Add sync capabilities

[titoesteves]

A crucial feature for any notes app is the ability to sync with multiple devices. It would be great if this app would be able to sync with simplenote or evernote as they both seem to support markdown.

[asmsuechan]

Hi @titoesteves, I've heard it from many people. Then I always answer like this: I don't wanna prepare for sync (e.g. user account, encrypted data...etc). However now I'm contemplating about GitHub integration for Boostnote. I'll open an issue about it. Please comment anything you think if you're interested.

[titoesteves]

@asmsuechan I never thought about GitHub integration. That would be quite interesting actually. I guess the one downside is that you would not be able to utilize the GitHub mobile app as a note app client. Whereas with simplenote/evernote you can use the mobile app as a note app client.

On another note, I tried out Boostnote today and I have to say it is really great! Much nicer than both evernote and simplenote. Add sync capabilities and it is the perfect note taking app for developers.

[twhiting]

I've mentioned a github integration to the previous maintainer, it'd be great. @titoesteves I store my boostnote data in a Google Drive folder which syncs to multiple devices with no problems. Just thought I'd let you know for short term. Onedrive works great too.

[Aivean]

I think Evernote sync is a must-have. A lot of developers (including me) are using Evernote day-to-day (especially on mobile devices) and some alternative software with markdown support for complex notes.

For example, I use Marxi.co. It's good, but not perfect (paid, buggy, unmaintained). However, it's integration with Evernote is worth mentioning, as, I think, it's as good as it could be.

To conclude, I think that adding Evernote support is the way to attract new users. People who use evernote already wont switch to an alternative (unless alternative is as cross-platform and feature-rich). However, they will use an alternative in addition to evernote to get markdown support.

[asmsuechan]

Hi, @Aivean. Thanks for your feedback. Have you ever tried ever2boost? I assume the data migration or sync from Evernote on local is complicated. But it you say is absolutely true, so I'll try it.

[Aivean]

Hi @asmsuechan. Thank you for your work.

I checked ever2boost, but I didn't try it. My point is that people that use Evernote usually don't want to switch over from it. Evernote is a great project (perhaps a leader in the field), it's cross-platform and very feature-rich. I'm mostly happy with Evernote, the only feature that it lacks, in my opinion, is markdown support.

I believe that your project can attract users like me if it has integration with evernote. Users that will use it together with evernote, not as a replacement of evernote.

[iliyang]

Syncing could be done by simply storing your directory on a cloud drive, as @twhiting suggests. The issue is how to then access the notes on your mobile device. There are many plain-text mobile editors that supprt Markdown, but unfortunately Boostnote's format, while simple .cson, is not exactly plain text. So it's incompatible with those apps. Now, if notes would be stored as basic markdown files, with the metadata of all notes in a storage kept in a single separate metadata file, then you have your cross-platform sync!

[titoesteves]

I agree. The primary goal of having sync IMO is so that you can access notes on your mobile device. The ever2boost cli tool seems to be a migration tool but does not address the ability to access notes on mobile devices. Storing directly on a cloud drive also does not achieve this. Seems there is already a feature request for mobile clients already: #335.

[GaryFurash]

Don't use github integration. The whole point of your tool is to avoid github, where you're private gists aren't really private.

[twhiting]

@GaryFurash the idea would be to use a private repository to sync your data using github. Not open gists.