this post was submitted on 23 Jul 2024
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Joplin

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Official community of Joplin - the secure open-source note-taking app.

Capture your thoughts and securely access them from any device.

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Review by Robert Lender (nureinblog.at)
submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by graphito@sopuli.xyz to c/joplinapp@sopuli.xyz
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English auto-translation

After I have installed the Joplin app for some time and now I only noticed that a trash was also added with an update, I have to tell you about it.

The basic function is to capture notes, but would come to grip a little short as a description at Joplin.

The app and description of its features can be found here.

I'm not going to describe everything, but focus on a few things that are important to me at the app.

Import/Export

I've been using some note apps – especially Evernote for a long time. Joplin can easily import and export the ENEX files from Evernote. Likewise, you get Markdown files cleanly formatted to Joplin, whereby even entire directories can be imported at once.

Editor

Speaking of Markdown. There is a rich text editor, but Joplin works with Markdown formatting. The editor is divided into two setting. In one part you enter the text including markdown and in the other window you can see the formatted text.

Security

Joplin is open source. This means that everyone can view the code and participate in the development. An open source code can also mean more security, since each: no one can check whether “malicious” functions have been built in. Even errors are detected earlier.

If you want to synchronize your data with other devices via the cloud, you can turn on the encryption function of Joplin. This ensures all data with a master password. Before the data is sent to the cloud, it is encrypted and thus stored securely. If you now synchronize with another Joplin app, the encrypted data is first loaded and only decrypted again when the correct master password is stored in the app, and thus readable.

The encryption can also be activated (or disabled) later. Depending on the amount of data already stored, the one-time encryption on the cloud storage takes a few hours. This process has to be started from a device. Once this is complete, the other connected devices can retrieve the data accordingly. The Joplin app recognizes the change and only asks the master password (and only once) on the other devices. Once this has happened, the further synchronization is as fast as before.

Another feature is the backup function. Backups are stored locally. The frequency is freely selectable. Backups can also be provided with a password to protect them from unfamiliar access. So I can also secure my backups in (another cloud) without having to worry that someone can read something.

Finally, the course and the trash are still mentioned. An editing history of up to 500 days can be saved for each note. In this way, earlier states can easily be called back. The recycle bin is a relatively new feature (many have been waiting for). Each deleted note is stored there and stored for an individually adjustable time before it is permanently deleted.

With these features, the data should be well protected and also recovery should not be a problem if you have accidentally changed or deleted something.

Platforms

Speaking of other Joplin apps. Apps are available for MacOS, Windows, Linux, iOS, iPadOS and Android. So you can edit a note at home on your Mac, add something on the go on the go on the right side and edit the note again in another workstation with a Windows PC.

Synchronization

The developers of Joplin provide their own synchronization service, the Joplin Cloud. Unlike Joplin itself, this is a fee. The price starts at 2.49 euros per month (with annual payment) and increases depending on the volume of data.

However, you don't necessarily have to use this service to synchronize your data. Dropbox and other providers work just as well. I myself sync my Joplin data via my own Nextcloud (via WebDAV). This works very well so far.

For some, perhaps a hurdle. To ensure that the data is not corrupted, the sync is blocked for all other devices when a Joplin app is synced. Since normal synchronization takes only a few seconds, this is actually not a problem. Normally you don't work with several devices at the same time in Joplin.

Plugins

Joplin can be extended by plugins. There are already a considerable number of plugins that take care of the appearance, the formatting options, the handling of files and much more. Since version 3, Joplin can also be used on smartphones and tablets with plugins. However, some plugins are not running on these platforms yet. But that is probably only a matter of time.

Among other things, I use a plugin that displays a small preview of the first image or PDF in the note in the list view of the notes. This makes it easier to find.

Order

How can you organize your notes in Joplin. The profile is top priority. Normally you have a profile under which all notes are shown. Joplin also supports several profiles between which you can switch.

Within a profile you can create notebooks. Each notebook can contain notebooks and these can contain them again. Unfortunately, how deep you can nest here, I don't know. But at some point it is probably no longer practicable. It is convenient that you can also choose an icon for each notebook, which is displayed with. This helps to find this quickly. There is a separate icon set or Emoticons available. You can also upload your own images.

Within a notebook there is a list of notes. This list can be sorted differently for each notebook, by creation date, date of change, alphabetical or completely free. This allows, for example, to use a notebook as a diary by sorting the notes by creation date. Joplin offers the possibility to change the creation date of a note manually later. If I have such a notebook with documents, I can adjust the date of the note to the date of the respective invoice. Very practical.

Notes

Now to the core of Joplin. The single note. I can capture this in a Markdown editor or in a rich text editor. Bold, italic, lists, tables, ... all no problem. Several hierarchies of headlines are also available.

The editor can also be expanded via plugins and thus also display mathematical formulas and much more.

An interesting function is to choose an external editor, which can also be used to edit the texts of a note.

As already mentioned, individual metadata can also be changed freely:

  • Creation date
  • Modification date
  • URL
  • Location

In addition, notes can also be provided with tags. A plugin allows the input of a text in the middle of a note in which you provide a rhombus with a rhombus. This will then include this term in the tag list. Tags can be found and can also be found as a list in the page navigation.

