This is a quick tip for all Evernote power users that use Zapier to create tasks in applications like Todoist.
Why use classic note links?
If you are an Evernote power user you probably know about the classic note links, the URLs that start with “evernote://…” instead of “https://www.evernote.com/…”. The classic note links are super useful if you want to link to Evernote notes from other applications, because the link will open the native application instead of the website.
Personally I use Evernote for collecting information, and Todoist for managing my tasks. I also use Zapier to generate a new task in Todoist every time I add a new note in Evernote. Wouldn’t it be nice if the link in my Todoist task took me directly to the note in my native Evernote application, regardless if I’m on my Windows desktop or on my Android phone?
Configure your zap to generate classic note links
By default the Evernote integration in Zapier only provides the regular “https://www.evernote.com/…” type of link. It is provided in the field called “Direct url”. However, if you look closely at the other fields you will notice that it is possible to construct a classic note link by stacking multiple fields.
The following combination of fields will generate a proper classic note link:
evernote:///view/[USER]/[SHARD]/[GUID]/[GUID]/Extra credit: How does a classic note link work?
If you install Evernote on your phone or on your desktop it will register something called a custom protocol handler with the operating system. This handler will run whenever the user clicks on a URL that starts with “evernote://”, and it will directly open the Evernote application instead of the Evernote website.