Obsidian
- If you move that note to another folder in your vault, the page address will change if you update it. And the last thing you want is your site pages changing addresses.
- I’m not an SEO specialist, and there is conflicting information about this online, but some say the address format is an important signal. I have no idea whether itās critical or not, but the address created by Obsidian Publish looks horrible.
- Wait for four hours before sharing the permalink on social media.
- Use the original link instead. That link will always exist, even if you create a permalink. Also, it doesn’t take four hours to show the image.
- First you have to find you Kindle serial number.
- Then you can follow this instructions to instal the DeDRM_tools plugin
One thing I would love to be able to do on #Obsidian would be to click on a file in the files list and then use the up and down arrows on the keyboard to switch from one file to another on the list. š¤ Hmm, there’s probably a plugin that can do that.
My entire website was created using Obsidian notes, all written in Markdown. I already knew that Micro.blog supports Markdown, but when I started entertaining the idea of moving my site back there, I found out about theĀ Markdown import feature, which uses the Frontmatter (Properties) for the post title, publication date, URL, and even tags.Ā
After a few hours testing the tool with some of my posts, I was ready to start cleaning all of them, so I copied them to a new Vault. The Multi Properties and Global Search and Replace plugins were so useful that I’ll probably publish videos about them.
There are people who see Obsidian as a tool for developers, but when I find and use plugins like the above to perform complex tasks with a click of a mouse, what I see is a powerful tool making anyone’s life much easier.
PS. The website migration process is still in progress.
The more I share my ideas, the more ideas I get. I just made a small improvement to the Tasks system I created on my #Obsidian Home Page. Video coming up soon. Maybe today! š
It seems like you don't have to wait four hours like they said in the official Obsidian Forum.
After additional experiments with sharing the Obsidian Publish permalinks on social media, I discovered that if I do so two hours after the page goes live, the image will appear on the social media post. I haven’t had any luck with a one-hour wait, though.
Next, I’ll try one and a half hours š
UPDATE: So, it looks like my two-hour theory is a bit hit or miss. I’m adding this update because it took a bit more than two hours for the image on this one to appear.
My Obsidian Publish infinite loop. The saga of creating new problems by solving others.
Itās incredible how solutions can have a side effect, creating new obstacles. And I secretly love dealing with that challenge.
Like usual, I’m sharing something I just learned. But let’s begin with the issue. If you use Obsidian Publish to post your notes, the address of the page will be something resembling the path to the note in your vault, which creates two headaches.
The solution to both is adding your own address as a permalink, which Obsidian Publish allows you to do with a property:
permalink: /any-address-you-want
Long story short, all my notes have a permalink, but of course, that created a new problem. Do you know when we publish a link on social media and it creates a miniature with a thumbnail and some details about that post?Ā
Obsidian Publish has some properties that you can use to tell the social media site where to look for that information: cover: or image: for the thumbnail and description: for the description. You can learn all about this on the Obsidian Help site.
That set me on a quest that led me to this Obsidian Forum post: “Pages with permalink take longer to have a social preview.” There’s a long conversation there, but here’s the TL;DR:
How to Find the Original Link
Open the Obsidian command palette, and type Publish: open in live site. That will first open the page using the original address and then switch to the permalink.
It’s too fast to see, but if you go to your browser history, you’ll notice that page appearing twice in the list. The older one has the original address. Right-click on it and copy the link.
Yes, I know what you are thinking…
I agree. It’s incredible how there’s always a side effect creating new problems. But don’t worry, you’ll be the first one to know when I find out how using the original address creates new complications.
Tweaking some Obsidian plugins (weekend housekeeping)
Yesterday, I spent some time adjusting the settings of two Obsidian pluginsā āā Voicenotes and BookFusion. That inevitably got me thinking about how cool it is to have apps and services automatically send information to a centralized space. Whatās even cooler is that even if Obsidian ceases to exist tomorrow, all the files will still be organized and available in my computerās file system.
BookFusion
When making some small adjustments to what I showed in a recent video, I noticed that the plugin isnāt creating āListsā in my vault. I even went back to my video and realized that this issue was already present back then.
Anyway, if you look at the images below, you can see, by the lighter green link, that the notes āCompletedā and āCurrently Readingā donāt exist in my Vault. In other words, the plugin isnāt creating them, even though I have all āIndexā options set to synchronize.
By the way, if youāre having trouble understanding what Iām talking about, please watch the video below.
Looking at the images below from my BookFusion dashboard, you can also see that the book Caliban’s War is in the āCurrently Readingā list and the three others are in the āCompletedā list.
Itās possible Iām doing something wrong, but after checking all settings and not being able to figure out the problem, I decided to email the BookFusion team. Iāll update this post when I hear back from them.
Voicenotes Unofficial Plugin
Iāve been testing the Voicenotes Pages feature to produce a video about it, which is why I decided to also dedicate some time to make adjustments to the plugin settings.
Again, Iām not sure if Iām the one doing something wrong, but it looks like the variable that creates the title for the note is also including the date.
Then, thereās a suggestion. As you know, I like to have all my files in the Files folder in my Timeline, but the plugin doesnāt let us choose where to save Voicenotes attachments. My suggestion was to allow us to do that.
Thatās it for this one. I just wanted to share the recent updates because, as you know, Iām always tweaking things around here.
Experimenting with Voicenotes integration into Obsidian blog
Note: Originally posted on my Voicenotes Page.
