I use Bear, which is a note app for iOS/macOS. It uses Markdown, it has all the features I need, and it is fast with sync. Because it has a really clean, minimalistic UI, I don't get distracted. This is my main tool know, but as most of the people who are even thinking about this, I'm not fully satisified. Separation of personal/work stuff is questionable, sometimes I feel I need better visualization (like mindmaps), and I regularly use it for todos too which is not the best if you also use a standalone todos app (TickTick).
Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
11–18 of 18 posts
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#12I used to use Evernote to organize what I learn, but I was never satisfied. The reason was that:
1. Once I wrote something down, I forgot about it and never looked back. (No spaced repetition)
2. I had to launch an external application and switch to it to take notes. (constant context switching)
So I made an open source solution called dnote [0] that addresses both problems by (a) automating spaced repetition via email digest, and (b) minimizing environment switch by working as a CLI and a browser extension. Been using it for the past two years.
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#13I have been using Notion and Evernote for this purpose. However, I am not really satisfied. Unfortunately, there is no solution that does exactly what I want and need. Therefore, I am building my own system.
Can you please explain what you find to be missing from Notion and Evernote?
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#14I'm building https://histre.com/ and I use it everyday. Most apps like Evernote and Notion end up being dumping grounds for notes and bookmarks. You put something there so you can relax that it is there if you need it later, but you never look at that again. Histre on the other hand helps you directly with the "collect -> filter -> decide" loop that we do all the time.
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#15I use Anki at the moment. Anki makes it easy to search, recall and recollect all the details.
I've toyed with GitHub, Evernote and markdown files but the greatest issues with all these topics is lack of active recall and that fact that I never came back to them. With Anki, I've been spending time daily so it's hard to forget these topics. If I do forget something, I can always look it up in my notes or just go to the internet again.
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#16I run a wiki at home with basically all kinds of specific configurations and settings. Little tutorials you get the idea. I like it although I don't always keep it up-to-date.
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#17I created a Hugo site to keep everything in. It allows me to keep the speed of quick, simple capture in VS Code, but also presents the content nicely and makes it permanently available wherever I am.
Re: Do you use a personal 'knowledge base'?
#18I have started using a personal mediawiki instance with Cargo for semantic data. I realized that I wanted to have full control of my data, so I didn't like the idea of going all-in with Notion or something similar. I'm a heavy user of wikipedia so mediawiki just "feels" natural. Installing it is a huge pain.
I am finding that the system works well enough, once you get VisualEditor working. However the main problem is the habit of capturing my thoughts and work products. It's a tough habit to get in to.
Ultimately I want the wiki to be just one piece of a larger system that automatically organizes all my articles, files, mail, posts, etc. The idea being that I can work with whatever tool is easiest for any particular situation, and still be able to cross-reference all the information in a way that is useful and easy to search. We'll see if I ever get there.