
Personal Wiki for Vim - vincent_s
https://github.com/vimwiki/vimwiki
======
haberman
With wikis or note taking applications, I always find it hard to get into a
habit of using them. I think this is largely because too much brain space is
taken up with:

    
    
        1. When should I write something here?
        2. How should I organize it?
    

For this reason, I'm currently trying out more of a "journal" model. The
answers to the previous two questions are:

    
    
        1. Write whenever you have an interesting idea, or you get that
           feeling that something important is about to get evicted from
           your brain cache.
        2. Every note goes in YYYY-MM-DD.md on the day you make the note.
           You can add #tags to entries to track your thinking or progress
           on a particular topic over time.
    

I've just started this, so we'll see how it turns out. But I'm optimistic.

~~~
ThatGeoGuy
Ugh man I love vim but now I have to be the one to bring it up: this is
exactly why org-capture is so useful. Jotting down quick notes / tasks / todos
and being able to customize exactly how these get filed or templated is
exactly why org-capture exists.

That said after locking myself into Spacemacs to use org-mode and org-capture,
I always wish there was a way to make org a bit more independent of Emacs, or
at least a bit more collaborative. We use Asana at work for tasks / issues /
todos and syncing that between my TODO.org and back again can be tiresome when
trying to preserve information and context. I'm definitely better at
maintaining my org files, but Asana preserves context in a more clean way
because people can collaborate and add information to tickets, whereas they
can't do that with org files.

------
hd4
I want to put in a good word for zim-wiki here. Its a shame the Windows port
seems to be on indefinite hiatus for now. Its by far the easiest GUI-based
wiki to deal with, easily handles just dropping in files into a hierarchy and
simply working with them after a refresh. Sorry but being able to use a mouse
to navigate a wiki beats out a keyboard-based wiki any time.

[https://zim-wiki.org/](https://zim-wiki.org/)

~~~
bachmeier
Zim has its good points, but the biggest problem I have with it is the
inability to wrap lines shorter than the full monitor width. On a 13" laptop,
it's usable; on a widescreen desktop monitor it just doesn't work. Other wikis
like tiddlywiki, pmwiki, and dokuwiki are able to avoid this.

~~~
hawski
Sorry if I misunderstood, but does changing the window size solves the
problem? I never maximize it, so I was not aware.

~~~
bachmeier
I could shrink the window, but that's definitely not an optimal solution. It
also means that I lose much of my screen width. That creates its own problems.

Here's a bug someone filed that hasn't even so much as gotten a response after
nearly eight months:

[https://github.com/zim-desktop-wiki/zim-desktop-
wiki/issues/...](https://github.com/zim-desktop-wiki/zim-desktop-
wiki/issues/954)

------
stippenplan
I adopted vim-wiki a little while ago and have really appreciated its
functionality. I like that all files are plain text and located in a single
folder. It is easy to reach from anywhere in vim, providing simple means to
quickly make a note of todo/diary items during work.

Also, I greatly enjoy that it allows for making local references in between
your wiki files. A simple link towards another wiki- or diary-entry allows you
to jump to that note. It is not only nice for navigation, but also to explore
connections between your thoughts. To understand those connections better, I
create a simple script (vimwikigraph [0]) to draw these connections using the
DOT language [1].

In that way it is similar to Roam [2] I think, although I have not used it
myself.

[0]
[https://github.com/maxvdkolk/vimwikigraph](https://github.com/maxvdkolk/vimwikigraph)

[1]
[https://graphviz.gitlab.io/_pages/doc/info/lang.html](https://graphviz.gitlab.io/_pages/doc/info/lang.html)

[2] [https://roamresearch.com/](https://roamresearch.com/)

~~~
akho
Can you describe what you think vimwiki adds over a bunch of markdown files
and `gf` for links?

~~~
M5x7wI3CmbEem10
gf?

~~~
Gormisdomai
Vim command which opens the filename under the cursor
[https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Open_file_under_cursor](https://vim.fandom.com/wiki/Open_file_under_cursor)

------
Naac
After originally using vim-wiki, and then slowly progressing through a dozen
or so personal wiki software tools ( all FOSS ), about a year ago I settled on
Tiddlywiki.

It's also all self-contained within one folder, but I can stick it behind a
server and access the files from wherever. Without having to rely on syncing
tools like nextcloud.

Tiddlywiki is actively developed and has a healthy amount of plugins,
including a mindmap like plugin.

~~~
wesrer
I've been using Tiddlywiki, but the editor is nothing short of atrocious. I
just wish there was some sort of Tiddlywiki integration for vim.

