Digital Garden

Definitions

• a personal, evolving collection of interconnected notes, ideas, and knowledge
• continuously updated, editable, and expandable
• non-linear, dynamic content organization
• emphasizes growth and connection, rather than chronology
• living archive of knowledge with interlinks, tags, categories, and metadata

Digital Garden VS Blog

Feature	Digital Garden	Blog
Structure	Non-linear, interconnected notes	Linear, chronological posts
Purpose	Knowledge cultivation, idea evolution	Sharing polished articles, stories
Content Style	Work-in-progress, evolving over time	Finalized, structured posts
Updates	Frequently edited and expanded	Usually published once, with occasional updates
Navigation	Interlinked pages, wiki-like	Organized by categories, tags, archives
Presentation	Raw, exploratory, personal	Refined, professional, reader-focused
Longevity	Evergreen, continuously updated	Time-stamped, often fades into archives
Audience	Self-directed learning, niche audience	Public-facing, broader readership
Examples	Personal wikis, note collections	News sites, articles, personal blogs, essays
Mindset	Learning in public, “notes to self”	Teaching, storytelling, or broadcasting ideas
Writing Process	Incremental, messy, encourages exploration	Clear beginning, middle, and end
Ownership	Personal knowledge repository	Public-facing content distribution
SEO & Discoverability	Less optimized, built for personal use	SEO-focused, easier to find via search
Interactivity	Encourages linking, back-referencing, and branching ideas	Encourages engagement through comments, shares
Growth	Expands organically over time	Grows through new posts, external promotion
Flexibility	Can contain notes, quotes, thoughts, lists, research	Primarily full articles, essays, opinion pieces

Other Terms

primary	secondary
public	- public notes - learning in public - learning lab
wiki	- personal wiki - personal knowledge management system
commonly used	- digital garden - memory palace - second brain - zettelkasten

Mix and Match Your Own Phrase

Theme	Words
-suffix (example)	- -scape (ideascape) - -space (thoughtscape) - -ium (diarium) - -sphere (infosphere)
alternate + duplicate	alias, alternate, assistant, counterpart, doppelgänger, mimic, mirror, parallel, patch, proxy, second, secondum, shadow, sidecar, supplement, supplementary, surrogate, twin
extensions + additions	adjunct, annotation, atlas, auxiliary, companion, extension, fallback, luminosity, notion, patch, proxy, second, supplement, supplementary, twin
mind + thought	brain, brainstorm, cerebrum, cognition, concept, contemplation, creativity, curiosity, data, epiphany, idea, information, ingenuity, insight, intellect, intellectual, intuition, knowledge, lumen, mental, mind, muse, perception, psyche, reason, reflection, revelation, thesis, thought, wisdom
nature + growth	arboretum, biome, bloom, clearing, conservatory, evergreen, flora, garden, greenhouse, grove, habitat, meadow, nursery, orchard, prairie, seedbed, sylva, terrarium, thicket
places + spaces	alcove, annex, bunker, chamber, domain, enclave, forum, haven, hideaway, hub, living, nook, oasis, observatory, palace, pavilion, refuge, retreat, sanctuary, sanctum, space
storage + organization	archive, backup, bank, box, cabinet, cache, catalog, chest, chronicles, compendium, database, depot, document, dossier, drawer, filing, index, journal, ledger, library, logbook, manuscript, memo, memory, note, notebook, register, repository, reserve, scroll, shelf, storeroom, vault

Resources

• https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_wiki_software
• https://wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wiki_software#Personal_wiki_software
• https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Living_document
• https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_knowledge_management
• https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Zettelkasten
• https://notes.nicolevanderhoeven.com/Learning+in+public
• https://www.reddit.com/r/DigitalGardens/