Family
One family, and everyone writes their own
In nexdiary everybody has a diary of their own that only they can read. What you share with each other you decide day by day: a single day for Gran, a heart sent back, one question a day that everyone answers. Everything else stays with each of you.
Everyone has a diary of their own
Jule, Paul, Mia and Gran Ruth each have their own account on the same server. Every diary belongs to its own person: notes, pages, values, photos and drafts are seen by nobody else unless you show them yourself.
A key of their own
Whatever somebody writes is encrypted in the database, with a key just for that person. How far that goes is set out under Security.
Settings of their own
Language, colour, the layout of “Today”, values, reminders and writing goal are set by each person for themselves. What Paul picks changes nothing for Mia.
One diary per person
There is no shared diary that several people write in. What gets shared is always a single day, by the person who wrote it.
Everybody on the server can see each other's display name and profile picture, so that you recognise each other when sharing and in the family question.
Sharing a single day
Sometimes you do not want to keep a day to yourself. The first day at school, the outing, the evening when everything went wrong and was lovely anyway. Then you share exactly that day with exactly the people who should read it.
What the others see
While reading a day you tap “Share” and choose one or more people from the family, up to 50 at once. They see the text and the photos of that day. Your values and your notes only go along if you switch on “Your values (mood, health …)” or “Your notes from that day”; by default both stay with you.
- Nothing is copied. Whoever reads it sees the day as it is right now. If you change something later, they see the new version.
- Reading only. It cannot be passed on, and there are no comments. The only answer is a heart.
- Back at any time. “Stop sharing” takes the day away at once. If you delete the page, it is no longer shared either.
- Locked days too. A day you have locked for good can still be shared.
Good to knowIf the cover of a day is a photo from your notes, it is shown too, even when the notes themselves stay with you. The window tells you so beforehand.
Shared, read, a heart sent back
The “Shared” page
On the “Shared” page, “Shared with me” holds what others show you, and “Shared by me” what you have shared yourself, there with “Stop sharing”. A number next to the menu item tells you how many days have newly been shared with you.
A heart, nothing more
Whoever has read a shared day can send a heart. It is a quiet sign that it was read, and it can be taken back again. Whoever shared the day sees who sent a heart.
There are no comments, no messages and no count of popularity. No message reaches the phone for a share or a heart either, only the number in the menu.
One question a day for everybody who takes part
The family question asks everyone the same question each day, easy enough for every age. “What tasted better today than you expected?” is something Mia and Ruth answer just as happily as Paul. In the evening you read the others' answers and know a little more about their day.
How it works
- Optional: by default nobody takes part. Each person switches it on for themselves, under “My account”, “Writing”, “Take part in the family question”. Whoever does not take part sees no question, no answers and no names.
- Answer first, then read: you see the others' answers as soon as you have answered yourself. Before that it only shows who has answered already.
- Final: an answer cannot be changed afterwards. It also goes into your diary as a note, and that note you may change or delete.
- Reading back: when you read an old day, its family question is there with the answers, but only if you answered yourself back then.
- Stopping: whoever stops taking part takes their answers with them; nobody sees them any more. Whatever of them is in their own notes stays.
nexdiary brings 64 questions in German and English and takes the next one each day, in a fixed mixed order. So everyone gets the same question on the same day, whichever language they use nexdiary in.
Good to knowThe family question has a single calendar for everyone, and it follows the server's time zone, that is the TZ setting of the container, not the time zones of the people. If it is set to UTC, the question changes in Germany only at 2 in the morning in summer. The self-hosting example sets TZ to Europe/Berlin. For the same reason, whoever stops and joins again on the same day takes part again only from the server's next day.
Accounts for children and grandparents
nexdiary has no children's accounts, no sub-profiles and no parental controls. Mia at eight and Ruth in her late seventies each get an ordinary account, with a name of their own, a password of their own and a diary only they can read.
Inviting
Whoever runs the server makes a link under “Settings”, “Accounts” with “Invite somebody”. It works once and for one, seven or 30 days. With a mail server it goes out by mail, otherwise you copy it and send it yourself, by messenger say. Whoever follows the link sets up their account themselves.
Signing in without fuss
At the first sign-in each person sets up a second factor right after the password, with an authenticator app. After that they can add a passkey under “My account”, “Security” and sign in on their device with a fingerprint, their face or the device's PIN, without password and without code. On your own tablet you stay signed in until you have not been there for 30 days.
When something gets lost
In nexdiary nobody sets a password for somebody else. If Ruth has forgotten hers, the operator sends her a link with “Send a link to reset”, and she chooses a new one herself. If the phone with the authenticator app is gone, the operator can remove the second factor and Ruth sets it up again. In both cases her diary stays as it was.
What can be set per account
The operator can decide for each account separately whether it may use the AI and Immich. Each person also chooses their own language, independently of the others.
Good to knowThe guide shows step by step how to invite the family: Inviting.
What the operator sees, and what not
The first account runs the server. It invites the family and may change every setting, but it reads no diaries. In our example family that is Jule, and her own diary is one like any other.
Sees
- the accounts with name, role, way of signing in and whether a second factor is set up
- whether an account is blocked, and open invitations
- the server log, which never holds a word from pages, notes or photos
- how many people have connected Immich and how many devices are signed up for notifications
Does not see
- the others' pages, notes, values, tags, photos and drafts
- time capsules that are not for them, not even that they exist
- the answers to the family question, unless they take part and have answered themselves
- days that have not been shared with them
What the operator can do
The operator can invite people, send a link to reset a password, block an account, sign it out everywhere, remove its second factor, make somebody an operator and delete an account. Most of these steps ask for the operator's password once more.
Only the operator can delete an account; a member cannot delete their own. The account is deleted with everything that belongs to it and cannot be brought back.
Whoever holds the server itself, the database and the master key, could technically look inside. No software that reads on the same machine can prevent that. What the encryption does and does not do is set out honestly under Security.
