Notes - magicbug/Cloudlog GitHub Wiki

Notes and Station Diary Guide

This guide explains how to use the Notes feature in Cloudlog and how the Station Diary builds on top of it.

What Notes Are

Notes let you save freeform entries inside Cloudlog. You can use them for operating notes, antenna plans, contest writeups, reminders, or diary-style posts.

Each note can include:

  • A title
  • A category
  • Rich text content
  • A saved date

You can view, edit, filter, and delete notes from the main Notes page.

What Station Diary Is

Station Diary is a special way of using Notes.

A note becomes a Station Diary entry when its category is set to Station Diary.

Station Diary entries can also support:

  • Public or private visibility
  • Image uploads
  • Inline images inside the text
  • QSO summaries tied to a logbook and date range
  • A public web page for sharing entries
  • A print-friendly diary view
  • RSS feed support for public entries
  • Visitor reactions on public single-entry pages

Opening Notes

Open the Notes section in Cloudlog to:

  • See all existing notes
  • Search by title or content
  • Filter by category
  • Filter by date range
  • Create a new note
  • Manage categories

If you already have Station Diary entries, the Notes page may also show buttons for:

  • Public Diary to open your public Station Diary page
  • Station Diary to open the print-friendly diary view

If You Cannot See Notes

If you do not see Notes in the main menu, it may simply be disabled in your account settings.

Check your account/profile settings and enable:

  • Show notes in the main menu

After enabling that option, the Notes menu entry should appear and you will be able to access both Notes and Station Diary features.

Fast Access from the Logbook Page

It is worth knowing that Station Diary is not only available from the Notes area.

You can also open it directly from the Logbook page using the Station Diary modal popup. This is often the fastest workflow when you are already reviewing recent QSOs and want to turn that operating session into a diary entry straight away.

This is especially useful for:

  • Contest summaries
  • Portable or mobile operating writeups
  • Satellite session notes
  • Activation reports written immediately after logging

The modal creates a Station Diary entry directly, so it is a good option when speed matters.

Creating a Note

To create a note:

  1. Open Notes.
  2. Select Create Note.
  3. Enter a title.
  4. Choose an existing category or type a new one.
  5. Write your content in the editor.
  6. Save the note.

If you type a value in New category, it overrides the category selected in the dropdown.

If you do not create a custom category, the note uses the selected category. If no category is supplied, Cloudlog defaults to General.

Editing, Viewing, and Deleting Notes

From the Notes list you can:

  • Open View to read the full note
  • Open Edit to update the note
  • Use Delete to remove the note

When editing a note, you can also change the saved date in Advanced Settings. If you change only the date, Cloudlog keeps the existing time portion.

Filtering and Finding Notes

The Notes page supports four filters:

  • Search text
  • Category
  • From date
  • To date

Search looks in both the note title and note content.

Managing Categories

Use Manage categories from the Notes page to rename or merge categories.

If you merge one category into another, all matching notes are updated to the target category.

If no target category is provided, Cloudlog falls back to General.

Creating a Station Diary Entry

There are two normal ways to create a Station Diary entry:

  1. Create a note from the Notes page and set the category to Station Diary.
  2. Use the Station Diary modal from the Logbook page or view log page, which submits a diary entry directly.

To use the full Station Diary feature set, set the category to Station Diary before saving.

If you are already working in the Logbook, the modal popup is usually the quickest entry point.

Public and Private Diary Entries

Station Diary entries can be private or public.

  • Private entries are visible only inside your Cloudlog account.
  • Public entries appear on your public Station Diary page.

Important behavior:

  • The public toggle only applies when the category is Station Diary.
  • If the global Public Station Diary setting is disabled by the administrator, entries stay private even if you try to make them public.

Your public diary URL uses your callsign, for example:

station-diary/YOURCALLSIGN

QSO Summary for Station Diary Entries

Station Diary entries can include a QSO summary. This is useful for contest recaps, activation reports, satellite events, or special operating days.

