My current tool belt
I experimented a bit with a couple of tools and settled for the following mix:
- My primary tool to verzetteln is nvALT. I wouldn't have thought so at first, but I've come to the conclusion that it's very straightforward, simple, focused. Mostly my zettels are just (markdown) text. So I want to them to be easy to enter, easy to search, and placed in my Dropbox zettelkasten folder. Verzetteln really is a desktop task, so no app for an iOS/Android device needed.
Sometimes, though, text is not enough. Sometimes I want to add an image to a zettel. That's when I use Elephant (http://elephant.mine.nu). It's an Evernote look-alike with an attitude
It looks like Evernote, it behaves like it, but it stores data locally. So I pointed Elephant to my nvALT zettelkasten and can view the same zettels through different glasses. Now I can add images to zettel - which of course are not displayed in nvALT, but get stored next to the zettel file.On my iPhone I'm using 1Writer and/or Simplenote to revise or look-up zettels. Simplenote is synced with nvALT, 1Writer gives me access to zettels via Dropbox integration.
Collecting material from the web to later verzettel works for me best with Instapaper. I first read web articles in Instapaper and add highlights/notes. Later I transfer them to zettel. Alternatively I sometimes read articles in the browser and highlight passages using Highly (http://highly.co).
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Comments
Yes, nvALT is still a great tool - but working with larger texts sadly produces glitches now and then.
You can use images in nvALT like
and view it with cmd-ctrl-P (which pops up the built in preview). Works very well. You also can adjust the .css to your needs.The mosue in the house is enough, no need for an elephant...
Yes, I can use the image markdown in nvALT - but it does not help me with image handling. I have to manually save images to a file and move the image to the zettelkasten by hand, instead of the tool picking the image from the clipboard (or a drag&drop operation) and storing it in an appropriate place.
So I'll keep the elephant around. Doesn't need to be fed or entertained.
Both drag 'n drop as well as paste images works in nvALT.
I'm sorry to report: pasting from the clipboard does not work on my Mac.
And dropping an image keeps it in place. That way I'd first have to move it to a proper location by hand. But also then the path used is absolute, not relative. Bummer