------
dogline
Came back to vimwiki after using it for years previously:

Things I've liked:

* Now supports Markdown, including for internal linking instead of just the Vimwiki markup

* I'd use just straight Vim, but being able to select a phrase, and quickly make a page to that and link them is nice.

* The HTML and link handling is nice, and it will auto hide the long URLs unless you're actively on them

* Outlines, outlines, outlines. I use them for everything, and they're handled well

* I'll even throw in the occational table, and the auto formatting also works for tables.

* At the end of the day, everything is Markdown text files.

~~~
hermitdev
I've been using Vim as my main editor on BSD, Linux and Windows for > 20
years. I also use Vim extensions in the IDEs I use (Visual Studio, VS Code,
PyCharm).

One of the things I love about PyCharm when dealing with Markdown is that you
get a nice preview rendering side-by-side with the raw Markdown. Very useful.
I'm not sure if VS or VS Code have something similar. At least VS Code, if
it's possible, it's not enabled by default. Might be possible with an
extension.

~~~
felixr
I use [https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-
preview.nvim](https://github.com/iamcco/markdown-preview.nvim) with Neovim
(should work with vim >=8 as well) It gives you live preview in browser. It
also scrolls automatically to the part your vim cursor is at.

------
udfalkso
I’ve been using vimwiki for a while now and it seems to fit the way I work the
best of all the options out there.

But, I recently dumped all my vimwiki markdown files into Obsidian and have
really been enjoying that experience. Same local files with an upgraded visual
experience and some neat linking features.

It has basic vim bindings, unlike roam and others, and that makes all the
difference. I just wish I could use vim keybindings to switch between panes
but I hope they’ll address that at some point.

~~~
camillovisini
I'm curious, did you consider org-roam (for instance on emacs-doom)?

~~~
udfalkso
I didn’t. Sounded like emacs has a large learning curve and that it wouldn’t
have vim bindings? Perhaps That’s the wrong impression?

~~~
jbp
Try Spacemacs, default vi bindings

------
arichard123
I've been using vim-wiki for years. I'm a satisfied user. It supports
alternative syntaxes, and I use markdown. I like that I can link to a folder
on my local machine, or a file, or a web page and it loads in the correct
application. With thunderlink I can also link to specific emails and have them
open in Thunderbird.

I also use github.com/Konfekt/FastFold to make the folding fast enough to be
useful, and github.com/plasticboy/vim-markdown to make vim understand the
right way to fold.

------
tanin
I have been using a single plain text file as my note for 6 months now. I'm
using vim mode on sublime though.

Switching to a plain text file that syncs to GitHub feels more permanent.

I've gone through several note apps (e.g. Evernote, Joplin) and I never really
migrated the notes to the new app...

Anyway, I have my own apps to share. They might be useful to others.

* I use [https://github.com/tanin47/git-notes](https://github.com/tanin47/git-notes) to sync my note file to a bit repo

* A programmable tooltip on Mac. You can program it to send the selected text on any app to your note file: [https://github.com/tanin47/tip/wiki/Universal-Tip,-a-program...](https://github.com/tanin47/tip/wiki/Universal-Tip,-a-programmable-tooltip-on-Mac-OS-X,-now-supports-executing-an-arbitrary-command)

------
andreypopp
Also take a look at
[https://github.com/lervag/wiki.vim](https://github.com/lervag/wiki.vim) which
I found to be much simpler and easier to use.

~~~
Maha-pudma
What's the difference? When I was looking at using a wiki Vim I couldn't
really see the difference between the two, why use one over the other.

~~~
lervag
I created wiki.vim after having used Vimwiki for some years. I wanted to clean
up the code and make it less "bulky" \- Vimwiki is a filetype plugin, a wiki
linker plugin, a plugin for handling/managing todo lists, and much more. There
are a lot of very good Vim plugins for e.g. Markdown filetypes and for todo
lists. So, I decided I wanted to simplify and make wiki.vim with a primary
focus on the wiki specific features: link and url handling and graph features.
I've also included the diary/journal features.

It sort of started as a fork. And at the time, the Vimwiki maintenance was
quite inactive and issues were not addressed. I tried to fix things, but the
code was quite messy.

~~~
Maha-pudma
Wow, thanks for the reply. Never had a direct reply from a software creator
before.

I only started using vim at the end of last year so am still very
inexperienced. I'm not sure what a file type plugin is and to be honest had a
hard enough time I stalling plug to get vimwiki installed. I'll take a look at
wiki.vim too. I like the idea of the diary/journal. I use that in zim-wiki all
the time.

