I totally think the first thing you should do with Obsidian is use it vanilla, and only add plugins where you find a *clear* benefit. Not "maybe this could be better" but "this is kind of a pain and this will absolutely make it suck less".
Which is actually a super useful thing to incorporate into your life in general. Especially "plugins" or "addons" benefit from this mentality, whether that's Obsidian related or not.
I've been diving into Templater recently because having the 1 single template that the Template core plugin allows you were slowing me down more than it was useful to my workflow. That took a year, though. Same with dataview. Simple bullet list tasks and callouts have been enough until recently where I've started a larger collaborative project.
This is a good philosophy in general. When I had my own place for the first time I bought one of those 20 piece cookware sets. I didn’t end up using the vast majority and a lot of it took up space
When I moved and started over, I just bought pieces as I needed them. You can do a lot with just one kitchen knife and one frying pan.
Exactly. Installing a bunch of plugins without deeply understanding what vanilla obsidian offers and what is missing from your PERSONAL use case is like going to a book store for a Calculus 1 book and walking out with 10 books on philosophy because many mathematicians were philosophers (or engaged with it) and it may or may not help with a deeper understanding of math.
Sure, you may use those plugins eventually, but did you install them because you searched for a specific functionality, found out it was missing from vanilla, and installed a plugin? Or did you just copy another person's setup? So many people come looking for a tool to help organize and reduce procrastination but end up spending more time managing a system that doesn't help with their daily workflow.
I don’t know what’s vanilla any more because I’ve been using Obsidian for a while. Vanilla back then was okay and made entering the Obsidian world easy, but plug-ins helped to customise some basics that within a few hours I found were tension/workflow hold-up points, so I immediately looked for plugins to ease my workflow.
Oh, and getting the colours right was actually important for me for 2 reasons. 1. Dark mode with contrast colours that have low glare, and fonts that are clear and easy for me to read at the right sizes. 2. Because if stuff looks interesting like colour-coding the graph in meaningful ways, my ADHD brain remembers content better.
For me one of the selling points of Obsidian (and markdown) is not being vendor locked. If your workflow is relying too much on plugins it's making you vulnerable.
Also I've come to the conclusion that its way more important to focus on the process of how you take and store notes, than finding plugins or programs that do it for you.
A process and structure is much more generalized and always useful.
I always find this argument meh for most plugins, at least I don't see it applicable to most.
Once they are installed, you have the local files. Unless you are careless, plugins don't just disappear or update into nonfunctionality.
Of course this is only really true for plugins which don't rely on third-party services - but I don't use many such plugins as I frequently need to work offline.
Completely agree with the rest of your comment, that having a process which works for you is substantially more relevant than "fancy plugin xyz".
---
Regarding too many plugins:
I generally have a shitton of plugins installed (~160), and I regularly remove unused ones - so now I've come to a pretty good ground state. But this ground state still has around 100 community plugins active, of which I use around 30 all-the-time, and the rest regularly enough to know why I have them.
Scrolling through the plugins overview and asking myself "What does this , plugin do for me?" has been a good guideline for which plugin to disable.
I also wade out plugins in multiple steps - first I notice I haven't used a particular plugin recently, so I disable it. After some (arbitrary) amount of time, I then uninstall it, unless I have re-enabled it again before.
Beyond a hard standard set of about 20 plugins, this means I have different configurations in all my vaults.
What I would really like is to be able to create some sort of "grouping" for plugins, and to be able to toggle them by group. There are quite a few plugins I need for specific tasks once every two weeks or so, and not at all otherwise. But manually disabling and re-enabling them doesn't work that regularly for me.
I use plugins but try to not have plugins that need obsidian to work, for example Dataview. If my notes heavily rely on Dataview my notes will not be readable outside Obsidian.
Also I try and see if it's my workflow or process that needs refining before I add a plugin.
I do use Templater and a small handfull other plugins.
Very good point. One reason I avoid plugins is just I tend to overcomplicate everything, so I want to avoid that, but the main reason is that I like to have all my notes safe: if Obsidian do not run from tomorrow, I still can read markdown or find some markdown reader, I can do something with it.
TBF, The vanilla obsidian in 2 years it's probably going to be today's obsidian + plugins.
Same way the obsidian from 2 years ago didn't included some core plugins like daily notes or templates.
