Note Taking in 2023 reddit / selfhosted ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 07:11 I am searching for the best option for organising my personal knowledge, secure and always available. My requirements: -Selfhosted -Open Source -Login protection (OIDC would be a dream) -Collaboration on notes would be awesome -Not limited to one device e.g. using it on multiple devices like the phone and laptop -No lock in (if it works with md. files in the backend that's perfect) -Zotero integration would be fancy I tried different solution and the, slowest, but the simplest is actually Nextcloud Notes. I just hate the interface and the small width of the writing window. What I also liked for that use case was outline - which is just to complicated and way to demanding to setup and maintain as I want to solely rely on it. But that's the closest to the features I mentioned for me. I once brokenit for like 2 months which made me switch to NC Notes - where I am not really happy. There are a lot of nice tools but coming to open source it gets thin... Also there are a lot of nice tools like Logseq and Zettelkasten which are impressive but limited to a device or to a cloud drive where you have to make sure it synced... How do you organize your notes and personal knowledge in your Homelab setup? Which tools do you use - and do you collaborate on notes? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ElevenNotes · 2023-11-22 07:17 Outline, has OICD, sharing and more. Downside: No apps, only web. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- funkyferdy · 2023-11-22 07:25 >>I just hate the interface and the small width of the writing window. You know that you can just edit the notes files with any texteditor you like on any system that is, at least, capable of webdav? I edit my notes with my iphone on the default "notes" app, as example. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- notdoreen · 2023-11-22 07:28 I just use Obsidian with Synchthing to sync devices ---------------------------------------------------------------------- IceOleg · 2023-11-22 08:02 Joplin could be an option. It can sync either off a cloud drive like Dropbox, or to a server. There is a Joplin cloud which is pretty inexpensive, or you can self host. Joplin can do encryption locally (E2E) before syncing. Joplin does abstract away the notes files, but its all stored as markdown and the export will give you your notes in a nice human readable folder+file structure. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- tomhung · 2023-11-22 08:10 I'll throw hedgedoc in the mix. We use it for TONS of work at my small company. I wish it had better search, and organize sticky notes. I'm praying the new version comes out. Anyway we love it with all its flaws. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 08:38 I remember that I once set it up - it definitely has some of the nice features especially the Oauth is nice. Can you tell me something about the search capabilities? How to retrieve the information efficiently, that's also a huge part. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Simplixt · 2023-11-22 09:42 My journey: Joplin -> Trilium Notes -> Logseq -> Obsidian I find Obsidian the most powerfull, because of the PlugIn system and full compatiblity with Android and iPad. And I realized, it's a stupid idea to have a "knowledge base" in a Docker setup, if you need this knowledge base also for debugging or reinstall your Homelab. So the local installation of Obsidian togeter with Synchting gives you always access to your knowledge, even if the server are down. However, none of the above have collaborate features. But don't need it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- pq473 · 2023-11-22 10:14 Same, best solution I have found for pkm so far. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fishfeet_ · 2023-11-22 11:26 does obsidian allow for handwritten notes? I like to do that with my ipad and so far the available offerings have been weak ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DopeBoogie · 2023-11-22 12:18 I use Obsidian mostly but also sometimes memos: https://github.com/usememos/memos ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 12:34 I liked Outline - it was handy to use one the phone too and in contrast to Nextcloud Notes blazingly fast... but hard to setup and to maintain which is a downside. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 12:38 I could do that - that's basically what the note app of nc does I guess.... but as I understand WebDAV it can't really handle collaboration on the same file. Further accessing nc with an app token can be done but is rather inconvenient - and at least on windows it disconnects me after a reboot from the WebDAV share... And my main issue is that I want it to be a single solution where I can also share notes directly from the note editor - this is something where I than would have to switch to NC... what's awesome is the full text search of nextcloud I have to admit. Further I was able to export the former Outline Library and import it easily to nextcloud notes... