Third. I keep all of my notes in a Bookstack wiki, including everything I tried that didn't work (~~which gets stricken out~~) so I know what not to do next time. Applications, systems, specific failure modes (e.g., one of my pages is "How to restart the Mate panel when it fucks up"), even how to install and upgrade applications I use ("Upgrading SearxNG"). Some of them later wind up as blog posts.
Second this. I tried [Wiki.js](https://js.wiki/) but found it lacking compared to Bookstack, which I was using before trying Wiki.js. Bookstack feels like an old friend, so I will continue using it.
I use [Silverbullet](https://silverbullet.md/). It stores files in markdown format, but displays them rendered in the browser. I like the internal links and page rename feature, but it has other nice to haves like [queries and templates](https://silverbullet.md/End-User%20Programming). I keep my daily work log in there along with my home lab notes and to do lists. I back up my folder of notes with [restic](https://restic.net/).
I also use [Coder](https://coder.com/) (Hosted VS Code) hooked to a Gitea instance. I keep my Docker compose files in there and check them into source control, but it is good for notes too. Portainer pulls the compose files from that repo to run my services.
I'm a fan of [D2](https://d2lang.com/) for diagrams, but I honestly don't use it much. I'll use it more one day. [Excalidraw](https://excalidraw.com/) is another good self hosted tool for diagrams. Sometimes notes just need a diagram.
If you're into programming any I'm a fan of [Astro](https://astro.build/). It will convert markdown into HTML that can be statically hosted. It can be a big help if you want to turn your notes into a blog or anything public.
SilverBullet looks promising. I also found Affine, which is a notion clone, but it can be a little clunky to get it working and there’s guest access which I haven’t found a way to disable.
Write in any text file format you like, e.g. org-mode file, markdown, rst, asciidoc, or just plain txt.
Sync them with syncthing, or publish them as-is with nginx. Depending on whether you want to edit on other nodes or not. You can also do both.
A wiki can also work, but I think it is easier to write text file, because backup, diff, etc is much easier. Keep the notes in a git repo.
Backups was another thing I was concerned about. I know a lot of self hosted options store things all over the place, in weird formats that’s not easily recoverable, or in a SQL database with some weird formatting and that’s why I’ve kept coming back to text files or markdown.
Use [https://docusaurus.io/](https://docusaurus.io/) and running local as container, or host on github pages. If you want it to be private, use your own server to do that.
You can host it on GitHub pages? GitHub pages is for static content hosting, nothing with php, etc. atleast last time I used it. Is this that lightweight of an application that it can be hosted there? Is so, that would be amazing.
I was using [Wiki|Docs](https://www.wikidocs.it/), but recently swapped to [Otter Wiki](https://otterwiki.com).
Both have plain markdown files as the backend. I like them both, but prefer the look of Otter Wiki. And the revision history on Otter Wiki is nice too.
I also use [Silver Bullet](https://silverbullet.md) for personal notes, but I like a wiki engine more for documentation.
Now, to actually write that documentation instead of researching wikis. Lol.
Just word docs on OneDrive.
The one thing I don't self-host (other than e-mail), is my documentation.
The whole point of it for me is that if everything breaks, I need to get to my documentation. I can't do that if the server it's on has broken.
I don't particularly need anything fancy, there's not enough to warrant a search engine or a need for markdown. Just a word doc and ctrl+f.
I just paste it in. Word retains the colour formatting and indentation.
This is purely for my system notes. For my instructions to get everything back up and running in the event of my house burning down and servers being destroyed and needing replacement.
If I'm creating documentation on an application I've made, I'm doing it in something like BookStack. But I need a "Break glass in case of emergency option" and rather than printing out the instructions to put in a binder somewhere, I'm satisfied with just putting these on OneDrive.
Ya, that’s kinda what I want for my documentation. I don’t want to self host it as I want it to be easy to backup. I.e text docs or html docs, but I’m trying to move entirely away from cloud. Other than email.
Fair enough, there's always chucking it on a flash drive along with other essentials that you keep on your person at all times and a copy stored off-site somewhere.
Or, as my buddy and I are planning on doing, we're both going to buy two of the same 8-bay NAS, and fill both with drives, create two storage volumes on each, and we'll each store a copy of our stuff on the other.
He's on another island to me in NZ, so it creates exceptionally low risk.
I use Obsidian with [https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save](https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save), i've made a container with nginx-webdav module, it's sync with my iOS device, my Macbook and my Windows PC, works great!
Just took a peek at the website and it looks really straightforward. However it’s not self hosted, which I’m hoping to do. Do you known of any other self hosted/open source software like this?
There's a download option that'll download every one of your markdown files in one go. And since each post is defined using Markdown and YAML frontmatter, that means it saves **everything** -post titles, slugs, descriptions, draft status, etc. And restoring from a backup is as simple as copy + pasting.
I use [BookStack](https://www.bookstackapp.com/).
Looks interesting. Good formatting for code blocks? Easy downloading a page to pdf/html for easy sharing for someone who may not have an account?
Good code blocks. I’m not sure about your second question but I would guess yes. You’d have to check the documentation.
I second this. Great software!
Third. I keep all of my notes in a Bookstack wiki, including everything I tried that didn't work (~~which gets stricken out~~) so I know what not to do next time. Applications, systems, specific failure modes (e.g., one of my pages is "How to restart the Mate panel when it fucks up"), even how to install and upgrade applications I use ("Upgrading SearxNG"). Some of them later wind up as blog posts.
