You could use Nano (or Vim) over SSH, or set up a Samba-share from the server and mount it in your local OS somewhere.

Vim handles remote files over SCP natively:

vim scp://192.168.1.2//data/editme.txt

“Use vim in SSH” is not a great answer to asking for a convenient way to edit a single file, because it requires understanding multiple somewhat-complex pieces of technology that OP might not be familiar with and have a reasonably steep learning curve.

But I’d still like to explain why it pops up so much. And the short version is very simple: versatility.

Once you’ve learned how to SSH into your server you can do a lot more than just edit a file. You can download files with curl directly to your server, you can move around files, copy them, install new software, set up an entire new docker container, update the system, reboot the system and many more things.

So while there’s definitely easier-to-use solutions to the one singular task of editing a specific file on the server, the “learn to SSH and use a shell” approach opens up a lot more options in the future.

So if in 5 weeks you need to reboot the machine, but your web-based-file-editing tool doesn’t support that option, you’ll have to search for a new solution. But if you had learned how to use the shell then a simple “how do I reboot linux from the shell” search will be all that you need.

Also: while many people like using vim, for a beginner in text based remote management I’d recommend something simpler like nano.

Look into ssh

You’re talking about remotely editing a file. That means you’ll need remote access to the fileserver where it lives. The common way to do this would be with a network fileshare, but there are many options.

If you want to access the file from OUTSIDE your home network, you need a VPN or something similar. The simplest option is probably Tailscale. Just install it on your server and on your remote device, and boom, both are always magically on the same virtual network.

Try set up ssh then u can ether use a terminal or vscode with the ssh emote something extension

Personally I use vscode remote-ssh for editing random files on other servers if I want/need a GUI for it.

There’s a project called Filebrowser that allows you to edit text files in a web interface. You can just run that on the 192.168.1.2 machine. It’s easy to set up simple auth, and you can restrict it to the /data/ directory.

Ah, gotta love the people who tell someone with obviously limited knowledge to “just use ssh and vim”, lol. Yeah, just open up port 22 to the general public, what could go wrong…

A VPN, e.g. Wireguard, would allow you access to your local network, so you could just mount a network drive. This would be relatively easy to set up.

But to be frank, unless you have more reason than “no need for the file to be stored in different locations”, syncthing is probably your best option. It’s convenient and secure.

Edit: why the downvotes? I didn’t say anything bad about your beloved vim, no need to get triggered 😘

WinSCP is a nice GUI app that will connect over various protocols and let you edit a file easily. You can save the connection details so it’s just like 2 clicks to edit a file.

Surprised everyone is recommended SSH and vim and stuff when you wanted easy and simple.

WebDAV will handle that, and Joplin has WebDAV client built in.

https://marketplace.visualstudio.com/items?itemName=ms-vscode-remote.remote-ssh-edit

Acronyms, initialisms, abbreviations, contractions, and other phrases which expand to something larger, that I’ve seen in this thread:

5 acronyms in this thread; the most compressed thread commented on today has 15 acronyms.

[Thread #320 for this sub, first seen 1st Dec 2023, 11:15] [FAQ] [Full list] [Contact] [Source code]

If you want to edit files in a browser, then it will all depend on what kind of files you want to edit.

If it’s office suite related files, I’m leaning towards the Collabora Online suite with Nextcloud. If it’s markdown files, I’d go with something like HedgeDoc

Deploy code-server and either connect to it with a VPN or open the port needed to connect over the internet.