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Tired of note-taking apps

akkshaya.blog

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Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#451

Post by dcchambers »

Honestly, markdown files + git for history/version control is all you really need for effective note taking. Use whatever editor you like, and feel free to use some paid service for backups/versioning/etc if you feel git is too complicated, but IMO there's nothing that beats the simplicity and enduring nature of plain text files combined with the power of markdown and git/version control.

I also think paper notes are vastly underrated by many people in Tech. I keep a notebook and write stuff down all day long in addition to keeping more detailed notes digitally.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#453

Post by pps »

kevinslin wrote: post #316
mstngl wrote: post #272

After this thread became a discussion of competing, sometimes extreme approaches, I want to add one alternative. Markdown files, organized in folder hierarchy and synchronized by the service of choice are fine for me - for notes and knowledge collection. Recently I started to add the superpower of tags and links to other files by using Apps like Obsidian[1] and Zettlr[2] which are very similar. The great advantage is…

if you are looking for an open source version of obsidian/zettlr, I would check out https://dendron.so (disclaimer, I'm the author). supports all the same features and built on top of vscode. use it to manage my personal knowledge base of 20k md files

Zettlr is Open Source (FOSS) - https://github.com/Zettlr/Zettlr

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#454

Post by codemac »

dicytea wrote: post #233
tedmiston wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

An outliner app like WorkFlowy (YC S10) or TaskPaper is nice for adding nesting and the ability to zoom in and out. You can also directly link to any node, at least in WorkFlowy. My approach is similar to yours except it's one hierarchical entry per day. https://workflowy.com/ https://www.taskpaper.com/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner

I'm sad there's still no good offline and native clone of Workflowy/Dynalist after all these years. I've tried many other outliner-like note-taking software, but I haven't found anything that is more comfortable to use than the outliner system in Workflowy/Dynalist. To paraphrase a quote I've heard online, "it fits my brain like a glove."

Basically this is why folks use org-mode, but it won't satisfy you if you're used to syncing.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#455

Post by biztos »

osmarks wrote: post #440
gukov wrote: post #305

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Premature optimization also plays a role. Everyone should start with a notepad and a pencil and move up to something more advanced once they outgrow the most basic method of note taking. It's a bit like buying a top of line DSLR when you're just starting to get into photography.

Having to carry some paper and writing tools around would make note-taking significantly more annoying for me than just being able to use my phone/laptop.

I did that for years, and I found it wonderful as I love ink on paper... but one day I took a look at my several boxes full of journals and decided: nope, Notes will have to do.

I still write and draw on paper but not for journal purposes.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#456

Post by ralls_ebfe »

sasaf5 wrote: post #46

Note-taking is best served by a system, not by a single app. I used to struggle with note taking apps until I started to use org-mode on termux. Human interface relies on emacs, syncing and versioning relies on git, agenda and TODOs rely on org. Never needed any other note taking app. As a bonus, emacs color themes look really nice on a crisp OLED screen.

I assume you a real keyboard for this?

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#457

Post by sasaf5 »

ralls_ebfe wrote: post #456
sasaf5 wrote: post #46

Note-taking is best served by a system, not by a single app. I used to struggle with note taking apps until I started to use org-mode on termux. Human interface relies on emacs, syncing and versioning relies on git, agenda and TODOs rely on org. Never needed any other note taking app. As a bonus, emacs color themes look really nice on a crisp OLED screen.

I assume you a real keyboard for this?

I do use a foldable keyboard when I need to write more.

But for random note capture the onscreen keyboard works well. Termux can be configured to display C M shift. It might sound cumbersome but you quickly develop a muscle memory for it. Add to that the richness of emacs+org commands and it becomes faster than, say, Evernote.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#458

Post by klavik »

GekkePrutser wrote: post #292
kaliszad wrote: post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me, if I have some more long-running projects or ideas I might return to and e.g. give a presentation about them at some point, I find using https://orgpad.com an alternative. It tries to be a general tool that helps you connect the dots in a graph and that helps structuring information more like your brain does instead of forcing the linear approach of lists or longer texts. It doesn't force a scheme or anything…

Orgpad looks really good. I always find this kind of mindmap stuff to go beyond my screen size too quickly though.. I'd love to have something like this in VR so I can walk around and write stuff everywhere, move things etc, just like I have my walls covered in stuff like those stalkers in horror movies :D VR would be great for this I think. I might even make an app like that.

VR would be great. As it gets more adopted, we will certainly play with this technology. Currently, we use 43 inch displays as a replacement in our office.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#459

Post by B1aZer »

For the past few years I've been trying to find ideal app for notes. Google keep, Google Doc, Trello, Timers, Workflowy, Github projects, Zettlr, Notion.

The last 2 looked promising, but were lacking in some aspects. TO elaborate, note system should have 3 aspects to be easy to use:

- fast writing - fast lookup - has a connection between notes

I found out that Vim perfectly completes all 3:

- efficient writing and navigation - fuzzy search in file names and content - supports markdown links and follows them

So I keep my notes directory in Dropbox, processing it with the help of Vim and currently working on lightweight web client to create notes from any device. That can be further processed by main system.

Re: Tired of note-taking apps

#460

Post by stjohnswarts »

B1aZer wrote: post #459

For the past few years I've been trying to find ideal app for notes. Google keep, Google Doc, Trello, Timers, Workflowy, Github projects, Zettlr, Notion. The last 2 looked promising, but were lacking in some aspects. TO elaborate, note system should have 3 aspects to be easy to use: - fast writing - fast lookup - has a connection between notes I found out that Vim perfectly completes all 3: - efficient writing and na…

How do you handle images? I find them necessary a lot of the time. I like to just drop them right in my notes and not bother making links in markdown. Currently I just use libreoffice odt files on my google drive service.
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