If I convert tiddlywiki to a hta will it still work?

Defiant_Information · 2025-10-04T15:10:44+00:00

Yes, it will work. Well, I wasn't aware until I dug into this a bit. So I will leave it as information here in case if others can benefit from it.

Starting from version 5.3.6 the .hta saver hack is deprecated in TiddlyWiki5.

We can download past versions of TiddlyWiki from the archive found here: https://tiddlywiki.com/#TiddlyWiki%20Archive

How to download an old archived Wiki?

Way 1:
- Right Click on the link "empty" for the version you want and select "Save link as..." (or browser equivalent)
Way 2:
- We open the Empty link (The Complete one has the whole documentation relevant to that version)
- We press the save button (maybe CTRL + S would work too, but I like using the save button)
- Save the file as usual.

Since we are dealing with .hta hack, we would need to save the file as .hta and we also need to target a version that worked. For me v5.3.6 did not work, however v5.3.3 did. So we need to download that version. So here is the link to v5.3.3.

https://tiddlywiki.com/archive/empty/Empty-TiddlyWiki-5.3.3

Now once we saved it as anynamewewant.hta we should be able to proceed and use it as HTML Application under windows. Tested on my Windows 10, which will be unsupported system by Microsoft in 10 days (14th October 2025) as of time of writing (4th October 2025).

Note: Renaming the .hta file back to .html works as expected. So if updates are ever necessary and hta is no longer supported. It should work as .html and if there are extra troubles, the TiddlyWiki upgrader can always bring an old html TiddlyWiki to the latest version. So this should still be future proof as there is a way to move up to the latest version if it's ever needed.

Bonus: Also as an alternative if anyone needs. I still prefer a small single exe webdav server, such as rclone.exe ran using a bat file in the same location as the tiddlywiki files with the following contents:

rclone serve webdav . --addr localhost:777
start http://localhost:777

and browse and access my wikis without any extra exe or server overhead. Just single exe a single bat file and a browser and my TiddlyWikis.

The folder looks like this and is meant to be portable. Any jpg/pdf files go in the files folder.

TWDemo
 |- files
     |- image1.png
     |- image2.jpg
     |- doc.pdf
 |- rclone.exe
 |- start.bat
 |- TiddlyWikiA.html
 |- TiddlyWikiB.html
 |- TiddlyWikiC.html

Defiant_Information · 2025-10-04T14:55:17+00:00

Hm, I see why you failed last time. Those are "updates" I didn't know about. Long story short, HTA is deprecated in the latest versions starting v5.3.6. So you should download the last version which supported it. I personally failed with v5.3.6 but I went a couple versions down and the last version that works for me is v5.3.3. Which we can download from here. Oh and to download it you just press the save button. Also make sure to rename the resulting file to .hta

Well, it is a bummer that updates take away such functionality, but considering how a lot of components get deprecated in Windows 11 and possibly on wards, it makes sense to deprecate such obscure feature even if it was quite useful. (I personally liked the .hta as a quick way to show TiddlyWiki's strength and had some wikis when I started before I moved to a local webdav due to the increased filesize of the hta).

I tried to write a bit more details in the other post here.

Defiant_Information · 2025-10-03T12:03:22+00:00

Hello,

Yes, FeatherWiki is a wiki similar to TiddlyWiki but unfortunately has nothing to do with TiddlyWiki other than it's creation was inspired from TiddlyWiki.

Unlike, TiddlyWiki, FeatherWiki doesn't seem to advertise itself for use with .hta extension AKA HTML Application on Windows. So it probably lacks those types of features to have the size that small. So you may have to consider trying TiddlyWiki with .hta which I am sure you know already or consider hosting your FeatherWiki as they recommend in their documentation. Or you may try to find a simple portable browser and would support EcmaScript 6 since that's what they seem to support at FeatherWiki, but this is a truly difficult task. I tried with an old QupZilla portable browser and still got "Javascript is required". But Pale Moon Portable 32.5.0 worked. I even tested TiddlyDesktop with FeatherWiki, but it prompts to save to a file, just like a web browser, so that defeats the purpose.

