Logseq: A privacy-first, open-source platform for knowledge management.
With everything going on with Twitter and Reddit I feel like I have a new appreciation for having my own local knowledge base on Logseq.
Demo page: https://demo.logseq.com
https://github.com/logseq/logseqOpen linkView original on lemmy.one184
Comments71
Logseq is fantastic.
The outline approach is great for quick note contributions without worrying about the look of the notes you're trying to capture. Writing journal entries or pages is so seamless, and linking is so easy. Block references are also a powerful addition.
The mobile version is lacking compared to say obsidian, but I've found it good as I'm not focused on propping up the application, rather focusing on my content/notes.
Thank you for your feedback
For those just glancing through: what would you define “knowledge management” as?
knowledge management refers to how to organize, store, retrieve, and use information.
In the context of personal knowledge management using tools like Logseq, the definition could be something like this:
Personal Knowledge Management (PKM) is the practice of capturing, organizing, and making sense of one's own observations, ideas, and experiences to understand and share knowledge. It's about creating a system that allows you to capture thoughts and ideas easily, make connections between different pieces of information, and retrieve and use this knowledge effectively.
For example, if you're learning a new topic, you might read a variety of sources and take notes in Logseq. Over time, you'd review and refine these notes, connecting new insights to existing ones, creating a rich, interconnected knowledge base.
So is it like a cross between journaling and citation management software? I'm trying to figure out what proponents are getting out of this above what I get from just bookmarking interesting sites.
Tiago Forte's book Building a Second Brain has some good arguments for using a personal knowledge management system.
If it helps you to visualize, one somewhat common/popular form of personal knowledgment management is a wiki. Like Wikipedia, except it's personal (or for a small team). You can keep track of references and also make notes about things, but it's also about connecting ideas together. Just like on Wikipedia, you can have a page about, let's say LLMs, which includes all the software and approaches you've tried, results, sample snippets, references to repos, but as you're writing about what you've tried and what worked, you might also have links to other wiki pages, like programming languages, build tools, test tools, etc. As you document more and build more knowledge, your articles all get meshed together in one well-organized network. Ideally it should be easy to navigate if you come back to a technology later and need to get back up to speed.
Some day those sites won't be there any more - and the Wayback Machine doesn't store everything. Plus what if you just want to save a great quote from something you read?
The the Wikipedia article on personal knowledge management is a little dense, but basically it's a way to keep track of everything you learn or consume and link them together to develop new ideas or insights. Sometimes people will call it a second or digital brain. There's a lot of different ways to do it, and recently there's been a lot of software like Logseq, Obsidian, and Notion, that facilitates linking everything together and keeping it organized using [[hyperlinks]] and #tags among other things.
so to really dumb it down, is it basically like a digital version of a paper notebook, except that it can do more stuff?
The simplest forms are. Except hyperlinks are super powerful and unlike paper you can restructure and recomnect as you see fit. Since it is computer software, you can also get other benefits like a working to do-list next to your medicine list or machine learning indexing and cross-referencing your documents. Take a look at the Devonthink website for an idea of how idea management on steroids look. On the other end of the spectrum you have things like Obsidian where everything is simply stored in pure markdown text and synced by you how you see fit. There's a solution for every temper these days.
Ehhh. Kinda? The feature that differentiates it from a normal notebook is the ability to link pages. You're basically constantly searching for connections while building your own personal Wiki.
I don't really care much for plugin support on mobile as I can see it could cause more issues than help. I do hope the mobile app gets better though.
Obsidian manages ok and the utility there is pretty huge. Particularly some of the touch specific plugins.
I won't bother trying it out if it forces me to use chromium
The dev team is working on replacing the filesystem API with another protocol supported by Firefox. That page is just a demo; you only need the support if you want to save your changes to the demo. You can try the desktop app via flathub.
that tripped me up too - but it's just the web demo. if you install it, your browser doesn't matter
i'd never heard of this concept! i have a disorganized stack of markdown files - notes, to-do and packing lists - that this looks ideal to tame
That's what I used to do as well. This is much more convenient.
I had no idea such a thing existed, thanks for posting! I currently use Notion at work, which is similar, but this looks promising for home use.
I love Logseq! When I first started using it, I was categorizing all my notes as I was slowly moving over my knowledge base. And over time, I've switched over to using the Journal more and more! It's extremely well done.
you have complete control over your data with logseq.
Logseq does not require an internet connection or the use of a browser. The last part is true for now. Logseq PDF ready as others mentioned here is one of its best features. For code and email Logseq is not a good fit for either yet thought it can be extended to do so.
The files are stored as markdown or org files. You can also use another editor if you want. Also you do have full control. You don't need a browser. Logseq is a stand alone and offline app.
yoink
I am using this now
Love Logseq for a lot of reasons, but their PDF annotator is really a gamechanger. I can open a PDF, mark it up, copy the highlighted reference to my notes, and then when I review my notes just by clicking the copied reference I can jump to that section of the PDF. Awesome.
This paired with the flash card functionally is a game changer.
Using it and I love it! Can definitely recommend it!
I use Logseq routinely. So useful when you set up daily templates to fill out for your day.
Agree! A small daily template is where I start my day and honestly it's such a nice routine now.
I don't really make use of templates. I do love the journal. It makes it easy to jot things down.
The journal is the biggest reason I move from Obsidian to using Logseq regularly. There is so much less friction just going to journal and writing ideas rather then figuring out where to add the note too before typing.
