PiggyDB

Posted by JJSlote
Feb 28, 2011 at 09:43 AM

It’s terrific. Similar to TiddlyWiki, which was, for me, a productive system. But where TW hides and exposes a single document, Piggydb drives a database, so it won’t get bogged down when entries number in the thousands. By using a browser interface, these applications are jump-started with features that too many standalone applications neglect: zooming, spell checker, control of the background color. Try a split window with the Firefox add-on Fox Splitter, aka Split Browser. All the engineering that has gone into browsers and add-ons accrues to Piggydb and its kin.

Piggy’s primary gaps are in screen clutter management and import capability. With a little more control of the front end, I’d remove the sidebar (Calendar, Classified by, Tag Palette, Recently Viewed), and the “Edit this fragment” bar. These should be available as text-optional icons on the top Piggy bar. And an import of some kind will be a must. Though there’s bound to be a way to access an H2 table independently of Piggydb.

Of course each user will have to determine whether he’s prepared to standardize on plain text markups rather than full-featured editing. I’d be feeling that loss profoundly.

Jerome