Obsidian

I use Obsidian to organize my notes. I use it because:

  • It's free (though paid features are available)
  • Notes are recorded using plain text using the Markdown format
  • My notes are synchronized automatically because I store my notes in OneDrive
  • The user interface is nice

I don't use:

  • OneNote because it's proprietary.
  • CherryTree because notes are locked in a single binary file.

Obsidian could disappear tomorrow and I'd still be left with my notes in plain text files in an open format.

Install Obsidian

My Practices

  • Keep everything in one notebook. (I.e., don't create separate notebooks for Windows, Linux, Python, etc..)
  • Tag each note (e.g., #python, #linux, #windows, #regex, etc..) Each note should probably have 3+ tags.
  • Create directories for major topics, such as Linux and programming.
    • Tags still are the major way notes are conceptually organized. For example, if you have a note about Ubuntu Linux on the AWS cloud, tag it with #linux and #aws.
    • Folders are primarily used to avoid having thousands of files in one directory.
  • Use nested tags (e.g., #python/regex).
  • Write text instead of relying on screenshots.

Plugins

  • I use the community plugin named Linter by Victor Tao to keep my Markdown syntax consistent.

Settings

  • In Options > Files and links, I set the Default location for new attachments to In subfolder under current folder. I prefer this to one big attachments folder for the entire notebook.
  • I use Wiki-style links instead of default Markdown links. Obsidian handles links very well inside the notebook.

Power User Tips

  • Use Obsidian for a week before trying to optimize your use or installing a bunch of plugins.
  • There are hundreds of YouTube tutorials on Obsidian. After getting to know the basics, see how other people use it and decide if your use cases could benefit from their approaches.