I’m using the unofficial Voicenotes plugin in Obsidian and I have it set to download everything. Not only the text but also the audio, the attachments, everything. I even have some properties that will capture links, the title, and a lot of other information.
So, I’m here thinking that maybe it is possible to create a copy of this postāthat I’m adding to Voicenotes Pagesāin my Obsidian blog.
Well, it’s not “maybe”, it is indeed possible because, ultimately, it’s also being created as an Obsidian note. All I have to do is set the plugin’s template to download the post and everything else but with the appropriate properties, the ones that I use to publish on Obsidian Publish.
Hmm, this is an interesting experiment. Let’s see how it goes.
I created my own AI, but it is not what you are thinking.
As Iāve said many other times, I believe there are some technologies that reached a stage of maturity where they could just be used indefinitely. What many people seem not to know is that itās possible to go back to enjoying that sweetĀ spot.
If we look back a few decades, it feels like things eventually got out of control. I remember using the iPhone when information and even the OS upgrades were done by connecting the phone to a computer. Back then, apps with online synchronization like Evernote were rare.
At some point, everything started becoming so fast and instantaneous. Not only messages, but almost everything. Iām not old enough to remember when breaking news used to be the next dayās newspaper cover. But before the popularization of the Internet, I remember the We interrupt this program for a special news bulletin message on the TV and radio. Now, we get flooded by information about everything all the time. Many times inaccurate or, worse, fake news.
If we stop to think about it, unless you are a reporter, stock trader, or work with anything that is time-sensitive, thereās no practical use for all this immediacy. On the contrary, it generates a lot of stress. As ordinary people, thereās absolutely nothing practical weāll be able to do with most of the instant information we get bombarded with.
The most recent I-must-be-part-of-it-no-matter-what fad is AI. Thereās no reason to use AI for everything, nor is there a need for AI in every single app. Also, just so you know, yes, I do use AI. Every day! But I try to keep it siloed.
Back to my point. Although using or repurposing old tech was something I always did, it feels like Iām doing it more and more these days. I donāt know if itās because Iām getting older or because I refuse to subject myself to imposed anxiety.
For example, I did try streaming for a while but |never stopped using my iPod 5.5 Gen. The modern Supernote I use and love is constantly bringing me back to a pleasant time when I used my Palm for everything. Youāre probably aware of my Digital Caveman project. And there are all those apps, like Instapaper, that look and work just like they did a billion years ago. All these are great examples of the point of ātech maturityā I mentioned at the beginning.
Anyway, the more I look at modernity from the perspective of people who are constantly anxious and chasing novelty just for noveltyās sake, the more I think of products and services I should have never stopped using. The good news is that many of them still exist, and after going back to using some of them, I can now clearly see how good they really are, as they have withstood the test of time.
Maybe thatās why I related so much to Kevin Kellyās What Technology Wants book. Not only does he directly challenge the common perception that old technologies become obsolete and vanish, but he comes up with several examples of technologies, no matter how old, that still exist somewhere. Perhaps in a modified form, for a specific purpose, or in a niche market.
Of course, using old tech or new tech with old tech vibes, like Obsidian, comes with its challenges. It often demands what I call Attention & Intention, my kind of āAIā. For example, I see people complaining all the time about how complicated Obsidian is. Itās difficult to disagree with that, but doing things with Attention & Intention means that you were paying attention and will probably remember where you stored that information.
Iām not going to pretend I didnāt fall for modern tech promises, like social media. Thankfully, many years ago I started disconnecting from all those toxic spaces, and recently, Iām finding that going [[vladcampos.com/Timeline/Blog/2025/2025-06-28 ā¢ A few cool things I recently discovered about RSS feeds. Spoilerāāāthey have super-powers.|back to using RSS]] to follow blogs is bringing me a lot of joy. I donāt have words to describe how pleasant it is to read like this. Iām overwhelmed by how much great content I was missing.
Of course, itās not as simple or easy as the infinite scroll provided by a mysterious algorithm with a single mission: keep you hooked, no matter what. No matter what! It comes slowly from here and there: from a conversation you had on Mastodon, a page that appeared in a search result, and even trying to remember the names of the websites of those old friends. But since itās all done with Attention & Intention, it pays off.
Itās true for all the other non-anxious tech I mentioned above. Adding music to an iPod means connecting it to a computer. To find music, you have to know at least a few things about it, like its name, or the singer, or album, etc. As for the Supernote, it has a simple OS running on a basic device with a monochromatic display. No browser, no notifications, and disconnected most of the time, much like my Palm used to be. And let’s not even start with all the effort one has to put into an Obsidian Vault.
Next in my wishlist of mindful devices is a Fairphone, most likely running /e/OS.
Attention & Intention is beautiful, pleasant, and, most importantly, relaxing.
Refining my note-taking workflowālessons from Evernote for Obsidian.
As someone who believes that serious note-taking needs a solid system, Iāve frequently encountered a challenge: effectively managing my ever-growing collection of notes.
Dynamically switching between multiple views of the same information is a strategy I used a lot in the past. However, I lost that when I moved to Obsidian, as I find its handling of lists of notes less intuitive than Evernoteās elegant approach.
I canāt think of any note-taking app that handles note lists quite like Evernote. Its āAll Notesā list is essentially a dynamic filter displaying all your notes. If youāre an Evernote user, youāve likely noticed that the list automatically refines as you click on notebooks, tags, and so on, transforming to show exactly what you need. This brilliant method of listing notes is something I truly miss in Obsidian.
