Manual EN

baimon zettelkasten

Introduction

The principle of the Zettelkasten is the networking of information in textual form through links, with the goal of expanding the collected information in this way and stumbling upon unforeseen new ideas that can then be developed. The classic paper-based Zettelkasten requires fixed note addresses and an index to be able to find individual notes once the collection becomes too large to keep track of. In digital form, in addition to the fixed note address (in baimon an automatically set timestamp for the filename), we have both an extremely performant search that scans all note contents in milliseconds, and tags, which can be used to display a kind of index for any keyword defined by the user.

Whether one wants to follow this principle of networking or not, baimon leaves this decision to the user: The application can also be used as a pure writing tool.

Here are the most important points to keep in mind. Everything else can be learned from the tooltips of the buttons, which are available in 33 languages.

---

The Interface

Desk Mode

Composer Mode (Editor)

---

The Most Important Things in the Editor

Basic Functions
Symbol Function Description
New Note Creates a new note with a timestamp
Open Desk Switches back to the desk view
Previous Note Navigates to the previous note in the list
Next Note Navigates to the next note in the list
Delete Note Deletes the current note (with confirmation)
PDF Export Exports the note as PDF (browser print)
### Text Formatting
Symbol Function Shortcut
H1 Heading Level 1 #
H2 Heading Level 2 ##
H3 Heading Level 3 ###
B Bold text
I Italic text
U Underline text
S Strikethrough ~~text~~
Blockquote > text
Bullet List - text
Code Block
 code 
Table Insert table Markdown
TODO - [ ] Task
### Links & Media
Symbol Function Description
Wiki Link Links to another note
Insert Image Inserts an image from the media/ folder
Insert Video Inserts a video link
Insert Audio Inserts an audio link
Screenshot Takes a screenshot and inserts it
Import Media Uploads files to the media/ folder
Extract Text Extracts selected text into a new note
Set Anchor Sets an anchor for direct linking
# Anchor Link Links to a specific location in another note
Duplicate Note Creates a copy of the current note
### Special Functions
Symbol Function Description
Poetry Block Better appearance for poems/stanzas
Snippets Inserts predefined text snippets (#snippet)
Serendipity Displays a random note
Underdeveloped Finds notes with few links
Islands Finds isolated notes without links
Cut-Up Creates random text combinations
Bibliography Inserts bibliography entries (#bib)
Export MD Exports note as Markdown or text file
Pandoc Export Exports with Pandoc (PDF, EPUB, DOCX, HTML) / Pandoc must be installed
Set or Remove Bookmark Sets or removes a bookmark for the current note
Bookmark List Shows all bookmarks
Color/Highlight Colors selected text
Search/Replace Searches and replaces text in the editor
---

Sidebar Functions (Desk)
Symbol Function Description
Home Opens the home note
Language Changes the interface language (33 languages)
Settings Theme, font, sidebar position
Tags Shows all tags with note counts
Presentation Presentation mode (focused view)
Sets/Flashcards Starts flashcard mode (note must have tag: set-*)
Journal Shows journal notes sorted by date
Random Opens a random note
Bookmarks Shows all bookmarks
Clean Up Closes all open notes
Images Toggles all images on/off
Backup Creates a ZIP backup of all notes
Reload Reloads the application
---

Important!

Tag System

Protected Notes

The following notes cannot be deleted:

Backups

---

Keyboard Shortcuts
Shortcut Function
Ctrl+Shift+N Create new note
Ctrl+Shift+K Search in desk or editor
Ctrl+Shift+E Open editor (composer)
Ctrl+Shift+D Open desk
Ctrl+Shift+F Search/Replace in editor
Ctrl+Shift+L Insert WikiLink into text
Ctrl+Shift+C Insert image/media into text
Ctrl+Shift+T Open settings
Ctrl+Shift+G Toggle inspiration gallery
Alt+Shift+N Open quicknotes
Esc Closes dropdowns / presentation mode / flashcard mode / overlays
---

The Pool (Composer)

The Pool is a collection of notes that you can temporarily assemble for working on the current note. It is a kind of "note clipboard" – you can insert notes from the pool directly into the editor without having to open them individually.

How the Pool Works:

In the editor, the note you want to work on with the pool function must be open.

1. Add notes to the pool

2. Insert notes from the pool

3. Manage the pool

4. Pool counter

What is the Pool good for?

---

Weblog Generator (Blog)

In the composer there is the Weblog tab (), with which you can export selected notes and media into a static HTML website:

1. Select tag – Filters notes by a tag 2. Select notes – Click on notes to select them for the blog 3. Select media – Choose images/files from the media/ folder 4. Choose CSS template – Select a design (Default, Dark, Minimal, Academic, or Print) 5. Set blog title – Enter a title for the blog 6. Click "Create Blog" – Generates the HTML files in the blog/ folder 7. Finished Weblog – Upload the contents of the /blog folder in baimon to your webhost's server. Done.

---

Comparison Mode

Shows the notes from the first two tabs in the editor, where they can be edited. Autosave is also available here, and Ctrl+Z can be used to undo the last change.

---

Note

When manually removing or adding notes in the /zettel folder, the server must be stopped with Ctrl-C and restarted after about 60 seconds with python3 baimon.py to update the statistics. Deleting or adding notes within baimon itself updates the statistics automatically.

Database & Performance

---

License

baimon zettelkasten is licensed under the GNU General Public License v3.0.

---

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgements