Choosing Where Your Notes Live
The first decision is where a graph's notes are kept, because it is fixed when the graph is created and decides what the graph can do. There are two kinds, and a demo for trying things out.
The three options
| Local graph | Synced graph | Demo | |
|---|---|---|---|
| The notes are | Markdown files in a folder on this computer | Encrypted on a Sync Server, cached in each browser | In this browser's storage only |
| Works in | Chrome, Edge, Brave and other Chromium browsers on a desktop | Any browser, phones and tablets included | Any browser |
| Other devices | Your own concern: git, Syncthing, a shared drive | Every device you sign in on, live | No |
| Other people | No | Yes, editing together in real time | No |
| Needs | Nothing: no account, no server | An EtherPK Account with Sync+, or an account on a server you run | Nothing |
| Backed up by | You, as files | The server, plus an optional readable copy on disk | Nobody |
| Who can read the notes | Anyone with the folder, except protected documents | Only your devices and the graph's members; the server cannot | Anyone at this browser |
Choose a local graph when
- you want the notes as files you can see, back up and edit with other tools;
- you work on one desktop, or already sync folders between machines your own way;
- you want an agent to work on the files directly;
- you want no account and no server involved.
You need a Chromium-based desktop browser, because that is where the browser feature that opens a folder exists. Local Graphs has the details, and Running EtherPK On Your Own Computer covers running the app itself on your machine.
Choose a synced graph when
- you want the same notes on a phone, a tablet or a Safari or Firefox browser;
- you want to edit with other people;
- you want the server to hold the copy of record while you keep a readable mirror on disk.
Synced graphs are end-to-end encrypted, so the server, whether EtherPK's or your own, stores what it cannot read. On the managed service they need Sync+; on your own server they need nothing but the server. Synced Graphs has the details, and Managed Sync Or Your Own Server the choice of server.
Try the demo first
The demo is a full graph with sample content, in any browser, with nothing to set up. It is for trying the editor, not for keeping notes: it lives only in this browser and is lost when the browser clears its storage. Try the demo on the Knowledge graphs page, or the landing page, opens it (Managing Your Graphs).
You can have both
A device can hold several graphs of each kind, listed together on the Knowledge graphs page. Many people keep a synced graph for the notes they want everywhere and a local graph for a project that lives in a repository.
To move notes from one kind to the other, import them as a new graph: a local graph's folder directly, or a synced graph's Local Mirror. The original is untouched (Importing From Logseq Obsidian Or EtherPK).
Whatever you choose
Both kinds use the same editor, the same markdown and the same features, and Where Your Data Lives says what is stored where for each. Protected documents work in both (Protected Documents), and a published site can be made from either (Publishing Your Notes As A Website).