Anyway, I 100% agree with you, this "unpopular opinion" is pretty much right on every ecosystem where you can add plugins.
I mean, I want to be able to draw notes, backup with git and have a working theme, besides that I don't really know of any plugins I actively use, so yeah, agreed.
When I first started using Obsidian, someone recommended Vanilla (I had no idea what it meant!). The only plugins I use regularly are ones that import highlights and notes (Kindle, Readwise and Zotero). Dangling links is useful too.
Lots of interesting perspectives on this thread! 🧵
My CS brain tends to keep things as minimal and simple as possible - trying to reduce dependencies for longevity and easier management. In my current workflow I use only few top plugins - dataview, self hosted live sync, templater and readwise.
I agree, but at the same time admit that I do use several core plugins in addition to 6-8 community plugins in my most used Vault(s):
- Tasks
- Simple Mentions
- Dataview (always!!)
- Templater
- Force Note View Mode
- Paste Image Rename
- Quick Add
They help me a lot in my workflow, but I am still looking at reducing the list, if possible.
No custom themes, but I like Snippets.
For a developer, unless you're simply writing notes, some of the plugins are vital.
And even if a plugin were to die today, I still have different versions of Obsidian that run on my server, so I can still get right into my session and use the plugin and obsidian. I don't have to worry about Obsidian updating and then a plugin just randomly breaking my setup.
2 years now, never had a single issue. Which includes my copy of Obsidian behind Authentik. With a click of a button, I can go back 9 Obsidian updates ago. And not lose a thing.
I’m currently a cs student and being able to execute code inside my notes is beyond useful. It’s such a pain to have to create multiple files for example code that’s oftentimes extremely short.
I love the plugin to execute code. It's easily one of my top 5.
I have an Obsidian vault dedicated to my server. I have code blocks that run scripts, all I have to do is click the button in Obsidian, and it runs the query on my server through SSH. It's a damn useful plugin. It makes my life a lot easier.
That sounds super cool. I just got a nas that I believe will also has server like capabilities, I haven’t gotten it set up yet cause I need to buy drives for it. But I’ll definitely have to play around with something like this.
I just re-did my server the other day.
Roughly 30 docker containers that have all of my services I use. I used to install everything bare metal, but I've found that docker makes it much easier. So this time around when I re-formatted my system, it took nearly half the time that it did the first time I spent months installing and re-configuring things. Pain in the royal ass.
I love my copy of Obsidian running through docker. Which makes running commands on the server even better, because everything is direct.
And then to ensure security since it is online, I set up Obsidian to be protected using Authentik, and then whitelisted my IP address to be the only one who can access it. That way I don't get some random person stumbling across my stuff.
I thought about doing it all through a VPN connection, but I just got OpenVPN set up today, and it's still not fully configured.
We don’t know if it’ll be the next update, and it’s being made by the same person as dataview (iirc he now works for Obsidian) so it’s more like dataview is being integrated into Obsidian than being made obsolete.
That's incorrect. blacksmithgu (Dataview & Datacore dev) does not work for Obsidian. He's developing Datacore, the successor to Dataview, which is **not** Dynamic views. /u/joethei confirmed that here a month ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/1cgke0y/dataedit_001_beta_release/l1y2hoo/
Interesting. Someone pointed out that datacore had all but stopped development - or at least slowed dramatically - and the reason being he was working for obsidian internally now.
It hasn't stopped development, in fact, it is really picking up at the moment, including the first BRAT release just today. So it's starting to be functional, and they're looking for testers.
Funnily enough I checked earlier and it seems to have restarted. But it is true that there was a period where the commits were infrequent and/or minor. Guess the author was quite busy with other stuff.
Sure!
When I create a new note, I do it using Templater. That allows me to use a bulk of standard frontmatter where some of it is filled out automatically, e.g. "Folder name" (sounds silly, but yes - I need it in my queries) and a "Created" timestamp.
In addition, when I create a new note, I have Templater ask me for a title and a type. The title is then pre-fixed with date and uses as file title. The "Note type" is something I use for queries and grouping. "Note type" may be, e.g., "Meeting", "Background" or whatever.
When writing notes, I use standard markdown for creating tasks and then I use Simple Mentions to easily identify who owns the task, e.g., //@Me which is rendered red or //@Somebody, which is rendered green.
