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Yardmaster Guide

Jot a quick note

Scratchpads catch a thought in two keystrokes, and Sticky Notes keep a note floating on screen. Both stay on this computer.

Beginner3 minutes

A scratchpad catches a thought before you lose it: a phone number, a command, a reminder to check something later. Your notes are saved in Yardmaster's own database on this computer. Yardmaster never sends them anywhere by itself; if you set up Backup Mirror, it copies them, encrypted, to the folder you pick.

Write a note#

  1. Press Shift plus Command plus SCtrl plus Shift plus S from anywhere in Yardmaster, or click Scratchpad in the toolbar at the top of the window.

  2. Type your note. You can also paste a screenshot or other image.

  3. Press EscEsc (or Command plus EnterCtrl plus Enter) to save and close.

The first line becomes the note's title. A note under 3 characters is thrown away instead of saved, so an accidental open leaves nothing behind.

To write several notes in a row, press Command plus TCtrl plus T while the window is open: it saves the note and gives you a blank one, without closing.

Find an older note#

In the quick note window, click the notes count under the title (for example "12 notes"), or press Command plus LCtrl plus L. Your notes appear on the left, newest first. Click one to open it and keep editing; changes save as you type.

For a bigger view, click Open in its own window (the small window button) to give your notes a separate window you can park beside your work. You can also add a Scratchpads row to the sidebar's Productivity group with Show Scratchpads in sidebar. Both views have a filter box and a Create scratchpad button.

Show Scratchpads in sidebarSettings, Optional FeaturesShow the Scratchpads entry in the sidebar. Scratchpads stays reachable from the toolbar button and its hotkey regardless.Open in YardmasterOpens Yardmaster. Don't have it? Download

Copy, style and tidy a note#

  • Copy all copies the whole note as plain text.

  • Markdown (a T button in the full view) turns on live styling: lines that start with # become headings, text in **stars** turns bold, and lines that start with - become a list. The characters stay in your text; only the look changes.

  • Click a pasted image to get Copy image and a corner handle to resize it. Right-click it to remove it.

  • To delete a note, open it in the full view and click Delete scratchpad, then Delete. An Undo button appears for a few seconds.

Auto-Delete Old Scratchpad NotesSettings, SystemPermanently delete Quick Capture notes you haven't edited in a while. Off by default.Open in YardmasterOpens Yardmaster. Don't have it? Download

Keep a note on screen with Sticky Notes#

A sticky note floats above the whole app, so a reminder stays in view while you switch projects.

  1. Click More toolbar items (the three dots) in the toolbar and choose Sticky Notes. A pale yellow note appears.

  2. Type on it. It saves as you type.

  3. Drag it by its top bar, and resize it from the bottom-right corner.

Each note has buttons along the top: New note, Change color (six soft colors), Minimize (it shrinks to a small chip you click to open again) and Delete note, which asks first because a deleted sticky note cannot be brought back. Clicking Sticky Notes again hides all your notes; they come back where you left them.

Sticky notes are saved on this computer, like scratchpads. They are on at first; to remove the button, open Settings > Optional Features and turn off Enable Sticky Notes.

Sticky NotesSettings, Optional Features · Default: OnEnable floating sticky notes on the desktopOpen in YardmasterOpens Yardmaster. Don't have it? Download

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