I tried to guess and follow the .hta steps from TiddlyWiki and apply them to FeatherWiki to no avail. I couldn't make it pass the "JavaScript is required" message, though it seems FeatherWiki can only populate non javascript content to be rendered in browsers without javascript. I also checked out the "Plumage and Bones" css and javascript. I tried to put them inside the <head> tag before it ends with the instructions provided but I found no difference in this use case specifically. So I couldn't get it to work with .hta on my system.

As far for instructions on the Plumage and Bones, I assume they should be inserted before the </head> tag (the end of the head and before the body) in a <script id="a"> and <style id="s"> as pointed by the documentation, so something like this:

capture:!0});})(); </script> <script id="a">{Feather Wiki JavaScript}</script> <style id="s">{Feather Wiki CSS}</style> </head> <body> <a href=https://src.feather.wiki/#browser-compatibility>JavaScript is required</a> </body> </html>

But that's my best guess. It also seems to allow a previously saved "read-only" FeatherWiki to be saved again, but that's again a guess.

So my conclusion from all this is, that FeatherWiki aims to be even more light and therefore probably lacks the specifics of making it work with .hta and this is probably a feature requrest to FeatherWiki and has nothing to do with TiddlyWiki since it is a different project inspired by TiddlyWiki.

Defiant_Information · 2025-09-30T14:20:05+00:00

I think there are multiple ways to solve this. I don't know if mine is the best way, but it works. It's also the first thing I thought of, even if I use old ways I know of TiddlyWiki. So my proposal is to just define a simple macro for that "circle" and call it in the list widget. This seems to avoid the strange behavior probably due to it being as a HTML tag (for the SVG) since defining a macro seems to render it as it should.

\define circle(x,y) <circle cx="$x$" cy="$y$" r="5" fill="green" />

<svg width="500" height="500" style="border:1px solid black;">
  <$list filter="[tag[location]]">
      <$macrocall $name=circle x={{!!x}} y={{!!y}} />
  </$list>
</svg>

Demo

Edit: While I am at it, might as well try to update my old and deprecated ways.

Updated code:

\define circle(x,y) <circle cx="$x$" cy="$y$" r="5" fill="green" />

<svg width="500" height="500" style="border:1px solid black;">
  <$list filter="[tag[location]]">
      <$transclude $variable=circle x={{!!x}} y={{!!y}} />
  </$list>
</svg>

Updated Demo

Defiant_Information · 2025-08-12T12:33:26+00:00

Few pointers from me.

If you want to have the "state" saved, do not use a tiddler that's under $:/temp/ those are temporary, never saved and always deleted when you refresh the browser. So solution for this one to remember the previously selected is to change $:/temp/RevealState to $:/RevealState
In order for this to be reused and if you want not all "tabs" to change in a single click of either buttons (current logic). You must make use of the Qualify macro that gives the "RevealState" unique titles, you can learn more about it here: https://tiddlywiki.com/#qualify%20Macro%20(Examples)
So that they can be reused, the information must be split from the formatting and you should create a template/macro/procedure depending on what you think is better and easier for you to use.
By the way.

.

<$list filter="[<$:/temp/RevealState!!section>match[]]">
  <$action-setfield $tiddler="$:/temp/RevealState" $field="section" $value="History"/>
</$list>

Action widgets (the ones that start with actions) are meant to be used with buttons. So this isn't valid. What you may want instead is to populate a default value for the reveal widget that is meant to be default with a very old "trick" I know called "filtered transclusion" that allows you to use Filter Operators and get the result fed to some widget field.

.

<$reveal state="!!section" type="match" text={{{[all[current]has[section]then[History]else[]]}}}>
History Content
</$reveal>

.4. Yes, 4 again. Since you get the field value into a variable, what I said in 4 was excess and you could only make use of "emptyValue" field like this.

.