When you select a notebook, tag, stack, etc. in Evernote, the items in the list are filtered to show only notes within that group. So much so that you can easily replicate this filtering using the advanced search operators.
For example, typing tag:tag-a in the search box yields the same list as clicking on the tag-a tag. Evernoteās AI-powered search functions similarly; the displayed items adjust based on the elements the AI selects to create the filter.
In Obsidian, however, filtering notes by a tag or using the search box will also list the items, but Iām limited in what I can do with the results. While I can clearly see the list, thereās no way to select all items and, for instance, add a tag to them or move that group of notes to a different folder.
In Evernote, this is not only possible but incredibly easy. You just select and move them to another notebook. While a limit on the number of selectable notes exists now, it wasnāt there before Evernote 10.
This clever way of displaying notes does come with technical challenges, though. For example, I believe the current selection limit was imposed because, in the past, moving long lists often led to significant conflicts.
Because there’s no easy way to filter notes in dynamic lists like in Evernote, I opted for subfolders within my Timeline System in Obsidian. But by doing so, I sacrifice a true timeline of my lifeās events, as each type of information is located in a separate subfolder.
I havenāt tested Bases yet, but judging by the official documentation, it appears thereās no limit to the size of lists a Bases file can handle. If true, Iāll finally be able to build a real timeline by creating a single Timeline.base file that lists everything from the subfolders within my Timeline folder. Ā Not only that, but Iāll have access to various dynamic filters within that Timeline.base file.
While Iād prefer not to, if the number of files proves too large for the new Bases feature to handle, I can always split it into yearly files: 2025.bases, 2024.bases, 2023.bases, and so on.
It will not be a perfect replacement for Evernoteās list of notes, as I will not be able to select multiple notes to add tags, move them elsewhere, and any other bulk action. But I’ll at least, have a real timeline and multiple possible filters.Ā
The Bases feature is still in beta, and online discussions suggest the final public version will take some time. Meanwhile, I can ensure my Timeline notes have all their properties populated with the proper data, allowing my Timeline.base to beautifully simulate the visual effect of multiple views of the same list, just as I was accustomed to in Evernote.
Ultimately, my goal with the Timeline System is to create a note-taking system that truly adapts to how we think and behave, allowing us to interact with all the information we deal with in a fluid, intuitive way. Bases seems to be a promising step in that direction regarding using the Timeline System in Obsidian.
What about you? Any plans for the new Bases feature?
Things you should know about Obsidian Publishāāāmy struggles and how I'm dealing with them.
Obsidian Publish has been a game-changer for my online presence, but like any powerful tool, it comes with its quirks. Here are the hurdles Iāve faced and how Iām overcomingĀ them.
A few days ago, I converted my blog to the Timeline System. If you are interested in more details, thereās a walk-around video that you can watch.
Photos Page
The “Photos page” was inspired by how Micro.blog handles our pictures. When thereās a JPG image in a post, that image will be displayed in a Photos page with a link back to the post.
My solution is more manual, like many other things on the website, but thatās okay. As all this AI buzz grows, Iām trying to find comfort in actually doing things with my type of AI in mind: Attention & Intention.
But donāt get me wrong, I use AI, the other type, all the time. For example, I had this long conversation with Gemini to help me come up with the CSS responsible for the /photos page layout.
Obsidian Publish Limitations
I am delighted with the progress I have made thus far. However, I have also encountered a few bugs and issues during the process.
Since I came back to Obsidian-Publish, Iāve been working hard on creating this mix of a blog and learning center. It has to be something useful for you, but, at the same time, I need a system that will make my life easy. Otherwise, Iāll just stop sharing.Ā
You know that thumbnail when people share posts on social media? Thereās a way to set an image to do that on Obsidian Publish. Although itās a fairly straightforward setting, I never found it to be successful. And because of all the other work going on in the process of building my website, I never took the time to report this and investigate the matter.
Yesterday, I finally reported it on Obsidianās official forum, which ended up leading me to mxstbrās post about it.
The problem is some sort of incompatibility with the Permalink setting. I tested it on my website, and he is right. So, letās hope the Obsidian team comes up with a fix to this.
The other issue is a site behavior that, in my opinion, doesnāt make any sense. As you already know, formatting notes in Obsidian is done with Markdown. But itās also possible to use regular HTML.
What I found out is that any link that points to an external site will open that site in a new tab. First, I thought that I could solve that using a HTML link, but it keeps opening on another tab even if I use target="_self", which is a way to force the link to open on the same page.
After almost going crazy, I decided to inspect my website code, and, to my amazement, Obsidian Publish replaced the target="_self" with target="_blank", which is how we tell the browser to open the site on a new page.
Why? That doesnāt make any sense. We, the site owners, should be the ones deciding where the page should open.
Anyway, thereās also a complaint about this on the forum. So, letās hope they fix it. For now, be aware that thatās the reason youāll be sent to another tab when you click on one of my pictures on the Photos page.
No rel=“me”
This is another HTML attribute that is used by Mastodon and other services to make sure the owner of the website is the same person claiming to be that owner on another site.
Itās such a simple and easy setting, but because of the way Obsidian Publish code works, the rel="me" is not visible, and services cannot use it to verify ownership.
Iāve been complaining about this for a long time, but after being ignored for so long, I decided to come up with a workaround. Because I also needed a Linktree-style page, I created social.vladcampos.com on GitHub and thatās where I included the rel="me code.
Not everyone has time or knowledge to do this, not to mention that itās not ideal. An official way to solve this would be to provide us with access to the <head> of the site via a file, just like we can do with the publish.css and publish.js files.
