Organize notes for free with Joplin
YOU’LL NEED THIS
JOPLIN ( https://joplinapp.org) Plus supported cloud service
for syncing your notes.
WE SPENT MANY A YEAR EXPERIMENTING with note-taking tools, looking for the perfect crossplatform service. And then we stumbled on Joplin ( https://joplinapp.org/). It’s completely free to use, open-source, and works across all major desktop and mobile platforms, so you can easily access and update your notes from anywhere.
Joplin is perfect whether you’re looking to record basic text-only notes or emulate the rich text features found in paid-for products, such as Evernote—from markdown-styled text to support for embedding images and even file attachments. You can type directly into the app or capture notes from the web using the free Joplin add-in for your web browser—available for Firefox and any browser with access to the Chrome web store.
When it comes to syncing notes, you’re in complete control. You can sign up for Joplin’s new cloud-based platform or sync for free through your existing cloud storage account. Worried about security? You can also wrap your notes in an added layer of encryption for additional protection. Put simply, Joplin is everything you ever wanted in a note-taking tool—we’ve not looked at another platform since discovering it three years ago. Read on for our guide on how to start using it. –NICK PEERS
1 FIRST STEPS
The best place to download Joplin is from https://joplinapp. org/help/#installation, where you’ll find convenient links for all desktop platforms (macOS, Linux, and Windows) and a portable version for Windows. You’ll also find links to the Android and iOS mobile apps plus the Web Clipper page to obtain the browser plugin for Firefox and any browser capable of accessing the Chrome Web Store, including Edge, Opera, and Vivaldi, as well as Chrome itself.
2 A QUICK TOUR
After installation, launch Joplin for the first time on your PC. You’ll see how Joplin organizes your notes using two panes on the left of its main window.
>> On the far left is a list of notebooks, with a section beneath called Tags, which will provide you with another way to categorize and filter your notes as their number grows. A ‘Welcome’ notebook is set up by default, and you’ll see a list of five notes next to it, each providing a handy introduction to how Joplin works [ Image A].
>> You’ll see the main view on the right-hand side—by default, a split-screen offering an edit window on the left and a preview window on the right. Press Ctrl + L to switch between splitscreen, editor, and preview pane views. Work your way through the five notes to understand how Joplin works.
3 YOUR FIRST NOTE Click + next to Notebooks to create your first notebook. Give it a suitably descriptive title and click ‘Select emoji’ or ‘Select file…’ to assign it an icon if you wish before clicking OK.
>> You can nest notebooks inside other notebooks (right-click an existing notebook and choose ‘ New notebook’ to do so) for an even greater level of organization.
>> Select your new notebook, and you’ll be prompted to add your first note using one of the two blue buttons next to the Search box at the top of the notes list. The righthand button creates a standard note, while on the left is a ‘to-do’ note, which is the same except a check box that allows you to mark it completed.
>> A blank screen will await you, allowing you to compose your note in either plain text or formatted using a combination of the formatting controls at the top of the Editor pane as well as markdown formatting. As you type into the Editor pane, you’ll see the Viewer pane update to display your text, including any formatting you’ve applied.
4 STYLE YOUR NOTES
Markdown is a standard formatting language that ensures your notes can be styled in a way that is rendered the same across multiple devices and platforms. As with all coding, you compose your notes in plain text, but by using markdown formatting such as # Heading 1 or **This text is in bold**, your text is then formatted using compatible tools and viewers, including Joplin’s own Viewer pane.
>> Markdown doesn’t take long to learn, and Joplin provides a handy list of common syntax at https://joplinapp.org/markdown/ plus you can expand its capabilities with the help of plug-ins (see box). While Joplin does provide a Rich Text editor, which combines both editor and viewer in a single view, it still uses Markdown behind the scenes and is less flexible than the traditional Markdown editor. Switch between editors using the buttons on the right of the formatting toolbar.
5 ATTACH IMAGES AND FILES
You can attach files to your notes. Either drag the file into your note from a File Explorer window or click the paperclip button to select it and a clickable link to the file will appear. If it’s an image, that will be displayed. [ Image B]. Hold Alt as you drag to create a link instead of displaying it. Once an image is in place, click to resize it and reposition it within the text.
6 CLIP WEB PAGES
Both Firefox and Chrome web browsers offer a free Web Clipper tool for generating notes from web pages. Open ‘Tools > Web clipper options’ in Joplin. Click ‘Enable Web Clipper Service’, then click the appropriate link to locate and add the extension for Chrome-based browsers and/or Firefox. You should see the Joplin icon appear in your browser’s toolbar.
>> Once set up, browse to a web page containing the content you want to use, then click the Joplin button to bring up a list of options [ Image C]. You can clip the complete page (including a simplified note-friendly version) or choose to grab selected content, a screenshot of the page, or a URL. Choose a notebook to store the note in, give it a suitable name, add any keyword tags if required, and finally click Confirm.
7 SYNC AND ENCRYPT
Joplin works best across multiple desktop and mobile devices. For this to work, set up synchronization. Joplin’s cloud solution ( https:// joplinapp.org/plans/) isn’t free, so you may want to use your own cloud provider if you don’t need additional features, such as publishing notes online or collaborating with others. Dropbox, OneDrive, Nextcloud, file system (a local network folder), Amazon S3, and WebDAVcompatible services are all supported.
>> Navigate to Tools > Options > Synchronization. If you’re using Joplin Cloud, Dropbox or OneDrive, click ‘Open Sync Wizard…’ and follow the prompts [ Image D]; otherwise, select your ‘Synchronization target’ from the menu and fill in the blanks as required [ Image E-alt].
>> By default, notes are stored unencrypted, so choose ‘Tools > Encryption options’ and click ‘Enable encryption’ to protect them. You’ll be prompted to set a master password, then click OK.
>> When setting up Joplin on another device, choose to synchronize using the same online service. Any notes stored in the cloud will automatically be downloaded. Make sure you choose ‘Tools > Encryption options’ where you’ll need to enter any master passwords from other devices to decrypt your synchronized notes.