My main requirement is that I am using Syncthing to sync my notes from my Android phone, which uses Quillpad. Quillpad is amazing and looks super nice, and functional too, but all the notes are in one big folder rather than being subdivided by notebook. So I require a markdown editor that can create “notebooks” but don’t change the folder structure of the notes (I tested putting notes in subfolders, and quillpad thought the notes were deleted. Silly Quillpad!)

So the notebooks/similar organisation of notes needs to be specific to the app and should not change the folder structure. I would prefer if the app is open-source too, and something that fits with my desktop (KDE Plasma) would be cool too :D

This rules out Obsidian (which puts notes in a folder structure. Obsidian is great, but won’t sync well with Quillpad), Joplin won’t work either. Ghostwriter is pretty much a markdown notepad (quite good, but can’t see all my notes in one place)

I am using EndeavourOS with KDE Plasma

edit: To clarify, I want a markdown editor that is able to separate notes into different groups without using folders as Quillpad doesn’t like folders. I also need to have a way to view all the notes at once in each group

Using a code editor VSCodium wouldn’t really work as there isn’t really a way to organise notes, aside from putting them in folders (which I don’t want), and I am not yet ready to jump into the Vim rabbit hole of plugins and configuration

edit 2: Markdown editor to note organiser to satisfy the pedant

edit 3: Looks like Obsidian has tags, so I could use those to organise notes without folders. I will try that and see if it works!

edit 4: Obsidian does have tags, but it seems like you sort by tags by typing tag:#NAME, and you can’t use spaces for tags. So not Obsidian then unfortunately. Are there any other options that have a larger focus on tags or similar?

  • ramasses@social.ozymandias.clubEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    I use helix editor for my markdown editor. Its use case is for the people that have no interest in configuring vim/neovim plugins. I would totally recommend it. Otherwise, you could use the kde editor Kate, or if you are a masochist nano.
    helix-editor.com

    • MadhuGururajan@programming.devEnglish
      0·
      28 days ago

      any quick way to learn emacs syntax for a long time vim user? I understand if you suggest evil mode but lets assume i actually want to learn the emacs motions.

      I can go through the emacs manual but that is more of a longer term engagement.

      • mathemachristian [he/him]@lemmy.blahaj.zone
        0·
        27 days ago

        For the basics the tutorial that comes with stock emacs is GOAT. You navigate the tutorial in the program you’re learning the navigation in, that’s how I learned it. It covers the basics, moving, killing/yanking (cutting/pasting), moving the view without moving the point (the cursor), handling buffers (open files), windows (subframes in the emacs window) and frames (multiple emacs windows). There is a bit of a translation required as emacs is old and some terms come from a time before the concepts were in common english but it’s nothing really. I’m rather new to emacs as well, and this is how I learnt it.

        After that what I found most useful was the following packages

        (require 'use-package)
(require 'diminish)
(require 'bind-key)

(use-package eldoc)

(use-package which-key
  :bind ("M-H" . which-key-show-top-level)
  :init (which-key-mode t)
  :config (which-key-setup-side-window-right-bottom))

(use-package marginalia :init (marginalia-mode))

(use-package embark :bind ("C-<return>" . embark-act)
  :custom (prefix-help-command #'embark-prefix-help-command))

(use-package embark-consult
  :hook (embark-collect-mode consult-preview-at-point-mode))

        This binds Alt+H to show all the keys available (use Ctrl+h n to scroll) as well as automatically pops up a buffer when you entered a command that isn’t complete, e.g. Ctrl+x. And it binds Ctrl+Return to a kind of right-click menu that tries to guess at all the actions you could do with the thing you have at under the point.

        But most useful, is Ctrl+h f to describe what a function does and Ctrl+h v to describe what a variable does as well as the customize menu Alt+x customize.

        For a theme I would suggest one of ef-themes but that’s up to you ofcourse.

        Emacs is a bit daunting to set up but I’m really loving it. See also https://github.com/SystemCrafters/crafted-emacs/tree/master for some ideas for how to set up some other stuff, although I went with the stock completions.