That, by the way, would address another issue. The Author Attribution verification. For that, regrettably, I could never come up with a workaround.
The Terrible RSSĀ Feed
Finally, thereās the terrible RSS feed. I can relate to the challenges here, but there is already a feed, which, unfortunately, doesnāt make any sense. For starters, I donāt understand what the criteria used to order the notes are. If they could at least make it ordered by last created note, it would already be at least usable.
The workaround I came up with was to |manually create my feed. Unbelievable, right? Itās 2025! Anyway, Iāll do it again on my GitHub page and share the link on my Obsidian site and on the Linktree-style page.
But, please, donāt get me wrong; Iām thrilled with what Obsidian Publish is enabling me to do. Itās something I have tried and failed on so many other platforms, and it’s now a fascinating work in progress.
Caliban's War
When was the last time I read a fiction book as quickly as Leviathan Wakes I don’t even remember. Even before finishing it I boughtĀ Caliban’s War, which I’m also enjoying very much. But this time I’m reading it on my Supernote.Ā
I started reading it using the Supernote’s ePub reader, but after learning about the amazing BookFusion plugin for Obsidian, I had to install theĀ BookFusion app on my Supernote, and that’s where I’m currently reading it. By the way, a video about all these tech adventures is coming soon.
My super simple Google Calendar hack for Obsidian
Having both Obsidian and Google Calendar constantly open, was driving me a little crazy because of all the back and forth. Now, one click and I’m there. So simple, soĀ helpful.
Yes, I’m aware of the calendar plugins, but, after trying several options, I’m not happy with any of them. So, I came up with a temporary solution that, to be honest, I’m using for a while and, at least for the moment, it made me stop pursuing other alternatives.
Despite its simplicity, itās been a game-changer for me, and thatās why I decided to share this hack with.
What I did was use the relatively new Web View feature to open Google Calendar inside Obsidian. But there’s more. I also set the Google-Calendar tab as pinned, which makes it always open when I open Obsidian. And because I use Obsidian in dark mode, I also set Google Calendar to dark mode, and it now blends perfectly as if it is an integral part of Obsidian.
If you are having a hard time visualizing all this, you can watch the video below. In my case, I had to also change some setting on another plugin, the āHompageā, which I also explain why and show in the video.
I freed my Kindle library and have it synchronized with all my devices
First, I converted the books to ePub using Calibre. Next, they joined my Obsidian Timeline System for automatic sync across all devices, Supernote included.
Like many other modern conveniences, the Kindle ecosystem is built to keep us locked in. As you know, I’ve been taking down walls around digital goods I won, and now it’s time to do it with my books. This project has been on my list for a long time, but it was a recent feature removal from Amazon that motivated me to finally pull the trigger.
We used to be able to go to Amazon.com and download our Kindle books, but that’s not possible anymore. A while ago, when Amazon announced the policy change, I downloaded all my books. If you haven’t done that, I believe you can still have access to them by connecting your Kindle to a computer and manually coping the books.
But having the books is just part of the process, as the majority of them are linked to your account via what’s called DRM. Additionally, Amazon uses a proprietary format instead of ePub, which is the more widely adopted by e-book readers. In other words, it’s like having your books locked in a box that is locked in another box.
Calibre is the master key that can help us with all of these locks. Additionally, it works as a library management software, keeping all the books in a folder on our computer. That’s just perfect for the Digital Caveman project, right?
When you are first installing the app, it will suggest a folder for your library, but you can change it to what better suits you. In my case, I created a new Static Container (folder) called ‘eBooks’. And because the files in my Timeline System structure synchronize with multiple devices, my library is now widely available. But I’m getting ahead of myself.
As a tip, you can also move the library to a different folder in the future. Just click on the ‘eBooks’ button on the toolbar to choose a new location.
Next, we need to prepare Calibre to be able to remove the DRM from our books. This is done in two parts. First, we need to install and set up a plugin. It’s only after doing this that we’ll be able to tell Calibre to remove the DRM and convert the books to ePub.
Preparing Calibre
Converting toĀ ePub
With all the above done, go to Calibre’s main window and click on the ‘Add books’ buttons. Select one or more books, and they will be added to your library’s folder.Ā
Next, select one or more books in the list and click on the ‘Convert books’ option. You’ll see a new window with countless details that you can tweak on each book. There are even several formats available in addition to ePub, which is the pre-selected on. In my case, I kept everything as it was and clicked on the button to convert.
The Supernote
To understand how my books are being automatically sent to my Supernote, I suggest watching the video below.
But remember, the books are in my Obsidian Vault. And looking at how Calibre creates folders for each author, I’m already having insights about making those folders somehow connected to other content I have in Obsidian. Specially, the ‘Knowledge Base’ notes, which share a strong relationship with the books I read. And that’s one of the reasons I chose to set the ‘eBooks’ folder as a Static Container.
The Digital CavemanĀ Project
There are plenty of details I still would like to adjust, but all the digital content I create and own is now local first and free from walled gardens. In other words, 100% under my control.
In addition to my notes and website being created in Obsidian, my music, photos, now my books, every single file I use for my personal life and work, and even my passwords, are on my computer first. I even have my own ‘cloud’ system and a backup strategy.
šŖØ I did it!
