this post was submitted on 22 Jun 2025
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Has anyone migrated from a Markdown notes app to another? (reddthat.com)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by [email protected] to c/[email protected]
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Hey,

I'm using Joplin (a Markdown note taking app) and think about migrating to Logseq because of multiple reasons.

The main problems I have not yet solved:

  1. OSS-Syncing Logseq notes between Desktop OS and Android. Logseq does not have an OSS selfhostable sync-server like Joplin has...
  2. Making sure to transform my stuff, so that Logseq can work with it. Yes, it's both Markdown, but especially images and how Joplin handles them seem to be a problem for this migration.

What are your experiences? Have you ever switched between 2 Markdown note taking apps?

  • Which ones?
  • How well went it?

Is it maybe even possible to use app 1 and a Desktop OS and a totally different app on Android simultaneously on the same data? The common standard is Markdown...

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[–] [email protected] 0 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

I like Jopin, but the user experience feels a bit old (don't want to say outdated) compared to something like Logseq.

And I also like the idea of links between notes and it becoming a graph. My nested folder structure in Joplin has gotten large.

I don't like that Joplin does not store the notes as real markdown. They are not readable by humans until you export them.

I do not want Wysiwyg via mouse, e.g. by clicking the "bold" button. Trying out Logseq felt really good. For example, it allows to open sections of a large file on the right, which is nice, because you can easily focus on that part.

I like how Logseq has a nice "table of content" plugin that renders the TOC on the side instead of injecting it into the markdown file, which is not nice, because the file changes and you need to always update the TOC.

But I also don't like what others describe here about Logseq's markdown handling. A heading being after a bullet point feels wrong.

Adding functionality to Joplin via Plugins is an option, but the plugins will maybe not work on Android...

IMO, there is no optimal solution for me. I like parts of Joplin and others of Logseq, but there is no solution that has all of them.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago) (1 children)

Got it. I don't know Logseq, I will check it out, thanks for the tip. A few notes regarding Joplin (some of which I already stated above)

  • you can link between notes and add plugin to see the graph. To get a note link, click on it with right button and there is an option to copy a link to that note. You can also link to a section of note with hashtags
  • joplin actually store the notes in md. However, if you have encryption turned on, you will of course see gibberish upon openning the file (its possible its only when you sync with filesystem I am not sure).
  • the wysiwyg (and md as well) works also with shortcuts e.g. ctrl+b
  • Joplin also has table of content plugin, its called "Outline" and its sitting in the right bar. You can add plugins in Tools > Options > Plugins
  • I didn't check the plugins on android, I don't use it much there mostly for quick checks :)
  • its hard to find something that fits you 100 %, but you can try make your own, that is how most of the foss projects start :)
[–] [email protected] 1 points 4 days ago (1 children)

Thanks.

"Outline" looks interesting... Bad project name (hard to find), but good job.

you can link between notes and add plugin to see the graph. To get a note link, click on it with right button and there is an option to copy a link to that note. You can also link to a section of note with hashtags

Thanks. But I'm immediately asking myself, why Joplin had to reinvent the wheel here. Some other apps to the same. I get that Markdown itself was "underspecified".

But why does a link to a different note need to look like this?

[Test](:/981236487219346972134687216439723)

A colon followed by a / and the name of the file without its extension (md).... This kind of makes sure that other markdown apps won't be able to handle it. I know that others use [[Name]] notation or @@Name notation, but why not just sticking to the basics and using something like...

[Test](981236487219346972134687216439723.md)

...?

its hard to find something that fits you 100 %, but you can try make your own, that is how most of the foss projects start :)

True

[–] [email protected] 2 points 4 days ago

You are welcome. Regarding the weird link form, I think its mainly because this is open source project. Somebody is working on it in their free time, maybe there are some money involved, but these kind of projects use to be a one man show, or a small group and you have to do a developer, architect, ux and design, tester and more. And everything is self managed, so it happens some things are not ideal. And look at their github, there is currently 530 active issues, there are probably other priorities than redesigning linking to make it a bit more interoperable... It is what it is. I like Joplin because I am free to sync it the way I want to (syncthing) and the export to md, in rare cases I am sharing my notes is good enough. Plus decent mobile app and browser extension to essentially snip parts of pages right to my notes. I see myself migrating maybe (big MAYBE) if proton integrates standard notes into the ecosystem. Big big maybe.