Let's Mine Obsidian - 3 [Duran Duran AI ⑬]

Obsidian, a popular note-taking application, offers powerful tools for organizing thoughts and information. This article delves into the practical application of templates within Obsidian, likening them to organizers within a larger storage unit. Just as different containers are used to sort kitchen items, Obsidian templates provide a structured framework for various types of notes, ensuring consistency and ease of retrieval.

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I'm planning to write articles about Obsidian all summer, but I don't know how interested people are.

The concept of a template in Obsidian typically involves two main components: front matter and the main body. Front matter, borrowed from publishing terminology, refers to metadata associated with a note, such as its type, source, creation date, and tags. While this information can be entered manually, Obsidian's 'properties' feature, activated by typing '---', offers a more streamlined, spreadsheet-like interface for managing these attributes.

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It shows in an image how everything I do can be connected in some way, and it's specialized in markdown format that AI reads and understands well, so there's no reason not to use it.

The author illustrates this by detailing a personal project: organizing notes from reading Yuval Noah Harari's 'Nexus'. To manage this effectively, three types of notes are planned: discussion summaries, reading notes, and knowledge notes. The focus here is on creating templates for the latter two. The reading note template includes fields for title, author, publication date, tags, status, and sections for core content, memorable quotes, personal reflections, and connections to knowledge notes. The knowledge note template, similarly, includes title, creation date, tags, and sections for the topic, personal thoughts, source, linked documents, and potential applications.

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Templates are devices that provide a framework for arranging thoughts and information neatly.

These templates are stored in a dedicated 'TEMPLATES' folder within the Obsidian vault. To use a template, users can access the command palette (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P) and select 'Insert template,' choosing the desired template from the list. The article highlights how specific insights from the 'Nexus' reading note, such as the idea of taxing Big Tech companies for data usage, were extracted and organized into a knowledge note. This knowledge note, titled 'How to get back taxes on digital mining,' includes personal thoughts on AI as unpaid labor and the need to redefine tax nexus. The author suggests this structured approach, inspired by the Zettelkasten method, not only aids in organizing current information but also facilitates agile article writing when timely ideas emerge.

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The front matter is a metadata area recorded at the top of the note.