Our modern society is nothing but a delicate house of cards
If you don’t live in Portugal or Spain, it will be impossible for you to understand the feelings I’m trying to convey below. And I sincerely hope you never have to deal withĀ it.**
Around 11:30 a.m., the external monitor I have hooked to my laptop, went black while I was editing a video. If the room’s light hadn’t been also shut off, I would think it was a simple connection issue. This type of incident is such a rare phenomenon that at first I thought it was related to my apartment or building and decided to go for a walk with my dog.
Heading to the dog park, I grabbed my phone to share the āmorning eventā with my wife. Yes, we keep in touch all the time using Signal.
This was the moment I sensed something bigger was happening, but I still thought it was a local thing. My phone data connection was down, and as someone who has worked for 10 years in the telecommunications sector, I know that something like that rarely happens. There are so many contingencies and backups. Something else must be going on.
Maybe the entire neighborhood lost power, and, for some reason, the backup generator at the mobile phone tower closest to me didn’t kick off, I thought, trying to rationalize the situation.
I don’t know if it was instinct, but I immediately sent my wife an SMS: āI have no idea what’s happening, but we lost power and I have no data on my phoneā. Again, because of many years of experience, I know how SMS works and how it is such a robust feature of the network.
The SMS took longer than expected to be sent, and that was another undesired sign. Perhaps she didn’t get it. My wife is currently on an overseas trip, so I text a friend here in Portugal: āWe lost power and I have no data on my phone. What about you?ā āWe also lost power and I can barely use data. It looks like it’s affecting the entire country.ā
This is when I started having very unwanted thoughts. Instant communication is a crucial element that we take for granted. But if you think about it, modern society has been building on top of this core infrastructure since the invention of the telegraph.
Let me provide you with further context of the situation I found myself in at that moment. Every single appliance and equipment in my house is electric, so there’s no way to cook or take a hot shower. The TV cable is an Ethernet connector that plugs to an Internet hub, so there’s no way to watch the news. I also just sold my car, so no analog radio as well.
To make coffee that day, I used my gas-powered camping stove, which I ironically set up on top of its modern induction successor.
Okay, this is a national situation. A big one because the phones went down. If there’s a positive side to this, it’s that there are probably dozens of people working tirelessly to fix it. Again, little did I know.Ā
Here’s when I decided I had to stay calm. I ate the rest of yesterday’s salad, grabbed my iPod, a book (the paper type), and thought to myself: If this is not solved until 4 p.m., I’ll go buy some extra supplies.
I read for two hours, but at some less engaging parts, I couldn’t help but stop and think about this unusual and unexpected situation. Looking around, I began to see all these wonderful sparks of beauty in the midst of the chaos. From my balcony, where I was reading, I could see all the other people on their balconies, kids playing on the street, and neighbors having fun conversations on their doorsteps.
I remember it now. This is how the world used to be when I was a kid, and even a teenager. This is how people used to behave before mobile phones existed.
Back to reality. āIt’s 4 p.m. Time to buy some supplies,ā I reminded myself.
I decided to bring my dog to a nice place we usually go together to relax, before heading to the supermarket. If there was one happy soul in the house, that was my dog. Ignorance is bliss.
Going to another dog park on the same day must be winning the dog’s lottery, right? Itās a somewhat hidden micro forest on the way to the supermarket. We stayed there, going back and forth from having fun to relaxing for a while. Then we headed to our main mission.
With no shopping carts available and so many people inside, the outcome couldn’t be different. The number of shelves empty was impressive. To give you some context, something like this never happened during COVID-19. Thankfully, I don’t need much, but that’s one more unwelcoming sign to add to my list, I thought to myself.
On the other hand, I kept seeing all these kids playing on the streets and so many adults in front of houses having conversations face to face and laughing without looking at their phones. Those scenes were absolutely beautiful.
As all of this was going on, I still didn’t have any mobile data and, shortly after texting my wife and my friend in the morning, the SMS system stopped working. If you haven’t guessed yet, there was no calling as well.Ā
All the information I had, was collected here and there, talking to others on the street. But because most people didn’t have access to the rest of the world, it was impossible to know what was really happening. Moreover, all the ones I talked to would start the sentence with something like āI heard thatā¦ā
Experience, or perhaps hope, was telling me to keep sending journaling messages to my wife, and so I did. At this point, I was already back to using Signal, where I started narrating everything I was doing. That was the only app I kept opened all the time, hooping for momentarily breaths of the network.
If, for some reason, the network comes up for a few seconds or minutes, she’ll get all the updates. I didn’t know it at that moment, but she was doing the same on her side, and at about 7 p.m., a relieving exchange happened. I saw a burst of messages from her, and the read update pop-up on all the messages I had previously sent here. That would never happen again until the power and network came back to life at about 11 p.m. But at least she was now aware of what was happening to me.
I don’t know if this applies to everyone, but as I grew older, I started understanding that many things in life were never supposed to be about me. At some point, I learned that it’s about what I mean to other people, and that’s why I have to take care of myself. That’s for them! And it goes both ways, of course. Anything we do is always affecting the ones who love us, and this perception became so important to me that I’m constantly more worried about the feelings of the others, the loved ones. It’s like going to a funeral. Our main responsibility there is to comfort the ones that are still alive. We are there for them. Loving is seldom about us, and I wish I had learned this early in life.
Anyway, back to my ordeal. You know me, I’ve been detaching my digital life from the cloud for a long time. And I do have equipment to survive in a situation like this for a few days. Of course, I learned some new lessons with this test the world just tossed at me, and I’ll do my homework.
