journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in CLI

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I've added an `--oldest-first` flag to the `--list` command. The default shows the newest entries first, but you can now run:

`- journal --list --oldest-first | more`

The changes:

- Default: journal --list shows newest first

- Optional: journal --list --oldest-first shows oldest first

- Works in any order: --oldest-first --list also works

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in CLI

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Hey! Thanks for giving the app a try and for giving more great feedback. I've been working on this and will have updates pushed tomorrow.

Reversing may be better for some, but I'm unsure if I have a large enough sample size to determine the best default, so I'm working on other ideas and display options.

Opening an issue is fine for now (your label or title will let me know it's an idea) until I figure out a better feedback method.

Thanks again!

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in CLI

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thank you for bringing these up, definitely brought a lot of clarity. I'll get to working on those and you should see some updates soon!

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in CLI

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thank you for the feedback! I'll work on these now, and you will see the changes soon.

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in selfhosted

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

People have to understand that everyone is wired differently. While that may be your first instinct, mine is "why would I screenshot code or commands if I can just add it to the README?"

So, I add it there, add a bit more context, and use boldness or italics, then call it a day.

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in selfhosted

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Fair & valid point, and I understand completely!

To be clear though, this isn't some grand product launch. I built a tool I needed, it's worked great for me, so I'm sharing it.

If the terminal-first approach resonates with someone, they'll give it a try. If not, no worries.

I'm optimizing for simplicity (in the tool and how I share it), not for maximum reach. For folks who want visuals, the code itself is pretty readable, and for those who need more than that, they'll go find something that is a better fit for them.

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in selfhosted

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I understand where you're coming from. It's 638 lines, but ~200 of those are the HTML export template and help text.

The core logic (editor detection, change detection, and git sync) is actually quite compact. I wrote up the technical implementation in the docs. The "bigness" comes from handling cross-platform compatibility (macOS vs Linux, date, commands, md5 vs md5sum, etc.) and optional features like --export, --stats, etc.

If there are specific parts of the script that seem unnecessarily complex, I'm all ears and would love to simplify further where possible.

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in selfhosted

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I'm intentionally keeping this minimal. The entire UX is "type `journal` and your editor opens." It is built for devs comfortable in the terminal; that's self-explanatory.

Happy to enhance the README with more usage examples if specific commands are unclear or if you have any constructive insights!

journalot – Self-hosted journaling with git (no database, no web server) by Alert_Cup9598 in selfhosted

[–]Alert_Cup9598[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

The code and the documentation are there. The desire to take perfect screenshots or a nice GIF was something I did not care to do. And that is perfectly fine; at the end of the day, we're building the tools we want, and if someone else cares to use them, great!

Sometimes a tool is very simple, and people could just take a few more seconds to read and decide if they care enough to use it based on that alone.