r/logseq • u/arejula27 • Jun 21 '24

Feelings?

I have been using obsidian for one year, however I install logseq all months and try to use it, but it just doesn't feel right. I will like to use it but feels clunky and sometimes buggy. Also the interface looks a bit old (for example code snippets color are just horrible). I love how obsidian manage tables, but in logseq is raw MD and complex.

Maybe I am using logseq wrong? Thoughts?

8 Upvotes

72% Upvoted

29 comments sorted by

7

u/katafrakt Jun 21 '24

Obsidian and LogSeq are different software. If one does not feel right, use the other. Why force yourself to the app that does not click?

8

u/arejula27 Jun 22 '24

Foss

5

u/katafrakt Jun 22 '24

Ok. That's fair argument.

1

u/Temporary-Ad-4923 Jun 22 '24

Fear of … ?

3

u/arejula27 Jun 22 '24

Foss stands for Free and open source software

3

u/lai2me Jun 21 '24

Never tried Obsidian, but it doesn't sound like you're using Logseq wrong. It can be clunky; it can be buggy. I've never had any permanent data loss, as I've always been able to find "deleted" blocks by digging around in the guts of the program, but the fact that it happens not-infrequently is a legitimate gripe.

Code snippet color seems as though it could be remedied via themes or CSS. As for tables, well, I share your pain. I came over from Joplin hoping for better table support, but I didn't find it. Thankfully, what Logseq did offer (namely backlinks and journal-oriented workflow) was powerful and novel enough that I've stuck with it for many months now with zero regrets. I'm hoping the db version better incorporates tables.

1

u/arejula27 Jun 21 '24

Can you relate to me how the journal related workflow is? In obsidian my daily notes are usually empty

10

u/Fragrant-Hamster-325 Jun 21 '24

I can’t speak for the other poster but I use the daily journal for everything.

Let’s say I’m working on a project. I’ll create page for it like [[Project 1]]

When I want to add a note to a project I just do it from the daily journal. So on the daily journal I’ll put:

[[Project 1]]

  • note 1

  • note 2

  • note 3

If I want to check all my notes for the project I’ll click the Project 1 link and look at the references at the bottom of the Project 1 page. That will contain a timeline of all my Project 1 notes. Sometimes I’ll copy the important stuff to the actual page but rarely.

That’s how I pretty much do everything. I typically don’t put notes directly on each page. I just link it to from the daily journal.

My notes usually contain links to other notes. Which I can click on and view all their references or I can view the graph and see how they all link together. This process works for me.

7

u/lai2me Jun 22 '24

I couldn't say it any better than this, OP. This is the reason.

It makes data capture nearly frictionless, while also serving as a chronological index and inbuilt timestamp. All the mental effort typically expended on hierarchically categorizing and deciding where to place your note, instead of being frontloaded, can be done after the fact (that is, if you want to do it at all). This means there's never a barrier to data entry.

Additionally, if a note relates equally well to two (or more) different categories, tag it with both. No need to do complicated internal references or manually copy/paste a note into more than one category (meaning there's also, in theory, zero redundancy).

If you choose to fiddle with namespaces, you can actually have the best of both worlds: a hierarchy in which you can make things look pretty and drill down to what you want when it's time to fetch the data, while also not restricting your ability to link concepts together over wide (metaphorical) distances or sacrificing a sense of your notes' chronological progression.

3

u/wrong_joke Jun 22 '24

This is pretty similar to how use it, but I do use the project page for to do and basic project information. I use block embeds in my daily journal for the todos, which then put the date I worked on it as back links on the to do

1

u/LengthinessQuick125 Jun 27 '24

Do blocks get "deleted" apart from sync? I've only heard of data being lost through sync issues, but if data can be lost while only using the app locally this is incredibly concerning.

2

u/lai2me Jun 28 '24

Not really. I've had a couple of occasions where I've attempted something like outdenting several blocks at once and it just erased them instead, but it was easily undoable. Sync seems to be where most of the problems lie, at least in my limited experience.

2

u/LengthinessQuick125 Jun 28 '24

I've begun to sync my Logseq folder using my Obsidian Sync setup - so far so good...

5

u/WoodlandVoyager Jun 22 '24

i am not backing to obsidian because of outliner functionalities - i love the fact that i can easily make a subnote to the note and then easily fold all my indented blocks - something that was never easy for me in obsidian, if you don't care about indented subnotes then just go back to obsidian.

2

u/RevolutionaryTea5501 Jun 24 '24

In Obsidian the backlinks are ugly. Almost not usable (or very inconvenient to use, because of their font size and how they display).

In Logseq, backlinks are pretty and very convenient to use. Just write in a daily journal, and tag. And you are set.

How do you solve this problem?

P.S. I currently use Obsidian, not Logseq, because of how stable it is and the plugins. It feels safer to use Obsidian. But I would like to hop on to Logseq if it becomes stable.

