I want to start writing a journal. Can you recommend me some kind of journaling software?
April 30, 2012 4:11 PM

I want to start writing a journal. Can you recommend me some kind of journaling software?

I don't want to use any kind of online service, I just want some kind of offline, desktop program.

Basic requirements:
  • works on Windows 7
  • it's free of charge
Would be nice if:
  • it has password protection
  • it also supports Linux
  • it is open-source, or at least doesn't save the entries in some kind of binary format file
  • the database file can be synced to Drobox
posted by _Seeker_ to Computers & Internet (14 answers total) 11 users marked this as a favorite
plain text files in a password protected zip folder?
posted by cupcake1337 at 4:16 PM on April 30, 2012


What specific features are you looking for from 'journalling'? Or, put another way: why can't you just fire up a Word Processor and type away?
posted by robertc at 4:16 PM on April 30, 2012


I think Open Office fits the bill pretty well.
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 4:20 PM on April 30, 2012


BigHeartedGuy, LibreOffice is the preferred version these days.
posted by robertc at 4:24 PM on April 30, 2012


Robertc, I didn't even know about LibreOffice so thanks much for the heads up!
posted by BigHeartedGuy at 4:26 PM on April 30, 2012


Well, I just want to write about my daily happenings, thoughts and some other stuff... I wanted to use TiddlyWiki, but since I used it for my personal Wiki I noticed it gets much slower with increased amount of content.

I don't want to use text editors / word processors, since I want the whole diary in one easily searchable file.
posted by _Seeker_ at 4:27 PM on April 30, 2012


exactly what robertc said. anything searchable is really just extra crap around a plain text file.

the plain text is going to have the smallest memory footprint, so it will be really fast. with some command line tools you could do some very complicated searching.
posted by cupcake1337 at 5:00 PM on April 30, 2012


Easy solution. Have one file (be it text or Word) that you do your writing in. Then you can just Ctrl-F your heart out.

Evernote/One Note could probably work well.
posted by theichibun at 5:09 PM on April 30, 2012


Org Mode. Changed my life. Can sync to your phone via MobileOrg. Everything is plain text. Should only take 2-3 years to figure out how to use it in it's entirety.
posted by The Ted at 5:25 PM on April 30, 2012


750words.com.
posted by catlet at 7:56 PM on April 30, 2012


Oh, sorry - I missed the part about not wanting an online service, which rules out Evernote. Word or OneNote, or just Notepad synced through Dropbox, are the easiest. Are there particular features you're looking for that can't be handled in Notepad?
posted by catlet at 8:00 PM on April 30, 2012


Wiki on a Stick? It's a wiki in one self-modifying XHTML file. Easy to edit in any browser without being online, obviously syncs easily with Dropbox as a single file, and open source.
posted by jaduncan at 3:05 AM on May 1, 2012


Um, Evernote has a desktop application that can be used perfectly fine without the syncing that it can also do. It's how I use it.
posted by theichibun at 8:30 AM on May 1, 2012


Thanks everyone. I wound up using RedNotebook.
posted by _Seeker_ at 2:22 PM on May 1, 2012


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