Which Features Do You Like to Have in a PKM App?

#1

PKM: Personal Knowlege Management

You can only have 3 to make a PKM app, which ones do you choose?

1 - bi-directional linking w/backlinks
2 - unlinked references
3 - advanced queries
4 - task management
5 - database system (Notion/Tana style)
6 - offline - local mode
7 - block based
8 - graph view

— Joseph Wood (@josephmwood) January 1, 2023

Which of above feature is not available in TiddlyWIki?
I think we are very lucky :wink:

#2

Thank you TiddlyWIki! I love you!

You do not restrict us to have limited features.
You allow everyone to choose any number of features he/she likes to have, all for free :wink:
Then you answer any question we have, and when we look for one solution, you give us number of solutions! Thank you TiddlyWiki forum!
How generous you are!

7 Likes
#3

btw.: I did not get the Acronym PKM at first…Personal Knowlege Management

1 Like
#4

I’ll choose 1, 6 and add one more: 9 - plain text (which is what TiddlyWiki exactly made of)

I actually wrote a table to clear my needs on note-taking apps and this is what it ends up:

  • FOSS
  • Web support
  • links and backlinks
  • plain text
  • markdown support (optional)
  • notes in folders
  • image support (optional)

and it turns out TiddlyWiki just fits them all!

3 Likes
#5

All of that PLUS something not on the OP list: customize the heck out of your presentation layer. Want custom background colors that correlate with tags? Want collapsible details? Want sortable dynamic tables? Integration with Bibtex? Want to include Japanese text with ruby-html furigana? The sky is the limit in terms of what we can adjust to our liking.

Honestly, there are two downsides to TiddlyWiki as PKM: (1) since it’s not a dedicated PKM, the learning curve for some functions (for folks without related programming background) can be steep; (2) it’s so tempting to tweak and twiddle with the interface, chasing after “It would also be cool if…” inspirations… and this is a potential rabbit-hole for productive-feeling procrastination.

6 Likes
#6

I think picking a PKM depends somewhat on your field. For example academia vs programming. And it’s not really easy to tell at the beginning what software approach will work best for you.

I do know I reached for TW mostly because it was a portable single file wiki. Due to my regular usage of it, I favored using it at work. The single file concept and ability to work entirely in the browser is a powerful feature, especially when you cannot install any apps on a restricted work computer.

5 Likes