Choice of note-taking software

Original link: https://geekboy.org/post/note-app.html

I have been taking notes for many years, and I have changed a lot of note-taking software. == Unfortunately, I have not found a very satisfactory one ==. Taking advantage of the National Day holiday, I rethought the purpose and function of note-taking, and finally changed the note-taking software and construction method. This time, I hope that it will not be changed easily.

Reason for replacement

The author has been using为知笔记all these years. It was free at first, but Weizhi company changed its strategy later. Even if it pays 60 yuan a year, even if there are constant small BUG , I have always insisted on using it and never thought of changing it. Until recently, when I was sorting out a note, I adjusted it for a long time and could not achieve the format I wanted. After saving, the format was messed up again. It was a waste of time, so I came up with the idea of ​​changing the note-taking software. It has been used for 8 years, and the VIP has one year to expire, and it is also discarded without hesitation. It is really annoying to use.

Later, I checked the Internet and it turned out that WizNote Lite was sold to ONES Group at the beginning of the year. No wonder the current system is chaotic and the old version of the client is still alive. In order to keep up with the times, WizNote Lite was launched to specialize in the Markdown market. Out of WizNote X to play the latest blocky, mesh note concept, WizNote Lite also stopped updating. It is hastily launched under the condition of constant bugs. It is estimated that there will be no less internal battles after the acquisition. The focus of the three software releases is different, and the mobile phone cannot be compatible at the same time. But not anytime soon.

Weizhi Notes VIP

The State of Note-taking Software

I wanted to replace the note-taking software for a long time. First, I didn’t find the time and opportunity. After all, it is not a small project; The note-taking software circle has developed for many years. I am not the first group of people to use it, but I have also experienced changes in the past ten years. It has indeed changed a lot, and there is a dazzling feeling.

ancient times

More than ten years ago, the note-taking circle did not have so many methodologies and stories now, purely to record text and facilitate cross-platform viewing and editing. At that time, the notepad of QQ mailbox was used more, and it was purely used to record some important URLs and texts. At that time, I was still a student, and I could use it and edit it across platforms.

stable period

Around 2010, Shanda released a notepad called麦库记事本. It has been used for two years. It has the advantage of having an independent App , free, large capacity, cross-platform, and a little more convenient than QQ邮箱(I just checked the The software has already shut down the server around 2015, completely out of business). Later,印象笔记, Weizhi为知笔记,有道笔记, and OneNote occupied most of the market. During that time, Evernote was popular all over the world, publishing books, hardware pens, and publicizing various concepts and methodologies. I am also one of them. After wandering around, I finally chose Weizhi Note which has been used to this day.

I remember that Evernote was the first to be excluded by me, because it did not support multi-level folders, and kept brainwashing labels to replace multi-level folders, but people’s brains are affected by the Windows operating system, and they have become accustomed to the tree-like hierarchical relationship. The propaganda of new concepts should not be so radical, directly cut off the multi-level folder mode, push the tag Tag , and then push the multi-level tag, and the folder is not intuitive and easy to use, and I still feel awkward, and I have logged out since then. Evernote account. Youdao Cloud Notes is purely because the usage habits are not so smooth, and it does not support exporting common formats. OneNote gave up because the synchronization speed was too slow, and finally chose Weizhi Notes by mistake. In that era, Weizhi Note was indeed the one that best suited my usage habits. It was easy to use, edited web pages, saved Weibo and WeChat, and had all the functions it should have. As a note-taking software in the rich text era, it was qualified. Although there are many small problems, I seldom pay for domestic software, and I am willing to spend 60 yuan per year to support the development of a small company.

development period

I don’t remember which year it started, and the Markdown markup language became popular. Because of its simple and convenient typesetting and good display effect, it can easily edit tables, formulas, and flowcharts. These operations are inconvenient to implement in a rich text editor. At the same time, the emerging Markdown languages ​​such as TodoList and思维导图can be displayed easily and concisely. During this period, too many Markdown editors emerged, and I did not try them one by one. Among the software I used, Typora is the best among them, and it will also be my main editor in the future.

Later, Notion was born and brought a new concept of Block structure. I tried it, but because it is a foreign service and the speed is slow, there is no client, only the web version, so I gave up.

After that, Obsidian Double Chain Notes proposed a new meshed knowledge graph, which is too complicated and has learning costs and no desire to try.

The domestic plagiarism and improved products wolai and FlowUs just took a look, and they don’t quite meet my selection requirements, so I don’t plan to try them out.

语雀known as the programmer’s note-taking software, but when you open the background of various attention and recommendations, you are dazzled, and you prefer blog sharing instead of recording.

Until recently, I encountered the concept of Flomo ‘s card notes, which will be described in detail below.

