Useful Article Explaining Zettelkasten

Posted by MadaboutDana
Apr 10, 2020 at 10:31 AM

The main issue with Typora is that it doesn’t distinguish between the markdown hashtag used for headings, and hashtags used for tagging purposes. As far as Typora is concerned, all hashtags = headings!

Unfortunately, this is a bit of a problem, especially if you’re using Typora to reference multiple libraries of markdown notes, many of which include extensive tags.

So I’ve been having a bit of a play with my various markdown editors, and having briefly but thoroughly experimented with MWeb (which is remarkably powerful, and I can thoroughly recommend), I’ve finally found an interesting combination in the form of iA Writer and The Archive.

The Archive, as has been mentioned elsewhere, is Christian Tietze’s app for managing a Zettelkasten system. Its advantages are: speed, quick note-taking, automatic note naming, no need to save, an elegant “smart search” function, a very fast general search function. But it has multiple disadvantages, too (I hasten to add: in its current configuration. The roadmap details some splendid and ambitious goals for the project!)

So I’ve started to work with a mixture of The Archive and iA Writer. I hadn’t realised just how cleverly iA Writer handles tags. As you add folders to iA Writer’s “library” (I put it in quotes because unlike e.g. Ulysses, Bear, etc., it’s not a proprietary, databased library, it’s simply a list of all the folders you like to access when you open iA Writer), it automatically produces a list of all the tags found in files in each of the folders as you add them. It appears to be a comprehensive list of tags, too – whatever extraction engine they’re using works very well.

Unlike Typora’s, however, the search function is a bit more hit and miss. It does find search terms, but also finds “false positives”, sometimes for mystic reasons that appear to have no bearing on the search term whatsoever.

However, it’s a great method for managing lots of markdown notes in lots of disparate folders, because you can add all of those folders into the “library” (folder list). When paired with The Archive (yes, of course I’ve added The Archive’s single folder to the “library”), it makes for a neat combination, not least because iA Writer does things The Archive doesn’t, like show a two-line preview of each file (something I hope The Archive will be doing soon).

Meanwhile, last week I was lucky enough to be offered a preview of the next version of NotePlan. And wow, I can tell you that once it’s been finalised, you won’t need any other markdown editor, or any other Zettelkasten option (unless you’re running on Windows/Linux, unfortunately). There’s still a way to go, but I’m already a convert!

Cheers!
Bill