Each note can be accessed through other apps via an external URL. An internal markdown link allows you to link between notes within Joplin. For example, you can create a master note about which you can refer to further notes and then call them there immediately.

Tasks

There is a second kind of notes. These have the same function as notes. In the note list, however, they appear with a check mark and are thus clearly recognizable as a task. Such a task note can also be provided with an alarm.

Since there is no other difference, every note can be converted into a task at any time and vice versa.

So far, I haven't really tried this feature. If only, there is a small additional report.

Capture websites

A very good tool is the Web Clipper. This needs to be installed as a plugin in the browser, which is currently only possible for Firefox and Chrome. The webclipper can be used to store parts of a web page or the entire website in a Joplin note – in Markdown or HTML. Screenshots can also be sent as images to Joplin.

There is more

I have only been using Joplin more intensively since recently. Therefore, I have lost many functions. I also have to try some things like the individual design of the app interface. There are also plugiins that could offer interesting functions, at least in the name.

Joplin is open source and free. Therefore, the app simply downloads to your PC, smartphone, tablet and try it out.

Yes, Joplin doesn’t have the most modern interface (there are a few themes that are looking for “wearing”). But its functionality does not have to hide.

Due to the many export possibilities, you are not stuck in joplin if you want to or have to change.

If you are particularly interested in something, you can also ask me. If I am able to answer them.

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[–] graphito@sopuli.xyz 1 points 3 months ago

His next article in series auto-translated in english:

Files and notes reorganized (Part 1)

Now that I have discovered Joplin for me, it continues with the question of how to organize my files and notes. On the now state of affairs.

When getting to know Nextcloud, my idea was that I were storing everything in it and also manage it with the Nextcloud apps (in the browser or on the smartphone). But that only works halfway.

Nextcloud

  • With a good folder structure, a good archive can be set up in Nextcloud.
  • The search in the web interface also quickly finds files with the search term in the name.
  • However, the search for PDFs does not work. For this purpose, one would need an ElasticSearch server, which my provider Hetzner does not provide me.
  • With the Nextcloud app, I can also mark individual files or entire folders for offline availability on my mobile devices.

Joplin

  • My own Nextcloud instance allows me to sync joplin about it.
  • The data is even sent encrypted by Joplin to Nextcloud, so that the security of the data stored in this way is also quite high.
  • Since version 3.0, a text recognition for the stored PDFs and images is performed (at least on the desktop). Thus, terms can be found in these files.
  • Nestable notebooks and tags (keywords) provide a good basis to keep order.
  • Joplin runs on my iPhone, iPad, iMac and Macbook as well as on my Linux notebook.
  • All the data I have stored in Joplin is always available offline on the above devices.

~~Apple Notes and iCloud~~

I briefly considered using Apple's notes app more. It is also very functional and well integrated into the Apple ecosphere. But: Once the data is in, you only get it out with difficulty. The current developments in the USA are not predictable. Who knows if I can or will still use Apple products in two or three years. Therefore, it is good to entrust the most important data, files and thoughts of more open systems. So I can still use Apple as a platform, but change relatively quickly if necessary.

So I have few more files in the iCloud, apart from some specific Apple applications and my photos.

Day One

Unfortunately, Day One is not so cross-platform. Recently there is a web interface. Otherwise, the app mainly runs on Apple devices. As a diary app, I have learned to appreciate them because they simplify many inputs and gives me a good chronological overview of some things. I won't give them up so quickly, but I'm considering whether some things could not find their place in joplin. Because in Joplin, I can change the date of creation of a note (unlike other programs) and thus build up a chronological order that I like in a notebook.

Strongbox

In recent years, I have also used my password management to save more sensitive files, such as Copies of my passport. This naturally inflates the underlying Keepass file. Now I can consider whether I am not shifting a lot to Joplin here, because its data is at least encrypted in the cloud. I only have to secure access to my devices sufficiently. Strongbox also runs on Apple devices only. But that is not a problem here. Because as written, Strongbox stores passwords and Co. in Keepass file format. And such a file can also be opened by some other password managers (including Linux). When I leave Apple, I am connected to my passwords in a season within seconds. The file sync is still running via iCloud, but here too I will try out a solution via Nextcloud soon.

Challenge

When I was still working with Evernote, it was my super app, where everything had landed: notes, important mail texts, PDFs (invoices, letters, brochures, ...), pictures and web archives. Joplin could be a bit like this super app. But I don't know if I want that. I want to collect hundreds of notes in a notebook again or try to collect “things” in a note. Must really end up in Joplin or some things are in good hands in a folder. For example, evidence I never actually need – except every few years for a special occasion.

And am I not the keeper? Shouldn't I start with the question of what I keep at all?

With Joplin and Nextcloud, I have now created a good new ecosphere, which needs to be explored further. Then it will become clear how I organize myself.

At the moment I am rather erasing. This is like the famous cleaning up in the study. I notice what I have of everything I have about the old stuff that I have never needed and will probably never need it. Digital also happens much faster that you save things twice and three times. With the help of an app, I was already able to find several Gigabytes of duplicates.

I am curious to see what I have to report in the second part, which was to come in a few weeks.