"Insert link to file"- where did this go?

Anonymous
2013-02-06T22:04:23+00:00

I'm an attorney, and I created a great litigation and trial-management system using only OneNote.  We put it to use in a large "mass action" case with over fifty plaintiffs and tens of thousands of exhibits.  The system allowed us to completely outmaneuver the plaintiffs at trial, and we were able to line up exhibits, deposition citations, and both direct and cross examination questions from a single program.   We all credit a great deal of our defense verdict to the system.

The key feature that let us build the various pages for trial quickly was the ability to drag and drop exhibit pdfs into the onenote pages as links to files.  Due to the sheer volume of exhibits, as well as the ease of using tables, links were far more effective than inserting the files directly, and certainly more effective than inserting printouts. 

With OneNote 2013, this mission-critical feature appears to be missing.  I can only insert the file, or insert a printout.  I don't want to do either- I want to insert a link.  I know that I can insert links using the manual "insert link" function, but that is slower and more error prone than the simplicity of the previous versions.  Am I missing a key option to trigger?  Or is this a missing feature from OneNote 2013?  If the latter, I suspect we will stick with 2010....

Microsoft 365 and Office | OneNote | For home | Windows

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  1. Anonymous
    2014-03-26T14:24:26+00:00

    Omer,

    I agree this is BIG DEAL.

    Drag and drop that just works has been one of the cornerstones of Windows productivity and is supported in all Office products.  At one point in time, drag-and-drop was being pushed at every turn as the BIG feature of Windows.

    This is really bad.  One of two things happened.

    1. Microsoft forgot to add drag-and-drop.
    2. Microsoft is moving away from drag-and-drop in their flagship products.

    The implications of either of these is very, very bad for me.

    If it's one, I don't know what to say about it.  Micrsoft is a heavy-hitting pro development shop?  Right?

    If it's two, I feel like the 46 year old stay at home mom with two kids, watching her husband chase a 20 year old intern at the office.  I have heavily invested in Microsoft tools because they are excellent productivity tools.  Microsoft really takes the time to engineer the productivity part of the products for expert users.  This is not common anymore.  In chasing after "simplified" no training UI's most other development companies have thrown the power users concerns to the wind.

    Want to add a time stamp quickly in OneNote?  alt-shift-f  Want to start looking at the web and taking notes? ctrl-alt-D.  Need a header? Ctrl-alt-1.  Need to make a check list item? ctrl-1?  I could go on  and on...

    Please Microsoft, don't ditch your power users.  We are invested in your products.  We've been faithful and supporting you for decades.

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  2. Anonymous
    2014-03-14T10:42:02+00:00

    Over a year and still no information on this?

    It would be EASY to put this back in. It is of great importance for colaboration to link to a network file.

    @MS, please give us an update on this!

    I'd advise anyone against upgrading their tooling to the 2013 suite. I want the file drag and drop to link back in. Now I have to drag and drop to insert as printout, copy the link where I want it to get a link inserted by drag and drop. It's a very stupid work around, as the functionality of creating the link automatically still seems to be in. It just isn't in the menu anymore. So isn't there someone who can hack the stupid tool and make it work again. Seeing as MS doesn't seem to be willing to do it anytime soon.

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  3. Anonymous
    2014-03-13T21:59:26+00:00

    Over a year and still no information on this?

    It would be EASY to put this back in. It is of great importance for colaboration to link to a network file.

    @MS, please give us an update on this!

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  4. Anonymous
    2014-02-26T12:39:39+00:00

    Dido here.

    the workaround of right clicking and opening the original file works but embeding a file when we just need a link is plain dumb.

    Tip workaround nº2: after inserting teh file right clicking gets you an option to copy the link to the original. Just paste it and delete the inserted file.

    Bottom line: a workaround should not be necessary. Bring the option back.

    Best Regards

    JP

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  5. Anonymous
    2014-02-14T19:47:48+00:00

    Has there been a solution? 

    No, there hasn't been one yet.  A couple of workarounds that, despite the users' best efforts, are more cumbersome than the original functionality.

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