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I am getting obsessed of finding a simple tool/app to let me easily document the work I have done each day, write notes about it, and document the things I have learnt.

In essence, it is something like a daily journal, but I want to be able to categorize the different things (progress on iOS app, learning swift, learning design, …) and also be able to publish this data to the Internet for others to benefit from. For example, they get to see how I broke down a complex app to simple tasks that I tackled one a time, how I solved a specific problem, how/where I searched for the solution. Would also be helpful for clients to look at my process and my way of doing the work.

Things I have looked at:

  • Todoist, although great for task management, lacks the ability to publish to the internet, having comments on the tasks
  • WordPress blog, Tumblr, Medium.com: lack an integration with a task management

I think I need something that combines task management with documentation/daily logging.

I asked this question on Reddit and people offered various suggestions (Wikilog, Zim Wiki, Tiddly Wiki, PyWiki, Ghost, Pollen, Clitch, Fossil SCM along with Chisel and Camlistore), but they are not good enough:

It is mostly due to how they present the data and the constraints imposed, for example, some platforms organizes posts by recently edited or recently created, but I need a way to display both at the same time (a way to filter between the two ways). Another important thing, they are created for Wiki-like websites and not blog/personal/portfolio type of websites so they look odd for my needs. Finally, they need some degree of manual management and making sure that the server has the latest data and so on and so forth …

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    Could you please explain why each of the Reddit-suggestion apps are "not good enough"? That will help us understand your needs.
    – Nicolas Raoul ♦
    Mar 4 '16 at 6:19
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    It is mostly due to how they present the data and the constraints imposed, for example, some platforms organizes posts by recently edited or recently created, but I need a way to display both at the same time (a way to filter between the two ways), Another important thing, they are created for Wiki like websites and not blog/personal/portfolio type of websites so they look odd for my needs. Finally, they need some degree of manual management and making sure that the server has the latest data and so on and so forth...
    – Ahmad Baracat
    Mar 4 '16 at 21:43
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    As you used the Windows tag, does that mean you look for a desktop tool that runs on Windows? Or is a Web app sufficient? Does the Web app need to be hosted or do you want to self-host it?
    – unor
    Apr 22 '16 at 22:59
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    Have you considered to maybe document what you've learned via a mind map? Like, start out with one node and break it down and create connections to other nodes? Maybe a web mind map like kumu would be a good solution. It is visually stunning, you can add all the info you like and, since you want it to be public, it would be free (you need to pay for private maps as an individual). Have a look, maybe it would fit you.
    – Alex
    Aug 11 '17 at 17:21
  • There’s this new tool called Notion. It’s kind of like having a website, but it has task lists and other cool features. Notion.so
    – Aurora A
    Aug 6 '18 at 22:32
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I'm a web developer and frequently document things for future reference and for the benefit of other's who may have had similar problems and are seeking answers.

To manage this documentation I use WordPress (self-hosted, not WordPress.com) because:

  • I'm a WordPress developer & frequently need to solve technical problems

  • My install is public facing allowing me to show prospective clients that I understand WordPress (even if they don't understand it technically)

  • I can modify WordPress to display posts however I wish, which includes sorting them by modified date

I don't use it as a task management tool and haven't tried any task management plugins, but there are ways to make it act like one for example

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I think you might need to face the fact that most foss solutions focus on doing one thing very well and other things no so well. For example, ZIM is my goto solution in your problem space - and I add the diary element in ZIM's Calendar pages; so I have both a running history of what I did - but also links back to each project or sub page.

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    Could you please describe how ZIM could cover the asker's needs or at least part of them? Thanks!
    – Nicolas Raoul ♦
    Aug 22 '16 at 2:51
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You might consider TheBrain. It is like a virtual filesystem consisting of nodes that are called thoughts. There is a timeline feature, and you can read about tracking projects in a blog.

They produce free webinars to see how it can be used -- see the first link above for a schedule of such events.

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Take a look into Trello. Maybe it is in the lines of what you are looking for. It can share on the web. Can add tasks, work in different projects, etc.

Great tool. Also integrates with many other services and platforms, which you can combine. Very flexible and able to work with it the way you want to.

https://trello.com/

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I hope this helps. Regards.

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MindMaster has met all of my expectations. I use it to keep track of my progress as I learn web development.

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  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review
    – Romeo Ninov
    Nov 24 at 17:14

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