However, as a society, I think we are digging our own grave. Why are we increasingly relying on the cloud for everything? Why do all things have to have an app that has to be connected to the Internet to work? The more I think about it, the more I see unreliable digital conveniences replacing the so-called āoutdatedā gadgets that are still working so well. This is nothing more than building a gigantic house of cards. And to further add more salt to the injury, it is probably being built on top of a single point of failure.
This digital modern life of ours is so bizarre. Among all the real and relevant concerns I was having yesterday, it also occurred to me that I would lose my 775 streak on Duolingo if I couldn’t do my lesson today. Seriously?! The simple fact that something as futile as that crossed my mind is so absurd!
Today, I woke up feeling slightly stressed from my adventures and I still have a bit of a headache. Nothing terrible or distressing happened yesterday. Thankfully, I was working from home and everything was calm in my neighborhood. But, in retrospect, I think the real burden I felt was the thought of possibly not being able to connect with my loved ones living in different parts of the world. That, and the fact that nobody knew exactly what was happening or how many days would be like that. I didn’t miss anything else related to the Internet, just that connection with others and the real-time information that comes with instant communication.
By the way, I’m old enough to say that most of what we did at the beginning of the web was communicating via email, forums, blog comments, etc. It was a lot of fun!
I’m grateful to have power and communication back, but, when walking with my dog this morning, I saw people quickly resuming their lives just like if nothing had happened, and, in a way, that made me sad. Yesterday’s flourishes of harmony and beauty are now gone, like busted soap bubbles.Ā
The insane society we are building for ourselves is now back on track, and the house of cards is sitting there waiting for the next breeze. Until then, the only sign of the now gone problems was a possible bug that kept the public lighting still on during this morning.
Inside my Obsidian Homepage-a portal to what matters most.
Do you have an Obsidian homepage? What’s on there? š¤ Mine gives me instant access to tasks, trips, projects, and family info. It works as an efficient dashboard to what mattersĀ most.
First things first. My homepage is basically a note, automatically updated with dynamic information from other parts of Obsidian. In other words, it’s a dashboard created using the Homepage plugin, as demonstrated in the video below.
Since it is the first thing I see when I open Obsidian, I expect the information there to be what I’ll be looking for most of the time. And what could be more relevant than my next tasks?Ā
Using the Tasks plugin and some basic configuration that you can learn in the video below, I created four dynamic lists: Overdue, Today, Tomorrow, and Upcoming. There’s also a fifth one that is mostly for groceries, but I also use it for anything I need to buy. That’s why it’s called Purshases.
Next is a world map widget with pins on every place I’ve been. It’s a backup of what I have on Google Maps and is built and automaticity updated using the Map plugin. There’s also a short list with links to the itinerary notes of my next trips. I could have this list dynamically built like the tasks, but I don’t travel that much and manually creating it is easier and, as you soon see, more useful.
The dashboard information is ordered by how often I need or use each module. That explains my tasks at the top, but why the trips section is right below it? Well, there are at least two parts to a trip: planing and the trip itself. In my case, there’s also a third part. I love to keep a journal during the trip, and when I return, I adjust the details here and there.
Planing and organizing a trip is more than a list of tasks. So, having the link to the itinerary note means that I can constantly go there to monitor what I have already done and what I still need to do. Then, during the trip, I can easily open the itinerary, and inside that note, find invaluable information, like a link to the hotel on Google Maps.
Since I see the Homepage every time I open Obsidian, there’s almost zero friction. It’s just a matter of scrolling a little bit to get to the links right below my tasks and click or tap.
When I come back, it’s time for some fine-tuning, and that’s when not having the next trips list automated is helpful. If links to past trips have not yet been removed, it means that I still have some work to do. By the way, this is a strategy I use all the time. Keeping things in an undesirable place is a constant reminder.Ā
And it also works for physical objects too. For example, I recently kept a giant bicycle lock on top of my desk to remind me that I needed to make a copy of its key.
Back to the Homepage.
Next is a Canvas widget of my Knowledge Base. It used to be the only one, but below it, I now have another one with all the information related to my Apple IIe project. That project was dormant for more than a year, and it wouldn’t make sense to keep it on the Homepage. Now that I’m working on it again, having a direct link to all that information is very welcome. This demonstrates how dynamic the Homepage is.
And speaking about the Canvas, it has become my go-to feature for visually organizing all the information I have in my Static Containers. My Family Documents container is probably the next contender to be displayed like that. But for now, they are embedded notes on my Homepage.
It’s a long list that sits as the last segment because it is definitely something I frequently use, but it’s the least needed when compared to the other items.
Having a Homepage like this is a game-changer, but it has to meet your needs and reality. If you could see the ones I help my clients build, you would be impressed by how different they are.
Another important detail is that your notes have to be organized using a system that works for you. Of course, I use the Timeline System, but regardless of which one you choose, there must be some sort of predictability to have a good dashboard. Without that, your dashboard will only be adding more friction to your life.
Obsidian is great, but learning is inherently hard
If you are looking into switching to Obsidian, maybe my journey can helpĀ you.
The very first video about Obsidian was published on my YouTube channel on March 14, 2023. What some of you may not know is that I had been using it for longer than that to help clients here and there.
However, that amount of time is nothing when compared to the muscle memory I have developed from using Evernote for every little thing in my life for 16 years. The problem with the new is that it is always unwelcoming. Itās not only the different way of doing things; itās also the constant uncertainty about doing anything. And at that point, Obsidian was not only new to me, but there’s also the sheer number of settings and plugins making it feel so overwhelming.
