As I said in this post, I ditched Evernote as my note-taking program because I don’t like the UX on the Andriod. A few days ago, I thought about my workflow again, mainly how to deal with the various text-based notes and how organize them. For some reason, I don’t like or just don’t do well with just having a folder full of text files (either in .txt or .odt). I would rather have a hierarchical system. I once used KeepNote, which had awesome freatures but it isn’t developed, as it was some student at MIT’s pet project. Then I moved to CherryTree and I don’t remember why I stopped using it, maybe because of the UX. When I started to use Ubuntu back in 2009, I took note of the defult note-taking program, Tomboy Notes. I think I only used it for maybe a month and I don’t remember why I ditched it. For two (2) years, I never looked into a new note-taking program until I started to think about going close to 100% being digital for taking notes. Within the last two (2) years, I skipped between many programs and still really haven’t settled on anything. Perhaps, I should write a “lessons learned” blog post about creating the workflow that I use now.
Since I’m not using Tomboy for my note-taking then what I’m using? Once again, I looked back at my one of Linux using friends, AJ Linux, and his HubPage where he talks about three note-taking programs. This time Zim Wiki caught my eye:
Zim is a graphical text editor used to maintain a collection of wiki pages. Each page can contain links to other pages, simple formatting and images. Pages are stored in a folder structure, like in an outliner, and can have attachments. Creating a new page is as easy as linking to a nonexistent page. All data is stored in plain text files with wiki formatting. Various plugins provide additional functionality, like a task list manager, an equation editor, a tray icon, and support for version control. (Zim Homepage)
Zim wiki is basically your desktop wiki without a wiki server that you set up. So far, I played around with it for an hour last night. I like but I still have things to learn to increase my usage and a few more settings to tweak.
My plan on how to use Zim is as followed:
- I will use notebooks to keep related stuff together. Example: All of my Ubuntu stuff in a nokebook called, “Ubuntu”.
- Within notebooks, minus the “Pickle Jar”, I will use pages as major categories. Example: I have a “Ubuntu Sense” page within my “Ubuntu” notebook.
- Within major categories (as pages), I will use sub-pages as the “pages”. Example: I have a “Things to Blog On” sub-page in my “Ubuntu Sense” page.
- I will use Dropbox to sync.
- If I have projects to work on, most likely the task lists will stay with the projects and not be transferred on to my list on Lighting on Thuderbird.
- I will use a “Pickle Jar” notebook for random thoughts just has David Seahdoes.
The first four are things that seem to stay with me no matter what program I use, so I know those things are set in stone but the program that I use isn’t. And watch this change in a month or so. But hopefully, I can finally settle onto one note-taking program and improve my workflow.
