How tu use Geany as a perfect note taking app
09 Mar 2022
First of all, you need to have Geany installed, obviously. I think in most (if not all) Linux distributions the package is called simply geany.
If you want to use it as a note taking application, create a folder in your home directory for project files (e.g. projects), then another one for the files - let us name it "notes" (it may be a subfolder in your projects).
Since Geany enables us to use "projects", we can create a project specifically for notes. To do that, from the top menu select Project, then New. Then you need to fill in the project data, like this:
Of course replace tuxtips with your username. When you click Create you will have the notes project ready. Now we can add our first note. Just start typing in the editor (the tab is named untitled for now) and when you are done, just save the file in the notes directory (Geany will choose it by default). You can add as many notes as you like.
But how do I find a text in a specific note if I have hundreds of them? - you may ask. This is where Geany really shines. To find a text within ANY of the notes, just press Ctrl+Shift+F and you will be presented with the search window:
Enter the text you are looking for in the Search for field and press Enter. The results will be shown in the Messages tab at the bottom:
In the above example I was searching for the word butter and Geany found one result in the shopping note (the middle line). When you click the result line, the appropriate note will open and a yellow arrow will point to the line with the text you have been searching for:
Perfect, isn't it?
If you need your notes to be synced with your other devices, you can use a file sync service, like Dropbox, and include the notes folder in the sync, but be aware that the notes are not encrypted.
If you want to use it as a note taking application, create a folder in your home directory for project files (e.g. projects), then another one for the files - let us name it "notes" (it may be a subfolder in your projects).
Since Geany enables us to use "projects", we can create a project specifically for notes. To do that, from the top menu select Project, then New. Then you need to fill in the project data, like this:
Of course replace tuxtips with your username. When you click Create you will have the notes project ready. Now we can add our first note. Just start typing in the editor (the tab is named untitled for now) and when you are done, just save the file in the notes directory (Geany will choose it by default). You can add as many notes as you like.
But how do I find a text in a specific note if I have hundreds of them? - you may ask. This is where Geany really shines. To find a text within ANY of the notes, just press Ctrl+Shift+F and you will be presented with the search window:
Enter the text you are looking for in the Search for field and press Enter. The results will be shown in the Messages tab at the bottom:
In the above example I was searching for the word butter and Geany found one result in the shopping note (the middle line). When you click the result line, the appropriate note will open and a yellow arrow will point to the line with the text you have been searching for:
Perfect, isn't it?
If you need your notes to be synced with your other devices, you can use a file sync service, like Dropbox, and include the notes folder in the sync, but be aware that the notes are not encrypted.
Tested on Linux Mint, March 2022.
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