True. The journal, the block level editing, the outliner view, and being FOSS are strong reasons to consider Logseq over Obsidian.
I haven't used Logseq, but I've found trying to categorise notes in Obsidian made me use it less so I just rely on backlinks as tags and to create connections between notes and dump most things in the primary vault folder. I've gotten comfortable journaling using daily notes with templates.
That's why I prefer Logseq. I never think about what folder something fits into. I write in the journal and tag stuff. Once there is enough information regarding a topic, I create a page for it. Also, the fact that Logseq is open source is a major plus in my eyes.
This seems really neat, been looking for something better than Memos. Problem I have with Logseq from a quick look is it doesn't seem to be web-only? Most features require a client app, and the web version seems to require use of your local file system?
My use case is to self host a 100% web based notes app on my local network, where everything is stored on the server and I can just open it up on any of my devices at home and not care/worry about syncing. Basically what Memos is, just that Memos is a bit lacking in functionality, but I use it because the core product behaves the way I expect.
Correct me if I'm wrong because I'd much rather use this, but so far the client/server relation and storage methodology are deal breakers for me.
U can fully selfhost it. Look at their docs, which are fully in logseq on a website.
Yes I know, but the way the server works and the way it manages files might not be suitable for my needs based on the info I found. Self hosting is just one part of the equation.
This looks intriguing! I currently use BookStack as a documentation platform, but it seems Logseq might be a step above something like BookStack?
Doesn't like Firefox mobile apparently. For a privacy focused platform you'd think it would support that over Chrome.
its lack of protocol support from firefox end. Firefox doesn't support the FS API. The logseq team plans to migrate to a different protocol that is supported by FF OPFS
Currently use Standard Notes to dump, in a semi-organized way, kind of everything from jottings to links, recipes, lists, ad hoc wiki (e.g. for how to use kbin).
Is Logseq, or Obsidian, a step further from this? Say, with greater ways to interact with what I collect?
I don't use standard notes, but from what I know, the base idea is similar, but they really differ. It's hard to explain. It's the same as asking what the difference is between Notepad++ and Notepad since both can edit text.
I really recommend downloading logseq and giving it a shot, the best way to see what it can do.
I'll definitely play around with it
I'd say Logseq and Obsidian go a step further compared to standard notes. They each do so in a slightly different way though. So probably worth trying both. I prefer Obsidian, but Logseq is also great.
https://lemmy.one/comment/276408
Thanks for this friend
How does something like this compare to Obsidian?
Both are pretty versatile and make use of local markdown files. Logseq is more ouliner/bulleted note focused, while Obsidian is paragraph first (but with plugins for either you can really modify this quite a bit). Another difference is Obsidian organizes things into folders, while Logseq's organization is flatter and more reliant on tags and hyperlinks to connect things (although you can nest pages, for instance having pages like this: pets, pets/cats, pets/dogs). Obsidian is more stable with a larger plugin ecosystem, but Logseq is being very rapidly developed and the dev team is super responsive.
Finally, Logseq is open source, while Obsidian is not. Their monetization models are pretty similar too, with the free version of both being really generous and limited features like Logseq/Obsidian-native Sync being available for a $5 monthly subscription. I regularly use both and encourage you to check them both out and explore what works for you.
Thanks! That was really helpful!
Similar yet very different. Easiest way to tell is to download it and give it a shot :)
Isn't obsidian also privacy focused?
But it's not Open Source
One of the major advantages of the logseq paradigm vs obsidian's pages is it makes the generation of things like flash cards trivial.
How does this compare to Org-mode? Notable pros/cons?
It actually supports org mode syntax!
Demo link for those who want to check it out.
I use Joplin but I like the looks of some of the features Logseq had added in the last year or so.
Thank you. Added the demo link to the OP. I used joplin before moving to logseq. Couldn't get a good workflow going, and I hated having to decide where to store information. Logseq journal solved that issue for me.
How does it solve that issue for you? I use Joplin, and it's useful, but I wouldn't say it's a perfect fit. Logseq seems like it has a good bit more time investment before it's useable, especially if you want it to work better than, say, Joplin.
My main beef with apps like this is that they basically say 'we can do everything', and leave you to slog through hours of documentation and use case examples to see if it's a good fit. And that's totally fine, except I don't have that kind of time to dedicate to one single app before I decide if it's a good fit.
I wish they'd answer the question 'why is this software better than Joplin or a notebook or stack of text files' in bold text right on the front page, because that's the most relevant piece of information for most people.
Another alternative, admittedly not open-source, is Recollectr (disclaimer: built by me.)
Recollectr was inspired by prior projects like Notational Velocity but aims to be a lot more - omnibox, markdown support, reminders; and for paid users: revisions, note-linking, and sync. I built it because I felt like other note-taking apps just weren't fast enough and they broke my concentration.
It's quite late here but I'd be happy to answer any questions tomorrow!
@Recollectr oh snap, I’m setting a reminder to check this out first thing Monday morning!
@bad3r
I was just checking out the site on my iPad. Only the top image loads and the rest are white boxes. I disabled all content blockers and reloaded but the problem persisted. It might still be a local problem, but now you have a heads-up that something MIGHT be wrong.
Thanks very much for letting me know; I'll look into this! They're all videos so perhaps there's some encoding issue with Safari on iOS.
Does it have integration with issue management in jira, gitlab, etc?
There is a Jira plugin but I haven't used it. The plugin system is good but the project is still small. Definitely would be nice if there is more integrations with professional tools.