Software Review: The Archive

Interesting. I’ll have a look. I like that it’s built on VS Code, seems to indicate that I could use the Vim mode plugin?

I see the Mac-heads on this forum aren’t going to help you out here :grinning_face_with_smiling_eyes:

There’s a whole world of notetaking Windows-compatible notetaking software but nothing exactly like TheArchive (not that it’s the best). Zettlr is the closest thing. You can look at many options on the r/Zettlekasten subReddit; there’s a software comparison table on the wiki there. I like Logseq and Obsidian.

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Hmm just noticed that this is currently desktop-only. That’s probably a deal-breaker for me, I need sync across all my devices.

Still gonna check it out, looks neat.

Edit: but the files are just .md on disk. Nice.

Yes. And you can add attachments. Is one of the big draws of notable for me. Currently I’m leaning towards Obsidian for my personal knowledge repository and notable for smaller, project-specific notes.

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Notable is cross platform.

@canion So I’m kicking the tires of The Archive and I like it! It seems just powerful enough to be useful (although now I’m a rabbit-hole of theming…) but not too powerful to be distracting (looking at you, Drafts.

I love the way they’ve implemented search, and it’s so nice to have Cmd+L back as an instant, get-anywhere hotkey.

I have a license, but so far have failed to find a great use for it. Just went through yet another round of “wow so many people love emacs and org-mode I should try that again” just to come to the same conclusions and ditch it all. So here I am, back at VS Code + extensions.

At least I did come up w/ a new terminal (Kitty) and got my oh-my-zsh up and running again, including powerlevel10k prompts. It’s so pretty. LOL

Screenshots plz.

I rocked VSC + extensions for a while at work but it was just too slow. Not sure if that was the crummy old HP or the software.

The thing I like about The Archive (or nvALT or that family of editor in general) is the speed. It doesn’t do much but what it does is basically instantaneous.

kitty terminal

VS Code and the never-ending todo list

Aah some of those to-dos look so familiar.

Top-tip for trying to maintain or lose weight: print a simple chart for your fridge door. 30 rows, first column is the date. Other empty columns for however many people are doing this, it’s better with a friend.

Every morning you weigh yourself and you write it on the chart. That’s it. It’s so simple, keeps you in check, doesn’t need tech.

been using an iOS shortcut to put weight into Apple Health, which has some simple charts. It’s the last 10-15 lbs that’s always the hardest :frowning:

I’d forgotten that my name is listed in the beta testers section of The Archive’s About box. Early on in the Zettelkasten awakening, The Archive was a great option. I’m still enamored by it, but I haven’t used it since Roam and friends ruined anything without automatic backlinks.

On the other hand, I’ve been rethinking the value of backlinks for me and am giving The Archive another run with only “topic journals” (for now).

Strange, I am on a Mac and use keyboard shortcuts a lot, they all work in Obsidian.

Obsidian didn’t always support MacOS specific functionality and still doesn’t support certain things like the service menu. As a long time Mac user I never found any of it to be much of a problem.

One thing is true about Obsidian the development team iterates a lot… It is now available across IOS devices, has a vast array of community plug-ins including the incredible Excalidraw and task management plug-ins that rival dedicated task management apps. There is even a Kanban plugin now. Its ridiculously powerful as an application and frankly I just don’t understand the resistance to it being built using Electron.

For those following this thread:

  1. I didn’t know what Electron was until I heard complaints about Obsidian being built using it.
  2. The fact that it is built using Electron has not impacted my ability to use and benefit from the incredible capabilities of Obsidian on MacOS and IOS whatsoever. No glitches, slow downs, data loss not a single hiccup of note I can think of.
  3. I have tried ALL the current crop of these new “knowledge management” “Zettleisk” note apps and Obsidian blows them all away with its elegant simplicity yet powerful capabilities. One can make it as basic or complex as they wish. Having it all sync seamlessly across all my devices and allow me to make use of IOS shorcuts for instant clipping or note captures… Come on people! :slight_smile: :star_struck:
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@Michael: That is exactly how I feel. One of the Licat’s overarching objectives is to keep Obsidian as fast as possible, and so far he has succeeded; in fact, I cannot remember if it was him or someone else who said that if an Electron-based app is sluggish/slow it is because the dev either does not know how to optimize it or cannot be bothered to make it so.

OKAY OKAY I’LL TRY IT AGAIN! :stuck_out_tongue:

Seriously that’s a good sell. It’s been a while. I’ll take another look.

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The link to my review of The Archive is now here.

Did nvUltra ever make it out of beta?

I tried it a couple of times and I thought it was awful. The typography on the main screen where you actually type your stuff was just really weird.

nvAlt is unsurpassed as a notes app IMHO.

Nope - still in a weird limbo. Hey, it’s only been about 8 years…

and I just saw that they basically revamped it in a separate channel 2 years ago. Perpetually beta I guess…