If you receive a file that you cannot open because you don’t have the right piece of software at hand, or if you want to convert a file in a proprietary format for importing into DEVONthink, have a look at Zamzar, a free Web-based file conversion service that converts diverse document, image, audio, and video formats.

Why-o-ever it may happen, databases can go corrupt. Be it a damaged file system, a system hang, or, Heaven forbid!, a DEVONthink crash. But, no reason to panic. First, run Tools > Verify & Repair. If DEVONthink cannot repair the database or if you are sure that you’ve lost some data, it’s time for the internal backups. By default, DEVONthink keeps two internal backups of the database index files that you can revert to at any time. (more)

With Bookends 9.2 it’s now possible to create links from DEVONthink to an entry in Bookends. Simply drag an ID number of a reference into a rich text document. This creates a special URL that opens the corresponding Bookends reference when clicked. In addition, you can drag the ID into DEVONthink’s groups and documents list which the creates a link document for the reference. DEVONthink Pro Office 1.3.1, DEVONthink Pro 1.3.1, and DEVONthink Personal 1.9.9 add special support for this and name the link document automatically.

A less well-known keyboard shortcut that works in nearly every Mac OS X application including DEVONthink is Alt-Tab. It switches forward through all panes of the frontmost window. In DEVONthink Pro’s Three Panes view, for example, from: groups to documents to the view/edit pane and back to groups.

If you want to create a link to a group or other document in a rich text document, you can either write something, select it, Control-click or right-click it, and choose ‘Link to’ from the contextual menu, including navigating through your groups hierarchy. Or, you can simply drag the item into the rich text document with the Option and Command keys pressed (like creating a replicant or an alias in the Finder.)

To archive a web page within DEVONthink, use the contextual menu. First, select the Link document in question to view the web page ‘live.’ Control-click or right-click the background of the page to show options that are affect the whole page, not a specific item on it. Now, choose ‘Capture Web Archive’ to save the current state of this page as a web archive (the HTML code including all images required to display it) directly into the database. Even if the web page changes over time, this captured web archive won’t. (more)

One simple way to improve the Classify feature of DEVONthink is to exclude certain groups and documents from being used for classification. You could, e.g., exclude groups with indexed backup CDs or archived mailing lists from classification because they are ‘atypical’ for the contents of this database but you want to them in there anyway for easy access. To exclude an item from being used for classification, select it, open the Info panel (Tools > Show Info) and check ‘Exclude from classification.’

Are you still typing “www.google.com” over and over into the address field of a DEVONagent web browser window just to quickly look up a vendor’s web address? Don’t do it again. There’s a smarter way: In DEVONagent, some plugins (which are basically interfaces between the application and the search engine) come with predefined keywords that you can simply type into the address field, followed by a query (in the search engine’s format; don’t enter one of DEVONagent’s more sophisticated operators here.) DEVONagent will send you query to the desired search engine and show the result page. (more)

To delete PhotoStickies favorites or states, select them with the Option key held. This immediately removes them without you having to open them first.

Did you know that you can use custom group and document icons in DEVONthink? It works just the Mac way: Copy any image that you want to use as the icon of the item; best suitable are images of a square form with a transparent background. Then select the item in DEVONthink and open the Info panel (Tools > Show Info). Select the item’s icon and paste your graphic. It can’t be any easier, can it? By the way: This works exactly how it also works in the Finder. Custom icons are perfect for making an item stand out.