---

layout: post
date: 2026-03-02
link: https://ellanew.com/2026/03/02/ptpl-197-record-retrieve-from-a-personal-knowledgebase
title: How to Record and Retrieve Anything You’ve Ever Had to Look Up Twice
cited: Ellane W

---

Sound advice, I use this website as my kb as well as an app called GoodLinks, a bookmarking app in the Apple ecosystem, in which website guides are saved as "how to reconnect Apple TV remote" tagged with #howto

This is crucial given my cognitive issues. I only have to check thechelsuk and GoodLinks, moreover I only have to remember to check...

> I recommend text files for this kind of knowledge base, but you can use whatever app you're most likely to keep around long term. Apple Notes is a popular choice. Keep all your how-tos in one searchable place, be it an app or a group of text files you can run searches on.
> 
> I keep my knowledge base as a series of Markdown files in a folder, and I access them through Obsidian. The wonderful thing about text files (including Markdown) is that you can read them with any text editor at all. No one app can stand as a gatekeeper between you and the knowledge you have collected.

...

> Even the most clearly written description of a process will be no good to you if you can't find it when you need it. You need a way to identify that a note or a file belongs to your knowledge base. This can be done with the properties of a file, but my favourite way is with a hashtag.
> Use the `#howto` tag any time you write down how you did something, or preface the title of individual notes with `how to -`. This makes it super easy to see all your processes in one place, no matter how scattered they might be across your notes!

...

> Underestimate the importance of a good file name or note title at your peril!
> 
> Approach naming a how-to as if you could only use one word in the title. What would that word be? What would the second word be? In the case of _How to fix Miele dishwasher code F14_, the two words would be _dishwasher_ and _F14_.