Zim, the cross-platform desktop wiki
Daily Diary

Organize your ideas, notes, and shopping lists with Zim, a handy tool that enshrines the principle of the wiki on your Linux, Mac OS, or Windows desktop.
The word wiki [1] comes from Hawaiian and means "fast." The term refers to a system in which HTML documents on the Internet are both read and edited using a web browser. The most prominent example of a wiki is the Wikipedia online encyclopedia.
Other wikis inhabit both large and small projects within the open source universe. Many wikis are used for documentation purposes. Debian, Ubuntu, and Arch Linux are known for their comprehensive wikis. A wiki's main task is to organize content in a structured way. Many of the popular wiki tools are designed for collaboration over the network, but the wiki concept also provides benefits for a single user working at a single desktop. Zim is a handy desktop wiki that is useful for brainstorming and knowledge gathering, as well as building task lists and organizing documents and books.
Versatile
Zim [2] transfers the principle of a wiki to the desktop. To operate Zim, you do not need a web server or a database (Figure 1). The Zim desktop wiki is available for Linux, Mac OS X, and Windows; it uses the same data format across all platforms. If you are looking for something to compare to Zim, a tool from the Windows world that also runs on Linux, such as WikidPad [3], is conceptually similar, but Zim goes well beyond WikidPad's capabilities.
Zim is based on the GTK framework and resides in the repositories of most Linux distributions.
Markup and Versioning
Every page created in Zim is stored on disk as a text file with a wiki markup. The program organizes these files into notebooks, which can best be compared with the database of traditional wikis.
To create a new page, first create a link to the initially non-existent page. You can then add references to other sites to the text of the page. Zim also supports plugins, including one for versioning, which stores the editing history for a document in the form of the version control systems (VCSs) Git, Bazaar, or Mercurial (Figure 2).
You need to install the VCS locally on the computer. As soon as you enable the plugin via the settings, you can store the current version of a document using the File | Save version menu.
Although Zim is intended for local use and focused on the single user, the versioning feature does provide an option for collaboration. The VCS structure is also shown in file managers that display version controlled documents separately, such as Dolphin or Files, the file manager formerly known as Nautilus (Figure 3).
Extensible Through Plugins
You can extend the Zim desktop wiki using around 30 preinstalled plugins. On top of this list, you will find numerous plugins by external developers on GitHub [4]. These plugins include support for formulas, charts, and music notation, plus a source code view and a spell checker. Zim can "print" to an HTML file and has a table editor, keyword management tool, and calculator (Figure 4).
You can format text in various ways and supplement it with pictures, lists, enumerations, and annexes. In the Tools | Custom tools menu, Zim gives users the opportunity to create their own extensions. In addition, you can launch your own web server in the Tools menu and thus view your Zim wiki in the browser.
Buy this article as PDF
(incl. VAT)
Buy Linux Magazine
Subscribe to our Linux Newsletters
Find Linux and Open Source Jobs
Subscribe to our ADMIN Newsletters
Support Our Work
Linux Magazine content is made possible with support from readers like you. Please consider contributing when you've found an article to be beneficial.
News
-
The GNU Project Celebrates Its 40th Birthday
September 27 marks the 40th anniversary of the GNU Project, and it was celebrated with a hacker meeting in Biel/Bienne, Switzerland.
-
Linux Kernel Reducing Long-Term Support
LTS support for the Linux kernel is about to undergo some serious changes that will have a considerable impact on the future.
-
Fedora 39 Beta Now Available for Testing
For fans and users of Fedora Linux, the first beta of release 39 is now available, which is a minor upgrade but does include GNOME 45.
-
Fedora Linux 40 to Drop X11 for KDE Plasma
When Fedora 40 arrives in 2024, there will be a few big changes coming, especially for the KDE Plasma option.
-
Real-Time Ubuntu Available in AWS Marketplace
Anyone looking for a Linux distribution for real-time processing could do a whole lot worse than Real-Time Ubuntu.
-
KSMBD Finally Reaches a Stable State
For those who've been looking forward to the first release of KSMBD, after two years it's no longer considered experimental.
-
Nitrux 3.0.0 Has Been Released
The latest version of Nitrux brings plenty of innovation and fresh apps to the table.
-
Linux From Scratch 12.0 Now Available
If you're looking to roll your own Linux distribution, the latest version of Linux From Scratch is now available with plenty of updates.
-
Linux Kernel 6.5 Has Been Released
The newest Linux kernel, version 6.5, now includes initial support for two very exciting features.
-
UbuntuDDE 23.04 Now Available
A new version of the UbuntuDDE remix has finally arrived with all the updates from the Deepin desktop and everything that comes with the Ubuntu 23.04 base.