Storage

There are multiple ways of storing notes in Butterfly. Either by using your device storage, or by using the cloud storage (WebDAV).

Data directory

The data directory is the directory where documents, templates, and packs are stored. On desktop you can find it in ~/Documents/Linwood/Butterfly. On mobile it’s in getExternalFilesDir(null)/Linwood/Butterfly. You can also change it in the settings under Data.

In this directory you will find a folder Documents, Templates and Packs.

Web

The application data is stored in your browser. It is stored in a local storage. Open the developer tools in your browser and you will see the data.

Native platforms

By default, the application saves the data in your documents folder in a subfolder called “Linwood/Butterfly”. This folder is created when you save data for the first time. This folder can be changed in the settings.

Remote storage

Note

This feature is not available on the web.

The application data can be stored on a remote server. This is useful if you want to share the data with other people or if you have multiple computers. Currently only the WebDAV protocol is supported.

To add a remote server, go to the settings and click on Remotes. Then click on Add remote. Add the URL of the remote server and the username and password. After that you can specify the folder where the data is stored.

To get the WebDAV URL, please visit the documentation:

Nextcloud (it should look like this: https://nextcloud.example.com/remote.php/dav/files/username/, replace username and nextcloud.example.com with the correct values)

Instructions for NextCloud

How to get the URL

1. Go to Files
2. Press the button on the bottom of the sidebar Files settings
3. Scroll down to the WebDAV section, then copy the full URL shown inside
4. Switch to Butterfly, and paste the URL in the URL input box in Butterfly

How to get the password and username

1. Go to your Nextcloud account info by pressing the profile picture on the corner
2. Then, press Settings
3. In the Security tab, scroll down to Devices & sessions
4. Enter any name for the app name input box
   • “Butterfly Connection” is a good name to use, as it is identifiable and clear.
5. Press the button called Create new app password
6. After authenticating, copy the app password username shown on the page, and paste it in the username input box in Butterfly
7. Finally, copy the password and paste it in the password input box in Butterfly

Finalizing the connection setup

After doing the above, press the Connect button.

If you have done everything correctly, there will be some new stuff down the popup.

Type the name of this connection in the Name inputbox, you can name it anything.

Then, for the Directory inputbox, you need to type where should Butterfly store stuff inside this cloud storage.

For example: if you type ButterflyDocs for Directory, Butterfly will store all your files inside the ButterflyDocs folder in your cloud storage.

Note

• Avoid symbols in folder names (to be safe)
• Butterfly will create the folder if it doesnt exist

Lastly, after typing the name of the folder you want Butterfly to store your notes in, press Create.

That’s it. Syncing to the cloud should work now. 🎉

Offline sync

This feature allows you to edit your files on remote servers while you are offline. Open the popup menu on a file or folder and click on Sync. This will download the file or folder and save it locally. To sync the whole root directory, click on the checkmark in the create dialog or click on the remote in the setting and click on the checkmark in the manage section.

There are a few limitations:

• You cannot delete a file or folder while you are offline.
• You cannot add, edit or delete templates while you are offline.

Other storage methods

If you are on a native device you can also sync the application directory with your favorite platform. Google Drive has an official app on Windows and there are unofficial ones on the Play Store. On Linux you can also use the native remote storage system and change your data directory to this or add a new external storage if you click on the add connection button.

Supported file types

Butterfly supports importing SVG, Butterfly Note (.bfly), Butterfly Raw Note (.tbfly).

Butterfly Note (.bfly)

This file type is the recommended format for saving notes.

It is a zip archive containing the information (mostly in JSON files) about the note. These included JSON files aren’t optimized to be readable by a human in its raw form.

Butterfly Raw Note (.tbfly)

This file is recommended for use with version control software like git.

This file is not a zip archive; instead it is a JSON file. It contains all the information about the note in a single JSON file that is optimized for being readable and nicely formatted. It is slower to load than the normal Butterfly Note.

SVG

This file type doesn’t save information about the note! When this file is imported into Butterfly, it is treated as a single image.

Use this ONLY when the note shouldn’t be modified by Butterfly.