TiddlyWiki

I'm a long time user of the free and open source software TiddlyWiki. It's been developed for well over 10 years and has an active community surrounding it with thousands of users from all over the globe.

TiddlyWiki is sometimes compared to Evernote and MS OneNote. But, being a single file html wiki tool, it has one "super power" that is exceptional: customization. Relatively easily shape this little note system to meet your needs as a notebook, or a public website, or a project tool or a research paper or a... Frankly, it is unlike anything you've ever seen.

The core idea is that you add your information as "small notes" that are then reused and combined into larger contexts. And, each note is itself programmable! For a trivial example, say you have a "Household TiddlyWiki" and in it, a note called Milk (!) with whatver information you want (preferred brand, fat level etc). This "Milk" note can then be found in the Grocery list note, which is perhaps a code to auto-aggregate everything tagged Food and Buy. The Milk might also be part of the MyFavCake recipe note where you include a (linked) youtube clip or pictures. Everything is a note and can be sliced and diced into the contexts you need. TiddlyWiki lets you interconnect notes a bit like thoughts are cross fertilized in your brain.

Downsides? This is not a tool for "my mom" to administer. It's not a commercial product so the aim is not to "please everyone" but instead to allow user freedom to hack/modify/integrate. You should be technical enough to know e.g what a macro is (even if you can't necessarily make one) and if you know a bit of html and CSS you'll have even more fun. These bits are not necessary - but just like using a spreadsheet doesn't require use of macros, after a while as your ideas grow wilder, you'll want to...

The core code is intentionally kept small but still with the most common functionality, including a nice interface. Because it is a general tool it attracts a wide user base with different backgrounds and needs so there's an expanding plethora of plugins and ready made variants to meet a wide range of ideas and applications.

The main site is tiddlywiki.com. That IS actually the tool itself... (and because it is a webpage, it's actually on your local computer so you can actually modify it already there!) - but you should of course download a clean/empty copy for yourself.

There is also an active discussion group where you can ask pretty much anything and typically get answers very fast.

/Mat

[Edited by twMat, October 28]

love that i can have endless notes & tiddlers

Amazing app! I ended up changing my main website to a TiddlyWiki because I enjoy it so much!

I can totally reshape TiddlyWiki to fit my personal needs for managing information.

Simple interface, yet flexible.

I used TiddlyWiki several years but Firefox updates make it impossible to save changes properly (TiddlyFox no longer available) not TiddlyWiki's fault. That why I'm checking alternatives...

It is very cross platform and doesn't tie you to any software, though it does have some trouble with Firefox, though there is an extension for that.