Evernote user since 2011 with a lot of data, I'm considering switching to Joplin but need reassuranc

[Medullitus]

Hello, is this a free solution and did you do this by following a tutorial?

[LeoW]

Hi,

@sttrebo is using Synology, which is a commercial product. It's really good, but not free.

If you have some Linux skills, and hardware, you can go the route I'm heading which is to build your own NAS using Open source NAS software.

I'm looking into getting a mini PC with 2 internal SSD for mirrored boot, and 2 external SSD for mirrored data. You can build a NAS for less money than Synology, but Synology does kick ass!

Truenas Scale is open source and has pre-configured server installs for servers like Joplin, Nextcloud, Syncthing, Bitwarden, etc. That's what I'm looking into.

[sttrebo]

True, i wouldnt go out and buy or build a NAS just for this (not enough bang for the buck). But since i already have one and am running a number of other containers, adding one more was easy. I also have nextcloud in a container so i ran a direct comparison between nextcloud webdav (docker), synology webdav, and joplin server (docker). Joplin server was the clear speed winner.

[nokoa77]

some additional info :

@nonobio

• No Suggestions for existing labels and notebooks when doing a GLOBAL search
• Opening notes in a separate window is not possible (or with an external editor?)
• No note reminders
• No Today List or Today Reminders
• No text encryption
• No Recycle Bin for deleted items
• Android web clipper only capture link?

• No Suggestions for existing labels and notebooks when doing a GLOBAL search
  no alternative that I know

• Opening notes in a separate window is not possible (or with an external editor?)
  yes external editor, imho it's a bit frustrating but I live with it

• No note reminders
  there is alarm for each note or task, I don't use it very frequently but it's working

• No Today List or Today Reminders
  ? (not sure but look for "Note Overview" plugin

• No text encryption
  there is encryption, but for all the notes, but I'm not sure it is what you are looking for. I think a plugin was looking to provide it, look for "Note encryption" there : Plugin List

• No Recycle Bin for deleted items
  I do that manually with a mock folder "trash", but an official feature is coming soon

• Android web clipper only capture link?
  sorry I don't know about that

• intensity of development
  it's very intense (including google summer of code), and the dev team is listening very often users

• electron app
  efficient and speedy in my opinion, and I' very demanding on that matter

Bruno (another one)

[LeoW]

The Web Clipper that is a browser plugin and can clip more than just the URL it can clip the entire page with its contents pictures and all.

If you like I do share information into Joplin on a mobile device then no it does not clip the entire web page it only gives you the hyperlink.

I read the news on my phone in the afternoon and if I come across an interesting article I will share it into evernote and also into Joplin. Evernote captures the entire web page on a mobile device and gives you that whole desktop browser plug-in experience on your mobile device. Joplin does not do this on mobile.

Opening a note in a separate window requires a companion product that you reference inside the Joplin software. I am using a product called Marktext.
It is open source and free. I have it working properly on my Windows computer however I have not had success on my Linux computer which is running inside Chrome OS so that might be part of the problem there.

[nonobio]

@LeoW

Try running Joplin after a clean reboot, NO EVERNOTE, and no other apps.

I restarted my PC, did not launch any applications and waited for it to idle in CPU usage (background autostart apps), then launched Joplin.

Joplin took a minute to appear, this is not necessarily restrictive for me because I will just launch it once a day normally, then leave it open. But is this startup time normal?

I then tried to explore and display notes: it's much better: around 3s on average.
I'm a little disappointed anyway because I thought it would be instantaneous and that I wouldn't have any more waiting time, but maybe with the number of notes I have, and my PC which is little old, it's not possible...

@LeoW

Try running Joplin after a clean reboot, NO EVERNOTE, and no other apps.

I run with 16 and 32 GB on my pcs. 8 GB is not enough in my opinion.

What are your results? And keep task manager open and monitor cpu and ram.

