YANA: Dendron is Yet Another Notes App, in the style of new hotness such as Obsidian. It requires Microsoft’s free Visual Studio Code, a monster IDE that’s available on Mac, Windows, and Linux. Why did I try it? I continue to cast about for a means of taking notes that I can stick with; I tend to prefer text files flavored by Markdown, but I want a few things, such as cross-platform sync (Windows and Mac, plus iOS), and, most recently due to my dabbling with Workflowy, backlinks. I tried Obsidian out and I liked it generally, but found it a little hard on the eyes on the Mac. Some Git troubles (i’m not really that technical) had me slink away after some brief experimentation.

I’ve been trying out Dendron on the Mac and Surface for a couple of weeks now. I had installed it and played around, but hadn’t messed with sync much. My notion was to sync via iCloud or a combination of that and OneDrive, and maybe pull everything into DEVONthink (link to artcile). But the idea of exploring GitHub again got the best of me. What I have now is a very workable setup that features VSC running Dendron on my Macs and Surface Pro 7, along with mobile sync plus iA Writer via Working Copy on iPhone and iPad. There are some caveats to using this solution on mobile that I’m still working out (and which may be the death of this setup), but it’s otherwise pretty solid.

What is Dendron?

Dendron uses a fistful of VS Code extensions, in combination with a file name structure entirely of your device, to help users categorize Markdown notes. It’s local first, meaning that your notes sit on the device before you; you can use Dendron on your one and only machine, if you like. There’s more–way more–but at its heart, Dendron is a Markdown notes app.

Dendron Main Window

Dendron does the Obsidian graph-view-thing, which in Dendron is called Note Graph. Note Graph is a visualization of how your notes are connected. It resembles, entertainingly, an actual map of the mind; it’s a digital approximation of how your thoughts are connected.

Is this useful? I don’t know. But it’s cool.

Dendron Note Graph

How does Dendron work?

You use Dendron to create Markdown notes within a single folder; your naming sturcture determines how these notes are organized, whether you are searching or using the Note Graph. Do you like typing notes into a text editor? If the answer is yes, then Dendron might be your bag.

Backlinks

In the PKIM world, backlinks are all the rage: Drafts on the Mac finally got on board, Devonthink (kinda) has them, and Workflowy all come to mind. The excellent Hook utiliy on the Mac is a bolt-on backlink system for macOS, and we’ve all been trying callback URLs and other ways to link data together since iOS added support for them.

Dendron Backlinks

In Dendron, backlinks work just like Workflowy, where you start a double bracket and then can choose (and search for) any item in your vault. This is because, of course, all of your Dendron files are sitting in that singular vault folder. (Applications like Drafts and Workflowy are databases.) Linking your notes via backlinks contributes to the construction of your Note Graph; in addition to your naming scheme, backlinks are visualized in the Note Graph.

There’s More

There’s more for me to discuss: sync, PDF preview, and more. Stay tuned!