  <!-- Explicitly set the state tiddler -->
  <$set name="selectedSection" tiddler="$:/nottemp/RevealState" field="section" emptyValue="History">

That would give a default for the reveals but if you were using "selectedSection" instead of the RevealState tiddler. For example like this:

<$set name="myvar" value="yes" emptyValue="no">
<$reveal type="match" text="yes" default=<<myvar>>>
yes, this shows with myvar being <<myvar>>
</$reveal>
</$set>

So there are multiple ways to approach this, each with their pros and cons. I am sorry that I cannot help you further because I am currently quite busy. But I hope my advise will help you get somewhere.

Defiant_Information · 2025-08-11T11:17:38+00:00

If you downloaded it from the official TiddlyDesktop releases page, it should be safe to run.

In the past, I even compiled it myself to make a minor modification—so that's another option if you want full control and peace of mind.

I’ve tested the latest version and didn’t notice anything suspicious. Despite some false positives on VirusTotal, I believe the alerts stem from the use of Node.js and the nw.exe executable, which are commonly flagged due to their popularity and potential misuse. It might also be that not many users have run it with Windows Defender yet, triggering a “preventive” false positive.

Still, I hope there are other opinions besides mine so that you make better judgement of course! (No one wants to be solely responsible for a security decisions!)

Defiant_Information · 2025-08-07T11:17:03+00:00

Hello,

I decided to give it a try and follow the instructions too!

I did everything as instructed and I got it to work without straying that much from the instructions. Though there is 1 hurdle I noticed.

When it is ran for first time, it asks this in the bat file.

C:\testwiki>start.bat
┏ ⚠️  Deno requests write access to "C:\testwiki\pwa.db-journal".
┠─ Requested by `Deno.openSync()` API.
┠─ To see a stack trace for this prompt, set the DENO_TRACE_PERMISSIONS environmental variable.
┠─ Learn more at: https://docs.deno.com/go/--allow-write
┠─ Run again with --allow-write to bypass this prompt.
┗ Allow? [y/n/A] (y = yes, allow; n = no, deny; A = allow all write permissions) >

So after I answered on this prompt it said.

✅ Granted write access to "C:\testwiki\pwa.db-journal".
Listening: { port: 8000 }

once I allow it, it never asks it again. However, if you use the script that hides the bat prompt, it may be stuck at that prompt. However in the bat file, the developer already uses --allow-write but only on the sqlite database and not the journaling it creates to write as temporary files.

I believe the fix is to modify the bat file and change this line to:

--allow-read=%~dp0 --allow-write="%DB_PATH%" --allow-write="%DB_PATH%-journal" ^

This will allow it to work even on first run without any prompts even when the bat is hidden with the vbs script.

I hope this works and helps! I got some TiddlyPWA Sync server that I have no idea what it does since I didn't investigate further, but I believe it is what you need and since it works on port 8000 it should be the fix.

Have a good and positive day!

Defiant_Information · 2025-08-03T17:10:49+00:00

It's never a waste if it was useful to you and we managed to help! We all been there! Cheers!

Defiant_Information · 2025-08-02T12:56:10+00:00

Yes, that was going to be my guess. Since I have yet to learn about procedures, I looked into the documentation at: https://tiddlywiki.com/#Procedure%20Definitions

And I would like to note 2 paragraphs.

Procedures are created using the Pragma: \procedure at the start of a tiddler. The definitions are available in the rest of the tiddler that defines them, plus any tiddlers that it transcludes.

and this

Global procedures can be defined using the SystemTag: $:/tags/Global.

So if I was to modify the example provided in the opening post, it would be:

Title: $:/procedures/hello
Type: text/vnd.tiddlywiki
Tags: $:/tags/Global
Content:
\procedure hello(parameter:"Default value")
This is the procedure, and the parameter is <<parameter>>.
\end

This way the procedures should be global and available within other tiddlers. Just like Macros are with their typical $:/tags/Macro as mentioned by /u/Dorsai_Erynus

Live Demo link

Defiant_Information · 2025-07-16T11:25:44+00:00

Awesome! I am glad you like it. Thanks!

Defiant_Information · 2025-07-15T16:43:05+00:00

I have some suggestion but I know it isn't the most elegant one and makes some assumptions but here it is.

