lukasbach / yana

Powerful note-taking app with nested documents, full-text search, rich-text editor, code snippet editor and more

Yana

Yet another notebook app

yana.js.org

Yana is a powerful notebook app which allows you to manage local workspaces of hierarchically structured taggable and searchable notes. It supports multiple kinds of notes, currently rich-text notes (including embedded media and complex tables) and code snippets (based on the VSCode editor frontend) are supported. Other features include

• Manage note structure via drag-and-drop
• Rich notes editor powered by the Atlassian editor core
• Multiple local workspaces
• Multiple notes can be opened at once in tabs
• Starring of notes
• Trashcan functionality
• Scalability, working fluently even on notebooks with ten thousands of notes

Download the latest release. Currently available for Windows, Linux and Mac. Find out more about Yana on yana.js.org.

Contributing

Feel free to contribute with Issue Reports, Feedback or Pull Requests.

If you want to start developing Yana locally, you need Node 14+ and yarn install. Clone the repo, install dependencies with yarn and start the app locally with yarn start.

Note that, after the electron window has opened, it might not automatically refresh when the web package has finished building. Refresh the container with CTRL+R to see the app. You can open up Devtools with CTRL+SHIFT+i.

More details are available in contributing.md.

yana's Issues

[REQUEST] make Yana portable

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Yana actually saves the config file in APPDATA D:\Users\myuser\AppData\Roaming\yana\workspaces.json , when I format I will lose all my config.

Describe the solution you'd like
I hope you can make Yana portable so we can have the config file in a defined place by the user.

Additional context
generally all electron apps I used before recognize the --user-data-dir command line flag. but Yana did not recognize it, this can solve the problem of portability too.

Thank you for this wonderful application, I love the Monaco editor + markdown

[REQUEST] Rule element in documents

Hello Lukas,
I love your app !

Is is possible to add a "rule" element in the text editor ?
(similar to <hr> balise in html, or "---" in markdown, for example).

---

Thanks a lot

Been digging the app until this...

Is there any way to fix this I did a lot of work since the last backup...

[REQUEST] Dark mode

HEY LUKAS, I APRECIATE YOUR WORK,
BUT I GIVE YOU A REQUEST FEATURE ABOUT DARK MODE TO ALL SECTION IN YOUR APP

THANKS A LOT BUDDY

About Section

I agree with others on "Minimize to Tray" and "Dark Mode", but I would like to add (unless I'm missing it) an "About" on the program with version and links to project.

Project off to a good start, and found using "Dropbox" for the file location works well in keeping all rigs in sync.

[BUG] Prompt for name when new collection is created.

Describe the bug
Prompt for name when new collection is created.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create a new Collection
2. The collection is created with a default name. Option to rename is available.
3. Creating any other items creates the item with focus on the item to rename it.

Expected behavior

1. Option to rename the collection should be available.
2. Option to rename the other items such as notes etc can be highlighted more too visually show the action.

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem. You can drag image files here to upload them to the issue.

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Linux
• Yana version - 1.0.13 - AppImage

Additional context
NA

[REQUEST] Minimize to system tray

Really loving Yana so far, but I would really like to be able to minimize it to a nice icon in the system tray to free up taskbar real estate. Additionally, the ability to open and close the app from this icon with a single click would be very nice, as well. Thanks so much for your hard work on Yana! Really looking forward to seeing it grow and evolve!

[REQUEST] Markdown editor

Yana should provide a pure markdown note editor.

[REQUEST] Nested task lists

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Do you have nested task list on roadmap? I use this quite a bit in markdown editors and was wondering if it can be brought to Yana as well ..

Describe the solution you'd like
Move task to right/left via keyboard shortcuts or by clicking on a button

Additional context
Looking for something like this ..

[BUG] Changes to existing tasks do not apply

Describe the bug
Changes to existing tasks do not apply.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create new Todo list;
2. Add a task;
3. Change the text of the task;
4. Go to a Note Item;
5. Return to the Todo list;

Expected behavior
Changes persist.

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows 10.0.19045 Build 19045
• Yana Version 1.0.16

Hotkeys

Hi! Thanks for the awesome program! Is it possible to implement hotkeys for normal actions? For example, creating a note in the last work folder.

[FEEDBACK] Short description of your feedback

I am thankful for your work here Lucas,

I find this notetaking app to meet all of the needs I have had that others were lacking. I am very grateful for the ability to use bullets and checklists within the table -- a big drawback from Notion, and the ability to have this thing offline is great. I also love the way that you designed the overall aesthetics of the program. I have the files stored on Google Drive and they seem to be syncing well between PCs assuming I close and reload Yana. It would be cool to perhaps have a recheck option within the program to rescan the files and update, or set this to happen automatically at time intervals.

I'd like to see dark mode inside of Yana, as I have almost everything else that I am using set for dark mode. It also takes less power on my OLED laptop. It might also be cool to set up the ability to do internal linking, kanban boards, and the ability to embed YouTube videos and web pages. These are nitpicks though and not required to get the job done. I just think that they could enhance people's workflow more. Super cool feature would be integrating with OpenAI GPT API's but that is a big ask.