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 12:40 Memos sounds promising...simple.. encrypted...OIDC.... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 12:41 That's something really nice to have ... ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 12:41 That's the best practice I guess. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- querylab · 2023-11-22 12:52 This is the way 100% do not choose anything else. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lilolalu · 2023-11-22 12:57 I looked at all of them and none ticked all my marks. memos looks promising because of built in Multiuser functionality. Anytype looks promising as one of these "modern" knowledge organizers, because of its design, security concept, simplicity, built in sync. Obsidian is out of the question for me because not open source. The others are no options because no built in sync. Most of them don't have a webUI which I also find annoying. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Defiant-Ad-5513 · 2023-11-22 13:07 Seams like it https://github.com/FBarrca/obsidian-handwritten-notes ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Kaikidan · 2023-11-22 13:14 Trillium works nice, only bad thing compared to obsidian is that the files are not stored as plain text, but otherwise it's preeeety feature rich. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- chrishch · 2023-11-22 13:39 I set up a VSCode server on my Raspberry Pi, run rclone bisync every half hour which syncs text files with a designated folder on my Synology NAS, and I can have access to all my notes, which are all text files. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 13:58 So what's your workaround? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Shoddy_Hunter2609 · 2023-11-22 14:02 anytype is not open source, but source available, not the same ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lilolalu · 2023-11-22 14:23 Well since the source is available and the limitation they impose is for commercial use of their code, that's ok by me. And only the clients, all the other stuff (protocol, sync node, etc) is MIT license. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- lilolalu · 2023-11-22 14:26 I was contemplating what is more important to me right now and going to try anytype. The classical note taking & collaboration use case is pretty much covered with my self hosted Nextcloud (in my case), anytype (or the others logseq, joplin, obsidian) bring something to the table that Nextcloud can not do (yet). ---------------------------------------------------------------------- labs-labs-labs · 2023-11-22 15:04 Another sync option for Obsidian... I use Obsidian with the Community Plugin "Remotely Secure" to sync with NextCloud between a couple of Linux Desktops, a Mac desktop, an android phone and a Graphene OS phone. I haven't had a single sync issue in the few months I've been using it. So... if you don't already use Syncthing for something else and do have NextCloud running already... that gets my vote!! I had initially used Syncthing and it worked fine, too but I installed it JUST for Obsidian and didn't feel like maintaining another file share "system" just for one app. Bonus: you can read/edit your notes in the Nextcloud web app if you ever don't have an Obsidian client handy. Also... I was a long time Joplin w/Nextcloud user before Obsidian. I never loved the interface and it never got good enough for me to not always seek alternatives. I also tried Logseq. Loved the concept, the open-sourcedness of it, etc. and it worked well but the interface is so, so, so busy that I couldn't concentrate when using it. Obsidian FTW over here. I've migrated all of my notes/knowledge to it at this point. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Simplixt · 2023-11-22 15:25 Yes, with Excalidraw plugin. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mightyugly · 2023-11-22 15:26 https://notesnook.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- prime_1996 · 2023-11-22 15:32 I felt like you were talking about my experience. I was using Joplin for a while, no issue tbf, worked great with nextcloud webdav. Only problem was that file names were randomised, which makes it difficult to find with any other app. I migrated all my notes into Nextcloud notes, works okay, but found the mobile app lacked some features, like it wouldn't show subfolders. Then I found obsidian, works great, has a bunch of pluggings, and the mobile app is good too. And I can still see my notes in nextcloud notes. Unfortunately the nextcloud mobile app doesn't have the sync feature, so... I was already using syncthing, so I just added a new folder to my phone. Works great too. Now, i just found that Obsidia has a nextcloud sync plugging, this will make it perfect.I will try it shortly. I want to have all I need in one single app, and this is nextcloud, no need for another app, in this case syncthing. Files, music player/library, photos with memories app, notes, calendar. This makes backup a lot easier. Thanks for sharing this, can't wait to try it. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- fuken33 · 2023-11-22 15:43 I use Obsidian with self-hosted live-sync from here: [https://github.com/vrtmrz/obsidian- livesync/](https://github.com/vrtmrz/obsidian-livesync/) Basically you have a couchDB hosted in your homelab to store your obsidian data and then the obsidian self hosted live sync plugin that runs on your devices connects to your self hosted database and sync your notes there in an optimized. I tried both this and sincronizing via github and I prefer this, because is faster and less intrusive ---------------------------------------------------------------------- TastierSub · 2023-11-22 16:03 Outline recently added support for local storage instead of S3. Authentication is the only other common self-hosted pain point, but given you're looking for OIDC anyway, I don't see why it wouldn't be a viable option. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Firm-Customer6564 · 2023-11-22 16:27 I also was not really convinced of the Joplin interface...so I never really felt to adopt it. Logseq was something I liked more but had its limitations on the go. But your solution seems like some good workaround since I didn't want to add another file system! ---------------------------------------------------------------------- DeusExRobotics · 2023-11-22 18:06 Check this out I just found out about it it's open source self hosted and free https://www.usememos.com/ ---------------------------------------------------------------------- garibaldi3489 · 2023-11-22 18:27 I would also highly recommend Obsidian ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Expensive_Finger_973 · 2023-11-22 18:42 I have access to my notes in Joplin if I can't reach the server. A copy is syn'd to all of my connected devices. In fact on my mobile device the sync attempts are disabled except for when on Wifi and I can always access the local copy. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- nndttttt · 2023-11-22 18:44 What nextcloud sync are you referring to ? I’m currently using Joplin and it does the job, but organizing is a bit of a pain. I tried obsidian a while back, but I use an iPhone so syncing wasn’t possible with nextcloud. Is there a way now? ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Simplixt · 2023-11-22 18:47 Yes, Joplin is also a desktop/mobile applications Bookstack would be an example of a web-only application. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- vanchaxy · 2023-11-22 19:15 try anytype.io ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Self_toasted · 2023-11-22 19:39 Nextcloud Notes for Personal stuff, to-do lists, grocery lists etc. I heavily utilize Nextcloud in my personal life. My server is fairly optimized and performant, the syncing is great, mobile app is decent and overall, it "just works" for me. It's also really nice having all that stuff in one place. [silverbullet.md](https://silverbullet.md) for homelab notes, personal wiki-like articles and stuff of that nature. I love the interface and markdown support. It's easy to use, the search feature is really nice and it has modular functionality (using plugins). It's running on a vm fronted by a reverse proxy (for SSL) so I can easily hit from any device on the lan. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- prime_1996 · 2023-11-22 20:10 Nextcloud mobile apps don't have sync features. I couldn't get obsidian working in ios, but I haven't tried with this plugin yet. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ayoungblood84 · 2023-11-22 20:34 I really enjoy Joplin ---------------------------------------------------------------------- ghanjiboy · 2023-11-22 21:32 Another vote for Joplin with Joplin self hosted server . Works very well for me and the family plus the added benefit is if you want to share notes with external folks that don't have joplin, you can do that as well. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- mpopgun · 2023-11-22 22:05 I've been using openproject to take notes. I created a project for different areas of my life...then tasks and sub tasks. There's a wiki, calendar, attach files, associate tasks with other tasks. Then when I'm through with a "project" like testing Nextcloud, I close that project. It archives so all the data and hides it so it's not in my immediate view anymore but I can still reference it. The free version supports ldap and 2fa. So it should fit in with Authentik or something similar for SSO. I've found this pretty effective for much of my home lab work, especially for keeping track of applications I want to try. OneNote was getting too cluttered with old projects that I didn't continue for one reason or another. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- cneilmon · 2023-11-23 01:41 Obsidian fits on your needs, im using it with icloud for syncing ---------------------------------------------------------------------- enchant97 · 2023-11-23 09:32 I made [Note Mark](https://github.com/enchant97/note-mark) which uses markdown and only has a web app. I have lots of feature ideas that I will add in the future. However it currently does not have any collaborative features if that is a necessary requirement. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- [deleted] · 2023-11-24 14:25 [removed]