## Introduction Obsidian is the ultimate local-first markdown note-taking app for PKM, tasks, and productivity with powerful plugins and offline access. Obsidian was born into a ‘crowded’ market previously dominated by Evernote and then by Notion. But it’s a different beast. It’s offline first, allows modelling with graph view, and has an ‘open’ plug-in store, is highly robust, easy to access and reasonably priced (for Sync and Publish). It attracts interesting, committed technical people with development skills. This is an overview mind map of the many functions and possibilities offered by Obsidian. ![[obsidian-functions-map-sm.png]] But Obsidian also attracts those of us who have been looking for an effective note taking tool now that we have significantly more information to manage than ever before. It provides a platform to mind dump, record our feelings and thoughts, diaries, to-do and habit lists. It allows us to create a robust, centralized repository for our personal knowledge, from where to command and control our lives and projects. ## Obsidian Functions To follow is an inventory of functions offered by obsidian with a description, suggested use cases, the advantages and, where appropriate, a comparison with other tools or concepts. This is a mind map of the themes we discuss concerning Obsidian. ![[obsidian-mind-map.png]] ## What Is Obsidian At its heart Obsidian is a system to organize notes into folders and add properties to display them as tables with the Bases core plug-in. The Obsidian environment is open to the community, which can also comment, discuss, and influence functionality, which seems to be what people need. ## Local Files for Security and Availability Whether it’s on the phone, the tablet, the laptop, or the desktop PC, Windows, Mac or Linux, your files reside on the local machine first. You don’t need Internet – you can just open Obsidian and you will find your work ready to go. Evernote and Notion are great, but are focused on sharing, and have only implemented offline mode recently. In Obsidian you can access all your notes and images instantaneously, so you can curate your vital data at any time, which is important for security and for performance. ### Obsidian File Vaults It’s worth thinking carefully about how you organize your collections and probably separate at least work from personal, without creating too many vaults. The [Johnny Decimal method](https://johnnydecimal.com/10-19-concepts/11-core/11.01-introduction/) is useful for that. ### Obsidian Sync Sync is fast and reliable. It means that your work can be replicated to any other platform. It’s optional, and not required to start using obsidian but highly recommended. So you have in your pocket a tool to write, whether you create [atomic notes](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/debating-the-usefulness-of-atomic-notes-a-novel-pragmatic-obsidian-based-approach-to-pkm-strategies/38077) or just want to express and capture ideas. ### Image Management As attachments are linked and not embedded, they have value in themselves because they’re stand-alone and can be curated independently of the notes that reference them. > [!tip] Images in Capacities > In Capacities, however, they are even more autonomous; you can add text directly to images. ## Linking Notes and Graph View To develop a theme top down is to split a single headline objective into steps. Bottom-up is the opposite: about creating a project from a set of ideas. To link notes in Obsidian, just enter square brackets like this and select from the list of all the others. ``` [[]] ``` Or the following to link to a heading in the same note ``` [[#]] ``` ### Importance of Linking Linking files is interesting because you can combine atomic notes into a structure, into a whole. - Useful to see links in content - Handy for content creation - Easy to link with square brackets - Automatic link updates Below we can see the projects file linked to Manage Content displaying the projects.base. This is in source mode. ![[linked-files.png|224]] The file displays like this ![[projects-file-displayed.png]] You can’t write everything in one go. Ideas come individually at varying and unpredictable times, sequentially, day by day. Atomic notes focus on a single subject. And if you’re creating content, links show you which posts are related for you to assess whether you want to group them together. You can then use [[#Graph View]] to display these relationships visually. ### Markdown There are some simple codes to master in Markdown to create formatting in a text file. ``` [[]] Double square brackets to link notes * text * one star is for italics ** text ** double * is for bold == text == double = to highlight ``` ### Non-proprietary format A markdown file can easily be edited as open text with formatting codes. In comparison a typical Word document is much larger in kb for the same effect. So what do you do once you have started filling your vault? One of the main use cases is to create content, but the challenge is knowing what exactly to write, and how your atomic notes and ideas fit into the existing landscape. Identify the gaps, and then plan your project with [[#Action notes]]. ### Backlinks For instance, if you change the title of a post, [backlinks](https://help.obsidian.md/plugins/backlinks) help you to see whether the reference still makes sense. Unlike