@tomasz86

You may also want to monitor your overall RAM consumption in the OS, as if you've exceeded the physical memory and are utilising the page file, then everything is expected to slow down drastically.

I also think my RAM is getting fair. I constantly monitor my CPU and RAM, and it is often used near maximum. And I think this is where the memory compression increases and slows down my PC immensely. I will quickly order a barrette.

@tomasz86

I use Joplin with no problems on weaker hardware than yours, also with 8GB of RAM, but because of the limitations, I always pay attention to how many applications are open at the same time.

And how many notes and tags do you have?
I have about 10,000 notes and hundreds of tags...
Is the display of notebook or label contents and notes instantaneous?

@nokoa77

Opening notes in a separate window is not possible (or with an external editor?)
yes external editor, imho it's a bit frustrating but I live with it

And which one do you use?

@nokoa77

No note reminders
there is alarm for each note or task, I don't use it very frequently but it's working

Yes, I will try this function. If I'm right, the note has to be a "task". I don't know if it will be an issue for my use.

@nokoa77

No Today List or Today Reminders
? (not sure but look for "Note Overview" plugin

Thanks, I will try

@nokoa77

No text encryption
there is encryption, but for all the notes, but I'm not sure it is what you are looking for. I think a plugin was looking to provide it, look for "Note encryption" there : Plugin List

It is for entire note encryption if I'm right, and I was looking to encrypt just a selection of text. But I will finally live without

@nokoa77

• No Recycle Bin for deleted items
  I do that manually with a mock folder "trash", but an official feature is coming soon

@nokoa77

intensity of development
it's very intense (including google summer of code), and the dev team is listening very often users

@nokoa77

electron app
efficient and speedy in my opinion, and I' very demanding on that matter

How many notes and tags do you have? and what material?

@LeoW

If you like I do share information into Joplin on a mobile device then no it does not clip the entire web page it only gives you the hyperlink.

Damn, that's what I saw, but I can live with it...

@LeoW

Opening a note in a separate window requires a companion product that you reference inside the Joplin software. I am using a product called Marktext.
It is open source and free. I have it working properly on my Windows computer however I have not had success on my Linux computer which is running inside Chrome OS so that might be part of the problem there.

I'm going to try it, but I thought I read that its development was stopped

[LeoW]

Joplin is not a fast loading program. I do wait about 20-30 seconds sometimes.

I'm very happy otherwise. It's way faster than Evernote.

YES. It looks like MarkText development has ended. 2022 was the last update.

Someone mentioned another product that works only it's a paid product. I may need to switch to it, but for now I'm OK. I just can't recall the name.

[laurent]

@nonobio

then tried to explore and display notes: it's much better: around 3s on average.
I'm a little disappointed anyway because I thought it would be instantaneous

It should be instantaneous, at least it is for me. Could you please confirm if you're using any plugin?

Also you might want to try this:

• open the console as described at joplinapp.org/debugging
• clear the console by clicking on the button
• then switch to a different note

The console should display a number of lines now. Could please share these lines? As that might help us figure out what is slow for certain users

[laurent]

You can also create a new support post about it and provide your app info such as OS, version, etc

[nonobio]

@LeoW

Joplin is not a fast loading program. I do wait about 20-30 seconds sometimes.

Ok, so maybe this isn't abnormal on my little PC...

@LeoW

YES. It looks like MarkText development has ended. 2022 was the last update.

Someone mentioned another product that works only it's a paid product. I may need to switch to it, but for now I'm OK. I just can't recall the name.

Maybe Typora? I've heard a lot about it and it's mentioned in the doc.

@laurent

It should be instantaneous, at least it is for me.

It's reassuring to know it should be quick, even with all my notes

@laurent

Could you please confirm if you're using any plugin?

When I wrote this message:

@nonobio

Joplin is slow (at least on my PC and with my amount of data): when I click on a notebook or a label, it takes several seconds, between 3 and 15 before the list displays the notes

I didn't have any plugins installed.