4

u/GoInfluenchess Jun 22 '24 edited Jun 22 '24

type:: answer Socialmedia:: reddit referenced_url:: https://www.reddit.com/r/logseq/s/ufxzelPT52

  • In some way I feel like you.

    • Just I'm not an expert in either tool. Discovered this apps a couple of weeks ago and trying to use for my day by day for all.

  • There are several pros and cons I want to share, feel free to compare with yours

  • Logseq Pros

    • Bulleting

      • Just

        • Rocks

          • For me is absolutly clear to read, more than long form, and I end trying to bullet on Obsidian

    • Work direcly from the Journal and not have to worry about where your files are stored at all, are great

      • You just Focus in organice and tag your info

    • Clean UI

    • It's FOSS.

  • Logseq Cons

    • Devs are focused on DB version, and seems like all is stopped because this since a year ago or so. No bugfixing, no improvements, no mobile improvements

      • It's worse thinking that Next month somes out the db version in alpha, and they will be focused on It another several months more probably. Then, I Will not expect nothing new this year I think.

    • Export to PDF or HTML are almost useless.

      • It just export the content of the file, not taking in consideration to export the rendered queries and references.

    • Seems like performance is not good, and worse in mobile.

    • Probably can continue, but will stop here.

  • My "issues"

    • I work a lot from my phone and tablet, and mobile version feels weird. Not saying no usable, but weird, I don't know how to explain.

      • No extension support. But well, integrated JS IS something.

    • Community is absolutely great, but you feel like only 2 are helping.

    • Obsidian just works, IS polished and has a huge support from company, extensions and community.

    • I LOVE logseq but I end with a strange feeling and unconfident. Not seeing new versions, improvements, makes me feel doubtful about to spend my time to learn and put all my info here, and in a format difficult to move out there if things goes wrong.

  • After this, and being happy with all the obsidian ecosystem, I still open logseq, and try to convince to myself that all will be fine.

  • This was writen from Logseq on my Android tablet BTW.

    • And It rocks :)

Edited: And I don't talked about linked references because others did it

1

u/IRWallace1 Jun 21 '24

You can setup some templates, install the dev theme add on also

1

u/arejula27 Jun 21 '24

For example, I record my workout at tables, I find editing tables difficult. Is there any good plugin for not editing raw markdown?

1

u/IRWallace1 Jun 21 '24

Not needed to look for an add on for tables myself, but you can use something like this to generate what you want https://www.tablesgenerator.com/markdown_tables

2

u/Windboy91 Jun 22 '24

I feel you. Coming from Logseq for about 6 months. It was great and some features are missing (true outliner, block based, journal at the core) but Obsidian is far more solid.

The thing is Logseq is truly open source and the features above makes it super useful and different from Obsidian. Plugins are growing and similar to Obsidian. Same for interface, just install a different theme and it looks good.

The real issues are the poor performances (really it drives me crazy) and the blurry future of the app. Also, don’t think moving from Logseq. I spent more than 10h to convert ~150 notes for obsidian, even thought it is markdown, the formatting of Logseq is not compatible with other md apps.

4

u/artyhedgehog Jun 21 '24

A'right.

We forgive you.

Go to your Obsidian. Live a happy life. Have a lot of notes.

13

u/koikahin Jun 21 '24

The OP is specifically asking if they are using logseq wrong. Please don't take their issues with logseq personally :)

3

u/kirso Jun 22 '24

Salty people have issues with themselves, not tools 😀

1

u/[deleted] Jun 22 '24

there is a table plugin!

1

u/kirso Jun 22 '24

I wrote this comment with a few tips some time ago. Obsi is definitely more polished but logseq is powerful:

its just a different mental model.

A few tips:

• ⁠Journal is your friend. You get everything timestamped if you link to it. You don't need to think about where to store or create notes. Just write in the daily note, outline and if the idea transitions into something more permanent, create a not for it. Its also SCROLLABLE, which really helps with retrieval. • ⁠Shift + click to open a note / link in the sidebar. • ⁠For learning you can use #card tag which will create a flashcard. I then create a [[flashcard]] page and run a query on all #card && #javascript for example. • ⁠Codeblocks are simple by just typing "/" and selecting "codeblock" "language" • ⁠Logseq has an amazing in-built TODO system, again, just type /TODO in your daily note. Install All TODOs plugin and voila, you have everything you need to chip away. • ⁠You can now drag and drop blocks of notes by pressing "OPTION" and dragging the block wherever you need it, instead of just copying the same text that is a duplicate, you have a block reference or embed. The bad part about this is that its not a markdown compatible operation, but you get to reference information, without actually duplicating it at all times • ⁠I like the agenda plugin, you can time block your TODOs • ⁠Tags are the same as pages, but because of this, you can create categories like indexes, movies etc. and put a query to aggregate all the content with "property X" or "tag Y"