For managing a personal knowledge base, I highly recommend Tiddly Wiki[1]
It's a self-contained Wiki/Notebook/Journal with tags, it works instantly, and all of it is in a single HTML file with magic JS in it. Or you can use it with a server.
It's a self-contained Wiki/Notebook/Journal with tags, it works instantly, and all of it is in a single HTML file with magic JS in it. Or you can use it with a server.
However, I do not see how this compares to Notion. How do I edit this HTML file on my phone? How do I add bookmarks to it via a hotkey? What is the equivalent of Notion's databases? Does it have Slash commands? This list of questions could go on for much longer. I really don't want to sound like a Notion shill, especially since I also use other tools (e.g. GitLab) for my knowledge base, but many of the suggested alternatives lack basically all the features that I describe in my post.
>How do I edit this HTML file on my phone?
Open https://tiddlywiki.com/, click the pencil icon on any of the entries. Edit away. The edits can persist with a self-hosted solution. Or you can just download the edited HTML file.
>Does it have Slash commands?
You probably mean "keyboard shortcuts". Yes, a plenty. Get started here:
https://tiddlywiki.com/static/KeyboardShortcuts.html
This doesn't cover all of it; there are shortcuts in the editor (Ctrl+B, for example to make text bold), and they are fully customizeable. Everything can be customized.
>How do I add bookmarks to it via a hotkey?
TiddlyWiki is tag-based. You can add tags with a keyboard. Tags define all the structure (table of contents and search).
>What is the equivalent of Notion's databases?
I am not familiar enough with Notion to answer this. If you ask "can I do ____ with TW", I can tell you.
>but many of the suggested alternatives lack basically all the features that I describe in my post
Sure, because they are different products. Feature-by-feature comparison doesn't make sense; if you want Notion, you need Notion.
If you want to organize your knowledge, Tiddly Wiki is one very fine tool to do that.
TW is not a CRM, it is not a Calendar or Google Sheets alternative (as Notion claims to be). It is not an all-in-one tool.
What it is, it's a personal knowledge base tool - and that's what the title of your post says. At that, it can do better than Notion. Or worse. User's call.
>This list of questions could go on for much longer.
The same can be true going from the other side. Here is one:
How do you access your knowledge in Notion 10 years after Notion-the-company goes the way of the dodo?
It basically means that you can access all kinds of features by just typing ahead after a '/' without knowing a precise shortcut. E.g. if I want my text to appear blue I would type /blue. I would also get there with /color or even by just starting to type either of those words and Notion will make suggestions. Slack, Confluence, and others do it in a similar way.
I think I do understand Tiddly Wiki works, as I have quite a bit of experience with Wiki systems, didn't use TW in particular though.
Some of the features you put aside as not needed for personal knowledge management are actually very nice for personal knowledge management. You might want to look a bit into my post to see what those databases can do ;)
> How do you access your knowledge in Notion 10 years after Notion-the-company goes the way of the dodo?
This is a very valid concern, that was also raised by some other commenters. In my opinion, Notion's exporting capabilities are quite good and I use them regularly. However, I do hope that we will get more automated and sophisticated third-party backup solutions when they have an official API.
Other options do things like public hosting.
Personally, I just use the HTML file with the Timimi Firefox plugin installed for autosaving the current file.
> Don't attempt to use the browser File/Save menu option to save changes (it doesn't work)
It looks like TiddlyWiki doesn't recommend that exact method anymore.
You "Save As.." that.
To save changes, click the red checkmark, and "save as..." the updated HTML over the old copy.
Switch to other possibilities if you use it enough to justify that.
I, a lifetime worth of knowledge in reasonable HTML of Tiddly Wiki would take less toll on your PC then the current CNN front page.
https://github.com/djmaze/tiddlywiki-docker
if you want to host on arm device, https://github.com/djmaze/tiddlywiki-docker/issues/15
Big thumbs up from me so far.
The hardest part was setting up a CouchDB instance for the backend, but I found some instructions and fiddled with it until it worked.