Now I just have one plugin: note tabs.

@laurent

Also you might want to try this:

• open the console as described at joplinapp.org/debugging
• clear the console by clicking on the button
• then switch to a different note

The console should display a number of lines now. Could please share these lines? As that might help us figure out what is slow for certain users

I just did it, but this obviously works better. I notice that it takes around 3s to display the contents of a notebook when I click on it, and when I click on the different notes in a notebook it takes around 1s, which is pretty good!

Here are the lines that appear when I click on notebooks, which take 2-3 seconds to display their contents (list of notes):

C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:36 useHtmlLoader: isReady true
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:40 useHtmlLoader: setHtml a929c28f6d2f9501630433ab3ad1aeb4
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:36 useHtmlLoader: isReady true
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:40 useHtmlLoader: setHtml f2a9f3762b4ddea1a5d6c1abd874fa08
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:19 useHtmlLoader: message {target: 'UserWebview', message: 'htmlIsSet', hash: 'a929c28f6d2f9501630433ab3ad1aeb4'}
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:19 useHtmlLoader: message {target: 'UserWebview', message: 'htmlIsSet', hash: 'f2a9f3762b4ddea1a5d6c1abd874fa08'}
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\gui\NoteEditor\utils\useMessageHandler.js:27 Got ipc-message: noteRenderComplete undefined
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:36 useHtmlLoader: isReady true
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:40 useHtmlLoader: setHtml 7c7ae59bf1fca1f2781184bbaa23a9d2
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\gui\NoteEditor\utils\useMessageHandler.js:27 Got ipc-message: noteRenderComplete undefined
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:19 useHtmlLoader: message {target: 'UserWebview', message: 'htmlIsSet', hash: '7c7ae59bf1fca1f2781184bbaa23a9d2'}
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:36 useHtmlLoader: isReady true
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:40 useHtmlLoader: setHtml 2dd013e278b956f09634c3878fdd7e11
C:\Users\nonob\AppData\Local\Programs\Joplin\resources\app.asar\services\plugins\hooks\useHtmlLoader.js:19 useHtmlLoader: message {target: 'UserWebview', message: 'htmlIsSet', hash: '2dd013e278b956f09634c3878fdd7e11'}

@laurent

You can also create a new support post about it and provide your app info such as OS, version, etc

Here is the information copied from Joplin, but if the slowness becomes significant again, I will create a support post:
Joplin 2.14.20 (prod, win32)

ID client : 773c93d7dee04e1289cb896f235df6a3
Version de Synchro : 3
Version du profil : 46
Trousseau supporté : Oui

Révision : cfd98e3

Backup: 1.4.0
Note Tabs: 1.4.0

Thanks

[LeoW]

Yes. Typora is the app I was thinking of. Thank you.

[tomasz86]

@nonobio

@tomasz86

I use Joplin with no problems on weaker hardware than yours, also with 8GB of RAM, but because of the limitations, I always pay attention to how many applications are open at the same time.

And how many notes and tags do you have?
I have about 10,000 notes and hundreds of tags...
Is the display of notebook or label contents and notes instantaneous?

Nowadays I use multiple profiles, so the notes are split, but in the past I used to have a few thousands in the same database, and Joplin was still performant enough. I don't use tags at all though, which may be an important factor when it comes to the slowness too.

[LeoW]

One more thing that I forgot to mention to nobody brought up. I use Joplin on both windows and Linux and the Linux client is a better client for running Joplin.

I can't do a fair comparison to some of you that have 10,000 notes I don't have anywhere near that right now I haven't finished importing.

When I get my nerve up I will take my notebooks and import them using the Linux client because it has a command line switch that the windows client does not have. You can import from the command line an entire folder full of notebooks all at once. You don't need to import them from inside the app one at a time.

And on the Evernote side I found an app on GitHub that backs up your entire Evernote database to a single SQL light file database file. Then you export them into a folder. Next comes the import folder.

