Software:Zettlr

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Zettlr
Green square with a white zeta
Developer(s)Hendrik Erz
Initial releaseDecember 26, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-12-26)
Stable release
3.4.4 / April 16, 2025; 9 months ago (2025-04-16)
Preview release
3.1.0-beta.3 / April 28, 2024; 21 months ago (2024-04-28)
Repositorygithub.com/Zettlr/Zettlr
Written inElectron, TypeScript, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Operating systemWindows, macOS, Linux
Type
LicenseGNU General Public License
Websitezettlr.com

Zettlr is a free and open-source note-taking application that works with Markdown files.[1] Files may be exported and imported from a variety of different formats using an integration with Pandoc, whilst integration with reference managers allows for insertion of citations into documents.[2][3] Internal links may be created between notes, which can be visualised as a graph, enabling its use as a personal information management system or digital Zettelkasten.[4][5][6] The name Zettlr is derived from the German word Zettel meaning 'note'.[7]

History

Development on Zettlr began in November 2017, after the developer, Hendrik Erz, felt he had "tried several Markdown editors... and realize[d] that there [were] simply none written for the needs of organizing a huge amount of text efficiently", and that existing options were mostly "tailored to the needs of engineers and mathematicians", leading him to start developing an application that he wanted to personally use.[8][9] Version 1.0 was released in December 2018 and version 2.0 was released in October 2021.[10][11] Version 3.0 was released in September 2023, introducing a new logo as well as split view, multiple windows, pinned tabs, a status bar, and LanguageTool integration for spelling and grammar checking.[12]

Features

Zettlr is built on Electron, as a cross-platform application that runs on Windows, Linux, and macOS.[13][14] The software features 5 main built-in themes, but can be further customised using custom CSS.[15]

Zettlr operates with folders of text documents to enable organisation of notes, with top-level folders able to be opened as Workspaces within the application.[16][17] Workspaces may include a mixture of files and directories, and files can be exported to over 30 different formats such as HTML, PDF, ODT, DOCX, and LaTeX, among others, using Pandoc.[13][18] Files may either be exported individually, or as part of a project, which enables multiple files to be combined into one output document.[19] Zettlr integrates with reference managers such as Zotero, JabRef and Mendeley using CSL JSON or BibTeX files to enable inclusion of citations and bibliographies for academic writing.[16][20] Zettlr also allows for internal linking between notes, creating an interactive graph that visualises the relationships between notes, as well as the use of tags to enable further file organisation.[8][21]

The software follows the idea of explicit separation of content and form.[22][23]

See also

References

  1. Zettlr. "History". https://www.zettlr.com/history. 
  2. Mastery, Torry (2023-09-08). "Zettlr – A Comprehensive Guide" (in en). https://dotcommagazine.com/2023/09/zettlr-a-comprehensive-guide/. 
  3. Stanton, Lee (2023-11-21). "The Best Obsidian Alternatives" (in en-US). https://www.alphr.com/best-obsidian-alternatives/. 
  4. Ahrens, Sönke (2022-03-09). How to Take Smart Notes: One Simple Technique to Boost Writing, Learning and Thinking (2nd ed.). North Charleston, SC: Kindle Direct Publishing. ISBN 978-3982438801. "Even though you could basically emulate the slip-box with any program that allows setting links and tagging (like Evernote or a Wiki), I strongly recommend using one that allows backlinking like Obsidian or Roam Research, or is especially designed for this system (like Zettlr or ZKN3)" 
  5. Smith, Charlie Harry (2023-09-07). "Digitising reflective equilibrium" (in en). Ethics and Information Technology 25 (3). doi:10.1007/s10676-023-09722-w. ISSN 1388-1957. https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:e4724489-33b8-417c-99b2-495c3f40ae14/files/ssb3979773. ""...note-taking applications designed for 'personal knowledge management'. My chief recommendations are Zettlr, Logseq, and Obsidian."". 
  6. Groeneveld, Wouter; Hermans, Felienne (2023-05-30). The Creative Programmer. Shelter Island: Manning Publications. pp. 23–30. ISBN 978-1-63343-905-4. 
  7. Zettlr. "History". https://www.zettlr.com/history. 
  8. 8.0 8.1 Wohlscheid, John Paul (2019-05-20). "Zettlr – Markdown Editor for Writers and Researchers" (in en). https://itsfoss.com/zettlr-markdown-editor/. 
  9. Johanns, Sam F. (2019-04-07). "Developing Open Source Software Is A Political Act.". https://fw.asta-bonn.de/?p=309187. 
  10. "Zettlr 2.0: Persönliche Wissensdatenbank runderneuert" (in de). 2021-10-20. https://www.ifun.de/zettlr-2-0-persoenliche-wissensdatenbank-runderneuert-177166/. 
  11. Zettlr. "Zettlr 2.0.0 released". https://www.zettlr.com/post/zettlr-200-released. 
  12. "Zettlr releases v3.0: its biggest update so far, with improved features and a new icon". 2023-09-09. https://alternativeto.net/news/2023/9/zettlr-releases-v3-0-its-biggest-update-so-far-with-improved-features-and-a-new-icon/. 
  13. 13.0 13.1 Ciobica, Vladimir (2024-03-02). "Softpedia Review – Zettlr" (in english). https://www.softpedia.com/get/Office-tools/Text-editors/Zettlr.shtml. 
  14. Logix (2020-07-06). "Zettlr Markdown Editor 1.7 Adds Vim And Emacs Input Modes, Tabs Support, Faster Startup Time" (in en-us). https://www.linuxuprising.com/2020/07/zettlr-markdown-editor-17-adds-vim-and.html. 
  15. "Custom CSS – Zettlr User Manual". https://docs.zettlr.com/en/advanced/custom-css/. 
  16. 16.0 16.1 Saigal, Rahul (2018-10-03). "The 6 Best Mac Markdown Editors" (in en). https://www.makeuseof.com/tag/mac-markdown-editors/. 
  17. "Workspaces and Folders – Zettlr User Manual". https://docs.zettlr.com/en/core/workspaces/. 
  18. "Mit Zettlr Markdown-Dokumente erstellen" (in de-DE). 2024-02-15. https://www.linux-community.de/ausgaben/linuxuser/2019/09/schreibhilfe/. 
  19. "Projects – Zettlr User Manual". https://docs.zettlr.com/en/advanced/projects/. 
  20. "Citations – Zettlr User Manual". https://docs.zettlr.com/en/core/citations/. 
  21. "Zettlr Review: Is This Markdown Editor Worth It? (2024)" (in en-GB). 2022-11-16. https://becomeawritertoday.com/zettlr-review/. 
  22. Mahlow, Cerstin; Piotrowski, Michael (2022-11-18). "Proceedings of the 22nd ACM Symposium on Document Engineering". New York, NY, USA: Association for Computing Machinery. pp. 1–4. doi:10.1145/3558100.3563840. ISBN 978-1-4503-9544-1. 
  23. Perret, Arthur (2022-12-02). De l'héritage épistémologique de Paul Otlet à une théorie relationnelle de l'organisation des connaissances (phdthesis). Université Michel de Montaigne – Bordeaux III. Retrieved 2024-03-06.