Your Journal is a personal notebook for the bigger picture: process notes, ideas to try, lessons learned, equipment observations, and things you would do differently next time. Give each topic its own page so you can find it again.
The Journal belongs to your account and is independent of your recipes. Use a recipe’s existing Notes field for details about that specific recipe. Deleting or changing a recipe does not change your journal.
Jump to: Privacy · Open your journal · Manage pages · Format text · Saving and recovery
How private is my journal?
- Private to your account in the website. Other members cannot open your journal pages. Your notes are not published, added to Community Recipes, or listed in the public site search or site map.
- A personal account is required. Sign in with your own verified account. The Journal is unavailable in the shared demo account.
- Saved on the website’s servers. Saved pages belong to your account, so you can return to them from another browser or device after signing in to the website.
- Not end-to-end encrypted. Account privacy does not mean that only your device can decrypt the notes. People with authorized access to the website’s database or backups can access stored journal content. Avoid using the Journal to store passwords or other highly sensitive information.
- Included in your account data. Journal pages are included in My Account → Download my data. Deleting your account removes its journal pages from the active service; backup copies follow the site’s separate retention practices. See the Privacy Policy for broader information.
While you edit, an unsaved recovery draft may also be kept in the current browser tab. On a shared computer, wait for Saved, sign out, and close your tab when finished.
Open your journal while you work
- Sign in to your verified personal My Brewing Buddy account.
- Choose Journal in the main menu, click the Journal button on My Recipes, or use the button above the form on Edit Recipe. On a small screen, open the hamburger menu to find the menu option.
- The notebook opens over the page you are using. All three buttons open the same journal.
- Use the × button at the top right, or press Escape, to return to the page underneath.
Opening or closing the Journal does not submit or reset the recipe form. Your unfinished recipe fields stay in place, and saving journal notes does not save the recipe itself. Use Save Recipe when you are ready to save your recipe changes.
If the Journal button is missing, check that you are signed in to your own account and have completed email verification. These instructions describe the website Journal; it is not yet available in the Android app.
Create, rename, and move between pages
- For an empty journal, click Write your first page. After that, use + New page whenever you want another topic.
- Enter a useful Page title, such as “Fermentation lessons,” “Ideas for the next batch,” or “Cleaning checklist.” Click the title any time to rename the page.
- Write in the large area below the formatting buttons. Your changes save automatically after you pause typing.
- Choose a title in the left-hand page list on a larger screen. On a phone, use the Page selector above the editor.
- Use the ← and → buttons at the bottom to visit the previous or next page. The page counter shows your place in the journal.
Pages stay in the order you created them. A blank title becomes Untitled page. Titles can contain up to 160 characters, and an account can hold up to 2,000 pages. If a note becomes too large to save, divide it into smaller pages.
Use the basic text tools
Select the words you want to change, then choose a toolbar button:
- B applies bold, I applies italics, and U underlines the selection. Click an active button again to turn that style off.
- A opens the text-color picker. H opens the highlight-color picker.
- The bulleted-list button creates a list.
- The curved arrows undo or redo recent edits on the current page.
- T× clears formatting from selected text.
The editor is intended for text notes and basic formatting. Pasted pictures, embedded content, and advanced document formatting are not supported.
Automatic saving and recovering a draft
Watch the status at the bottom of the journal: Unsaved changes, Saving…, or Saved. Wait for Saved before leaving the website or closing the browser tab. Moving to another journal page waits for the current page to save.
If a save fails, the journal shows Not saved and an explanation. Keep the tab open and use Retry save when your connection returns. Download draft saves a plain-text copy to your device. If your sign-in has expired, follow the message and keep a copy of the draft before refreshing.
The current tab can retain an unsaved draft through a refresh, when browser storage is available. This is a recovery aid, not a full offline notebook: closing the tab or clearing browser data can remove that draft.
If the same page changes in another tab or device, the Journal stops the stale save rather than silently replacing the newer notes. You can choose:
- Save draft as new page to keep your local version as a separate page while leaving the other saved version intact.
- Load saved page to discard your local draft and use the version saved to your account. This asks for confirmation.
Delete a page or download your journal
Open a page and choose Delete page at the bottom right. Check the page title in the confirmation before continuing. A confirmed page deletion cannot be undone.
To keep a copy of your saved journal, use My Account and choose Download my data. Your journal pages are included with your other account data.
More help: Help Center · How To Create A Recipe · Site Index