Thanks again for the reply.

------
nchase
Is this anything like "org mode" for Vim?

I am not an org mode user, but I've heard people gush over it.

~~~
bloopernova
Only in that it uses a markup language that can link to other files/pages in
the wiki.

Org-mode: _" Org mode is for keeping notes, maintaining TODO lists, planning
projects, and authoring documents with a fast and effective plain-text
system."_ via [https://orgmode.org/](https://orgmode.org/)

See also:
[https://orgmode.org/features.html](https://orgmode.org/features.html)

------
VectorLock
With all the posts on HN about paid personal knowledge bases like Roam I'm
excited to see a free and open one leveraging my favorite editor.

~~~
alexktz
Check out org-roam.

It does have the emacs string attached but I've been using doom emacs with it
(for vim keybindings) and the learning curve is 100% worth it. 3 weeks in and
I haven't looked back here.

~~~
rollschild
Curious if there's a Vim version of org-roam?

~~~
bananamerica
There is not.

------
bananamerica
I tried Vim Wiki as well as others but they were either clunky or insufficient
for my needs. So I jumped to Emacs. Org is truly remarkable.

------
patrickdavey
I made a small ruby gem to convert (most) of vimwiki markdown format files
into html (using GitHub's markdown conversions). May be of use to some of you
reading this.

[https://github.com/patrickdavey/vimwiki_markdown](https://github.com/patrickdavey/vimwiki_markdown)

------
in9
I love vim wiki, but have never been able to use it. Or any wiki for that
matter. I can't seem to find the right mind frame to keep feeding the wiki. I
do it for a while, and than I just stop, since I am not able to make a good
workflow.

I also haven't been able to find a solution that would easily be publishable,
with the right format for me to search over it.

(Another meta problem is that every time I try to consistently use a wiki it I
seem to fall in the types of thoughts that the previous paragraphs show, and I
simply get discouraged and drop the project)

------
kentosi
I've been using this for years for basic knowledge store. It's great how you
can also link to other wiki notes like anchors on a webpage.

On a side note: The 3rd screenshot. Is that really possible? Shifting all done
tasks to the done section automatically? Or is this just manually arranged for
the sake of a screenshot?

------
dpcx
Years and years ago I used Tomboy
([https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Tomboy](https://wiki.gnome.org/Apps/Tomboy))
because it had a decent UI , though it's storage mechanism left something to
be desired...

------
julesallen
I'm a big fan of Trello for life organisation and one of the best bits is
being able to view and add on my phone.

Obviously vim isn't particularly mobile friendly. Any ideas on how to
view/edit from afar?

~~~
stekern
I have syncthing set up on my laptop and phone. On my Android phone I use
Markor for viewing and editing the files, and the changes are then synced back
to my laptop.

Admittedly I don't use Markor very frequently, and often just use Evernote
instead when I'm on my phone and want to jot down something quickly... This is
mostly because I feel the need to organize in folders etc when using Markor
and vimwiki, so my mental model of it includes a bit more friction compared to
Evernote.

~~~
walteweiss
I organize my notes the same way, though I have a structure of my documents:
every midnight my server creates a new directory with today (06-05-Fri) which
I work with. So when I need to create a file with Markor (which is very rare
case), I create it there. The only issue I’m having with this system is that
Markor does not work with symlinks, which I use frequently. Or maybe it’s not
Markor but Android, not sure on this part.

------
colordrops
I'm looking for something like vim-wiki or org-mode or the like that allows
you to both edit and view the content in vim as well as the web, somehow
syncing the two. Does this exist?

~~~
milin
I mainly use the [https://github.com/euclio/vim-markdown-
composer](https://github.com/euclio/vim-markdown-composer) plugin for this.
Just run :ComposerOpen in vim after installing the plugin, and it should work.

------
amelius
If they'd couple this to Git, it could be even more useful (e.g. you'd have
backups, syncing between devices, and perhaps even multi-user access).

~~~
thomaszander
There is nothing stopping you from doing exactly that, and I have.

All you do is go to the dir, do a git init, and then regularly you do an add
and commit (and push).

Really simple due to the fact that all files are just plain text with markdown
syntax.

------
xyst
side note: I really want those cpu/ram/network metrics in my shell instance as
well. Anybody know how this person does that?

~~~
dghf
I'm not 100% sure, but I don't think they're actually in the shell. I think
that's a status bar for a tiling WM, possibly xmonad.

------
calcar
using it for years, great plugin for task/todo list and notes/documentation

------
staticautomatic
Is there an entry explaining how to quit vim?

