Other improvements include numerous synching bug fixes, JSTalk support for the programmatic-minded, variables to access clipboard contents for new page templates, and more. For full details, see the release notes. The best part of version 4.2, though, is that thanks to it I can at long last release my custom VoodooPad scratchpad template.

For more information about the update, see the release notes.

For more information on the various updates see Together’s release notes, Hazel’s release notes, the StoryMill 3.2.1 announcement, and the Evernote synchronization blog announcement.

For a full list of changes, see the 3.2 forum announcement. StoryMill 3.2 is a free update for owners of StoryMill.

The big new feature in VoodooPad 4 is the ability to sync documents across multiple computers (and even provide a web interface for iPhones) as long as you have a WebDAV server available (like a MobileMe iDisk). This version also includes a system-wide hotkey to append text to any page in an open document, a reworked (and very slick) interface including a single unified palette, and all of the greatness that was VoodooPad 3 still alive and kicking. I highly recommend VoodooPad for anyone who needs to store and organize just about any text-based information. For full details about the update, see the release notes. VoodooPad 4 comes in three flavors (lite, standard, pro) priced accordingly, and is available for an upgrade fee or, for those who bought version 3 after August 1, 2008, for free.

VoodooPad’s tagging support is extremely basic, but it’s still one of my favorite applications when it comes to collecting ideas and seeing how they interconnect. Hopefully the upcoming VoodooPad 4.0 will offer better tagging in addition to whatever else Gus Mueller has up his sleeves.

For more information about the update, check the release notes.

However, from now until August 18th, 2008 StoryMill is on sale for $29.95 through the Mariner Software online store (both boxed and digital download versions). This is about a 60% discount (reg. $49.95 for boxed, $44.95 for digital download), so if you’ve been thinking you need a better tool for getting your fiction out of your head and onto the page give StoryMill a look-see.

For more information, check out the official 3.1 forum announcement or download via the in-program auto-updating or the Mariner Software download page. This is definitely a worthwhile update to download.

I highly recommend the MacUpdate promo bundle if only for Leap and StoryMill. Leap in particular is probably the best file system tagging solution available, and StoryMill is my favorite creative writing software (and uses tagging for its primary organization). Assuming the bundle sells well enough to unlock all ten apps, you’ll be getting $474.76 worth of software for $65. Most surprising is that more than 50% of the apps are worth buying (normally with these bundles two or three are worthwhile and the rest are all fluff). FYI: the MacUpdate link in this post is an affiliate link because while I would have recommended this bundle anyway, I’d love it if someday Tagamac at least paid for its hosting costs. Click through from here if you want to show me a little love, or just visit MacUpdate on your own if you hate affiliate links in your soul.

People inevitably end up comparing StoryMill to Scrivener, but they’re really very different tools. Scrivener uses the metaphor of a 3×5 index cards and then makes you create your own structure. StoryMill uses the metaphor of scenes within chapters, and provides a structure, which for me at least makes writing easier since I spend less time worrying about how to organize things. StoryMill’s timeline feature is also the only one of its kind in creative writing software at the moment. If you’re a writer, this isn’t a sale you want to miss.

For details, see the release notes. VoodooPad is a desktop wiki program that offers a very powerful way to take notes and jot down ideas while having them silently and automatically link themselves to one another. It also offers tagging, although the feature is not particularly well-integrated into the program.

The update is available via the in-program auto-updating or from Mariner Software’s download page. Unfortunately, release notes are only available via the ReadMe bundled with the download.

In related news, if you’ve been wondering why there haven’t been many updates to Tagamac over the last week or two, feel free to blame StoryMill; I was contracted by Mariner to write the all-new documentation for the program and as the deadline approached it ate up the free time that would otherwise have gone towards a new article or two. (Plus there weren’t any tagging software updates, so I haven’t had any news to post.) Now that sweet freedom beckons, however, I’m hoping to bring you some more articles on tagging to start the year off right and help you meet that New Year’s resolution to tag more. You made that resolution, right?

For the full story, check out the Scrivener release notes.

StoryMill 3.0 is definitely a piece of software to keep an eye on, as besides being a complete rebranding with Mariner’s greater resources at its disposal, it is also a large update to Avenir in its own right and will include the hotly anticipated (at least by me and other Avenir forums lurkers) timelines feature, along with a number of others.

Scrivener 1.1 is available from the Scrivener website or through the in-program auto-update and is an update well worth downloading.

Although the update is not currently showing up in the program’s auto-update, if you’re running Leopard you should grab it from the Avenir forums.

The developer also wants to reinstate support for French and German localizations, and is looking for someone fluent in English and French or German who would be willing to translate the dozen or so strings that have been added since the program was last localized. If you are interested, feel free to jump over to the Code Poetry website and contact him.

For more information, please see the VoodooPad release notes.