WordPress, Obsidian will automatically update links to files so you can freely modify them without concern. Ensure that you have turned this option on. ### Graph View Links between files show up in Graph view. Atomic notes store ideas without having to think of context. The following shows links between files in obsidian graph view: ![[links-between-files.png|522]] This is a graphical notes view can be filtered by folder or tag so you can focus on a specific section of your vault. You may also notice where there should be links. When you click on a node, you navigate straight to it. So it’s a fantastic way of making sure that files are organized as you intend. For content creation, this ensures that you’re covering the subjects that you want. You see this visually, which is often more powerful than just a list. It’s interactive and dynamic and helps you play, rather like a mind map. You can add things, take them away and easily model your domain. You can set parameters for the way the graph displays using filters, groups, and forces. ![[graph view settings.png|110]] [Graph view](https://help.obsidian.md/plugins/graph) enables you to visualize the spatial arrangement of notes, akin to a mind map, and helps with comprehension. ## Headings and Outline Another really useful feature of Obsidian is headers, which on the face of it are just stylistic elements. But in Obsidian they separate text into sections, which can be moved around in the outline. When we’re writing in flow, things come to mind, not necessarily in order. Like brainstorming in a mind map and then rearranging themes logically afterwards. The ease with which you can link files is due to the simple power of [Markdown](https://daringfireball.net/projects/markdown/), unlike Microsoft, where you have to click on the menu (shortcuts are difficult to memorize). Here you just use the following hashtags to create different level headers: ``` # for H1 ## for H2 ### for H3 ``` See [Obsidian Help for more information on using Headings](https://help.obsidian.md/syntax#Headings). ## Tags in Obsidian Folders organize notes vertically. This system is quite rigid and not always enough to define the theme completely. Tags are useful horizontal links, and provide an additional dimension to identify, group and search for your files. ## Properties and Bases Properties are effectively like using fields to a database, but can be added to any note. > [!tip] Properties in Notion > In Notion, the note needs to be part of a (previously created) database. For instance, if you want to compile a ==database of plants==, you would store your plant notes in the same folder and add say English and Latin names, deciduous or annual, care advice, etc. You could then ==select your plants== by filtering the notes using a Base. ![[obsidian-plant-note.png]] ### Bases Card view Just recently was introduced the card view, which enables you to display cover images of variable and adjustable dimensions. This is the plant file in card view using the cover property to display the image of the plant attached to the plant note. ![[plants-gallery-view.png|222]] ### Filters In a Base The default is to display all notes within your vault and then filter them by path or perhaps by tag. A base can have multiple criteria in more than one view. This is the filter for the table and card views. Limit the path to ‘Plants’ and only md files. ![[plants-base-filter.png|374]] These are the two views available – table view and gallery (card view): ![[views-in-plants-base.png]] ### Display notes in a base Let’s say you want to create a Base of issue files from anywhere in your vault. You simply tag all the relevant notes and then use Bases to select them, wherever they are. So it’s very flexible. [[Issue Management and Problem Solving Database|Managing issues]] in project management, or in general, is crucial for ensuring smooth project execution and achieving desired outcomes. Proactively addressing issues allows teams to detect and resolve problems early, preventing them from escalating into significant risks or blockers. ![[cost-of-hosting-issue.png]] An advantage of a Base is that you can select the properties that you want display, and if not already present, those edited here will be added to the note. ## Core Plugins A plugin in Obsidian is a tool that extends the functionality of the application by adding new features and capabilities. These plugins are created by the Obsidian community and are not officially supported by the core team. Some [core plugins](https://help.obsidian.md/plugins) are disabled by default. This screen in [settings](https://help.obsidian.md/settings)> core plugins enables you to turn plugins on or off: ![[turn-obsidian-core-plugins-on-off.png]] See the [obsidian site here for a full list of plugins](https://obsidian.md/plugins). There are currently 2695 plugins made by the community. ### Canvas plugin [Canvas](https://obsidian.md/canvas) is a graphical interface where you can draw flowcharts, activity, and entity diagrams, connecting variable size free-form boxes or ones added from your vault. This example shows the relationships between a selection of software systems: ![[obsidian-canvas.png]] ### Obsidian Publish [Obsidian Publish](https://obsidian.md/publish) allows you to publish all or a subset of notes to a site, either on obsidian or a custom domain. It’s much better than