

Ask HN: What do you use to keep a personal journal? - manmukh

I&#x27;ve been using Day One for a while because I like the interface of both the Mac and iOS app. I find the passcode protection on the app to be very misleading though.<p>Installing the app on a new device will have the passcode disabled by default but still load all previous journal entries. I share my Apple account with family members and installing Day One on one of their devices would gives them access to all my journals without requiring a passcode. I&#x27;ve switched to Dropbox for syncing to prevent this but I&#x27;m still bothered by the fact that journal entries are stored in plain text and extremely easy to access if someone has access to my computer and goes through my Dropbox folder.<p>I&#x27;m thinking about using OneNote with a password protected section since it has a decent iOS and Mac app, but I&#x27;m curious if there are better options. Those of you who keep personal journals with sensitive information, what do you use?
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dmfdmf
I've been writing a journal since 1992 and it is probably one of the best
decisions I ever made. I've used a Franklin Planner from the same year which
is how that got started so my journal is handwritten on paper in my day-
planner. I think in 2013 I tried to convert to an online journal but I went
back to the paper because I missed the "look and feel" of the paper journal
which was too integrated in the process for me to change -- old dog, new
tricks issue.

I tried to use a Zoho online wiki that was set to private and I also used a
Wordpress blog set to private. I liked both methods but found the WP blog was
really a good format for a journal. If I was a young dog learning new tricks
this is the route I would go but too late for me. I really liked the ability
to put links in my journal to public info I wanted to think about or back
links to prior journal entries where I could then discuss what I thought about
this or that (standard journal stuff). Another advantage is access via any of
my devices Macbook, iPad, Windows PC, etc was (almost) seamless or at least
not seamfull enough to bother me. I didn't really have an issue with privacy
concerns but be sure to check all the settings because the default assumption
is that a wiki or blog is to share. There are journal hosting sites but after
I found WP blog I didn't really investigate those in too much detail so that
might be another option.

Good luck and write every day.

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bewe42
I've been keeping a daily journal for almost ten years now. I think it is
important to keep a long term perspective and for that nothing beats plain
text. In the beginning I used a note keeping software. After an application
crash I lost data. I would not want to have any dependence to a proprietary
data format. So now I use plain text + Markdown + local file search . Same
goes for knowledge management.

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isuraed
Seconded. Text is king for all the reasons you mentioned. I have tried
OneNote, Evernote, Google Keep. Nothing matches plain text (with light
markdown). I have a text editor open all the time. It's really natural to just
start a new file or make a note within my normal workflow.

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bonobo3000
I use evernote to journal - the mac and iOS apps are good and I know it has
tons of extra functionality if I ever need it. It also supports encrypting
text in a note, although there is no way to encrypt/decrypt entire notebooks
which might be inconvenient.

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brudgers
Moleskine ISBN: 978-88-8370-100-9. Tul needle point, medium blue.

