Obsidian has quickly become my note taking and personal documentation tool because it has some outstanding features that makes it a near-perfect fit for all of my note taking use cases. Whether it is documenting a project, writing up my next post on CubicleNate.com in an offline status, or creating lists for the grocery store, this application does it and has, as a consequence, replaced a few applications and simplified much of my activities.
Bottom Line Up Front: Obsidian, while not an open source project, is free to use, seemingly how you wish, has many plugins and features that make it more than just a notebook. It allows for incredible flexibility with your data while following the common markdown language I have grown to prefer over the last year. With the flexibility it inherently provides with synchronization, I can choose how I want to use this and integrate it perfectly into my “Cubicle-Ecosystem.”
Background
For well over a decade I have been using a fine application called TiddlyWiki for taking notes and documenting various activities and for the most part still does the job for me mostly well but over time, I was starting to have some issues with my own user errors that with the way I was using the digital notebook, I couldn’t exactly use it the same way. At the same time, I had started with a new company where I had adopted OneNote as my system of choice for work related activities..
I tried many other note taking applications, most open source, some not, some with freemium models, others that provide additional services for a small subscription. I needed something that would live on my local file system and not rely on any one particular service. I had to have the flexibility to work offline, in an airplane or any other place that would cut me off from the Internet. I also needed something that could link files together, much like TiddlyWiki but with some easier ways to make copying pictures into it without having to take extra steps to link and display just as I would like.
What I wanted was something as easy to use as OneNote with the power of TiddlyWiki and the standard markdown language format as Joplin and I found it. It’s called Obsidian.
Installation
Obsidian is available as a Flatpak, AppImage, Snap and Deb formats. It’s also available for other platforms: Android, Windows, Mac and iOS. I have gone back and forth between the AppImage and the Flatpak. Flatpaks in general don’t always have the best system theme integration but I do have a way to trim out the annouances.
Flatpak
https://flathub.org/apps/md.obsidian.Obsidian
AppImage and other Download options
In many ways I prefer the AppImage because the theme integration is far better than the Flatpak on my desktop environment but this does mean I will have to manually install updates. With enough tweaking, I was able to get the Flatpak version to be good enough so that the menus are dark, as I like.
Once installed, basic usage is very straight forward.
Initial Setup
When you initially open up Obsidian, you are presented with three options, plus language selection. For my purposes, and how I intended on using Obsidian, I created a local vault.
I chose to put this folder within one of my folders I use with Syncthing so that I would be able to access my notes from other computers, my phone or a tablet. This has been very convenient because of how many ways that I have been able to use Obsidian.
The feature here that I want to point out is that if you open a folder as a vault that has markdown files, Obsidian will ingest them into its file which will be available to explore in the left sidebar, by default, showing the file explorer. This is a super cool feature.
Appearance
The good folks that work on Obsidian have provided to you many ways to customize it to your desired look and feel. I appreciate this because I tend to be a bit picky about the environment in which I spend my computer time. I find that when it feels comfortable in not only the interface but the experience, I tend to want to use the software more.
For starters, it is highly important that my application can largely match my dark theme with green accents. I have taken the time to configure my openSUSE Breeze Dark theme to allow me maximum happiness when using it. Obsidian fits nicely into my openSUSE Tumbleweed with Plasma Desktop feel.
Using the Base Color Scheme you can set it to Adapt to system, I am able to have it fit the way I like. If you are running multiple instances, you can change the Accent color to your liking. I left the Theme to Default in my case. The others are fine but I am just sticking with the default for now.
Dark Mode Respecting Menus
it’s absolutely important that the look and feel of an application I use, throughout the day. Under the Advanced section of Appearance there is an option called Native Menus. Ensure this is not active or the menus will not match. I should note that this is not an issue with the AppImage and will not be required. The Flatpak needs this… at least, I very much need it.
Since I have a somewhat customized window frame, I do specify that I want the Native frame so I can more easily manage my window on my desktop as I would like. Specifically, being able to use the custom buttons and window management features.
Interface
The interface on Obsidian is absolutely packed with features, so much so, this article will take far, far too long to cover everything, so I am going to break this down into the basics and the features I use most often. I want to stress that this article doesn’t even quite scratch the surface of capabilities but to keep this article from being a two-hour dissertation on the intricacies of Obsidian, I am going to break this down to the most often used and immediately killer features of this fine application.
Window Ribbon
The ribbon functions as a space for common commands within Obsidian. On desktop, it’s located in the left Sidebar and remains visible even when the left Sidebar is closed. I would look at this as the space where some core functions live. The specific function I use here daily, is creating the daily note.
Tab Bar
This is the area where tabs appear at the top of the application window. This sits just below the native window that I insist of having active.
In Obsidian, this tab bar contains the functions for the left pane: Files/Folders, Search and Bookmarks. To the right of that are the tabs above each editor pane, + for add tab and the down arrow for additional tab actions. This supports multiple tab groups, when you split panes horizontally/vertically, and you can drag tabs to rearrange, move between groups, pin them, etc. There is so much flexibility with how you manage Obsidian through this.
Left Side Pane
I usually keep this open as this is where I do the majority of my navigation to my various notes.
This area is where you have your files and folder list, do your search or view/interact with your bookmarks. This is the left sidebar, specifically showing the File explorer tab/view. The File explorer is a core plugin that appears as a tab inside the left sidebar. This is the area I am largely using to find or interact with notes.