        There are also non-emacs ways of interacting with org files https://orgmode.org/tools.html but I don’t know anything about them.

        • MadhuGururajan@programming.devEnglish
          0·
          27 days ago

          yeah thanks for the resources. I decided to just go through the manual.

          And yeah, the older terms… I understand them as I am a crusty millenial and kind of like the charm of it.

          my goal is to shift to emacs for work as I am drawn to the efficient notetaking + planner + dev environment with org mode.

  • A🔻atar of 🔻engeance@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    Joplin is nice, has enough features to justify using it alongside Orgzly Revived (better with photos/audio/etcetera, different method of notebook composition, yadda yadda). Also, Markor is helpful in certain cases. Both have total no-brainer sync options, and I like Joplin desktop. It may feel a bit rustic.

    Not Markdown but also try Saber, which is a little scribble pad. Rounds everything out.

  • FishFace@piefed.socialEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    What you’re looking for is not a markdown editor but a notes organiser that uses markdown. Any text editor makes a decent markdown editor, because that’s the point.

  • glitching@lemmy.ml
    0·
    27 days ago

    the one with the stupidest name - qownnotes, it’s QT, so it isn’t an electron slob and integrates nicely into plasma. when you turn off all the cacophony of the zillion toolbars and stuff, it yields a distraction-free UI ala apple’s notes. I use it with subfolders but it’s got tags, so you can mimic the same functionality.

    it’s got buncha stuff in it (its own nextcloud sync, AI summary support, etc.), which thankfully is/can be turned off.

  • nieminen@lemmy.world
    0·
    28 days ago

    Others have said, but I’m a big fan of obsidian. I use syncthing to keep my vaults current across my phone and computers.

    It looks good, has a plugin for just about anything you’d need, and works really well on every system I’ve tried. Ios, macos, Linux, windows, and android.

  • oOAlteredBeastOo@lemmy.world
    0·
    28 days ago

    Logseq might be a good option for you. You create “graphs” for a topic. Markdown notes for that “graph” are separated into “pages” and “journals.” For example, if you created a project called “cider_making”, you could create the following Markdown page files and save them in the pages directory: “Fuji Apple.md”, “cider press.md”, and “pectic enzyme.md.” If prefer to track notes in a journal format, your Markdown file would use the following format and be saved in the journal directory: “2026-02-19.md.”

    Logseq is not cloud based. All files are stored locally to the machine you installed the software on. There are options to use a code repository to sync to other devices, but Syncthing can also be used to sync your notes. I’m using an rsync script to send notes I write on my laptop to my phone, living room computer, and file server. If I’m on a trusted computer on my network, I can use SSH X11forwarding to open the Logseq UI remotely to create new notes. Otherwise I can create a new page or journal Markdown file via SSH and vi. I’d just need to save the Markdown file in the appropriate journal or page directory to keep things organized. You can also host a webUI for your notes if you are so inclined.

    https:docs.logseq.com/

    Best of luck!

  • cymor@midwest.socialEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    Logseq. I had been using my own markdown-git process, and with some small tweaks, it indexed 5 years of daily notes. Lots of plugins and features.

  • Ephera@lemmy.mlEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    Yet more suggestions which you didn’t ask for:

    1. GitNote might be up your alley. Its UI is not as slick as QuillPad, nor does it have as many features, but it does faithfully keep the folder structure.
      Somewhat of a deal-breaker for me personally: It can’t do reminders.

    2. Embrace the chaos. 😅 I have a little program for managing my notes on desktop and it just dumps them all in one folder, too. If I need to find something again, I’ve got a little text search, which is basically the equivalent of grep -iR. I just make sure to mention enough keywords in each note, so that I can find it again.
      Personally, I much prefer this workflow, because you can start typing (and hitting Ctrl+S) and then later ensure that it has all the right metadata, rather than having to select a folder upfront where it will be saved.

    I actually tried QuillPad not too long ago and couldn’t make it work for me, but being able to save as normal files seems to be a recent addition, so maybe that’s what I was missing.
    I’ll probably try setting it up to work with my desktop note system then…

  • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    Just curious (genuinely not criticising your app choice) - I’ve tried Quillpad and it doesn’t seem much different from Joplin on Android to me.

