Zim – A Text Editor to Manage and Organize Wiki Pages

Zim is a lightweight and open-source graphical text editor specifically built to help maintain wiki pages using a typically simple UI with panels containing various formatting options and a navigation panel on the left.

In Zim, all pages can contain links to other pages and images which are all stored in a folder structure and can have attachments.

Zim can also be integrated with multiple plugins to provide additional functionality, like a tray icon, a task list manager, and support for version control (among others).

Watch Zim in action in the below video.

Features in Zim

  • Archiving – create and maintain a collection of all your notes.
  • Notes – Take quick notes during meetings and/or lectures.
  • Organization – create and organize multiple task lists.
  • Blogging – draft blog entries, letters, emails, e.t.c.
  • Plugin Support – use several free plugins to execute tasks including spell checking, an editing equations, using calendar pages e.t.c.
  • Brainstorm – take down quick notes and pictograms to help you remember things later.
  • Export to HTML – write blog posts without worrying about format issues.
  • Wiki – use wiki style format and key bindings to organize your web content.
  • Autosave – switch between pages without losing content or scroll focus.

Zim supports various markup types some of which are headings, bold, italic, and bullet lists. All markups are saved as wiki text in order for users to easily edit them using other text editors.

Zim can be easily installed from its PPA with updates on Ubuntu and its derivatives.

$ sudo add-apt-repository ppa:jaap.karssenberg/zim
$ sudo apt-get update
$ sudo apt-get install zim

For other Linux distributions, Zim can be easily installed from source, for instructions to build from source can be found here.

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Have you used Zim before to take notes and keep track of your added material before? You are welcome to share your opinion on the app’s workflow in the comments section below.

Thanks to Howard Pepper for suggesting Zim in our article on NixNote2.

Divine Okoi is a cybersecurity postgrad with a passion for the open-source community. With 700+ articles covering different topics in IT, you can always trust him to inform you about the coolest tech.

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