Dumb Newbie Question: Diary vs Journal? ...Blog?

I just joined and have a seemingly obvious question: What is the difference between the diary vs journal?
It looks like the journal is for adding plants, whereas the diary is for, well... a diary. Also, where do Blogs come in? I thought I read about that in the tour.

I started in the diary creating subjects that I wanted broken down, then realized that there was a journal that seemed to make more sense, but was prompted for individual plant info. That confused me.

I really want a structure for this:
An organized set of folders/pages that are separated into high level subjects, such as plants, veggies, business, resources, ect.
Then, inside of each I would want entries, like I have started with the Diary.
It would be nice then to either reference what it looks like the journal can do (itemize my plants,veggies info) from the specific entry.

Make sense?

Mark

Mmmm....I try to use my diary much like you describe, Mark, as a sort of little book with chapters, so I will watch this thread to see what develops. I am going along by trial and error, trying to get the diary organized (along with my garden!) and I can use any hints, tips, or upgrades that come along.

The idea of linking the diary to the journal is interesting. (Although the journal is a little too complex for me, but I suppose the 'accountant/gardeners' among us find it satisfying to keep these records! LOL)

Dave recently made it possible to reorganize the Diary tabs on the owner's 'manage' page which is great. Now I notice, though, that the reorganized tab list does not appear on the 'view others diary' page which is a little confusing to anyone who is checking the diary. And I wonder if as the diary is upgraded this tab list might be refreshed in the correct order too...?

BTW, welcome to DG. I think it's fun and interesting to try to document one's work in the garden, and the staff and Dave continue to improve the site and the diary and journal. If you haven't found them already, there are a few threads (somewhere here) that explain the 'how to's' for the journal and the diary, too, and they are always adding features as ideas come up which is nice.

OK that makes sense. I think I have the diary organized right as the my main organization. Im still dont have a good handle on the journal though. It seems like the diary is a journal too. Even Dave's example has an entry in the diary as his journal.
Am I missing the blog or is that just wording, and either of these can be referred to as a blog?
BTW, cool site Dave.

I use my journal as a way to keep track of the hundreds of plants that I buy. If you want to make entries for each individual plant (when you planted it, where it is, when it bloomed, when you pruned it, when it died, etc) then the journal is a good bet. The diary is better if you want to track garden projects, like if you want to comment on your veggie garden as a whole as the season goes on, or if you want to keep a month by month record of the things you do in your garden so you can remember what you did at what time during the year, or if you redo a garden bed and want to track progress. And you're right, the diary is sort of like a journal in the sense that you can record stuff in it about your garden, you just have to understand how journal and diary are defined in the context of DG; diary is more for keeping track of the garden overall, and journal is for keeping track of individual plants.

I thought it was possible to use the journal to keep track of posts on DG we found useful, but I can't figure out how to do that. Does anyone know how?

happy_macomb, the diary is the best place to keep notes and posts. Under tasks, create a tab to reflect what you are wanting to save. For example, Rose pruning. After you create that tab then you can add an entry to that tab by copying and pasting into it an entry of your choice. You can add as many as you like and can give each a subject or you can string on new entries by just using the edit feature. You can edit them and add your own notes. You can delete ones that you no longer want. You can keep them private if you choose. I have a bunch of tabs such as co-op orders, sources for new plants, plant advice, wants, recipes, garden view for posting pics of my beds, and a general diary. Good luck, it is a good feature to use. Patti

Thanks -- it sounds useful. So the diary entries do not have to be tied to particular days?

The date of the entry is a default when you add a new entry to a tab. Each tab's entries are kept by date order. You can manipulate the date if you wish. But as you list a subject heading for each entry in a tab, it is quick to scroll down through them to find the one that you are looking for without having to read the text. I am not real good at explaining this, but I find it very useful.. Patti

Clearly I'll just have to experiment. I did try the journal and was stymied -- but maybe I'll have better luck with the diary.

The journal is much more useful for tracking individual plants, the diary is more useful for general stuff relating to your garden. For what you're doing it sounds like the diary is probably going to be the better thing to use.