FOLDERBASE
A PWA interface for your folders of Markdown notes, images and audio/video
Compatible with all Markdown-based text editors including:
Obsidian
Sublime Text
MacDown
- No Build Step
- No Database
- No Cloud
- No AI
FolderBase turns your Markdown notes into a full-fledged searchable website in just a few steps. Drag and drop the folder onto a public web server to put it online, or use it entirely offline with a local web server app.
It's powered with the simplicity of your local .md files, plus a little PHP, HTMX and PWA scaffolding to make it look and behave like a native application. You can 'install' the app on your desktop or phone (on Chromium/Safari browsers), and it will be added to your app drawer and will launch in full screen.
Basic Setup
- Download the ZIP package
- Place the extracted 'folderbase' folder into the root of your local web server app
- Drag your folder of notes into 'folderbase/content/main'
- Add some frontmatter to your notes, such as
title: My Knowledgebaseandtemplate: page - Your site will now visible when you navigate to your local server root, such as
http://localhost:8888/folderbase
Detailed setup instructions are available here: FolderBase Setup
How you can use FolderBase
- Create a personal reference library of important, evergreen info within arm's reach - key documents, gratitude journals, technnical references, you name it!
- Create visual, multi-column documents with little markup that look great in a web browser
- Don't want to pay for Obsidian Publish? Use your own web host to publish your notes to the web. Just drop FolderBase into the root folder of your web server!
How I Use FolderBase
Like most people, I'm overwhelmed with information. The firehose frequency of this information can make it difficult to distinguish the evergreen from the ephemeral, the urgent from the utilitarian.
I created FolderBase to help sift through the information and organize it in the form of visual documents that I know I'll be referencing frequently. For an example, check the "CSS" folder in the example above. I'm always forgetting the correct syntax for common webpage styling tasks, so creating a cheatsheet for this (instead of going to StackOverflow yet again) was long overdue.
Throughout the week, I log information across a number of different media:
Using multiple sources is unavoidable; worse still, the information stored in them are siloed inside the medium itself (paper, app, browser extension). I like the concept of the Commonplace Book to store all my ephemera, but modern technology doesn't seem to gel with my haphazard organizational style in a way that lets me use one app for everything.
So to consolidate it all, I take time on the weekends to review what I've collected, and put only the important things into Folderbase. Learned a new Excel formula or shortcut? That goes into the Excel notes folder. Saw an interesting outfit? That image goes into the "Outfits" moodboard.
Think of FolderBase as a clearing house for your mind. Your ephemeral notes can be collected and placed in the 'Drafts' folder. Upon reviewing and improving those notes, they can be moved out of Drafts and become a permanent note in one of your other folders.
About
FolderBase is open-source software available under the MIT license.
It is a fork of Pico CMS v.3.0-alpha, and uses third-party search and tag plugins.