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Siyuan Note: A Local-First Markdown Editor with WYSIWYG Support

siyuan notelocal-first knowledge managementmarkdown editorself-hosted syncobsidian alternative
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In a previous article, xiaoz shared Obsidian, a popular note-taking tool. Today, we introduce another domestic note-taking software, Siyuan Note, which shares similar functionality and interface design with Obsidian. According to the official website:

Siyuan Note is a local-first personal knowledge management system that supports fully offline usage and end-to-end encrypted synchronization.

Key Features

  • All local features are free.
  • WYSIWYG Markdown editing.
  • Web clipper support.
  • Export to Markdown, PDF, Word, and HTML.
  • Multiple themes and widgets available.
  • Full-text search.
  • Cross-platform support (Windows, macOS, Linux, Android, iOS).
  • Docker deployment support.

Installing Siyuan Note

Download and install from the official website based on your platform:

Quick Start

Upon first launch, you need to create a new notebook to begin using the app.

It comes with a built-in Markdown editor featuring WYSIWYG editing.

You can use the shortcut Alt + 2 to quickly view the outline, though it may not be very convenient. If you prefer the outline to be visible by default, it is recommended to move it to the "top right" position.

This allows the outline to display in real-time on the right side while writing notes, making the experience much more comfortable.

Siyuan Note supports batch importing entire Markdown folders or single Markdown files, making it easy to migrate from Obsidian since Obsidian stores notes as Markdown source files.

It also supports exporting to Markdown, HTML, PDF, and Word documents.

For more features and settings, please download the software to explore.

Changing Themes

The default theme of Siyuan Note may feel a bit lacking. You can press Alt + P to open settings, navigate to "Marketplace" → "Themes," and choose a theme you like. There are more dark themes available than light ones.

xiaoz installed the "Tsundoku (dark)" theme, which instantly made the interface look much more professional.

Data Synchronization

Siyuan Note is completely free for local use. If you require real-time data synchronization, you can purchase an official subscription, currently priced at 96 CNY/year. In the landscape of note-taking software, this pricing feels slightly high.

However, besides the official sync service, you can also synchronize data via cloud storage. xiaoz uses a self-hosted Seafile private cloud on a NAS.

Siyuan Note stores data by default in the SiYuan directory within the user folder, which contains multiple subfolders.

According to the official documentation, for self-hosted synchronization, you only need to sync the SiYuan/data directory. They strongly advise against syncing any folders outside of data to avoid configuration conflicts.

Here are the official guidelines:

  • Sync only the workspace/data/ directory; do not sync the entire workspace.
  • Pause third-party synchronization while Siyuan is running to prevent data corruption. For details, refer to this article.
  • On Android, the data folder path is Internal Storage/Android/data/org.b3log.siyuan/files/siyuan/data/. This is an app-private path that other programs cannot read; manual copying is required.
  • Do not use third-party synchronization and Siyuan synchronization simultaneously, as conflicts may occur.

Key takeaway: Pause third-party synchronization while Siyuan is running to prevent data corruption. This can be tricky, but it is solvable. xiaoz uses Seafile, which allows setting "disable auto-sync," enabling manual synchronization after editing notes and closing Siyuan. Other cloud services likely offer similar features. (Hopefully, the official team will resolve the real-time sync issue soon.)

Additionally, xiaoz created a symbolic link for the workspace/data/ directory to the Seafile sync folder.

For Linux systems:

# Create a symbolic link
ln -s /home/xiaoz/Seafile/siyuan/data /home/xiaoz/Documents/SiYuan/data

For Windows systems, use the following command in the cmd window:

# First path is Siyuan's data directory, second path is the actual Seafile sync directory
mklink /d C:\Users\xiaoz\Documents\SiYuan\data D:\Seafile\siyuan\data

Summary

  1. Siyuan Note's functionality and interface are very similar to Obsidian, but it aligns better with Chinese user habits.
  2. It supports WYSIWYG Markdown editing, offering a better editing experience than Obsidian.
  3. For self-hosted synchronization, only sync the workspace/data/ directory, and avoid real-time synchronization during use to prevent data corruption.
  4. xiaoz is just starting to use Siyuan Note, so there may be other pitfalls yet to be discovered.
  5. The developer updates frequently (possibly due to bugs). If you encounter issues, you can report them to the community or on GitHub, and you will likely receive a quick response.