Synology package to compete with Devonthink?

[jmanko16]

I am looking to adjust my workflow and considering Devonthink. It is an excellent piece of software (and quite frankly overkill for my needs). I am wondering if there is a better option that I can leverage my DS918+ before I spend the money on more software.

What I am trying to do:
-have all my data in one area that is searchable, most of which is OCR'd PDFs
-use obsidian for notes and link to files as needed (this gets a bit complex since I use macOS/iOS/iPadOS in my home life, but work is PC.....obsidian only syncs with iCloud folder)

Current setup and what I have tried:
-all files are in Synology drive, all are searchable
-my obsidian vault lies in iCloud, but I can get it to sync to dropbox, which then can get pulled down to my Synology drive (since obsidian doesn't support webdav, only way I could figure out to get my obsidian vault/files to Synology)
-this makes all my data searchable in Synology drive which is decent
-limitations of this set up"
-difficult to tag (aka if you do it on any iOS/Mac device it doesn't pull through to drive, if I tag in drive its not viewable in obsidian etc)
-linking files to my obsidian vault doesn't seem possible
-while tagging isn't absolutely crucial and workaround such as tags in the filename might be workable, without being able to link to the files in obsidian (or other note taking app) I'm not sure its worth the hassle

Considerating/trying right now:
-devonthink is excellent, I just hate that the database is local and not on my server
-with devonthinks sync store I can use webdav on Synology and sync to all my iOS devices and this works well, and devonthink lets me "index" the files of my obsidian vault which effectively makes them all searchable within obsidian as well

I appreciate any input into my workflow (or if you need clarifications please let me know!). I have previously tried to setup a system such as Mayan but had difficulty and unable to get it to run in docker. Also while I do have a few things running on Synology docker (ocrmypdf, calibre and calibreweb), I do have concerns about database loss and maintaining the server. Honestly data preservation and "just working" are probably more important than all else.

TIA.

 

[Rusty]

So you mentioned a few titles here. From Devon, to Obsidian, to Mayan. What are you actually looking for? A free solution that will be your document management OCR capable platform or more towards a knowledgebase platform like Obsidian?

 

[jmanko16]

I would like one app to be my knowledge management as well as document management solution that is Multiplatform and multi-device! (This doesn't exist from what I have found).

TLDR -> probably document OCR

What I would like to do is have a knowledge management (combination of journal, regular notes, and probably some version of daily/weekly work notes, project notes, and meeting notes) as well as a "paperless document management." Ideally having these all in the same bucket so when I am working on a project note in say obsidian, I have access to easily search for all associated documents. As I use multiple devices is nice to have something that is platform or device agnostic (which is why I wondered if idea of synology may work if there are options out there).

The paperless document management I have pretty much been doing for >10 years and using synology for storage. I don't have a great workflow for using this data other than pulling it up when needed. I initially was thinking about going back to Microsoft OneNote (by far my favorite program, but with the data only in the cloud I can't put work information or would not feel comfortable with personal documents). Also with OneNote on Mac there is no way to do a local backup, and the data is hard to get out (actually lost data from a corrupted OneNote notebook before). I am on the trial of devonthink, and the ability to put item link or item url in my notes makes it very easy to have access to everything (if I need a file click the link rather than go search in drive), as well as it works well on iPad/iOS too. It works surprisingly well, but before I spend the money for it figured I would see if there are features of the synology or apps that I am not aware of that either 1) combine both document/knowledge management or 2) do either of those extremely well and have the ability to do link/url out of them to add to obsidian/apple notes.

Again hopefully that makes some sene.

 

[Rusty]

Well, a 3rd party, free, open-source that is accessible on all platforms will be hard to find. On top of that can do all that.

If I could I would recommend a web-based platform. That will make it platform agnostic for the most part. Personally, I use the Bookstack platform, as my KB solution, and works well for me. It's secure, on-premise, and supports multiple users, comments, and organization in shelves, books, pages, etc. Also, it is under active development so support is not an issue.

The problem is that it doesn't have a dedicated iOS/iPADOS/macOS app. Like I said, web-based. Running it via docker (very easy deployment).

 

[jmanko16]

R

Well, a 3rd party, free, open-source that is accessible on all platforms will be hard to find. On top of that can do all that.

If I could I would recommend a web-based platform. That will make it platform agnostic for the most part. Personally, I use the Bookstack platform, as my KB solution, and works well for me. It's secure, on-premise, and supports multiple users, comments, and organization in shelves, books, pages, etc. Also, it is under active development so support is not an issue.

The problem is that it doesn't have a dedicated iOS/iPADOS/macOS app. Like I said, web-based. Running it via docker (very easy deployment).

I am fine with web-based, actually makes it more flexible for work which is predominantly PC (only negative of devonthink). Is there a way to make url links into/out of this app (aka similar to what you can do with devonthink to obsidian or vice versa?)

 

[Rusty]

Is there a way to make url links into/out of this app

Not sure what you mean as I do not use Devon or Obsidian personally.

 

[jmanko16]

Not sure what you mean as I do not use Devon or Obsidian personally.

This may be a Mac/iOS centric idea, but many of the apps will make "deep links" such as Zotero://file that links to the exact file in Zotero and wherever it is pasted when you click it will open up. Devonthink, Obsidian, OneNote, etc all have links like this so you can in effect use say "apple notes" for your knowledge management, and then if you are referencing files have a link to devonthink, obsidian, OneNote all there. The files remain in external app, but its a good way to pull everything together so you always work out of apple notes, and then you can quickly get to whatever you need. While this isn't quite the same as having all the data in the same app, it does allow you to use multiple apps (aka different apps with different benefits) and kinda make your own system.

 

[Rusty]

Well most web apps that support attachments will actually expose it on a certain URL that will when clicked initiate login towards the app, and after that verify that you have permissions to the attachment, and in the end download it.

Same goes for Bookstack. Any attachment access results in its download.