hook is not just a linking tool, it is a perspicuous bookmarking tool. It accumulates bookmarks to the information you find relevant, regardless of the app in which it is stored. Suppose you want to get to those links on iOS or iPad, or simply want to peruse the links?

Well, Zsolt Benke has developed a script to Archive Hook bookmarks with DEVONthink. DEVONthink can sync its data across Macs, iPads and iPhones. That means you can access Hook's bookmarks anywhere. (Our Hook software for iPhone and iPad are still in TestFlight).

Zsolt is from Pécs, Hungary. He likes to make tools for people.

💡 3. Create search links; hook & store them anywhere

One of Hook's most esoteric features is the ability to generate search links, of the form hook://search/. Search links allow you to express a Spotlight search as a URL! Here's how it works:

1. Copy text that would form a Spotlight search expression (e.g., Foo name:.txt).
2. Invoke Hook.
3. Type ⇧⌘S (or Gear menu > Copy a Search Link from Clipboard).

This creates a search link and puts it in the clipboard. You can store that URL in a file, Hook it to something, and execute it in any app that handles custom URLs.

If you want to go the extra mile, you can paste unique IDs into the Finder comments or body of target files. This makes it easy to retrieve an arbitrary collection of project files. Hook can even generate IDs for you. 😊

See Gear Menu > Copy a New Unique ID, and Copy a Search Link from Clipboard (Pro features).

Outlook transition

As noted on our linkable apps page from the beginning, Microsoft Outlook has always lacked proper automation for email linking. It does not enable retrieving the RFC-5322 compliant email ID, or the ability to access emails using RFC-5322 IDs. It exposes email IDs that are not guaranteed to survive across sync instances, so we generally do not recommend the app. But some people are forced to use Outlook. We thus flagged Hook's integration as 🤔. (Readdle's Spark email app is also not interoperable. Many other apps however are interoperable.)

Microsoft has transitioned to a "new look" in which it has removed AppleScript automation. If you update to such a version and invoke Hook, you'll be informed that there's No linkable item found in Outlook. Fortunately, Microsoft has said that it will reintroduce AppleScript at some point (Microsoft 365 Feature ID 88537).

Until that happens, Hook users may wish to avoid updating Outlook, or roll back if they have updated. Hook Productivity Forum user @kikangh wrote "[Microsoft] removed the GUI button that allowed us to switch between old and new Outlook, but still kept it as a menu item so I was able to roll back.".

We are in communication with a Microsoft MVP to speed up this ticket. We have also specifically requested that this time they expose an API to get and use the RFC-5322 standard email ID (and subject of course). We've published Contacting Microsoft about making Microsoft Outlook emails linkable via AppleScript automation.

Workaround. Using Hook's powerful search tool (⌘F in Hook), you can find Outlook bookmarks by typing URL:outlook, adding whatever other search terms will narrow the search. From there, you can focus on the bookmark (⌃⌘L) to see and navigate items hooked to it. You can also then copy the title for use in Outlook's search.

See also Using Hook With Microsoft Outlook.

Training: Linking Craft to your digital work

Tim Stringer of Learn OmniFocus has published videos and a blog post about using Craft. Topics include:

• Using Craft for Project Support and Reference
• Linking OmniFocus and Craft
• Integrating Craft and OmniFocus with Hook
• Craft To-Do Lists
• Automating OmniFocus and Craft with Shortcuts
• Craft eXtensions

Check out Craft - Learn OmniFocus.

Would you like to share your knowledge with Hook readers?

If you'd like to share your knowledge with Hook Productivity enthusiasts about the apps mentioned above (Obsidian, DEVONthink, Craft, Drafts, etc), or about other linkable apps, then please visit the Hook Productivity forum or tweet to @HookProductvT. Screencasts, blog posts, reddit posts, etc. are all welcome.

Hook 3.5 and Hook for iPhone and iPad news

Hook 3.5 public beta took longer than predicted. It will be ready any day now. Check back on the Hook 3.5 release notes page and/or on the Hook Productivity Forum.

Hook "3.6"

We've started Hook 3.6. One of the most requested features is slated for that release. 😊

Hook for iPhone and iPad

If you're a TestFlight user of our software for iPhone and iPad, stay tuned — via the special forum category we've set up — for a very enjoyable announcement. 😊

Valedictions

Thanks for reading,

Luc P. Beaudoin Co-founder, CogSci Apps Corp.

Copyright © 2022 CogSci Apps Corp. All rights reserved.

Want to change how you receive these emails?
You can unsubscribe from this list.