The Journal

How can I import my entries from another diary or journal program?

The Journal supports batch entry import, which makes it relatively simple to import entries from other diary or journal programs.

1. Create a temporary folder on your hard drive.

2. Export your entries from the other software into individual text (.txt), rich text (.rtf), or HTML (.htm;.html) files. Export to the temporary folder you created in #1. If the entries are for a particular day, make sure the date is used in the name of the exported file. The best date format will use a 4-digit year, a 2-digit month, and a 2-digit day.

Example:
1993-10-05.rtf (entry for 5 October, 1993)

3. Once you have the entries exported, start The Journal. On the File menu, Import sub-menu, choose "Batch Entry Import..." to import the entries into The Journal.

4. Choose the category you want to import the entries into (like "Daily Journal").

5. Browse to the temporary folder where your exported entries are.

6. Set the "Specify Date Format" to match how the export named your entries.

Example:
yyyy-mm-dd.rtf

Then do the import.

How do I synchronize 2 installations of The Journal?

It is possible to keep entries across multiple Journal Volumes "in sync" using the export and import features of The Journal.

Let's say you have The Journal installed on both your laptop and your desktop, and you want to keep your categories and entries in the two copies in sync.

Here are detailed instructions for how you would do just that.

1. Using The Journal's export feature, create a JNX file containing all your categories, and all your entries, from your desktop copy of The Journal.
1. On the File menu, Export sub-menu, choose Export Entries...
2. Click on These Categories/Entries in the entry tree displayed.
3. Check all of the categories. This automatically selects all entries in the categories.
4. In the Select Export Format, choose Journal Export Format (.JNX).
5. Click on Export to create the export file.
2. To synchronize your laptop, make sure your import options are set to only import if newer.
1. In The Journal on your laptop, click on the User menu and choose User Preferences...
2. Bring up the Import tab.
3. Check Only Import if Newer.
4. Click on Done.
3. Import all newer entries to the laptop.
1. Click on the File menu, Import sub-menu, choosing Import Entries...
2. Select the .JNX file to import.
3. Click on Import All
4. You may be prompted to choose the category to import into. If the category already exists, choose that one. Otherwise, click on Auto-Create.
4. To update the JNX file from your laptop, export the categories, overwriting the JNX file.

Repeat the steps in #1 above, for your laptop.

When you do this, you have to keep in mind that if you update the same entry on both installations of The Journal between syncs, that the entry with the most recent (newer) change date will override the other. This could cause some loss of information. Most of the time, this probably won't be a problem, but you should be aware of it so you can take precautions.

As always, if you have any questions, please feel free to email and ask: support@davidrm.com