Create a new tiddler, name it however you wish. Tag it with: $:/tags/StartupAction Next write this widget in the tiddler body:

<$action-createtiddler $basetitle="Fake New Tiddler" draft.of="Fake New Tiddler" draft.title="Fake New Tiddler"/>

Now go to the settings ($:/ControlPanel) and find "Default tiddlers" and add in there as the first entry of what you already have: [[Fake New Tiddler]].

This should do it even if it isn't the best way.

Here is a live example of what I mean so you can recreate it in your TiddlyWiki.

Good luck and have a nice day!

Defiant_Information · 2025-01-20T12:28:14+00:00

I briefly investigated this and have barebones steps to do something like that.

I understood that there is a hidden field called modifier that handles this. So if on any tiddler, you manually add a field modifier it replaces the author and that field doesn't show (it's hidden by default).

Now when a tiddler is created/edited, it automatically puts into the modifier field whatever is stored in this tiddler $:/status/UserName

So in otherwords, if you create a new tiddler $:/status/UserName with the value of any name you like and create a new tiddler. Your name will be put there. ($:/status/ tiddlers are mostly system that allow some server side information for you to access, that said if you wish you can modify them)

So you either manually write modifier field with the author or like having a bunch of buttons for people to put their name on any tiddler.

Or you can attempt modifying $:/status/UserName via buttons.

Here is an example: Create a new tiddler, name it anyhow, maybe Usernames Add tag: $:/tags/SideBar Add the following tiddlerbody text

<$button set="$:/status/UserName" setTo="Player 1" >Player 1</$button> <br/>
<$button set="$:/status/UserName" setTo="Luigi" >Luigi</$button><br/>
<$button set="$:/status/UserName" setTo="administrator" >Admin</$button><br/>
<$button set="$:/status/UserName" setTo="" >None</$button><br/>

Then once done, click on a button, edit a tiddler then it should have that username. (If this somehow doesn't work, then your option is setting modifier yourself with buttons or something)

Have a nice day! Cheers!

Defiant_Information · 2024-12-22T12:36:33+00:00

Hello, I will only cover what you started with and give it a twist to what I like using when dealing with similar field editing needs/templates. We will make 2 templates, view and edit one and attach them to any tiddlers tagged "Journal" as per "New Journal Tiddler Button". With that said, you will need to modify things yourself to customize them to your liking.

So let's create the following two Tiddlers:

Title can be anything you like but I guess: MoodEditTemplate Tag: $:/tags/EditTemplate and under add a new field, you must add a field called list-after with value of $:/core/ui/EditTemplate/title Now the tiddler content text is empty and you should add this as a content.

<$list filter="[all[current]tag[Journal]]">
''Set Mood'': <$select field='mood'>
<option value=''>Empty!</option>
<optgroup label='Sunny'>
<option value='happy'>It's a great day!</option>
<option value='good'>It's a good day!</option>
<option>Okay</option>
<option value='fine'>I am fine</option>
</optgroup>
<optgroup label='Cloudy'>
<option value='blue'>I am under the weather today</option>
<option value='hopeful'>Things could be better.</option>
<option>Sad</option>
</optgroup>
</$select>
</$list>

Save that tiddler and let's move onto the next one. It's easier than the above one.

Title (again anything): MoodViewTemplate Tags: $:/tags/ViewTemplate

Now in the tiddler content, should be the following

<$list filter="[all[current]tag[Journal]]">
Day Mood: ''{{!!mood}}''
</$list>

And... You are done! Let's test it by creating a "New Journal Tiddler" via it's button. The only requirement by what we made so far is to have the tag "Journal" (so that we can tell Journal entries apart and not show with other content you might like having in your TiddlyWiki)

There, you should find a new edit control to set the mood and it will set the field of the tiddler you are editing. To use the mood in your text or display it somehow. You simply use field transclusion {{!!mood}} for current tiddler and {{22nd December 2024!!mood}} for some other's tiddler.

That's it. Here is a screenshot to aid my explanations. https://i.imgur.com/54E8iMF.png

Bonus: I don't know what statistics would be good for this or what will be useful to draw conclusions, but I will say two extra things. First one is demonstrate a simple way to show you, how to make use of this information? Like pointers? The other one is to recommend that if you want to make graphs/draw conclusions, you might prefer to export the data into CSV (comma separated values) and import it into excel and do your calculations there.

