A key problem to convince potential users

[twMat]

This is a ramble but IMO it touches a key issue to gain a user base for NS.
Please correct any misunderstandings.

NoteSelf has huge potential - but I actually don't use it yet! I would like to, but I'm still hesitant about its reliability or its future-proofness. That is absolutely CRITICAL: What good is an incredible notebook for your important notes... if you're not sure you can trust it 100%?

In contrast, the TW project has a proven track record which is a kind of guarantee that a TW will "always" function even if TW development stopped. But even if browsers ceased to exist, my TW content is there, in almost plain text!

And systems like Evernote or OneNote or Google Keep have another edge; muuucho dinero. That makes them reliable. Even in the unlikely event that they disappear you can expect some kind of resolution anyway.

NS relies on technology that (to me!) is not transparent. If something goes wrong in 1 or 10 years I wouldn't know how to access my data in the databases, even if I understand it's of course possible, and it would likely be a hassle to ask for help. Nor does NS have a track record. And no mucho dinero.

So I ask you all (yes, everyone in the vast masses of people reading this!) what do you suggest?

[danielo515]

Hello @twMat ,

I understand your concerns, and I agree on them. However, note the first rule of using tiddlywiki:

Backup your data!

This applies to every technology, NoteSelf included. At the moment NS allows you to export your entire collection as a json object. This is far from ideal, but If you think about it is a much compact backup format that tiddlywiki. So, in case you are worried about your notes in 10 years, you should backup them. That said, 99% of the users do not care about backups.

And systems like Evernote or OneNote or Google Keep have another edge; muuucho dinero.

NoteSelf can be as reliable as you want. If you use a service like cloudant, there is also muuucho dinero behind it ( the nineties monster IBM! ). However, if you want to rely on just your browser, then it is as reliable as your browser may be.

NS relies on technology that (to me!) is not transparent.

You have to admit that tiddlywiki also has some voodoo behind it. At least it was like that at first. You know, "every sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic"
However, I was on your same position, and I would love to help you (and others) clarify that point.

So I ask you all (yes, everyone in the vast masses of people reading this!) what do you suggest?

I subscribe to that call. I'm going to tag this with help-wanted

[melvinroest]

For me, the obscureness yet really usable features is precisely why I join. There's a big chance, I'll hack into Noteself its source a bit to make it do what I want. I haven't needed to that yet, but I already did need to do that quite a bit with TiddlyWiki itself as my TW is basically a daily questionnaire journal.

The more I'll use TW and Noteself, the more I'll dig into the JavaScript of it.

If you want to learn a bit about web dev, I'd recommend The Odin Project. It's free and a lot clearer/more compact than FreeCodeCamp.

[danielo515]

I'm really happy that the project fits your needs. @melvinroest