Coming Soon: The Journiv Export Viewer is currently under final phase of development and will be released in the next few weeks.

Access your journal entries, photos, and memories even when Journiv isn't running. The Journiv Export Viewer is a fully standalone HTML application that runs entirely in your browser. No server needed, no internet required.

What Is the Journiv Export Viewer?

The Journiv Export Viewer is a privacy-first, standalone web application that lets you:

View your exported journals - Browse all your entries, photos, videos, and audio files
Search your memories - Find specific entries by title, content, or tags
Export to Markdown - Convert your journals to Markdown format for use in other apps
Work completely offline - After the initial page load, everything runs locally in your browser
Protect your privacy - Your data never leaves your device

Perfect for:

Long-term archival access to your journals
Viewing your memories without running a Journiv server
Converting your journals to Markdown for use in Obsidian, Typora, or other Markdown editors
Sharing your export with family members (they can view it without installing Journiv)

Getting Started

Step 1: Export Your Data from Journiv

First, you need to export your journals from Journiv:

Log into your Journiv instance
Go to Settings → Data → Export
Choose Full Export (or select specific journals)
Enable Include Media if you want photos and videos included
Click Create Export
Once ready, click Download Export to save the ZIP file

Your export file will be named something like journiv-backup-2025-01-15.zip.

Step 2: Access the Viewer

You have several options to use the viewer:

Option 1: Open Directly (Simplest)

Download the viewer files from the Journiv repository
Open index.html in your web browser (double-click or drag into browser)
Drag and drop your Journiv export ZIP file onto the upload area

Note: Requires internet connection on first load to fetch the JSZip library. After that, works completely offline. Alternatively you can download the JSZip library locally and update the index.html file to use the local file instead of the CDN.

Option 2: Use Online Version

You can also host the viewer yourself online (e.g., on GitHub Pages), simply:

Visit the viewer URL
Upload your export ZIP file
Start browsing your journals

This also enables you to share your one or more jounral export with other without them having to install Journiv and they view the journal directly.

Using the Viewer

Interface Overview

The viewer has a three-pane layout:

Left Pane - Lists all your journals
Middle Pane - Shows entries for the selected journal
Right Pane - Displays the full entry content with media

Browsing Your Journals

Select a Journal - Click any journal in the left pane to see its entries
View Entries - Click an entry in the middle pane to read it
Navigate - Use arrow keys (↑/↓) to move between entries quickly
Search - Use the search bar to filter entries by title, content, or tags

Viewing Entry Details

Each entry shows:

Full entry content with rich text formatting
Embedded photos, videos, and audio files
Tags, mood, location, and weather (if available)
Creation date and metadata
Media gallery with thumbnails

Dark Mode

Click the theme toggle in the header to switch between light and dark modes. Your preference is saved locally.

Exporting to Markdown

The viewer can convert your entire export to Markdown format, perfect for use in:

Obsidian
Typora
VS Code
GitHub
Any Markdown reader

How to Export

Load your Journiv export in the viewer
Click "Export as Markdown" button (bottom of left pane)
Wait for processing (may take a moment for large exports)
Download the ZIP file containing all your journals as Markdown

Export Structure

The Markdown export includes:

journiv-markdown-export-YYYY-MM-DD.zip
├── README.md                 # Overview
├── journals/
│   ├── my-journal/
│   │   ├── index.md          # Journal overview
│   │   ├── 2025-01-15-entry-title.md
│   │   └── 2025-01-16-another-entry.md
│   └── work-journal/
│       └── ...
└── media/
    ├── entry-id-1/
    │   ├── photo.jpg
    │   └── video.mp4
    └── entry-id-2/
        └── audio.m4a

Markdown Format

Each entry includes:

YAML frontmatter with all metadata (tags, mood, location, dates)
Entry content in Markdown format
Media references in both frontmatter and inline (for Obsidian compatibility)

Example entry:

---
id: entry-id
title: "My Vacation"
created_at: 2025-01-15T10:30:00Z
tags:
  - personal
  - travel
mood:
  name: Happy
  icon: "😊"
location:
  name: "San Francisco, CA"
media:
  - "../../media/entry-id/photo1.jpg"
---

Entry content goes here...

## Media

![Golden Gate Bridge](../../media/entry-id/photo1.jpg)

Privacy & Security

The Journiv Export Viewer is designed with privacy as the top priority:

No server communication - Everything runs locally in your browser
No data collection - No analytics, no tracking, no external requests
No data transmission - Your journals never leave your device
Open source - You can inspect the code yourself
Safe for sensitive data - Perfect for private journals and personal memories

Your export file is processed entirely in your browser using JavaScript. After the JSZip library loads (on first use), everything works completely offline. Alternatively you can download the JSZip library locally and update the index.html file to use the local file instead of the CDN.

Troubleshooting

"JSZip library not loaded"

Solution: Ensure you have an internet connection on first load, or download JSZip locally and update index.html to use the local file instead of the CDN.

ZIP file won't load

Check:

File is a valid ZIP file (ends with .zip)
Contains data.json in the root
Was exported from Journiv (not manually created)
File isn't corrupted

Media files not showing

Check:

Media files exist in media/ folder in the ZIP
File paths in data.json match actual files
Browser console for any loading errors
You enabled "Include Media" when exporting from Journiv

Export file is too large

If your export file is very large, the browser may have trouble processing it. Try:

Exporting without media first
Exporting specific journals instead of full export
Using a more powerful device/browser

Dark mode not working

Try clearing browser cache and localStorage, then refresh the page.

Browser Compatibility

The viewer requires a modern browser with support for:

ES6 JavaScript (arrow functions, classes, etc.)
Promises and async/await
File API and Blob API
CSS Grid and Flexbox

Tested on:

Chrome/Edge 90+
Firefox 88+
Safari 14+

Future-Proof Your Memories

The Journiv Export Viewer ensures your memories are accessible for decades to come:

Standard formats - Uses JSON and Markdown, not proprietary formats
No dependencies - Works with just a web browser
Portable - Export files can be stored anywhere (cloud, USB drive, etc.)
Long-term access - Even if you stop running Journiv, your exports remain viewable and can be exported to markdown for use in other apps.

Import & Export - Learn how to export your data from Journiv
Getting Started - Learn the basics of using Journiv
Architecture - Understand Journiv's data format

Journiv Export Viewer