Must-Know Bits 👇 — Has a clever name. — Is easy to get used to. — Features a minimal editor.
Markdown is a popular markup language for note-taking, primarily for its simplicity and versatility. Its plain text formatting ensures that users can quickly create clean, readable notes without the need to deal with complex tools and interfaces.
Over the years, numerous Markdown note editors have emerged, each offering a range of useful features while striving to balance functionality and simplicity.
With the latest App Of The Week, we will be taking a look at KleverNotes, a fairly fresh arrival in the space.
KleverNotes: Markdown Done Right
Born out of the lead developer Louis Schul's personal desire to learn QML and C++ while motivating them to take notes in class, KleverNotes received its first stable release back in October 2024.
⭐ Key Features
Other than its “klever” name, the KleverNotes app has support for plugins that extend basic Markdown functionality with useful opt-in tools like syntax highlighting, quick emojis, note linking, and PlantUML (for creating diagrams).
I used the Flatpak package for KleverNotes 1.1.0 on my Fedora 40-equipped laptop to get an overview of the note-taking workflow.
Before I could do anything, I had to select a storage location for KleverNotes to save the notes in. I manually created a new folder and defined it using the “Create storage” option. There was also an option for choosing an existing storage location.
When that was set, a demo note loaded up showing me what KleverNotes could do, with relevant information on various Markdown elements. I then created two new categories by right-clicking on the existing note category and populating the new ones with some notes.
Creating new note categories and notes is simple on KleverNotes.
The Markdown note editing experience is a pleasant one. There are some small quirks here and there, but overall, it is a great experience. If you want to enter Markdown syntax, you can; if you are too lazy (like me), then you can use the handy tools at the top of the editor.
KleverNotes' note editing experience being showcased via a journal of Bond Forger.
I could also add images to the notes by clicking on the image button in the toolbar, with KleverNotes appending it to the line my cursor was on. I could either add a web image from a website, upload a local image, or draw one.
If I wanted, I could make the app save the uploaded image in the same folder as the note to prevent misplacing it. I recommend you enable this so that you don't lose any important images.
Then there's the useful Markdown cheat sheet that can be accessed from the bottom-left of the app for those needing a refresher of the various elements.
KleverNotes can also be used to create to-dos.
Alongside all the notes, there is a separate “TODO” section where you can create to-dos for important tasks, ticking them off as they are completed. You can add a helpful description to those for easy tracking.
If you notice in the screenshots above, many buttons in the toolbar are not visible. I had to slowly hover over them to see which one was which. I used the quick emoji plugin to decorate a task list, that worked out well, though.
The Plugins and Note preview settings pages of KleverNotes.
But, to enable that in the first place, one has to go into the “Plugins” settings page and manually enable it. Similarly, the settings menu contains other useful options for changing the style, font, and text color.
To wrap things up, I really like what KleverNotes offers, but there are a few things I miss, such as a dark mode for the interface and an easy way to import/export notes.
However, it’s understandable since the app is still relatively new. Being under the KDE umbrella, it is likely to receive regular updates and improvements going forward.
⚙️ Installing KleverNotes on Linux
Currently, KleverNotes is available for Linux via Flathub, with the GitLab repo hosting the source code for those looking to build from source or contribute to the project.
Abhishek Prakash