I love the hierarchal structure. This is what stops me from using One Note from Microsoft. Their One Note software is generally excellent, other than the way that the notes are structured. Overall, truly excellent program. I have tried them all and this is simply the best. I have began to study programming and may begin to try to implement these features locally and will reach out if I can get some things working to see if you might want to push them out.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!
-JR

[REQUEST] RTL support

A very awsome app. I've used most note-taking apps around, ON, EN, Joplin, Obsidian, Zim. This is one of the best I've seen. So Congrats and Thx are in order :)
If you just can add RTL support that would be great. One Can allign the text to the right of course, but that doesn't allign lists (both ordered and unordered), nor the cursor position or the home/end actions.. they still follow the LTR direction.
Thanks in advance

[BUG] Scroll with To do List

Describe the bug
When you add many items to ToDo list feature, you can't see every item because doesn't have the scroll feature.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Add how many items do you need to not see the first item anymore
2. Try to scroll or go back to the first item.

Expected behavior
The expected behavior is to see every item with a scroll.

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows 10
• Yana Version 1.0.4

[BUG] Yana closing on launch on Linux

I use Kubuntu with Nvidia. After starting Yana I see a splash screen for a second and then it closes. This is what I see in syslog.
Desktop kernel: [ 1730.861624] traps: Chrome_IOThread[6636] trap int3 ip:5622292fb5c4 sp:7fa9eca9d450 error:0 in yana[562226d2a000+5f85000]

[BUG] Clicking links through search-view breaks app

Clicking a link within the preview of a atlaskit note in search view redirects to the target within the electron container, with no way of getting back.

[BUG] Workspace persistence writes malformed JSON to drive

[REQUEST] Export Options to different formats at different levels of hierarchy

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

• Options for Exports are very limited. .
• Currently only workspaces can be exported making sharing notes extremely difficult.
• Also the notes inside the workspace do not maintain their name or format or styling. The file names seem to be unique ids and in JSON format and does not reproduce the notes.

Describe the solution you'd like
Please consider adding below options if possible.

1. Option to export individual notes in different formats such as Markdown, Plain Text, JSON, PDF etc.
2. Option to export individual folders/collections as a zip archive but with individual notes in any of the formats mentioned above.
3. Option to export workspace as a zip archive with Collections as folders and notes as files.
4. Would be useful for the user if the notes retained their names.

Thank you for all the hard work on the editor.

[REQUEST] Performance Improvement and Other Enhancements

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

1. Visible lag when switching between notes. The loading circle is seen when quickly moving between notes.
2. Moving rows/columns inside tables.

Describe the solution you'd like

• No performance lag noticed while editing, but when switching between different notes and note types - a slight lag can be experienced.
• Option to create rows and columns is available, option to move columns say from being second column to the last column would be a great feature.

Additional context

[FEEDBACK] Why Yana is limited to 7 colors?

Why there is no option to select user selected colors. There should be a color selector for text.

Preview

How can I preview the text I have created?

I'm sorry that I'm not good at English, but I'm sure you can understand it.

[REQUEST] Syntax/Semantic checking in Code Snippet Editor

Code Snippet editor syntax and semantic checking should be enable-able in settings.

[BUG] Text alignment

Describe the bug
When I try to align a text, nothing happens

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. create any note item
2. type any text
3. open the alignment option and click on any 3's

Expected behavior
Text alignment to left, right or center

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Windows 10
• Yana Version: 1.0.4

[REQUEST] ARM Binaries

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
No.

Describe the solution you'd like
Please provide ARM binaries specially arm64 for Linux and if possible for Windows and macOS.
Your software is really well designed.
Thank you very much.

Additional context
Nothing except Like.

Impossible to attach or link pictures into Yana!

Describe the bug
Impossible to insert pictures!

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Jusdt try to either paste a link to, or paste a graphic lioke Jpg png etc.

Expected behavior
To be able to hav an picture in the notebook pages.

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: win10, 22H2. Latest JANA Yana version 1.0.13

Additional context
Add any other context about the problem here.

[BUG] Move CI Setup to GitHub Actions

The new pricing of Travis CI makes it unusable to use for building new Yana versions. CI should be moved to GitHub Actions. This will probably block other issues and new releases until this is resolved.

[REQUEST] File attachment on Note Item

Love to use Yana as my knowledge base application, almost all features are in place to support this need. On daily needs, I m not just only writing the note but also putting some log files, PCAP files, network diagrams, and or just some email to give more clear information. It will be nice if Yana has this kind of feature. keep the good work and stay healthy.

[BUG] Syntax Highlighting on Code Snippet inside Normal Text

Describe the bug
Syntax Highlighting on Code Snippet inside Normal Text

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Create a Code Snippet inside a normal text.
2. Select a type of language. e.g. SQL etc
3. Type some code inside the code snippet.
4. There is no Syntax Highlighting or folding.
5. Syntax highlighting is available inside a Code Snippet type note.

