17 Obsidian Features I’ve Invited Into My Autonomous, Plain Text World

You are only truly digitally free when your notes can stand alone, independent of any one app

Photo used under license from jumpstory. Plain text added by Author.

The first skill a ninja warrior must learn is that of Tai Jitsu, or unarmed combat. The staff, throwing knives, and explosives will be pointless, without this ability plus the accompanying arts of stealth, disguise, and infiltration.

For me, ninja level in digital productivity and note making is using as few adjuncts to the plain text format as are needed to reach my goals. I’m happy to wield some sweet plugins, but I’m determined to stay capable of defending myself (and keeping my productivity system working) without them.

Tools I love to use, but could live without

Minimalist ideals aside, following are the seven basic layers that Obsidian adds to the plain text format that I’d hate to be without, in order of their importance to me. Markdown and wiki-style links go without saying.

1. Embedded files — a file showing up as regular text in another document → ninja infiltration, ha!
2. Page preview on hover — keeps my daily note minimal → stealth!
3. Folding sections — helps me focus on particular…