logs on denote-journal

[quijote-asim]

Good morning, I am posting this question here because I cannot seem to find an efficient solution.

First of all, I should clarify that although I am able to use Emacs and Denote, I don't think I have mastered them yet, which is why I am forced to resort to your help.

My workflow is heavily influenced by Logseq, the app I used before. In that app, daily notes are the basis, and information is organized through links. This is important to me because I need a log for each topic so I don't repeat decisions and reinvent procedures.

I found that structure comfortable, and that is what I have been doing with Denote. In Denote Journal, I take notes that I then link to projects or thematic notes, so that I can then review backlinks and have a kind of log of what I have been doing. In this section, I miss a block that allows me to insert backlinks with context, as can be seen in the backlinks buffer.

However, experience is showing me that this is not optimal because in my daily notes, the part of personal reflection and review gets lost in the midst of a multitude of notes.

My idea is to reverse the process, creating a backlinks section in the daily note that refers to completed tasks/projects and notes taken on different topics.
That means I have to include a date in my notes that allows me to create those backlinks.

As I'm really stuck with this, I'd like to ask for your opinion and suggestions to sort out this whole mess, which is surely the result of some mistaken assumptions.

I'd appreciate any references, suggestions, or help.

[lmq-10]

I have been in a similar situation before (though kind of backwards - I used Denote first, then Logseq, and I liked the daily notes so I started using denote-journal to emulate that feature).

I tried a lot of things, but honestly what worked for me was tackling this issue in two ways:

1. Accepting that daily notes are less discoverable by design. That is, even if I use the excellent functions from denote-org (denote-org-link-to-heading and denote-org-backlinks-for-heading), daily notes really can't be first-class citizens. There's just too much noise in a daily file, and unlike regular notes, you can't guess their content from a directory listing or a keyword search. So, I use daily notes like a *scratch* buffer, a place where I write freely. If I want to really keep something in my knowledge database, then I create a proper note afterwards.

2. Embrace search. Really. I wrote the denote-grep command (which is built into Denote since version 4) because I noticed that it doesn't matter where do you store your information as long as you can retrieve it later. And denote-grep allows me to do that; I type a search term, and I can see all the notes matching it. And I can even filter the matched notes from the search buffer (for instance, search an extra term in matched notes). Once you realize how powerful this is, you'll find yourself putting random search aids in your notes (such as #emacs), and this works no matter where your information is. The best part: you can insert links to a search in any note using the command denote-query-contents-link.

[ Escribiría todo en español, pero quizá alguien más tenga el mismo problema, así que mejor escribo en inglés 😉 ]

[lmq-10]

Slow down in what sense? I know that dynamic blocks are a bit slow to update (this can be mitigated a little by using ripgrep instead of plain grep).

[quijote-asim]

Well, it turns out that I've started simplifying and reorganizing my notes, so I've created some notes with very large blocks.

When I try to open one of the links in the blocks, the computer's fans go into overdrive, CPU usage spikes, and it takes a long time to open the note, sometimes even giving the impression that it's frozen.

[lmq-10]

Hmm. I haven't noticed that (maybe I don't have blocks that big?). You probably should open an issue for it so Prot can tell whether there's a bug somewhere.

[quijote-asim]

I'm still not sure if it's a bug; I think it's more a case of me overusing links and blocks, which I'm trying to correct.

[lmq-10]

Well, even if that's the case, I guess it would still be useful to let him know about this limitation of the program. Denote has been tested succesfully with complicated setups before (see e.g. this), so I'm fairly confident Prot cares a lot about this.

[protesilaos]

Hello folks! Just to note that I am indeed happy to work on any bugs. The workflow approach is more tricky though, because there is not one way of doing things. My approach, in abstract, is to start with the most simple design and only make extensions when necessary. I think a good alternative to Org dynamic blocks are the "query links" we introduced a few months ago. They give you that "always up-to-date" information without actually writing anything to your files. I think they are a better solution for discovery purposes, while Org dynamic blocks are good if you actually want to write the results to the file.

[quijote-asim]

Hello folks! Just to note that I am indeed happy to work on any bugs. The workflow approach is more tricky though, because there is not one way of doing things.

And you're absolutely right, I don't think this is a bug, it's something I haven't mastered yet.

My approach, in abstract, is to start with the most simple design and only make extensions when necessary.

That's what I'm working on, which is why I have notes with blocks to unify and simplify, because I've noticed that I tend to be very scattered in my notes, which makes it difficult for me to organize and concentrate. Luckily, the name and denote-grep structure are helping me a lot.

I think a good alternative to Org dynamic blocks are the "query links" we introduced a few months ago. They give you that "always up-to-date" information without actually writing anything to your files. I think they are a better solution for discovery purposes, while Org dynamic blocks are good if you actually want to write the results to the file.

Okay. I'll check it out, but please stop for a moment. You're improving the package faster than I'm learning it, and that's not going to work.

I think I can close this topic now, but I'll definitely be back... Thank you both.