Free Personal Organizer, Note to Self and Information Management Program

Chandler (v 1.0) is an open source (free) cross platform (Windows, Mac, & Linux) note to self program on steroids. You can make quick notes on any project, use a calendar, set alarms and reminders, todo lists, send emails of listed items, publish calendars, list appointments, manage tasks, manage projects and more. I just donwloaded and started to learn the free program earlier today. I have been looking for something simple and easy to use, but still powerful enough to handle complex tasks. There is a lot to learn, and Chandler offers a lot. If you need organization (I do), and a program to list notes and ideas, or keep track of tasks and appointments in order to stay organized, although new, Chandler is a solid prospect. It is available at www.chandler.org. The site has tutorials and a short video as well.

I can envision using the program in my appraisal practice to schedule appointments, send reminders (to myself and others) and keep track of ideas as they pop into my head and a multitude of tasks. The main dashboards shows in list form your various projects and the related items to do now, later and completed. Each item is clickable for more information such as listings on a calendar, times and priorities. It also syncs with Google calendars and other online calendars.

Be prepared to spend some time learning all of the possibilities of this program. It initially seems easy to use, but there is a lot in this program, including multiple views, folders, sub-folders, synchronizing and the optional web hub, it therefore will take some time (and a little bit of patience) to learn to use all the features effectively. Chandler seems to have strong possibilities in keeping appraisers organized and on task. At first glance it appears to be a very good information collection device to list and organize any type content. Remember Chandler is only the first release version, so I am sure there are some bugs, but they should be quickly worked out as more and more computer users take advantage of the program. If Chandler functions as I expect and hope, I plan on adding the program to the list of programs our Appraiser Workshops recommend in the Good, Better, Best Appraiser Workshop, along with image resize, HP Smart Web Printing, Zotero and a few others.