I am looking for self hosted blog/journal that is private by default. Not looking to host a public blog, rather something that I can write more personal entries on and is easy to read later. I want to be able to include multimedia in the entries.
Currently I’m thinking of a Mastodon server with posts set to private by default and turning off federation. It would be awesome to be able to post from my phone as events happen rather than having to find time later.
I’ve tried around with using IMAP and an email client, but not sold on it. Tried using a calendar, but too cludgy.
Open to other ideas!
Cannot recommend Obsidian enough. Just plain Markdown, but infinite times more powerful. I use it for just that and it’s been damn perfect.
Does Obsidian support audio/video?
Yes.
Again, it’s just a markdown. You can do this:
![desc](path/to/file.mp4)
+1 for obsidian and syncthing, I like to avoid the use of many applications. So everything related to writing text/notes for personal use I do centralize in obsidian. You can even make some drawings or handwriting with excalidraw, hady for diagrams.
This is the way
Try https://joplinapp.org . You can self-host your database with something like Nextcloud or Apache Server using WebDAV. I moved from StandardNotes after they got tricky about Self-hosting.
I also recommend Joplin - I’ve moved my entire journal over to Joplin and use it as a primary note source now.
The mobile app UX is its weakness, but is fully functional.
I also used to self-host StandardNotes, but I didn’t like the user experience in the front end. The editor plug-in configuration was way too complicated for me. All I want is markdown. Several years ago I switched to Joplin.
How did StandardNotes “get tricky” about self-hosting? I must have switched by then.
Every time I upgraded the StandardNotes self hosting docker instance, some configuration setting changed and I had to go figure out what had changed and update it. Then they started to require some sort of a key to actually self-host. They were giving out free keys to users who were grandfathered-in but that left a bad taste in my mouth.
I use Joplin for keeping various notes and would rather not combine it with my journal.
I’m looking for something like DayOne or billthefarmers Diary app that is easy to use from mobile, but then has a selfhosted website I can use to go back and review/relive/edit the experiences.
Is something local like org / org-roam (maybe in a git repo for sync) out of the question? If you’re messing with IMAP for this I can’t imagine a git repo with text files (optionally gpg encrypted, well supported by org) would be off the table.
Any flatfile cms should do the job.
You could try https://automad.org/ and setup up a password page to keep it private. It’s super simple to maintain and secure. You just need a vps and a domain.
TiddlyWiki might interest you. It’s an entire wiki stored in a single HTML file. You can even use it without a web server if you want (although a web server makes editing more convenient)
i’d recommend havenblog https://github.com/havenweb/haven or Memos https://github.com/usememos/memos
Memos might be a good option for you https://github.com/usememos/memos
Memos looks pretty good with the MoeMemos app. Although it doesn’t look like video/audio is supported.
I did a quick search on their github issue tracker, it looks to me like it supports audio and video
Hm ok. I know you can attach files. but maybe it is not shown inline.
I am not using it anymore so I can’t check. it doesn’t have offline mode which I need for my use case
Yeah memos and phone app MoeMemos. It works great
Markdown file + Nextcloud Notes?
Just went searching for something like this as my wife wanted to start a “journal”. The requirements were simple, private, nothing too crazy complicated to use, web interface, easy setup and tear down (in case she didn’t like it). Started up an instance of Ghost, way overkill, was looking at WriteFreely, stood up an instance of Bookstack. She’s trying it out now, nothing bad to report so far. The hierarchy is a bit confusing to grasp but when you put it in the context of something like shelve = My Journal, Book= 2023 Vacation or 2023 or Homeschooling, Chapters = 1st week of Vacation or First year Homeschool, Pages = Todays date. It started clicking with her a bit more. If you find something better, please report back!
Hey, I’m pretty much in the same boat. I like bookstack for its mature features but I wish there was something more tailored to shared journaling although that is a bit specific. Have you changed something?
Well she stopped using it so I deleted the instance (just too busy with small children). For the time that she was using it Bookstack seemed to have me her needs once a cohesive breakdown was established (translating Bookstack hierarchy and matching it up with her topics).
Oh, how unfortunate :(
But thanks for the update!
Here are some options:
- crypt.ee: I tried this before, I don’t think it’s selfhostable but quite usable, and nice UI. Encryption available. Ghost folders if you want to. Multimedia available, not sure about storage
- joplin: you can use Nextcloud (or many other options like Dropbox) for sync and hence storage depends on your cloud solution. E2EE, has plugins, and simple enough to use.
- anytype.io and logseq: I’ve seen these mention in many places but I haven’t used either. But they seem to have very rich features, not sure about selfhosting though.
I recently watched this video about note taking apps. It explains why logseq and other suggestions might not be the best options.
Tldw is:
qownnotes
Doom Emacs
Neovim