To make matters worse, I decided to bring my YouTube audience along with me on that new journey. For a long time, I have had the idea of creating a vlog-style productivity series on my channel that would show how I organize life and work. I thought that learning Obsidian would be a great opportunity to try that, but it ended up creating unnecessary confusion, as it is challenging to film myself figuring out things happening in real time.
Back to my point. After so many trials and errors, Iām now much more comfortable with how Obsidian works. Some of the setups I came up with, like the homepage demonstrated in the video below, are now running for a considerable amount of time and working so well. Furthermore, my Timeline System has matured to the point where it allows me to seamlessly navigate my daily activities.
Donāt tell anyone, but because of all of that, I feel like recording many of my past videos again. Anyway, you are not here for this. Let’s go through my tips for switching to a new app.
Before that, a disclaimer is needed, right? The following is how I did things. Itās also based on the strategy I use to help my clients, but it may not be suitable for you. So think of the suggestions below as just that, suggestions.
From Evernote toĀ Obsidian
First, I didnāt abandon Evernote. I knew how things worked there, which mad it my safe haven during the transition period.
With that in mind, the first actual homework was to learn the basics about the mysterious Obsidian. Because of my clients, I had already done part of that before. But now I needed to move a step further and see how things would work in real life. To accomplish that, I created the first of many local vaults on my Mac to work as a sandbox.
Once that was done, I copied, I repeat, copied, not moved, parts of my notes. In some ways, Obsidian is so similar to Evernote, but in others, like how files are stored, itās an entirely different approach. However, it works in such a way that you can have as many vaults as you wish and easily delete the ones that didnāt work. As long as you are coping your files, you can consider the multiple vaults to be a process of prototyping and iterating.
Like I mentioned at the beginning of the article, thereās a universe of settings and plugins. I suggest avowing all plugins as you are getting to know your way around. As for the settings, try to look for the answers as you need them. For example, when you feel like you have to learn how to format text, go look for tutorials on how to do that.
As you get used to it, move some more parts of your system, but I would still think of what you are doing on the new app as in experimental mode. It will take a while for you to get used to the numerous new things that are still making you uneasy.
If you followed my progress on YouTube, you know that I was constantly changing my setup and being frustrated by all the new ways of doing things. And letās not forget that I was doing all the above while still using Evernote. So much so that at a certain point, I had a good portion of my activities being managed with the help of both apps, and that was driving me crazy.
To make things even more miserable, Evernote decided to redesign its mobile app. Now, on top of learning a new system, I had to adapt to a new way of doing things on the app I was so familiar with.
It was a lot, but it was worth it. It felt like a final partnership with my old friend, Evernote. The new design and new ways to do things helped me eventually find a way to implement the Timeline System that had been brewing in my head for so many years. Yes, the Timeline System I use in Obsidian and in the Supernote came to be because of my struggles with Evernote.
With that settled, the next step was to replicate the system in Obsidian and start moving all my files. But I did it one notebook at a time. I would export an Evernote notebook, import it to Obsidian, organize all the mess, and, just as a last resort, keep the exported notebook as a backup. In case you are wondering, yes, I still have them in a backup drive.
Plugins
But we are not done just yet. As I have already mentioned several times, Obsidian is full of settings and plugins. My strategy here is the same as at the beginning of this process. Whenever I need something that Obsidian cannot do, I start looking for a plugin.
I try to stick with the ones that do one of a few things, but every so often that’s not possible. For example, the Tasks plugin is too much for my needs, but I couldn’t find a lighter alternative that would work for me. Templater and all its features is one that I’m avoiding, as the Auto Template Trigger does almost everything I require. But when it comes to having fun, it looks like that rule doesn’t apply. I love using and tweaking every detail possible on the Map plugin.
Which brings us to one of the reasons I switched to Obsidian. Evernote has been on a downward trend of removing features since version 10 was released. I thought for a moment that Bending Spoons was going to bring old features back, but they kept removing them.
Guess what, many of the removed features I used to love in Evernote exist on Obsidian as a setting or are available as a plugin. And in most cases, these are better variations of what existed on Evernote. And that makes me so full of joy! It’s like being in a parallel universe, where Evernote evolved to what Obsidian is today. Back to reality, I’m definitely happy. So happy!
In summary, what I’m trying to say is first, have a safe haven. Second, take your time. Really, take your time. This will be a long project. Third, you already have a lot on your plate, don’t create more problems for yourself. Go look for settings and plugins only when you genuinely need to fulfill a specific requirement.
Evernote's new PDF viewer is beautiful, but it's like a new skin over old problems
Perhaps it is time to remove Evernote from the toolbox of options I suggest to my clients.
Letās start with the toolbar, which was beautifully redone, but as far as I can tell, thereās nothing new there. Actually, Iām missing an important detailāāāthat, to be honest, Iām not sure if existed before or not.
Where is the undo button?
Using cmd+z (Mac) works fine, so the function exists. If they forgot about it, I hope they bring it back as soon as possible. If it wasn’t there, it seems to me that this was a missed opportunity to add it.
Meanwhile, the options Select all annotations and Clear annotations in the dropdown menu help circumvent that. But keep in mind that all means only those on the page being displayed.
By the way, I think the dropdown menu is a pleasing addition. The quick access to the Fit to page width option is a great start to making this a viable PDF reader. Which brings us to a problem so many of you have been complaining about to me over so many years.
It’s a view, not aĀ reader
If the tool doesnāt remember the page we were on when we closed the PDF, it’s just a viewer, not a reader. And that is only one of the details that has been preventing me from using Evernote to read long documents. When reading and taking notes, I was used to relying on a PDF reader instead, but that came with an inconvenience. Evernote couldn’t be the place to store the PDFs.
