Custom note names in QOwnNotes

2 April, 2026 - Categories: blogging, notetaking apps, static site generators - Tags: Zola, QOwnNotes

By Steven Rosenberg

Since QOwnNotes takes its note name from the first line of every post, and the first line of every Zola blog post is +++ due to the TOML frontmatter, I'm going to have to deal with this on the notetaking end of things.

Naming the note by the Zola filename I want to use for the post would be the best outcome, and it turns out that is possible.

When you try to rename a note, you get this dialog:

If you want to rename your note you have to enable the option to allow the note filename to be different from the headline.

The dialog leads you right there, but you can get there any time in QOwnNotes under Note -> Settings -> Note Folders. I only have one note folder at this point, and it's called default, so right there I click the box next to Allow note file name to be different from headline, and that lets me rename my notes. It's a nice feature that it's allowed by note folder (and that multiple note folders are possible).

To veer off-topic only slightly, one of the things I like about QOwnNotes is that it is a native application coded in C++ with the QT toolkit. It's not an Electron app yet is still available for Linux, Windows, MacOS, FreeBSD and OpenBSD.

Another point in QOwnNotes' favor for the purpose of creating posts for static sites is that when exporting, the program remembers the directory and file name you last used, which saves considerably on clicking and typing. It makes the export a fairly seamless part of my blogging workflow.