There is all kinds of note taking software, from simple to complex, cloudy or not cloudy, etc. I’m here to recommend a simple cloudy application that works across platforms. <\/p>\n
I should mention that I did have a problem with this software once, which I’ll describe below, but that I’m willing to blame on the OSX operating system, at least provisionally.<\/p>\n
Simplenote is simple. It has a running list of notes on the left side, which are automatically named with the first words in your note by default. Then it has a space where you write the note. Nothing could be simpler.<\/p>\n
In theory the notes sync across devices. This is where I had the problem one time. I had been using simplenote on my phone (android) and I had it on a mac. Then one day I opened up the mac instance and something went wrong. It deleted a bunch of notes that should not have been deleted. I lost work.<\/p>\n
I immediately uninstalled Simple note from the Mac and I won’t reinstall it there. I had just upgraded the OSX operating system, and for a very long time nothing had gone wrong previously. But, you don’t delete my work and not get the ultimate punishment.<\/p>\n
Well, OK, it has been a long time and both the OS and the app have been updated, so I’ll probably try again.<\/p>\n
The other day, I discovered that Simplenote is now available for Windows and Linux<\/strong>. I don’t use Windows (you don’t delete my work and not get the ultimate punishment!) but I do use Linux, and I now have Simplenote installed there. So far so good.<\/p>\n It is free and open source, simple, installs easily with a deb package, and it is very convenient.<\/p>\n Simplenote also has markdown capabilities. You have to turn that on for a given note.<\/p>\n Simple note also has tags you can use on notes, and you can search through your notes, and that works pretty well.<\/p>\n You can export notes. A simple export tosses all your notes as text files into a zip file. Great way to back them up.<\/p>\n The displayed list of notes can be by last modified (a good way to do it), or last created or alphabetical, and that order can be reversed.<\/p>\n You can change the look and feel a little. I’ve never felt the need, it is very clean and nice the way it is, but if you must have one of those dark themes, you can have that.<\/p>\n The notes can be shared. You can add an email to send them to a collaborator (I’ve not done this, I have no idea how well it works or exactly how it works, but it looks … simple.) You can also “publish” the notes, which apparently puts the note at an internet address.<\/p>\n There is a cool version slider, like undo but dynamic. You turn on the version slider and move it back and forth to see older versions of the notes.<\/p>\n There is an “information” button which allows you to pin a note to the top of your list regardless of sorting, and to turn on Markdown. After you’ve done the markdown formatting you stick a mouse cursor in the eyeball. Trust me, you’ll see what I mean when you try it out.<\/p>\n Simple.<\/p>\n