Tutorials

TiddlyWiki, 12 Use-cases, and 5 Tips for New Users.

Hazem Abbas

Jul 27, 2020 — 4 min read

I have been using TiddlyWiki for years, mainly as a personal memo, to-do organizer, and encrypted data reserve (to keep track of some of my patients, or while learning). I always recommend this amazing project to my friends, colleagues doctors, and developers alike, because I believe the value it gives is far so great than its minimal size and humble look.

As a self-learner, TiddlyWiki was my main choice and companion to record what I learn, links I collect, code snippets, medical cases and algorithms. It's the only tool I am still using for more than a decade.

I consider a TiddlyWiki is a masterpiece, not in coding but its simplicity and flexibility, needless to say, its rich features list.

What's TiddlyWiki?

TiddlyWiki is a fully functional multi-purpose, (note manager, to-do manager, wiki and a blog) portable, encrypted and software packed in one lightweight HTML file.

Who's TiddlyWiki for?

I recommend TiddlyWiki for students, teachers, writers, journalists, developers, researchers and doctors. Not just because it's portable and secure, but also because it's far easier than other alternatives and it works off-line. Needless to say, TiddlyWiki is so simple so it's for anyone who can use computers.

Features

Lightweight
Portable
Share-ready
Encrypted
Easy-to-use
Simple-to-learn
Modular
Plugins and themes directory
Import and export to multiple formats
Multiple data format
Simple Search
Advanced search
Easily organized
Highly customizable
Preconfigured text
Multiple navigation option
Detailed documentation
Developer friendly
Supports images
Mobile-support

TiddlyWiki Powerful Community

About three years ago, I used to use TiddlyWiki with Mozilla Firefox with an extension to save my posts which later was dropped newer Firefox releases. Later, I started using Beaker Browser which supports *.dat protocol and allows me to save my TiddlyWiki files easily and even more, provide a shareable link to my friends and team.

But now, TiddlyWiki is blessed with an active and powerful community of developers who pushed dozens of tools, extensions, plugins and supported meta projects to empower TiddlyWiki and improve it uses cross browsers, devices and operating systems.

Some of TiddlyWiki Use-cases

Tasks manager
Book creator
Document Manager
Project Manager
Note taking
Code repository
Personal Health Record
Code notes
Content organizer
Team logging manager
Personal memo
Daily journal

Manage with TAGS.

Tags are our primary element here which will help you to get the most of your TiddlyWiki without a sweat. So keep in mind it's not just to categorize or filter your tiddlers/ posts but also to manage your workflow with TiddlyWiki.

Tips and Tricks

1- Creating Default (Startup) Posts

Creating a home post is very easy. A basic feature but necessary of TiddlyWiki. You can set the startup posts/ tiddlers at Default tiddlers in Control Panel.

2- Creating Index

Index tiddler or a post can help organize your wikis and allows quick and easy access to your tiddlers (posts). You can create multiple tag-specific indexes that you can use to manage complex writing projects.

To create an Index that lists tag-specific tiddlers you can use this code snippet, post it in the editor and see how your index is organizing your tiddlers.

<table>
<$list filter="[tag[TAG]!is[system]!is[shadow]sort[]]">
<tr><td width="600px" style="padding:5px;"> <$link to={{!!title}}><$view field="title"/></$link></td>
</tr>
</$list>
</table>

3- To-do list

To-do lists are an essential part while learning or managing complex tasks management. With TiddlyWiki it's easy to get the job done with a simple code snippet to make a reactive tag-specific checklist like this:

<table>
<tr><th></th></tr>
<$list filter="[tag[TAG]!is[system]!is[shadow]sort[]]">
<tr>
<td style="width:20px:"><$checkbox tag="done"></$checkbox></td>
<td width="100%"> <$link to={{!!title}}><$view field="title"/></$link></td>
</tr>
</$list>
</table>

Replace TAG with the tags you want to manage.

4- Connecting tiddlers (posts)

If you are familiar with Wikipedia syntax or self-hosted Wiki software, You know for sure that connecting pages/ posts is a very important element in creating rich connected content.

Connecting tiddlers (TiddlyWiki posts) is easy just warp the title of the tiddler (post) you want to connect within "[[ YOUR TIDDLER TITLE ]]". For more information, you can check this page: Linking WikiText.

5- Tiddly Wiki + Beaker Browser + Dropbox: A match made for productive creators

If you use multiple devices as I do, You will want to keep your notes/ wikis synchronized, It's easy to do this automatically with Dropbox, just sync the wiki folders and you are up-to-date.

Of course, instead of Dropbox, you can use NextCloud or OwnCloud or any self-hosted cloud system that sync your folders and files.

Conclusion

There are many tips and tricks to customize TiddlyWiki, but here I listed the most needed and essential tips to get you started. If you have any question, please don't hesitate to send it to us.

In the end, I would like to thank Jeremy Ruston and the community that supports this project for this masterpiece.

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