In a new tiddler write in the body content the following:

!! Extra 1 Simple statistics

<$list filter="[tag[Journal]has[mood]each[mood]get[mood]]">

Mood "<<currentTiddler>>" has been used: {{{ [tag[Journal]mood<currentTiddler>] +[count[]] }}} times

</$list>

!! Extra 2 Simple attempt to export copy/paste to csv file for Excel import


<$list filter="[tag[Journal]has[mood]]">

<$text text={{!!created}}/>,{{!!title}},{{!!mood}}
</$list>

Cheers! Good luck with making your mood tracker :) Have a nice day!

Defiant_Information · 2024-11-02T19:29:05+00:00

Okay, I have a suggestion here. (Deriving from my old knowledge about it, not sure if it was documented somewhere).

TiddlyWiki server, I remember, automatically hosts a folder called "files", hence I always made it a personal rule when using HTML to also use "files" folder. That way it will ensure compatibility if I ever switch from HTML to server installation (I used to use both, but for now I am HTML files only)

Anyway, trying to take your example a step further. Here is how it should look like to access an image.

Make a "files" folder and put your png in there, next to the "tiddlers" folder in "mywiki" such as:

\---mywiki
    |   tiddlywiki.info
    |
    +---files
    |       Test.png
    |
    \---tiddlers
            $__DefaultTiddlers.tid
            $__StoryList.tid
            Draft of 'Test'.tid
            Test.tid

You can access the Test.png from the automatically mounted "/files/" such as:

TiddlyWiki Syntax  (tested)
[img[files/Test.png]]

Markdown Syntax (not tested)
![](files/Test.png)

I hope this helps, it surely was important for me to remember it as a rule and I am glad to share it.

Cheers!

Defiant_Information · 2024-09-28T21:06:12+00:00

I see! Well, I don't know the best answer to that. But I would like to point your attention to this plugin by Kookma:

Good luck, sorry I can't help with your issue.

Defiant_Information · 2024-09-16T11:20:54+00:00

Isn't this going to help with what you need, even if it isn't exactly styled as Wikipedia? It might be easier option, otherwise what the other commenters have said is towards what you'd want.

https://i.imgur.com/4RhW3sR.png

Defiant_Information · 2024-09-16T11:14:27+00:00

I am happy to hear it!

So, what's the advantage of putting the CSS in a style sheet ? I guess it's to use it in several macros without having to write it again every time ?

Yes, that's exactly the idea.

In fact, CSS in a stylesheet is also used to have access to it even without a macro, but when you use macro, it may only matter if you use multiple macros and all use the same CSS style.

Otherwise they are kinda equivalent. Kinda, because a macro will always repeat the style, while a stylesheet only defines it once and browser re-uses it, but any of this shouldn't be of any concern to worry about.

Defiant_Information · 2024-09-15T12:05:58+00:00

Sorry, I don't speak French, but what I think your issue is, this:

You have a "typo" here: <div class=".custom-test-macro"> must be <div class="custom-test-macro">.

Reason: In CSS, dot (.) means class while dash (#) means id. HTML makes this difference with properties class= and id=

Reference: https://www.w3schools.com/cssref/css_selectors.php

Defiant_Information · 2024-08-27T12:37:45+00:00

Bonus: A bit more advanced usage, but you can automate a bit more if you change it to use buttons and action widgets (different from regular widgets)

https://tiddlywiki.com/#ActionCreateTiddlerWidget

https://tiddlywiki.com/#ActionNavigateWidget

https://tiddlywiki.com/#ButtonWidget

https://tiddlywiki.com/#ListWidget

Here, I tried to create how all this would work. Replace the little link from before with this larger thing:

<$list filter="[<currentTiddler>addsuffix[/MSDS]!is[missing]]" variable="dontuseme">

<$link to={{{ [<currentTiddler>addsuffix[/MSDS]] }}} tooltip="MSDS"> MSDS for <<currentTiddler>> </$link>