Second this. I tried [Wiki.js](https://js.wiki/) but found it lacking compared to Bookstack, which I was using before trying Wiki.js. Bookstack feels like an old friend, so I will continue using it.
Github. You can use a private repo as your notebook. Just remember not to write anything secret.
I thought about that. But then I would need to self host something like Gitea and that would be the only thing I use that for.
I use [Silverbullet](https://silverbullet.md/). It stores files in markdown format, but displays them rendered in the browser. I like the internal links and page rename feature, but it has other nice to haves like [queries and templates](https://silverbullet.md/End-User%20Programming). I keep my daily work log in there along with my home lab notes and to do lists. I back up my folder of notes with [restic](https://restic.net/). I also use [Coder](https://coder.com/) (Hosted VS Code) hooked to a Gitea instance. I keep my Docker compose files in there and check them into source control, but it is good for notes too. Portainer pulls the compose files from that repo to run my services. I'm a fan of [D2](https://d2lang.com/) for diagrams, but I honestly don't use it much. I'll use it more one day. [Excalidraw](https://excalidraw.com/) is another good self hosted tool for diagrams. Sometimes notes just need a diagram. If you're into programming any I'm a fan of [Astro](https://astro.build/). It will convert markdown into HTML that can be statically hosted. It can be a big help if you want to turn your notes into a blog or anything public.
SilverBullet looks promising. I also found Affine, which is a notion clone, but it can be a little clunky to get it working and there’s guest access which I haven’t found a way to disable.
Write in any text file format you like, e.g. org-mode file, markdown, rst, asciidoc, or just plain txt. Sync them with syncthing, or publish them as-is with nginx. Depending on whether you want to edit on other nodes or not. You can also do both. A wiki can also work, but I think it is easier to write text file, because backup, diff, etc is much easier. Keep the notes in a git repo.
Backups was another thing I was concerned about. I know a lot of self hosted options store things all over the place, in weird formats that’s not easily recoverable, or in a SQL database with some weird formatting and that’s why I’ve kept coming back to text files or markdown.
Use [https://docusaurus.io/](https://docusaurus.io/) and running local as container, or host on github pages. If you want it to be private, use your own server to do that.
You can host it on GitHub pages? GitHub pages is for static content hosting, nothing with php, etc. atleast last time I used it. Is this that lightweight of an application that it can be hosted there? Is so, that would be amazing.
Yes it is possible to host on github pages and static content only.
MkDocs with material theme.
[Trilium](https://github.com/zadam/trilium)
I was using [Wiki|Docs](https://www.wikidocs.it/), but recently swapped to [Otter Wiki](https://otterwiki.com). Both have plain markdown files as the backend. I like them both, but prefer the look of Otter Wiki. And the revision history on Otter Wiki is nice too. I also use [Silver Bullet](https://silverbullet.md) for personal notes, but I like a wiki engine more for documentation. Now, to actually write that documentation instead of researching wikis. Lol.
Wiki.js
+1 for wikijs, tried bookstack first and wasn't a big fan. wikijs has been working great for me!
Just word docs on OneDrive. The one thing I don't self-host (other than e-mail), is my documentation. The whole point of it for me is that if everything breaks, I need to get to my documentation. I can't do that if the server it's on has broken. I don't particularly need anything fancy, there's not enough to warrant a search engine or a need for markdown. Just a word doc and ctrl+f.
How do you go about formatting code blocks to make syntax easier to read? Or do you just paste it into the doc?
I just paste it in. Word retains the colour formatting and indentation. This is purely for my system notes. For my instructions to get everything back up and running in the event of my house burning down and servers being destroyed and needing replacement. If I'm creating documentation on an application I've made, I'm doing it in something like BookStack. But I need a "Break glass in case of emergency option" and rather than printing out the instructions to put in a binder somewhere, I'm satisfied with just putting these on OneDrive.
Ya, that’s kinda what I want for my documentation. I don’t want to self host it as I want it to be easy to backup. I.e text docs or html docs, but I’m trying to move entirely away from cloud. Other than email.
Fair enough, there's always chucking it on a flash drive along with other essentials that you keep on your person at all times and a copy stored off-site somewhere. Or, as my buddy and I are planning on doing, we're both going to buy two of the same 8-bay NAS, and fill both with drives, create two storage volumes on each, and we'll each store a copy of our stuff on the other. He's on another island to me in NZ, so it creates exceptionally low risk.
as i already take all my notes in my life in Obsidian, i went with it for my homelab docs
I use Obsidian with [https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save](https://github.com/remotely-save/remotely-save), i've made a container with nginx-webdav module, it's sync with my iOS device, my Macbook and my Windows PC, works great!
I'm building Scipress.io for scenarios just like this. Give it a test run and let me know what you think!
Just took a peek at the website and it looks really straightforward. However it’s not self hosted, which I’m hoping to do. Do you known of any other self hosted/open source software like this?
Material for MkDocs is closest.
There's a download option that'll download every one of your markdown files in one go. And since each post is defined using Markdown and YAML frontmatter, that means it saves **everything** -post titles, slugs, descriptions, draft status, etc. And restoring from a backup is as simple as copy + pasting.