    What is it you find it does better than Joplin for you?

    (I’m always testing notebook apps as I’m trying to get away from OneNote.)

    • sbird@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      0·
      28 days ago

      Joplin is awesome, super customisable, has many plugins to extend functionality, etc., but the main downside is that markdown files aren’t saved as files that can be easily synced with something like Syncthing. Also, Quillpad has a slick UI that matches my theme, which is a nice bonus :0

      One thing I will say, Quillpad isn’t as customisable as Joplin (the toolbar of different functions can’t be modified, for example) but it works for me and I like using it

      I also like that you can view many notes at a glance (including some of the description) whereas Joplin only let you see the titles of the notes at a glance I think

      • Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafeEnglish
        0·
        27 days ago

        I use Joplin with Syncthing and it works fine, so far?

        Is there something about it that’s known to have issues with ST that I just haven’t run into yet?

        Yea, not having a better view of note titles is a downside. I really like having that high-level view

      • KissYagni@programming.dev
        0·
        27 days ago

        It can. Silverbullet can do quite anything, that’s where it’s name comes from. You can code your own logic directly in markdown through lua like code, get pages tags, generates tables etc… but the tool is very “hacky”. Either you love it, either you hate it. And if you are not a hairy nerdy guy, you will hate it.

        • somegeek@programming.dev
          0·
          27 days ago

          Well… I am a very hairy nerdy guy. What does the collaboration workflow look like? The end result should be simple because my teammates aren’t hairy nerdy guys :))

          • KissYagni@programming.dev
            0·
            26 days ago

            In this case, I don’t think silverbullet is the right tool. It’s not like if an “admin” can hide all the complexity for end users by creating its own frontend. The complexity will still be visible to end users. As long as someone can edit a page, he will see the lua script behind.

            If readonly, it just look like other wiki. The https://silverbullet.md/ site is itslef written in silverbullet. You can have a look to video to see how it works: https://silverbullet.md/Manual

            Out of the box, there is no really “Admin” portal and “User” portal. It may be doable, but I cannot describ a workflow. I use it as a small wiki for my homelab because I like overcomplicated tool. I’m on neovim btw 🤣

  • Subscript5676@piefed.caEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    Not sure if I understood what you mean by “notebook”, cause if you want your notes to subdivide, then isn’t that what a folder can do?

    • sbird@sopuli.xyzOPEnglish
      0·
      28 days ago

      Like, organising notes into groups. Quillpad doesn’t seem to like folders, so I need an app that organises notes without folders

      • Subscript5676@piefed.caEnglish
        0·
        28 days ago

        So it sounds like you want to keep using Quillpad, and so you’re stuck with the folder structure, which is no subfolders, that Quillpad implicitly requires.

        It kinda sounds like you need some way to “tag” your notes so that whatever application you’re using would pick those up and be able to give you all notes with a particular “tag” in a view.

        If that’s the case, Obsidian can do that. You can keep the current folder structure (of just being a flat folder), and add tags to your notes (e.g. #my_tag). Then, instead of using the default file viewer, you’d look at files via tags. The only problem, though, is I’m not sure if there’s a particular view that can do that.

        And no, Vim wouldn’t do what you want either, at least OOTB, cause it’s just an editor and not a file organizer or indexer. Pretty sure that applies to Emacs as well. You’d need some plugin that would do that, and I don’t think I’ve heard of one that would do this.

  • melsaskca@lemmy.ca
    0·
    26 days ago

    I use paper scribblers and a pen or pencil, plus an index book so I can compile what I am entering, but I’m not in any hurry though. /s

  • rehydrate@piefed.blahaj.zoneEnglish
    0·
    28 days ago

    What do we think about LogSeq? Its basically obsidian but without folders, instead we have name spaces. But it has a bit of a learning curve which may make it at first confusing to use.

    • cymor@midwest.socialEnglish
      0·
      28 days ago

      I love it. My previous process was pretty much the same (markdown-git), so it works great for me.