cross-posted from: https://sh.itjust.works/post/67490052

Is it possible to use joplin on my phone and desktop with syncthing?

I cannot figure out how to sync Joplin with anything, but I do use syncthing to basically back up my whole phone to my desktop whenever I'm on WiFi. Can I use desktop Joplin to access the syncthing folder and edit notes?

Certainly. This is what I do:

1. Set up Syncthing normally (which you have obviously already done)
2. Within the folder that you are synchronizing with Syncthing, create a new folder called joplin or something
3. In Joplin (on desktop, mobile, and every device), set the synchronization target to your local filesystem.

• Configuration > Synchronization > Synchronization target > File system

1. Point it to your joplin folder that you created in step 2

• Configuration > Synchronization > Directory to synchronize with (absolute path) > /your/path/here/joplin

I use the docker version of the Joplin Server, it syncs with everything I've thrown at it which is a laptop, my Android Phone(s) over the years and my Desktop with no issues. It's super basic so you just set up an account in the self hosted server and then proceed to login using the Synchronization settings in your Joplin App.

If you have any existing data, Make sure to Back it up First!

This is my compose I use. Sub with your values obviously.

services:
    db:
        image: postgres:15.4-bullseye
        volumes:
            - /mnt/appdata/joplindb:/var/lib/postgresql/data
        ports:
            - "5432:5432"
        restart: unless-stopped
        environment:
            - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
            - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
            - POSTGRES_DB=joplin
    app:
        image: joplin/server:latest
        depends_on:
            - db
        ports:
            - "22300:22300"
        restart: unless-stopped
        environment:
            - APP_PORT=22300
            - APP_BASE_URL=https://public.url.example.com/
            - DB_CLIENT=pg
            - POSTGRES_PASSWORD=postgres
            - POSTGRES_DATABASE=joplin
            - POSTGRES_USER=postgres
            - POSTGRES_PORT=5432
            - POSTGRES_HOST=db
            - MAILER_ENABLED=1
            - MAILER_HOST=yourmailhost
            - MAILER_PORT=587
            - MAILER_SECURE=0
            - MAILER_AUTH_USER=Your Email user
            - MAILER_AUTH_PASSWORD=Your Super Secret Password
            - MAILER_NOREPLY_NAME=Your No Reply Name (eg:  Noreply box)
            - MAILER_NOREPLY_EMAIL=no reply email address
            - TZ=America/Los_Angeles 
volumes:
  joplindb:

And then in the settings for the sync in the app:

To get there, Go to the Tools > Options > Synchronization

Hopefully this will help. :)

Yep this is the correct answer. Been using Joplin server and syncs fine between android and linux pc.

Joplin can use WebDAV syncing: https://whhone.com/posts/webdav-syncthing/

I used to use Nextcloud with WebDAV for this purpose. That was before Joplin made their own server. I have since moved on to Notion, though.

I use a free (up to 10 GB) backblaze b2 s3 bucket. and use it in the synch settings.

All devices synched into it, I could have also hosted a joplin server but figured the s3 is better in my use case.

You absolutely can. You just need to setup an S3 bucket somewhere, be it cloud or a local S3 compatible storage like a minio server.

My honest recommendation here would be to use Notesnook instead. I used Joplin for a while, and when I found Notesnook I switched immediately. It's just flat out better at basically everything Joplin does, and it's still open source. No need to run syncthing, use the notesnook server to sync and backup everything.

i use Webdav on Nextcloud, i also don't know what I'm doing, so i have no idea if that's a good idea

I need to figure.out what WebDAV is ha!I have a synology nas but I don't have time to do all the tinkering and the docker whatever it is everyone's talking about. Its really confusing.

I have 0 clue how anyone ever figures this stuff out! Geniuses here. I'll give this a try. The last thing I tried on my nas it ended up freezing and never installed so hopefully this works.

This may be the easiest one for me

If you already have Syncthing set up, yeah, it's probably the simplest option. No need to install anything new, set up a new account somewhere, start a new Docker container, etc. I certainly haven't tried all the options out there, but I don't have any complaints about performance with this Joplin sync solution.

This is also my approach. You need a server someplace to do it. However VPNs like tailscale help a lot with this. I have a personal webdav just for joplin sync.

This is fair! You have to be an enthusiast and/or stubborn as hell to get through a new setup, esp where webdav is not packaged like other apps. Maybe choose a cloud sync option.

I need to switch to this. I assume you get a web UI as well!

Can confirm, this works great! One time setup and never look back. Syncing iPhone, and multiple macOS desktops. Knock on wood, never had a single issue.