There are more and more concepts and stories, and it also makes me understand that there is no best note-taking software, and I have to form my own knowledge system. Software is just a tool, and the tool is handy, and I don’t have to pursue ** All in one **

Choose note-taking software

There are so many note-taking software listed above, and there are many others that have not been listed. For example,飞书文档,石墨文档and other office collaboration fields can also be used to take notes. This field is already a red sea, so how should we choose? ?

The first is to figure out your own positioning and needs, and what to do with it. Different occupations may have different uses. There is no software that can meet everyone’s requirements. For text workers, it is typesetting, recording, and output; for programmers, the proportion of code support is not small. For scientific researchers, they may pay more attention to the management of documents and whether they can annotate; for most ordinary people, it may be just casual It’s just a record, it’s not very demanding. There is a misunderstanding that the various promotional videos watched online are mostly text workers pushing things that fit their positioning, not what other people really want, just like whether the iPad is productive, whether the MacBook Pro is good or not belongs to the same category. question. Everyone’s situation is different, don’t listen to those chatty bloggers on the Internet, they tell a lot of stories and methodologies. The most important thing is to try it out one by one and feel whether it can meet your own needs. The theme of taking notes is to collect and organize information yourself and master knowledge.

I am a programmer who often deals with code and is good at tossing, so the requirements for notes are as follows:

1. The format must be Markdown , support full export or self-built server, and the data must be in your own hands
2. Support to record at any time, Weibo, WeChat, web pages, pictures and other content must be able to collect and record ideas at any time
3. Simple writing, low learning cost, no need to understand too many concepts
4. The data synchronization should be friendly, and the server is basically not satisfied when the server is abroad.
5. Full platform support

After reading around the notes on the market, none of them can be completely satisfied. Joplin , which originally supports self-built storage and various plug-ins, is the most suitable, but it is still weak in collecting WeChat content and web pages, and Markdown editing is not as good Typora , In the end, I gave up the idea of All in one , and the ultimate goal is to use the most handy tools with various tools.

final plan

After a long search, the final plan was Typora浮墨Flomo Github腾讯云COS

For a long discussion, the files that need to be sorted and output are saved locally, the Markdown files are written in Typora , and saved to the github private warehouse after completion, and the md files are managed at the folder level. At the same time, the pictures in the Markdown are uploaded to the Tencent cloud storage COS, the specific If you want to share privately, share pictures or PDF , and if you share publicly, write them on your blog.

Here is a brief introduction to floating ink notes – flomo , is also a piece of thinking recording app that I recently learned about. Its design satisfies the points 2, 3, 4, and 5 I mentioned above. It just makes up for the lack of Typora’s only local recording. It’s just an experience. In 2 days, I decided to use it to replace some of the functions of the know, used to memorize data, inspiration fragments and ideas, because its design is in line with my principle-single responsibility, and it is completely consistent with the code design.

The advantages of the interface flomo of floating ink notes are as follows:

1. Full platform coverage, although the Windows client has not yet come out, but the PWA application page is enough

2. The function is simple, it is to record fragmentary thoughts and texts, partial memos, you can use WeChat to take notes

3. Strong extensibility, provides API support, and has some useful plugins

Current cons of flomo:

1. The account system looks like a mobile phone number and an email address, but I don’t see the binding relationship.

2. The recycle bin does not support manual emptying, you can only wait for 30 days to automatically delete it, killing obsessive-compulsive disorder

3. Not well-known enough, easy-to-use plug-ins rely on the community to generate electricity with love, and it is difficult to maintain

The overall experience is that it can meet my current needs of recording and collecting fragmented knowledge. The software is really small and beautiful, focusing on one thing. In this era when big manufacturers are desperately adding functions, it is quite rare to maintain restraint. I also agree with most of the designer’s note-taking concept. After reading the design philosophy of the app, some of the points in it are good. It can be seen that they have been deeply thought about, not forcibly instilled in science. If you want to try, you can click the following link to register, you can get a 28-day membership: registration link , or enter the registration code after registration: ODQwMjQ1 to get a membership trial.

I still don’t like to make software that is big and comprehensive. Often the software of big manufacturers is complained about being bloated, and the small and beautiful things made by small factories will be plagiarized. There are already imitations of big manufacturers in Fumo, but the good works are still will be remembered. At work, due to the company’s confidentiality system, I can only take notes on the intranet. I have been using eDairy for many years to record the bits and pieces of my work. Although it has a retro interface and does not support modern Markdown , it is free and easy to use. It has been updated by Love Power for 20 years, and there is a long list of self-help donations. This spirit is worth learning by individual developers.

eDairy’s quaint interface, and some of the solutions in it have better alternatives and Change. I don’t know how long I can last this time. There is no tool that will last forever. It’s still about improving my own thinking, focusing on output and summarizing, rather than focusing on the tool itself.

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