Stickynotes

Stickynotes is a free Windows program designed to replace all those little paper notes you have stuck to your monitor. It's designed to be there when you need it, but be out of the way when you don't.

Stickynotes can be any size, any color, and be placed anywhere on the screen. They are saved and restored automatically, so you don't have to worry about them. Note settings are stored per-user.

Installing Stickynotes is simple. If you've downloaded the installer-based version, just run the installer and follow the instructions. If you've downloaded the .ZIP-based version, just unpack the archive into the directory of your choice (I use C:\Program Files\Stickynotes) and double-click on stickynotes.exe to get started.

Important Note -- If you are currently using a previous version of Stickynotes, you must disable the old version first. To do so, uncheck "Run Automatically when Windows Starts" in the Settings dialog box of the old version, then select Quit. Your notes will be preserved from the old version.

Once you've run Stickynotes, you can set it to run automatically when you log on to Windows through the settings dialog box.

To get started with Stickynotes, right-click on the small yellow note icon in the system tray, near the clock. This will bring up the Stickynotes menu, which has the following options:

New Stickynote -- this will open a new note. The note will appear in the middle of the screen unless there's already a note there.
Hide Stickynotes -- select this option to hide all of the notes. To make them visible again, either select Show Stickynotes from the menu, or just left-click on the Sticknotes icon in the system tray.
Settings -- select this to change your default note preferences, as well as basic Stickynotes options. More on this below.
About Stickynotes -- Selecting this option opens a new note with information about the software. You can use this if you forgot where you downloaded Stickynotes, or if you're just bored. The new note won't be saved along with your notes, so it won't be there the next time you launch the software.
Quit -- This will close the software, including all note windows. The note contents and settings will be saved automatically.

If you choose Settings from the Stickynotes system tray menu, you'll see the Settings dialog box. This dialog box contains the following options:

Show up on Taskbar -- By default, Stickynotes only appears on the System Tray while running, rather than on the Taskbar with normal applications. If you'd prefer to have it appear on the Taskbar as well, select this option. With this option enabled, Stickynotes can be brought to the foreground via Alt-Tab. Stickynotes will only occupy one System Tray icon or Taskbar button regardless of how many notes are open.
Help notes stick to screen edge and each other -- With this option selected, notes will "snap" into position when they're close to the screen edge or another note. This helps keep notes tidy. This option is selected by default.
Run automatically when Windows starts -- Select this option to have Stickynotes launch automatically when you log onto Windows. Your notes are restored automatically upon launch.
Default Note Color -- Use this setting to specify the color of newly-created notes. You can always change the color of an existing note later, as explained below.
Default Font Size -- Use this setting to specify the size of the text in newly-created notes. You can always change the font size of an existing note later, as explained below.
Transparency -- This slider bar allows you to set how transparent notes are, from "barely visible" to "totally opaque". The currently-selected note is always opaque, so you can see what you're typing. This option is only available in Windows 2000 and XP.

Using a note is easy -- simply click on the note you want to change, and start typing. To close a note (and lose its contents), click the small "X" button in the upper right of the note. To move a note, you can either click on the title bar across the top of the note, or press the Ctrl key and click anywhere on the note, and drag the window where you want it. To change the size of the note window, click on the small square Resize button in the bottom-right of the note.

To change other note settings, right-click on the note window. This will bring up a context menu, with the following options:

New Stickynote -- Select this to open a new note.
Color -- This submenu lets you change the note window's color. Choose from the seven preset colors, or choose "Custom..." and pick the exact color you want!
Font Size -- Use this submenu to change the size of the text in the note window. If you the default size difficult to read, you may want to change the Default Font Size setting in the Settings dialog box, as explained above.
Set Alarm -- Use this option to set a date and time to be reminded of the note. At the specified date and time, the note will be brought into the foreground, your default system "ding" noise will be played, and the note's title bar will flash until it is clicked upon.
Cancel Alarm -- Use this to cancel a previously set alarm.
Always on Top -- This setting forces the note to stay on top of other windows at all times. This is very useful in combination with the Transparency setting in the Settings dialog box.
Find Text -- Use this to search within the current note to find a specific word or phrase in the note's text.
Undo -- Unsurprisingly, this will undo the most recent changes made to the note's text.
Cut/Copy/Paste -- Use these to send information to and from the Windows clipboard, for transferring text between notes and other applications or other notes. Stickynotes also supports drag-and-drop of text or files.
Select All -- This selects all of the text in the note, making it ready to be copied-and-pasted or just deleted.
Load Note from File / Save Note to File -- These options allow you to load the contents of a text file into a note, or to save a note's contents to a text file. Use this if you prefer using Stickynotes instead of Notepad. :) You don't need to use these to save your notes under normal circumstances, though, as all of your notes are saved and restored automatically.
Print This Note -- This option will bring up a dialog box that allows you to print the current note's contents. The printout is pretty no-frills, but hey -- so are the notes.
Close This Stickyntoes -- This will close the current note, discarding its contents.
Hide All Stickynotes -- This option will hide all of your notes. To make them visible again, either choose "Show Stickynotes" from the system tray menu, or just left-click on the Stickynotes icon in the system tray.
Quit Program -- This will close the Stickynotes application, including all note windows. The note contents and settings are automatically saved.

Here are some nifty Stickynotes features and tricks, some of which didn't really fit into the other sections:

Text files can be dragged from any Explorer window into a note window to fill the note with their contents.
Selected text can be dragged from a drag-and-drop supporting application (like WordPad) into a note window; the text will be inserted into the current note's contents.
You can press the Ctrl key and click anywhere in a note window to move it.
If you press the Alt key and click on a URL in a note, Stickynotes will launch that URL in your default browser.

Stickynotes is free. If you like it, or if you have a question, suggestion, or any comment, please send me mail.

This software could not have happened without the suggestions and testing of a number of people, most notably Cynthia Matuszek, Barrett Phillips, and Jeffrey Berthiaume.

Stickynotes was initially inspired by a similar application that comes with MacOS, written by Jens Alfke. The two programs are unrelated -- the MacOS version simply led me to recognize a need and try to fill it.

Stickynotes was written using Borland Delphi 5. The installer-based version of Stickynotes uses the Nullsoft Install System, which saved a great deal of hassle. I highly recommend it.

Changes since version 2.0.0.3

Fixed a bug that prevented Stickynotes from opening text files dropped onto empty notes. (thanks to Dave Hamdon)
Fixed a bug that made Stickynotes print blank pages when printing dark-colored notes.

Changes since version 2.0.0.2

Fixed a bug that prevented Stickynotes from working on Windows 95.

Changes since version 1.x:

Stickynotes

Introduction

Installation

Getting Started

Settings

Using Notes

Nifty Features

Price

Acknowledgements

Version History