While the bread and butter of Day One will always be helping you commit your thoughts to words, it doesn’t mean we haven’t packed some extra features for those who want to go beyond that. Day One has a built-in MultiMarkdown syntax parser, so there is the possibility of adding tables to your journal entries. Why would you want tables in your journal, you ask? Well, what if you want to record that great recipe you found in your grandmother’s old journal or note the coffee you have every morning in a nice, organized fashion? With some simple Markdown, you can use Day One to keep your tabular data looking pretty and organized at the same time. Below are three sample tables you might want to start using right away in your journals.
Recipes
Going through old family recipe books is one of the reasons many of us started writing recipes in journals in the first place. Markdown tables make it easy to record your recipes, then read them later when you’re cooking. Here is a sample recipe table:
Strawberry-Basil Smoothie from Wit&Delight
★★★★★
| Ingredient | Quantity |
| --- | --- |
| Yogurt | 2 Cups |
| Frozen strawberries | 10 Ounces |
| Fresh Basil | 1/4 Cup |
| Honey | 1 Tablespoon |
| Vanilla | 2 Teaspoons |
Directions
- In a blender combine all the ingredients.
- Blend until smooth.
- Pour into glasses and serve.
- Serves 2-3This is how it translates in Day One on the iPhone:
Health Tracker
Using Markdown tables in Day One is a great way to keep track of your weight loss, height, and other body measurements. Besides adding the table with the raw numbers, you might as well write something about them and add some context to the table. Here is a sample entry:
| Weekly Measurements | |
| --- | --- |
| Weight | 70 *kg* |
| BMI | 23 |
| Bust | 117 *cm* |
| Waist | 99 *cm* |
| Hip | 122 *cm* |This is how it looks on the Mac:
Pro Tip: Did you know that Day One tracks your steps and daily activity? Adding this data to an entry with all your measurements will give you even more information in the future about how active you were at the time. Read more about it here.
Daily Coffee
For many people, having some freshly brewed coffee is half the reason to wake up in the morning. Recording where the coffee is from and how you like it is a great way to start a little coffee journal. Below is a sample entry for recording your daily cup. Note: This table can be adapted to record other beverages or favorite foods, too.
| Coffee | |
| :--- | :--- |
| Origin/Name | Ecuador Tazadorada #3 |
| Brew Method | Pour Over |
| Brewer | Ascension Coffee |
| Rating | ★★★☆☆ |
| Notes | Very fruity and clear |This is how you type it out on the iPhone:
Pro Tip: If you are an avid coffee drinker, Launch Center Pro app user, and would like to automate the entry of your daily caffeine dosage, check out Ben Tsai’s blog. Ben has some great tips on how to use Launch Center Pro to automate the entire process.
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About the Author
Tulio Jarocki is a student, design aficionado, and journaling enthusiast. When he is not writing about the rewards of journaling for Day One, he can be seen drinking coffee, running, or just out and about in Boston.
