Software Request: Open Source Personal Content Repository

Posted by nathanb
Sep 12, 2018 at 07:24 PM

thouqht wrote:

>
>nathanb wrote:
>Based on your finalists, it looks like you are looking for a front-end
>>index to a bunch of mixed media files (photos, vids, pdfs etc)? That
>>you are planning on storing the media in a file system archive, not
>>‘inside’ the database of the index system?
>>
>>Tagspaces is probably what I’d use if I wanted a ‘future proof’ index
>of
>>a file collection. It also does light note-taking as a front-end to
>>plain-text markdown files.
> >Hmmm that’s an interesting thought… I think as purely a front end to
>my file system that would work great. However as you suggest this, it
>makes me realize that I’d like to be able to create links *between*
>files as well. This is something that tiddlywiki, org-mode, or dokuwiki
>do quite well. However, perhaps a sophisticated enough tagging system
>would accomplish similar results…

I feel your pain. Every time I get excited about links (especially to files), I immediately run into the inherent fragility of one-way linking, especially between different systems. It’s dependent on the names and locations staying the same. I think this problem is particularly annoying for file directories since you only get ONE hierarchy scheme and you can’t re-arrange it if your future self questions now self’s opinions on how stuff should be organized.

After years of CRIMPing and coming up short with a robust system that handles inevitable evolution of organization concepts (and a carousel of trying out different systems), the ONE method I’ve tried that protects against link fragility is the humble Zettel Code. Well, I call it my Zettel code, but I don’t actually follow the Zellkasten system. I just like the concept of a unique text string AS the link.

So now, when I’m working within my task manager, notes, reports etc and want to reference a file. I just generate a new Z-code, which for me is a timestamp to ensure that it’s unique unless I live until September 12th, 2119, in which case I hope we’ve solved linking. So the code looks like ‘Z18090121351. It’s auto-generated via hotkey and I use military time to ensure uniqueness to this particular minute. The timestamp-as-information is only coincidental as I frequently am linking ‘old’ stuff. It might tell me what order I ordered stuff in but has no actual bearing on the timeliness of the content it is flagging. I copy this code into the end of the filename/foldername/whatever-content I’m linking to.

Now I only have to follow ONE cardinal rule within my hodgepodge of a digital nightmare of ever changing concepts and rules. That I NEVER change any z-code I run across and I ALWAYS accompany every intra-system reference with a z-code. Beyond that, I’m free to rename/re-arrange as much as I want because I’ll always be able to find that reference via basic search. This stupid simple method has made all the difference and freed me from trying to establish THE perfect system and instead slowly evolve a combination of loosely connected parts.

It’s pretty cool to be able to reference my 2018 tax return pdf from within my notes, task manager, simple documents, calendar, email etc and that ‘link’ will still work under all the following circumstances:
-I ‘migrate’ all my files from OneDrive to dropbox/gdocs/NAS etc.
-I completely re-arrange all my personal files, both names (except the z-code part) and folder structure
-I change to a different note system/wiki/task manager etc.

The worst case scenario is having to search more than two places for the reference. The other downside is that all my systems and directories and names are uglied-up by these z-codes now. So aesthetically it’s annoying but it is a constant reminder of how robust my links are AND it’s a good flag that something is important enough to have been referenced from another thing.

This method has been the ONE constant in my digital life for about two years now and I continue to find new uses for it. I started doing this specifically for reference documents and now it is my go-to solution for a lot more. Then I started using it to flag tasks and projects. I now have my own subcategories of z-codes. ZM*** is a meeting and therefore a hint to search my calendars first for it. ZT*** is a task so I’d look first inside my task manager for the matching code. ZP*** means project which means it probably has it’s own folder in one of 3 different file systems and probably it’s own section in OneNote/Notion and maybe even it’s own Outlook folder if it’s for work. As I get more granular with it, I’m now to the point where I’m approaching true Zettelkasten territory, where each z-code represents a much more granular bit of info like idea, goal, category, quote, book etc… but honestly I’m not about to give up on more appropriate systems for those things by applying a silly plain text solution to all of it. I’m not ready to admit CRIMPing defeat and revert to just text files. But these Z-codes have been a super reliable life-raft that lets me play around with different components without interrupting my workflow.