Expected behavior
Syntax Highlighting and Folding inside the Code Snippet

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Linux
• Yana version - 1.0.13 - AppImage

Additional context

Thank you for creating this wonderful editor.

[REQUEST] Images in richtext editor

Images in richtext editor are currently supported, but lack critical features, including being included in backups or resilient to moving the original image file. Also image paths are hard coded into the note source.

Cannot install on Debian 11, dependency failed

keep getting the error when installing deb file, dependency failed.

[BUG] yana gets blank screen if is blocked to a firewall before it starts

Describe the bug
Hello. Yana will not starts if the firewall blocks the software. In my case I'm using OpenSnitch.

To Reproduce
Block the connection of app with a firewall and try to open it. Will get just a blank screen forever.

Expected behavior
Starts without problems.

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: LINUX MINT 20.3
• Yana Version 1.0.13

Additional context
I can close the software after that blankscreen, change the configuration of firewall enabling the connection and than it starts fast and normal. Also, I didn't see any problem if I block the connection after starting the program.

[REQUEST] Moving note items between workspaces

It should be possible to move or copy note items between workspaces.

Can't Install on Macbook running on Big Sur

Describe the bug
When attempting to install the app on a macbook running on Big Sur 11.1, the following message is displayed on screen:
"Yana" cannot be opened because the developer cannot be verified."

To Reproduce
To reproduce, try installing Yana on a macBook running Big Sur 11.1

Expected behavior
I expected the app to install.

Screenshots

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Big Sur 11.1
• Yana Version: Yana-1.0.7-mac.zip (I'm assuming it's version 1.0.7, but just in case they're not related, this is the file name.

Additional context
N/A

[REQUEST] Accessibility Improvements

Currently, the interface COULD be very accessible, but isn't. A lot of elements don't have semantic roles, the interface is almost entirely mouse-centric and the experience for, say, screen reader users is just far from optimal.
Adding the required semantics to the interface can already improve the experience quite a bit. Giving the various icon-only buttons a textual programmatic label (i.e. through aria-label) would already help a lot as well.
It appears that, through some Atlassian-originating code, drag-and-drop can be performed by hitting space on an element, moving the keyboard somewhere else and hitting space again to drop. However, currently, screenreaders have no idea where they are in the interface because the tree isn't an actual semantic tree, rendering this somewhat useless :) Any mouse-only action should be callable from the keyboard as well though.

Additional context
Add any other context or screenshots about the feature request here.
I'd be happy to answer questions about this if and when people are interested; i am a screenreader-using developer myself which puts me in a unique position to do so.

[BUG] After creating new item, incorrect name is shown

After creating a new item in the sidebar, the user can enter a name. By submitting the name, it is automatically opened. However, when it is opened, the incorrect name ("New Note Item") is displayed as header, even though it is correctly saved.

[REQUEST] Find for word feature

The app lack this feature, like Notepad++ has the feature of looking for a specific word inside a document or note.

[BUG] Image & hyperlink adding issue

The image adding feature does not work for me properly as of now.
Apart from that I am not able to create a hyperlink in the app

[BUG] Settings Page - Scroll Position between tabs

Describe the bug
The scroll position is stuck across the tabs on the Settings Page.

To Reproduce
Steps to reproduce the behavior:

1. Click Settings.
2. Scroll to the bottom of the page.
3. Click on any other tab on the Settings Page say Editor etc.
4. The page gets displayed scrolled all the way to the bottom.

Expected behavior
The tabs should ideally open at the top of the page.

Screenshots
If applicable, add screenshots to help explain your problem. You can drag image files here to upload them to the issue.

Environment (please complete the following information):

• OS: Linux
• Yana version - 1.0.13 - AppImage

Additional context
Please ignore if this is the expected behaviour.

[FEEDBACK] Short description of your feedback

Good note taking app. Please is it possible to save or export notes and draft in txt format( plain text) and markdown format?

Thanks for developing this app.

[REQUEST] Integration with Google Docs

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
Google Docs offers a lot of features for sharing docs in real time and Sync between devices,... also saving it in the cloud

Describe the solution you'd like
If we can integrate a Google Drive Solution, it will be the next level!
So, we put a dir, then Google Docs, and other Dir, etc etc...

[REQUEST] make things persistent

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
I cannot explain this without an image:
actually we can change the panel position like that:

and we can make the dropdown menus in a closed state like that:

the problem is that this is not persistent, every time I restart Yana I have to reconfigure those two things again and again

Describe the solution you'd like
I hope you can make this persistent after restarts.

thank you.

[REQUEST] gave an option to hide the note header or edit its margins

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.
actually Yana eats a lot of space in the header (about 20% of the page), this make the markdown note difficult to read/use

Describe the solution you'd like
is it possible to gave us an option to change the header margins, or an option to hide it completely and leave only the WYSIWYG menu?

Additional context
this is how it actually looks

I hope I can make it like that:

Thank you.