When enabled, Cloudlog can show:

  • Total QSOs
  • DXCC worked
  • Bands used
  • Modes used
  • A highlight DX contact
  • A QSO list
  • A QSO map

For public Station Diary entries, enabling the QSO summary also gives readers access to a map view for the QSOs included in that entry.

How QSO Summary Selection Works

When Include QSO summary is enabled:

  1. You must choose a logbook.
  2. You can optionally set a date range.
  3. You can optionally restrict the summary to satellite QSOs only.

If you do not set a date range, Cloudlog uses the entry date for the summary.

If you do set a date range, Cloudlog summarizes QSOs between the start and end dates.

The public page limits the displayed QSO list to a reasonable number for readability.

Adding Images to Station Diary Entries

Images are supported only for notes in the Station Diary category.

Image upload behavior:

  • You can upload multiple images.
  • Allowed formats are JPG, JPEG, PNG, GIF, and WebP.
  • The maximum upload size is 2 MB per image.
  • Images are automatically resized and compressed after upload.

Images are stored in your Cloudlog uploads area and linked to the diary entry.

Using Images Inline Inside the Entry Text

After uploading images, edit the diary entry to see each image ID and add captions.

You can place images directly inside the entry text with shortcodes.

Supported shortcode formats:

  • [image:ID]
  • [image:caption]
  • [image:ID:left]
  • [image:ID:right]
  • [image:ID:center]
  • [image:ID:small]
  • [image:ID:medium]
  • [image:ID:large]
  • [image:ID:left:small]

You can combine alignment and size modifiers.

Supported modifiers:

  • left
  • right
  • center
  • small
  • medium
  • large

If an uploaded image is not used inline, Cloudlog shows it below the entry content instead.

Public Station Diary Page

The public Station Diary page shows all public Station Diary entries for a callsign.

It includes:

  • Pagination
  • Individual entry permalinks
  • A print link
  • An RSS link
  • Public QSO summaries when enabled
  • QSO maps when a summary is enabled and QSO data is available

On single-entry public pages, visitors can also leave a reaction.

Supported reactions are:

  • Like
  • Love
  • Fire

Each visitor can keep one reaction per entry, and updating it replaces the previous one.

Example Public Station Diaries

If you want ideas for layout, writing style, or how operators use images and summaries, it helps to look at a few live examples.

Examples:

RSS Feed

If you publish Station Diary entries, Cloudlog also exposes an RSS feed for the public diary.

This is useful if you want readers to follow your diary in an RSS reader.

Printing the Station Diary

The Station Diary button on the Notes page opens a print-friendly diary view containing all Station Diary entries.

This view is useful for:

  • Personal archiving
  • Club presentations
  • Portable activation reports
  • Paper printouts

The print view also respects inline image placement.

Good Usage Patterns

Notes are a good fit for:

  • Equipment settings
  • Antenna ideas
  • Contest checklists
  • Reminder lists
  • Reference material

Station Diary is a good fit for:

  • Activation summaries
  • Contest recaps
  • Satellite operating writeups
  • Special event station reports
  • Travel and portable operating logs

Tips

  • Use regular Notes for internal reference material you do not want to publish.
  • Use the Station Diary category only when you want diary-specific features.
  • Add image captions after upload so you can reference them with caption-based shortcodes.
  • Use QSO summary date ranges for multi-day contests or trips.
  • Use the satellite-only option for satellite operations reports.
  • Review the public page after publishing to make sure the entry looks the way you expect.

Troubleshooting

My entry is not public

Check the following:

  • The category is exactly Station Diary.
  • Make entry public is enabled.
  • Public Station Diary has not been disabled globally by the administrator.

My images do not appear inline

Check the following:

  • The note is in the Station Diary category.
  • The shortcode matches an existing image ID or caption.
  • The image was uploaded successfully.

If an inline shortcode does not match an image, Cloudlog silently skips it.

My QSO summary is empty

Check the following:

  • The selected logbook contains QSOs in the chosen date range.
  • The date range is correct.
  • Satellite QSOs only is not filtering out all matching QSOs.

Summary

Use Notes for general internal writing and organization.

Use Station Diary when you want a more publishable, shareable entry with images, QSO summaries, and a public diary page.