Zim

Zim is a desktop wiki editor designed for organizing notes, tasks, and documents in a hierarchical folder structure. Each page supports links to other pages, simple formatting, inline images, and attachments. Creating new pages is intuitive by simply linking to a nonexistent page name. All content is saved in plain text files using wiki markup, ensuring portability and version control compatibility.

Zim is ideal for various personal and professional use cases including archiving notes, maintaining daily or weekly journals, taking meeting or lecture notes, organizing task lists, drafting blog entries and emails, and brainstorming sessions. Its plugin system extends functionality with features like task list management, equation editing, tray icons, and version control integration.

The tool operates through a graphical interface by default but offers command-line modes for server operation, exporting, importing, searching, and indexing notebooks. This flexibility makes it suitable for both interactive use and automated workflows.

Zim stores wiki pages as plain text files in a folder hierarchy mimicking an outliner structure, using wiki formatting for links, formatting, and images. Pages reference each other via links, with attachments stored alongside. Plugins extend core functionality by processing wiki markup for tasks, equations, etc. Command-line modes handle specific operations: --server runs a web interface on port 8080 by default, --export converts wiki content to formats like HTML, --import parses external files into wiki format, --search queries page content, and --index builds searchable indexes.