Main Editor Pane
This is the editor area, or more precisely, the main editor pane / view.
The main central area(s) showing the actual note contents in my case here I divide my window up into three vertical panes with multiple tabs. Each open note lives inside its own tab in the tab bar, and that tab displays the Markdown editor for that note. When you have splits (multiple columns/panes like in your screenshot), each is a separate editor pane or workspace leaf containing one or more tabs. The neat thing is, tabs can easily be dragged to a different stack or separated out into their own window. This sort of flexibility is another killer feature of the editor.
Backlink Pane
The Backlinks pane in the right sidebar that shows any linked mentions from other notes that point to the current one or selected note.
The right sidebar’s Backlinks tab is where Obsidian lists all linked mentions, specifically, incoming links from other notes. The documentation suggests unlinked mentions you might want to turn into real links but I have yet to see any suggestions. I often keep this pane collapsed but I did want to point out its existence.
Features
There are countless features of Obsidian that I think are absolutely fantastic and if I were to list and describe all of them, that would take far, far too long and it would sound like I’m babbling. So, I’ll trim it down to the features that I most often use.
Daily Note
Call it a journal or just a note, I use the daily note feature to track what I do, either personal or for work. If you ever used a day-planer, this is that notes section that I would dump information but what makes this better is the ability to link things together. Most of the notes I do are not necessarily critical to refer back to but what may happen is that I cut the contents of the notes, start a new note and link it back to that day with some context. This also reduces that barrier to just getting notes down. Better to just dump it someplace and not lose it.
Linking Notes
The ease of linking notes together is as easy as dragging and dropping but there are right-click and external linking options too. What I have used TiddlyWiki for, in being a library of links and knowledge is much the same but even easier and more seamless.
Tasks
I use Obsidian to track my tasks by typing - [ ] at the start of a line to create a fantastic little box that can easily be checked. I keep a log of tasks and as I think of things, I create them on the fly and move them over to the appropriate note by the end of the day.
Live Preview in Editing Mode
The number one feature that really holds this editor above all else is the live preview in editing mode. One of my annoyances with markdown editors is that you have multiple vertical panes, an editing pane and viewing pane for a single note. Obsidian allows you to edit and preview in the same pane. It is a “chef’s kiss” in baked in features. It allows me to just do my note-taking and not fiddle around with the interface.
What I Like
One of the things that ultimately sold me on Obsidian was realizing it doesn’t trap your notes in some mysterious database with nonsensical file titles. You simply point Obsidian at any folder, what it calls a “vault”, and it reads your plain markdown (.md) files immediately on disk. The note’s filename becomes its title, so when you browse the folder in your file explorer, everything is instantly recognizable. There are no cryptic IDs or binary blobs, it is completely readable. The best part is that if you edit a note in any other text editor, Vim, VS Code, Marklite, Kate or whatever you like, save it, and Obsidian picks up the changes immediately. No conflicts, no import/export dance, no “sorry, file format changed” warnings. Your notes stay yours, in the simplest, most future-proof format possible. If Obsidian disappeared, my notes do not.
This application is so vast that even though I have been using it for over a year, I am still discovering valuable bits and pieces to it. This has been an exciting journey that most people I tell about look at me with the, “I don’t get it” look. There is even so much more to dig into when you start looking at the plugins that I have yet to go into further. The Tasks calendar is fantastic and the Calendar looks like it has some fantastic potential if I can figure out how to integrate it with Thunderbird.
I can copy paste or drag and drop pictures or links to files on my computer for quick and easy reference. This is a great way to build a kind of personal knowledge base on my computer and with my use of Syncthing to synchronize all my files and my Obsidian vault. Essentially, I use Obsidian to build more context of my data. Super fun and super useful.
What I Don’t Like
If I want to look at some smaller details on a picture that I embedded, in a “note” there isn’t a quick way to click on and expand the thing easily. A couple of work arounds is to find it in the files list and open it with the default application or open the note in a new window and zoom into the whole note. If I could make one feature request here it would be that there would be some quick actions for pictures in the note itself.
The search function is good but I sometimes struggle finding what I want by how things are displayed. I don’t have this quite dialed in for me. I wish it would prioritize titles of notes before the contents of notes but maybe there is an extension for it? I don’t know, it’s not a huge priority.
The theme integration with the Flatpak is a bit off on Plasma. Specifically, if you are using a dark mode, the menus are not dark unless I disable the native menus. I don’t know if this is the case with Gnome or not but I do find it annoying.
Final Thoughts
Obsidian, although not open source, looks like it is the note taking application of my choosing. There are a couple things I am not so tickled about but they are super minor. All the positives of Obsidian far, far outweigh the negatives. I am happy and even excited to have Obsidian open and ready for my fingers to do the typing.
There are a ton of official and community plugins for Obsidian to make it work even better for you. There is absolutely tons to explore. I haven’t gone into some of the other interesting features like the link viewer, the Base Note and Canvas features. There is a snapshot feature too so if you accidentally erase something or change something, you can recover it. It truly is an amazing application.
My Obsidian vault size has grown to 125 MB on disk, including images. I have had absolutely zero issues with the application. If there are any bugs in the software, I have yet to be exposed to any of them.
References
https://obsidian.md
Syncthing on openSUSE
TiddlyWiki | Personal, non-linear, Note Taking Application on Linux
Obsidian on Flathub
Framework Laptop 13
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