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Five minutes of happy - Project Journals (and more?)

Oct 23, 2022

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    1. I've been trying (and mostly failing) to commit to a doll no-buy. One of my biggest setbacks is needing "5 minutes of happy": little brain breaks when I can't walk away from the computer, or I'm stuck in World's Most Boring virtual meeting. If you have other suggestions that don't involve scrolling dolls for sale, I would love to hear them. Note - I find most games boring and/or annoying (sorry).

      Today, I'm looking at Project Journal ideas. I have multiple doll WIPs and this amazing idea to reuse those plastic rings that hold cans... but I didn't write it down and promptly forgot. The project journal idea was born.

      My Project Journal criteria:
      • Must be digital. Paper isn't going to work for me. I barely know where my keys are half the time.
      • Must be platform-agnostic: Works across multiple platforms (Google, Apple, smartphones, web browsers, PCs, etc. Bonus points for Linux). This means an app is a requirement.
      • Must be able to sync across multiple platforms.
      • Must hold pictures. I can't create a vision board without pictures!
      • Must hold words, tasks, and lists, too.
      • Freemium: free option (for trying), with option to purchase a professional version. Someone once said "If you aren't paying for it, you aren't the customer - you're the product." I basically live by that now. BUT, a "two-week" trial is worthless to me. I need a few months to really dig into something.
      • Must have a fairly low, short learning curve. I am busy and easily distracted. If I need to watch hours of videos to learn how to use it, fuggedaboutit.
      In alphabetical order:
      Evernote: web-based, apps on Apple App Store, Android/Google Play, and Microsoft store. Linux users will have to play the virtual desktop game (Wine) to use (currently in private beta). Free version (limits on monthly upload sizes and note sizes) with options for personal and professional versions that you can purchase monthly or annually. Price and plan comparisons here.

      Google Keep: if you can access Google, you can use Google Keep. Free with a Gmail account. Free Google accounts have 15 GB storage maximum, but you can purchase more storage from Google via monthly or annual plans. Comparison of storage plans here.
      Warning: Google is notorious for suddenly discontinuing popular services. RIP Google Reader, which single-handedly killed RSS for me. Yes, I'm STILL bitter.

      Obsidian: Available for macOS, Linux (AppImage, Snap, and Flatpack), Windows, and on the Apple and Android/Google app stores. Offers forever free accounts, one-time accounts, and commercial accounts with an annual subscription. Plans here.
      BUT - syncing between devices is an "add-on" service that costs $8-10 per month annually or monthly, respectively.

      OneNote: available on PC and the Apple, Google/Android, and Microsoft app stores. Requires a Microsoft account. I believe you must purchase a Microsoft suite for PC use, or the wretched (personal opinion) annual 365 subscription. I remember buying one suite of software and using it for years. Old woman yelling at clouds. YMMV.

      Zoho Notebook: Zoho is trying their darndest to be Google competition, so they have the same access as Google. Primarily web-based and available on Apple, Google/Android, and Microsoft app stores. Forever free accounts. Paid editions consist of Notebook for Business, Pro, and Personal and can be compared here.

      I have used all with varying degrees of success. I will be adding them to my phone again. Expect a comparison later. Probably much, much later, unless someone else wants to pitch in? Someone not so obsessed with shiny new thing? :abambi:
       
      #1 MaleficentMrsofEvil, Oct 23, 2022
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    2. This doesn't meet all of your criteria, but making a personal webpage for my dolls is something I find to be super fun. That's about the exact opposite of shiny new thing you can get. You don't even have to host it online if you don't want. It'll all work without installing anything but a text editor and a web browser.

      It's a no go for mobile though. If you use something like git, you can at least edit the same site across multiple computers.
       
      #2 nyaaain, Oct 23, 2022
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    3. Notion is pretty good too! People usually use it for scheduling and to-dos and the likes, but it’s pretty versatile and customizable. It takes a bit of work to set it up how you’d like, but I think it’d work pretty well? It’s $4 monthly for a personal premium plan.
       
      #3 ItelyNotItaly, Oct 23, 2022
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    4. I use Standard Notes as my catch-all digital notebook. It's mostly text-based, with markdown capabilities, and a bit of simple spreadsheets. The developers only recently added an image attachment function, so currently it's not so good with images/photos and you can't use it as a mood board. But the devs are pretty committed to adding useful features without expanding into bloat. Also, they touted themselves as privacy focused and encrypting your data - which is a big draw for me and why I signed up for it instead of other notebook apps. It has desktop app, mobile app, and web browser version, so you can access it everywhere. I love how it's lean and trimmed down but still quite versatile (for text) - it suits me quite well. There's a forever free version, and subscriptions for more perks.

      I haven't used TiddlyWiki, but from what I see it's a great non-linear/wiki type notebook. It's completely free. You will have to host it somewhere, but from the link above it seems there's free hosting available.

      ~

      Adding to what nyaaain said... I also like making websites for my dolls and other personal projects. I've had my own website that I use as a "home base" for fiddling around with web-based projects (I bought a domain name and web hosting). I've been out of the BJD hobby for a number of years, but now that I'm back, I quickly threw together a blog for my dolls on my personal website as a place to keep my doll profiles, photos, and general hobby notes. (Most people use Wordpress, but I'm using Bludit because it's simpler and more streamlined, even if it has less features.) Depending on your webhost provider, the domain name and hosting can cost about the same as a subscription to a notebook platform/app.

      You have to learn a bit of web development basics if you have your own website. Web development can become a rabbit hole of learning/exploration in itself, but if you want to keep it simple, you can install a content management system (like TiddlyWiki) as your notebook, and then just interface with that through the web UI without worrying about the 'back end' of the website. You can even also install Wordpress for a blog and/or other content management systems later on. With your own website, you really have your own turf on the Web to do whatever you want without being at the mercy of a platform/service changing under you.

      I'm really not great at web dev, it's challenging, but I seem to keep coming back to it, and it's rewarding when I make something work. I just like having my own personal website to play with. (In fact, I might go and install TiddlyWiki and play with it...) But if you really want something that "works out of the box" and don't want to mess around with the rabbit hole of web dev, then yeah, go for a paid notebook/wiki service.
       
      #4 aihre, Oct 23, 2022
      Last edited: Oct 23, 2022
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