Make Laverna configurable to use markdown files on disk

[bnvk]

This is a far out feature request that I imagine would require some substantial re-engineering + additions. Laverna is quite perfect in a lot of ways, except for the fact that it stores everything in a browser DB (which I recently just learned the hard way) gets erased when clearing the browsers cache 😭 and limits it to a certain scope / configuration. Of course, the current use case / design is to use Remote Storage for syncing / backups.

However, I think adding an ability to make Laverna also have access to file system would make it quite robust + interoperable with numerous other tools and components on a personal computer or server like Syncthing or ownCloud for syncing / backups. Or other text editors. Or perhaps even website publishing via Jekyll for instance which would in essence make Laverna a CMS backend (if run privately from a server).

Is anyone else curious about this sort of thing?

[sqozz]

definitely a +1 for this on from me! Laverna is a great tool but the lack of sync possibilities makes it almost useless to me :/

[lightonflux]

This in combination with webdav would be a nice solution for synced notes. :)

[jniggemann]

+1, would be awsome!

[praxiq]

I'd like to add that this is the #1 most important feature in a notes app for me. I currently use QOwnNotes (have also looked at Elephant) and both store your notes as a folder full of markdown files. This means that they can be synced by any method you want, and can be read and edited at any time, on any device with a text editor. I'm not ready to give up that freedom.

Laverna is much nicer aesthetically than the other tools mentioned above, but if it blocks me from syncing and editing my notes with any other tool, that's way too big a limitation for me.

I'd love to hear the opinion of the core developers: is this a feature that is planned? Is it a maybe? Or is it definitely not on the roadmap? (Does adding it to the "New Features" milestone mean that there is interest in doing this at some point?)

[technodrome]

While this looks like a very nice and solid app, I cannot fathom in what universe storing files in browser DB could be considered at least a remotely sane idea. Is this really really true?

What is the point of having an app like this if you cannot sync your OWN files (so it basically fails to fulfill the reason for its very own existence) and on top of that, you have to stare at the sea of white to burn your eyes out? I mean, while I do hugely appreciate the effort, time and knowledge, such design decisions are just plain wrong no matter what current "hip" trend is behind them. And a backlog of 300 open issues doesn't look very reassuring either.

Nope, this is a no-go in my case.

[jniggemann]

@technodrome I'll not respond with the usual "OK, so where's your PR?", because not everyone really can advance FOSS like Laverna. Instead, I'll just say: Free world, free software, free speech. Remember that it is a question of politeness to constructively critique something. Your comment mirrors your opinion, but does nothing to advance the software.

[EchoCloud]

I'd like to add my +1 to this also. Its a fantastic program with beautiful markup but I'd love to be able to store my files in file-accessible place--and open files in the same way.

[praxiq]

Just want to point out to those who missed it that in laverna/app/scripts/modules/fs there's (unfinished) code to write data to files - it looks like it'll put notes in markdown files, and associated metadata in a json file. So it looks like it's on its way!