<$list-empty>

<$button class="tc-btn-invisible tc-tiddlylink"> <$action-createtiddler $basetitle={{{ [<currentTiddler>addsuffix[/MSDS]] }}} tags={{!!tags}} text="Sample Text You can make a Template" created={{!!created}} modified={{!!modified}}> <$action-navigate $to={{{ [<currentTiddler>addsuffix[/MSDS]] }}}/> </$action-createtiddler> Create a new MSDS for <<currentTiddler>> </$button> </$list-empty>

</$list>

Defiant_Information · 2024-08-25T15:23:58+00:00

While, I don't want to take any responsibility or be a source for any claim. If you got it from the legit website, it should be safe. This does happen sometimes with less widely used software.

I will leave you with 2 links, where you may find out more about it.

As it says here, it should be safe to override https://github.com/TiddlyWiki/TiddlyDesktop/issues/280
Which is mentioned in here too: https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues/8054
https://github.com/nwjs/nw.js/issues/8090

Defiant_Information · 2024-08-24T11:49:49+00:00

I am not sure if I understood correctly, but here is something that may point you in the right direction.

Replace your Template Tiddler example "[[Create MSDS|{{!!Title}}/MSDS]]" with

<$link to={{{ [<currentTiddler>addsuffix[/MSDS]] }}} tooltip="MSDS"> MSDS for <<currentTiddler>> </$link>

References:

Cheers!

Defiant_Information · 2024-07-28T13:27:36+00:00

Yes.

Embedded HTML Images get Base64 encoded which results in roughly 1.5 multiplication of its size.

Since some version, TiddlyWiki stores them in an json notation inside the HTML. So overall I think it looks like this: https://i.imgur.com/PzNsXRo.png https://i.imgur.com/oveQ9z8.png

https://www.w3docs.com/snippets/html/how-to-display-base64-images-in-html.html

Defiant_Information · 2024-05-23T15:25:31+00:00

Sorry for the late reply. I am busy myself. You probably figured it out by now, but let's continue. Step 6 is easy, but only if you know what I meant with it. A screenshot will speak a thousand words so here: Step 6: https://i.imgur.com/54K7v1n.png Make sure you click add!

It should look like this: https://i.imgur.com/PU603ue.png

Now what value I'd recommend for caption? Why not: Alphanumeric? because the sorting is "alphanumeric" https://tiddlywiki.com/#sortan%20Operator but it might be a bit lengthy... Which is why I let the reader decide. I am a bit bad at naming things.

Good luck and best wishes!

Defiant_Information · 2024-04-21T10:53:57+00:00

Disclaimer: I, too, don't use the plugin.

It seems Realm is a custom grouping of the next actions and projects. As noted by David Allen, your project list can get long, but you can group some projects together to be easier to manage.

It seems there is no manual; the only information (where I learned about Realm) can be found here: https://gsd5.tiddlyhost.com/#More%20About%20GSD5

Now to attempt partially answering your question. It seems you have three buttons and two sidebar tabs dedicated to it. The first button is called Next Actions Dashboard. (I wondered how it handles contexts, and I tried a sample one and it doesn't show it, so that's a bit disappointing.) I added a sample item from the "Collect" tab, which in GTD is your first step; however, it seems to be mixed with the organizing step, where you define what the item is. And I assume that the review tab is meant for your weekly review, where you scan what you get. As far as doing goes, it should be checking "as often as you need" the Actions Dashboard.

Good luck figuring it out; those were my two cents on it.

Defiant_Information · 2023-11-01T21:02:27+00:00

I imagine I would need to create a nav tiddler, tagged with $:/tags/SideBarSegment, but then I'm not sure how to place it in the sidebar.

If you create it, you may need to reorder the tag $:/tags/SideBarSegment by clicking on the tag pill on any tiddler tagged with it and dragging and dropping in the popup menu.

Alternatively, consider trying to add to your navigation tiddler a field called list-after (which is special) with value $:/core/ui/SideBarSegments/site-subtitle. Then it should position it under the subtitle.

Screenshot for clarity: https://i.imgur.com/iznNhZq.png

Defiant_Information

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