WordPress. First, updates don’t need to be uploaded straight away. So you can take your time perfecting or modifying a post. Second, outgoing links and [[#Backlinks]]. You can check that any change to say a post title still makes sense where referenced. ## Obsidian Community Plugins Below we discuss some very useful Obsidian community plugins. ### Dataview Plugin You might not use Dataview right from the outset, but only once you have a collection of things to display, like a list of posts with SEO performance statistics. It has real benefits, although much can now be achieved with [[#Properties and Bases]]. Some things you can do with Dataview that you can’t do with bases like concatenate properties. Dataview is a live index and query engine over your personal knowledge base. You can [add metadata](https://blacksmithgu.github.io/obsidian-dataview/annotation/add-metadata/) to your notes and **query** them with the [Dataview Query Language](https://blacksmithgu.github.io/obsidian-dataview/queries/structure/) to list, filter, sort, or group your data. Dataview keeps your queries always up to date and makes data aggregation a breeze. Among many other things, you could - Track your sleep by recording it in daily notes, and automatically create weekly tables of your sleep schedule. - Automatically collect links to books in your notes, and render them all sorted by rating. - Create dynamic views that show upcoming birthdays or events recorded in your notes See [Blacksmithgu, the editor of the Dataview plugin](https://blacksmithgu.github.io/obsidian-dataview/) for extensive information on usage. ### Tasks Plugin The Tasks plugin is very useful. See [the extensive manual for the Tasks plugin here](https://publish.obsidian.md/tasks/). Tasks is an amazing plugin. It allows you to place a task in any note and then compile with filters a list of tasks from anywhere in your vault. Embedding was so sorely lacking from any of the other note-taking systems. For example, you might include, within an issue, the things that you need to do to solve it. Create project notes, and use Tasks as a project manager. But while you can’t do a Gantt chart. You can create a KanBan with the [[#Kanban]] plugin. This is a great way to have tasks really close to the content. Similarly, you can pull out all tasks often grouped by folder or root. The default task query includes a link back to the header within a note. Short mode is handy for a no-clutter display. Using the following code for the tasks plugin: ``` ``` tasks not done Group by folder short mode ``` ``` You obtain the following list of tasks: ![[tasks-short.png|300]] ### Mind Mapping Plugin The following is a mind map of the themes we discuss in this post, created in obsidian with the Mind map plugin. See [[Create a Mindmap in Obsidian with NextGen Plugin]] ![[obsidian-functions-map.png]] ### Kanban plugin The KanBan plugin is not as good as Trello. So the solution is, again, to use multiple tools, each a specialist in its own area. You do your planning and writing in one place and then reap the benefits of another system to help clarify. This shows a simple Kanban created with the Kanban plugin showing that you can dynamically move cards. ![[kanban.mp4]] Below is the output from the tasks query showing that cards in the KanBan are also included in the tasks list. ![[kanban-tasks-in-tasks-query.png]] ### Cardboard Kanban plugin I also like the approach of the [Cardboard plugin](https://github.com/roovo/obsidian-card-board) of compiling tasks from checkbox items. It sort of conflicts with tasks embedded in content. But, unfortunately, it doesn’t sync across platforms. ### Find Unlinked Files Plugin If you delete a Markdown file, the embedded images become orphans. The [find unlinked files](https://github.com/Vinzent03/find-unlinked-files) plugin can list all Orphan Files and Broken Links, which you can then quite easily clean out. ### PDF Annotator Fantastically useful [PDF Annotator](https://obsidian.md/plugins?id=obsidian-annotator) plugin by [Elias Sundqvist](https://github.com/elias-sundqvist). But doesn’t work on mobile :-() ![[annotate pdf edit.mp4]] ### Antidote connector Antidote is the best grammar checker. And you can use it effectively with the Antidote connector which send text to Antidote dynamically for correction. ## Applications of Obsidian ### Action notes in Obsidian We use Obsidian as a to-do list in application of [[Getting Things Done management framework|GTD]] next action. A task manager contains tasks or links to content but generally not the content itself. Here we create content notes and add task properties. This could even be a telecoms account with a task to pay the bill. There are also the obsidian [[#Tasks]], which can be deeply embedded within content. They are very useful, but beware the danger of publishing notes with embedded tasks. The following is base showing actions ordered by sequence: ![[action-sequence.png]] Create the following properties in your Action Notes: ![[post-with-action-note-properties.png]] *The Action Tag* is just so that you can pull out the notes you’re actively working on in a date of view or basis query. I tag notes ‘action’ where there is an action and then pull them out with a base. *The Sequence Property* is to give you an idea of execution order. The order of doing tasks is not necessarily the same as their importance. You