Compared to other note taking and wiki systems, one of its most important features is that the program body and data are all in one HTML file, which means that organizing and reading multiple entries can be done directly on the same page, and the content is more directly related, making it easy to cross-referencing. There is also a very powerful entry management and plug-in system, which is very scalable and customisable.
Introduction to TiddlyWiki
TiddlyWiki is a ten year old system similar to Wikipedia, but simpler to set up for personal use. Everything can be stored in a single web archive.
In TiddlyWiki, each entry is called a Tiddler and can be a point of knowledge, an image, source code, and so on. All we have to do is open new Tiddlers and link them in a similar way to nvALT (e.g. [[coffee]]), or we can embed the content of one Tiddler directly into another (e.g. coffee)
Unlike Wikipedia and other applications, if we click on a link to another Tiddler in one of the Tiddlers, we do not jump to another page as if it were a web page, but open the Tiddler for that link on the same page (i.e. both Tiddlers are displayed on the same page) and you can decide when to close those Tiddlers and edit them at the same time. The official TiddlyWiki website itself is made by TiddlyWiki, so if you are interested, you can try it out.
According to their idea of designing TiddlyWiki, each Tiddler should be as long as possible, so that each Tiddler can be reused. This is also a little different from other web-based systems.
Since TiddlyWiki is open source, even if its creator doesn’t maintain it, there will be others who share the idea to support it. Since it is possible to export and import, and the exported files are in plain text 1, it is easier to rescue them in case of problems.
In addition, TiddlyWiki can be customised in many ways, but as this is an introduction, these will not be covered here.
Installation
The official TiddlyWiki website describes a number of methods, which I would like to add here.
The easiest way is to download a blank copy of TiddlyWiki directly from the GettingStarted website.
Another way is to use NoteSelf and open this page directly to use it, then TiddlyWiki will be stored in your browser. Only when you need to switch computers will all the information be exported.
If you want to use it on a different computer, i.e. put it in an external location, you can use TiddlySpot and request an account and password to use it.
If you want to put it in the cloud, you can also put it on TiddlyDrive, a Chorme plugin that uses the TiddlyWiki stored on Google Drive and automatically stores it in Google Drive once it has been saved.
If you can open a server yourself, you can also install it using the node.js method. The main difference with this method is that the TiddlyWiki on the server does not consist of a single web archive, but each tiddler is also an archive, which prevents the single archive from becoming too large.
This method also allows you to set your own password to prevent people from changing your stuff, but as it is not https, it is recommended not to put private information.
I started my own server and installed it using the Docker method. Someone on the web has already worked out a way to install using Docker.
What can I do with TiddlyWiki?
A simple task management system
The combination of a task management system and notes has a lot more benefits than a typical task management system.
The first advantage is that you can keep a record of references and what you have done on the task, so that you can refer to it later if you need to.
The second benefit is that if the task cannot be completed in one go, we can record our progress in the task notes and continue the next time.
However, these two benefits are only possible if a Tiddler (that is, every entry in the TiddlyWiki) has a task in it, which is not the case with the following pure lists that we normally see: [ ] Task a
[ ] Task a
[x] Task b
[ ] Task c
Although TiddlyWiki does not have a default task management feature (like evernote), we can customise TiddlyWiki to do this.
After looking at different approaches, I think this one is the best. In this one, each Tiddler with a task tag is treated as a task, and each task Tiddler has a tag, which could be now, later or done, to indicate the status of the stock Tiddler as being done now, in the future, or done.
A new Tiddler is then added to list all the Tiddlers that have a task tag, and they are sorted into now, later and done. Then a button is added next to each entry to change the status for that task. For example, this button changes the task status of the Tiddler for that task note (e.g. now tag to done tag).
This completes a simple task management system (which is very useful at work). Anyone with their own needs can continue to improve this design.
(Postscript: The task management system then looks like this. See my TiddlyWiki personal task management system)
Knowledge building
This is an example of reading notes, but other knowledge building things can be done as well (e.g. learning something new).
It used to be a pain to actually write notes for every book you read. Because the author expresses his web of knowledge in a linear way, if we take notes linearly in a single note, it doesn’t really reduce to a network of knowledge.
In TiddlyWiki, each entry (Tiddler) is like a card, and the developers encourage us to write the least amount of stuff in each Tiddler (meaning the smallest unit of knowledge), so when we see a new concept in a book, we can open a Tiddler and write down only the stuff of that concept, thus increasing the readability and reducing the stress of taking notes. stress. In addition, I personally add a Tag to this Tiddler for the title of the book, so that it is much easier to retrieve the concepts learned in the book later.
Once there are more Tiddlers about the book, we can connect the related Tiddlers and slowly reorganise the author’s meaning into a web.
In addition to this, we can record our thoughts and actions as a result of learning this in these Tiddlers and add them to the task management system described above.
Recording what we do every day
This basically falls into two categories, work and my life.
For work, because my job requires me to spend five minutes a day to report back on what I did yesterday (Daily Stand Up Meeting), sometimes I forget to report back on tasks that are not important but were done if I didn’t write them down the day before.
At first I only wrote down what I did at work, but gradually I started to record what I did outside of work, such as writing an article, watching a book/movie, or making a small program to improve my workflow.
The reason for doing this is to build up a sense of achievement in what I do every day, and to give myself some motivation to do something useful from work, even if it is just a small thing.
It’s also easier to recall what you’ve done in your weekly review once you’ve recorded what you’ve done each day.
Things that have happened in your life
This is something I’ve only recently started doing. When I go to a new place to eat or visit, I open TiddlyWiki for a minute or two to write down my experiences and prepare a topic for blogging/chatting.
In addition, there may be some sudden thoughts that come up in my life that I can put on TiddlyWiki as well.