It’s true that one can use the ‘open with’ option to open the PDF using another reader. But as far as I know, this is only available when using the desktop client, and we’ve been living in a mobile-first world for a long time now.
When the Files feature was added, I presumed that the final goal was to give us direct access to the files we keep in Evernote, but that never happened. Actually, even after all the time that has passed since it was released, it is still a half-backed feature causing more confusion than anything else.
Another step towardsĀ Obsidian
A long time ago, I moved all my PDFs to Google-Drive , but that ended up creating all sorts of inconveniences. Ironically, the idea was inspired by how Obsidian stores our files. Fast-forward to today, I gave up on the workarounds. I’m now reading my PDFs using whatever app I feel like, and, at the same time, the files are kept organized in Obsidian. Having the PDFs visible in the computer file structure creates a lot of freedom to do many things.
Bugs, bugs, and moreĀ bugs
Back to Evernote. Another nice touch in the dropdown menu is the Include annotation summary option, which in the past used to be a buried checkbook that many people didnāt even know was there.
This is a nice feature, which adds new pages to the beginning of the PDF, including all the annotations. Unfortunately, something is now broken. As illustrated by the video below, many of the PDFs I tried, created a messed up page. Furthermore, the summary now seams to only be visible in the note view. In the past, these notes were also visible in the PDF view mode.
Thereās another inconvenience that makes Evernote challenging to use as a PDF reader. If you watched the video above, thereās an annoying flicker happening every time a page is turned. And Iām pretty sure this was not there before. On that same note, if we use the thumbnail to jump to a specific point in the document, that page opens in the middle of the text. And thatās precisely where starting at the top of the page would be a much better option.
I would like to end this post with a more optimistic view for the future of this feature and Evernote in general, but I’m not entirely convinced that that’s possible. The new Files feature is not the only one half-backed. Many of the new features are simply not useful as they are, and more often than not, they arrive with new bugs.
Frankly, I’m tired of trying to tell Evernote’s team that the ‘moving fast and breaking things’ strategy should not apply to something so important as our personal notes. This will deeply sadden me, but maybe it is also time to take Evernote out of the toolbox of options I recommend to my clients.
Three everyday situations where the Timeline System in Obsidian can help you
What I love about the Timeline System is how simple it is to change the status of an activity by simply moving a note from one place toĀ another.
A friend recently came up with a challenge. He told me he would like to know how I would use the Timeline System to organize and keep track of two everyday situations.
Bring it on, I said.
The first one was about a concert. He would like to know what I would do with the PDF tickets, that were incompatible with his phone wallet. Since this is still in progress, it should be in the Action Container.
Iām pretty sure there are other approaches, but this is how I would do it. In fact, Iāve done it before a few times, and it worked pretty well. I think of events like this as trip activities, even though it is happening in the city where I live. So, the Action Container would have a format similar to the one below.
Where the folder ‘2025ā04ā25 Porto’ is the fake trip storing the concert tickets.
The other situation was an Amazon QR code he needed to show when returning a product. Since this one has no specific date, Iād simply keep it loose inside the Action Containers folder. Without a specific subfolder, it will be easier to find, and it will be an inconvenience working as a natural reminder every time I go to Obsidian to check my activities inside my Action Containers.
Itās a scenario very similar to what Iām currently doing (see video below) with the #Nadsat Glossary that I have to keep around to be able to read A Clockwork Orange.
What I love about the Timeline System is that all the above situations are notes that will eventually be moved to the Timeline container (folder). This will remove them from the list of activities in progress and, at the same time, keep them naturally organized in a place that I can go to retrieve information.
Another step towards repurposing my Obsidian vault
I have been testing the idea below for the past two months, and so far, everything is working wonderfully well.
I had to check the information before writing this post, but it’s been 16 years since I started using password managers. If you are not already using one, please share your secret with me. Given the huge number of passwords we have to deal with these days, they have become indispensable software. However, like many other apps, what was once a one-time fee became a subscription.
I don’t have any problem with paying, especially considering how they make our online presence safer while keeping passwords easy to manage. My issue is with losing control. Compared to a paper notebook kept in a drawer, it’s a much better solution, but our passwords are now sitting on a mysterious server somewhere in the world.
So, after testing the concept of a “digital cave” with many other items, I decided it was time to do the same with my passwords. But to accomplish that, I would need to find an app that keeps all the passwords in a single file, which I could then move to my vault in Obsidian. It would also need to have clients for all the existing platforms. And finally, it would be preferable if it were Open Source.
KeePass checks all the boxes above, and as you can see in the video below, I created the database inside in my Timeline and copied about 20 passwords to test the idea.
I’ve been playing with this configuration for a couple of months and since I’ve encountered no problems, I’m now looking for a way to import the remaining passwords.
If you’d like to try it too, watch the video. And if you know any other software that would also check all the boxes, please let me know.
A Clockwork Orange
I see A Clockwork Orange as part of a group where I also put Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, 1984, and others that depict this dystopian future that, for some reason, attracts me.
Even though I’m sure it would not be a good experience at all, for some unknown reason, part of me has a secret desire to experience this alternative reality in person. It’s not just the dystopian future that attracts me. I also love the future from the perspective of the 60s.
Back to the A Clockwork Orange book, if you need a tip to use theĀ Nadsat Glossary, I suggest watching this video to learn how I set it up in Obsidian.