might not religiously do the most important task first. So it’s freeing to be able to set an order independent of importance. Just an order of doing, which can correspond to your mood, time availability, desire, energy, and content. Perhaps the easiest task. The *Priority Property* is a useful device to implement the [[Eisenhower Decision Matrix]] It can take these values: - 1.1 - 1.2 - 2.1 - 2.2 Instead of two fields importance and urgency, use one field ’priority’, which can be easily ordered. It’s up to you to set it to represent importance and urgency, but roughly equates to the order in which you do things based on importance and urgency. *Next-Action Property*. So I have a property called next action. Next action (GTD) is the next action that you can actually do, grounded in reality. *Goal Property:* The goal is where you are aiming for. The two together focus on the next action and give it context. You can understand better why you are doing this action when you know your goal. This relationship between next action and goal is the essence of Natural Planning because it leaves you the freedom to do in the order of choosing that feels right for you. It is the essence of natural planning. Action notes can be used in project management, to apply Getting Things Done (GTD) or for simply putting your tasks in order. Obsidian can also be used to apply the [[Eisenhower Decision Matrix]], through using the priority property, which is like importance and urgency combined a single field. The following is a display of actions notes in a base grouped by priority, filtered for notes with tag action. ![[eisenhower-method-in-obsidian.png]] ### Obsidian for PKM What are the main characteristics of PKM (Personal Knowledge Management)? - The ability to create individual notes. Whether atomic (single subject) or long-form posts. - A system to catalogue and categorize these notes. It’s all very well creating notes, but you want to be able to find them. Even their author might not be able to find them: you may remember the idea but have forgotten the name, or where you put them. You may have a vague idea that you wrote something on this theme but want to find the note to avoid duplication. Obsidian is great for Personal Knowledge Management. In obsidian note files are stored in folders and can be tagged and because it’s 100% offline. These two systems, folders, and tags, represent two dimensions for finding your note. Folders are vertical and hierarchical. Can include theme data if you arrange folders. Tag properties are horizontal and common across files and can be added or removed without moving a file from its (folder) position. Obsidian allows you to have files with you to curate on the go. Data. Logins, passwords. Information. Take notes (have a notepad). Collect, collate, and curate. ### Obsidian For SEO *Obsidian for SEO*: Obsidian be effectively used to track post performance. Simply add properties to notes such as position, impressions, keyword, and keyword difficulty. This is an example post from this site with SEO data: ![[obsidian-for-seo-digitization.png]] *Properties for SEO:* | Property | Description | | ----------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | URL | This is a shortcut URL so that you can easily navigate to your post | | Indexed URL | A post may not be indexed against its actual URL if it has aliases. Property records the actual URL for which the post is indexed | | permalink | This is the URL slug that will be used if you publish your posts with Obsidian Publish. | | keyword | This is the keyword for which the keyword DATA is recorded from tools such as Semrush or Ubersuggest. | | volume | Volume is the estimated volume of searches on this keyword from SERP. | | KD | KD is keyword difficulty as measured by Google. | | CPC | CPC is the Cost per Click estimated by Google. | | aliases | Aliases are equivalent to redirects in WordPress so all of the aliases will redirect to this URL. | | impressions | Impressions is data collated from Google console to show the number of times post has been seen in a standard period (28 days or three months). | | position | Position is data from google console to show the effect position of the post in Google search results (SERP page) | | Words | The number of words in the post | | Description | If Obsidian publish, this will form the post's meta description | | cover | Denotes the post's cover image. | ## Obsidian for Local-First Note-Taking Obsidian stands out in the crowded landscape of note-taking tools by combining the simplicity of Markdown with the power of local-first storage, extensible plugins, and a vibrant community. Whether you’re building a personal knowledge management (PKM) system, managing complex projects with embedded tasks, or visualizing your ideas through graph views and canvases, Obsidian offers unmatched flexibility and control. Its offline-first architecture ensures your data is always accessible and secure, while features like backlinks, properties, and the Tasks plugin bring structure and action to your notes. With Obsidian, you’re not just taking notes – you’re building a dynamic, personalized system for thinking, writing, and doing. If you’re looking for a robust, customizable, and future-proof note-taking system, Obsidian is more than worth your attention. It’s not just a tool – it’s a platform for thinking in Markdown.