Zettlr

Overview of Zettlr (Writing scientific texts and taking notes)

Zettlr is a reliable companion for writing scientific texts and taking notes. It is made for academics in the humanities and arts and is intended to keep your content apart from your design, but close to the notes you take. Zettlr supports almost every conceivable way to create links and identify your files. In other words: No matter where you come from — all Zettelkästen are beautiful and supported by Zettlr. Out of the box.

Zettlr v2

Zettlr isn't a Notepad++ or WordPad alternative, but it can be for those who want to write. The app has so many features while remaining intuitive, and we were blown away in only 30 minutes of testing.

Features of Zettlr:

• File-agnostic editing. Zettlr does not store any information about your files, except in your files. This way you can always switch to and from Zettlr. Every file you see inside the preview pane corresponds to a file on your disk. With no special additions that might render the use of your files difficult for other editors.
• Zettelkasten-Methods implemented directly into the app. With Zettlr, you can link files and searches using "Wiki-Links" in the format [[your search text|@ID:ID]], give IDs by typing @ID:Your-ID-Here and tag your files using Twitter-like hashtags: #hashtag. Holding down the Alt-key and clicking on links will try to open exact-match files and also initiate searches, while Alt-clicks on tags will simply initiate searches. More features are likely to come.
• A directory list. This list contains all open directories and files. You can open new directories by pressing Cmd/Ctrl+O. New files can be opened simply by double clicking them in your file browser or by dragging them onto the app. Every time you start the app, all previously opened paths will be re-loaded.
• A preview pane that lists all the files that are inside the currently selected directory and separates them by their subdirectory. Just click on a file to open it in …
• … the editor, which takes the most space and is the crucial component that actually makes Zettlr an editor. You are able to write Markdown-files in the area, a slim text format that keeps formatting to a bare minimum.
• Exporting options. Using the open source software pandoc and LaTeX, Zettlr enables you to export all files on the fly in a variety of formats; currently HTML, DOCX, ODT and PDF. Just open a file and press Cmd/Ctrl+E.
• Searching. Zettlr enables you to quickly search through your files to find what you are looking for in a fraction of the time you'd need if you store all your information in several word documents that you'd have to open and search.
• A toolbar containing all functions in handy button-form.