If you're on Windows you can still probably run temporarily if need be the Linux version of Joplin for the sole purpose of doing the massive import. This comment is directed toward those who have a large Evernote database that they have yet to finish importing or even exporting from Evernote. You should never export from Evernote One Note at a time. Is a great app on GitHub for that..
I frequently use the windows subsystem for Linux on my Windows computers and I run GUI apps as well. I don't run the GUI app for Joplin because it's a Windows computer. But if you need to do a 100 notebook import or even 50 or 25 it sucks to do it one at a time.

All you need to do is go into the Microsoft Store and install Ubuntu Linux subsystem. You can install flat pak and then the flat pak version of Joplin I imagine.

You know likelihood you can install the console version rather than the whole graphical version but I'm not 100% certain. I think it's the same code.

[Medullitus]

Can you please provide more details for a Windows user? Thank you.

[LeoW]

Tomorrow I will try and put something together but if you've never touched Linux before you're not going to know your way around.

Installing Linux via the Microsoft store is a piece of cake. Then you need to run What's called the windows subsystem for Linux. Perhaps you can watch a tutorial of Windows subsystem for Linux on YouTube. That might help you.

After it installs it will need to be updated with a simple command and what I will try and do for you tomorrow is put together a short video screencast of the procedure. It would be easier than writing it out for me anyway.

I can provide you with the syntax to install Joplin which will basically be done via what is called Flatpak. Flathub.org is the store where Joplin comes from.

I'll do my best to document it as well as I can.

[nonobio]

@nonobio

Joplin uses a large amount of data on my SSD: 22 GB for an imported Evernote data size of 10 GB

Today everything is better: the use of storage space has decreased drastically, going from 22 GB to 7.5 GB

It was the temporary file which was huge yesterday and which is very small today.
Maybe that also affected performance yesterday...

[Medullitus]

Hello Leow,

It's great to have people like you! You are definitely making Joplin a better place.

Agreed. I will be waiting to hear from you. Additionally, I would like to share my experience with setting up my own virtual storage space with you. I have shared the relevant text here. I would also appreciate your thoughts and suggestions on this matter.

Is Slow Synchronization in Joplin a Manipulation or a Necessity?

Thank you for the response. In that case, let me share the latest update from my research. I installed Docker on my computer and used Docker to set up Nextcloud. I connected a flash drive to the USB port of my modem. With Nextcloud's "external driver" feature, I can access this flash drive connected to my modem. Similarly, I can also access the flash drive from my computer via FTP. Now, what I aim to do is to create a Joplin folder on the flash drive and synchronize from there. But I haven't be…

Thank you!

[LeoW]

It looks like I get a reprieve from having to make the video and you get a reprieve from having to install the windows subsystem for Linux.

When I first started using Joplin only the Linux client could import folders. The windows app did not. I have since learned today that the windows client can now import folders too. so, never mind.

From the docs:
Joplin import_export

you can either import a single file or a directory that contains multiple ENEX files.

If you import a single file, a notebook with the same name will be created, and all notes will be imported in this notebook.
If you import a directory, Joplin will create a notebook per file and import the notes into them.

[laurent]

@nonobio

I just did it, but this obviously works better. I notice that it takes around 3s to display the contents of a notebook when I click on it, and when I click on the different notes in a notebook it takes around 1s, which is pretty good!

Thanks for confirming, this is more or less normal I guess on an older computer although I'm always keen to find ways to speed things up. If you notice a particular notebook or note that is very slow to load feel free to create a new post with the full information.

The note list (which loads when you click on a notebook) was recently changed so it's possible there are performance issues, so any information on what may be causing them would be useful.

[Medullitus]

I'm already using the Windows Subsystem for Linux. I installed Ubuntu from the Windows Store. Additionally, I have Linux installed on my Virtualbox. I can perform operations using Linux in both ways.