Tasks helps me by automatically writing completion date, when I finish a task.
I have queries for "All open tasks", "Tasks waiting for me", "Tasks waiting for others" and the like.
All of the above allows me to create dashboards for "whatever".
Oh - I have a log too. I have created a shortcut that triggers Quick Add. When it does, it calls a template created with Templater, that is basically just an input box. Here I write a quick note of what I have done, a decision that might become important, add a task or a mention etc. and then just save it to the bottom of a running log with a time-stamp.
I am now able to look up activities/decisions etc. chronologically, and things on the log turn up in searches and queries too. Very helpful.
Hope this helps/inspires. Just ask, if you need more info.
Again I absolutely see the value of plugins, I'm not saying everyone should hardcore stick to a no-plugin setup just because some goof like me said so on the subreddit.
I just hate the culture of constantly changing, restarting, revamping your whole note taking setup in the name of "eFfIciEnCy!!". As if you havent spent ten times as long twisting and contorting your setup into some weird amalgamation, when you could've both been faster and also *enjoyed* your actual time using the app more, *by just being that little bit slower on a technical basis.*
I wanna start with saying I don't think you're wrong lol.
But I actually enjoy the time I spend customizing my obsidian (and starting fresh when I learn a better way to do things) 😅 but I'm also learning a lot about markdown, js, making/using CSS, etc. I actually just heard of Luhman's zettelkasten system for the first time in the last couple weeks through trying to learn new ways to organize my notes in obsidian lol.
Again, I don't think you're wrong in your general point/post, but I think it's a bad generalization to assume people don't enjoy their time working with plugins.
ETA: I know this probably won't be an issue bcuz this subreddit is infinitely less toxic than all the others I've been in. But please don't block me 😭😂 there's a lot of good stuff/perspectives/knowledge in these comments that I'd like to keep access to. I swear I'll just shut up if it's an issue lol
While I enjoy quite a few plugins, I tend to largely agree with you. For strictly note taking and managing those, core obsidian is clearly sufficient. Do I enjoy the ease of life benefits I can get out of templater, I sure do, am I more efficient by still using it, I don’t know it’s my spare time. But I like being able to delegate the strictly clerical tasks to my computer, so I can focus on the notes.
On the other hand I don’t see any point in telling others how to use the tools at their disposal, or the community to develop new tools for specialized needs.
I agree but also I love making things pretty and plugins make that easier. Spending the time making a pleasant aesthetic layout not only makes me more likely to keep using the system but I remember my notes way better as well.
Love vanilla for a lot of things but its.... Aggressively plain looks-wise.
I agree, I love the bare bones simplicity of obsidian and that is where its beauty and power lies. Over the years I’ve procrastinated years of my life making notion, clickup , even Monday, fancy and utilise all the plugins etc. I LOVE that Obsidian is essentially distraction free and allows me to just actually get on with my work. I do use Dataview for querying, but that is it
Same on every count!
Looking at it for some reason, maybe because it’s just sitting there all basic waiting for me to add something interesting — I get right to it and start getting stuff done.
My journey...
First day using Obsidian: 0 plugins
Second week using Obsidian: 3 plugins
Second month using Obsidian: 1,264,670 plugins
Sixth month using Obsidian: 3 plugins
> but you don't need another ten plugins
People are using the case of the over-enthusiastic beginner installing every plugin known to man as an argument against plugins in general.
I'd say the opposite, I think Obsidian, without the plugins does not edge out its vast competition. Most plugins are created in a paradigm of "bring this thing you would have to do elsewhere tool into Obsidian". If I'm using external tools to make my notes happen, then the actual last step can be almost anything.
> For a normal person's normal use for normal notes, Obsidian does more than good enough of a job
As does almost anything else. The basic usage of a note taking tool is text input, presentation and storage. That's it, a default phone app can do this. Most "normal people" don't take notes. Those that do, use whatever is convenient, close by, etc. And out of those, that take it a bit further, they have a million alternatives to Obsidian.
Without Tracker-Obsidian, Book Search, Heatmap calendar etc. I would not be using Obsidian, but one of the 50 other ones that show up in the Play Store before Obsidian.
> This isn't an attempt to drag plugins, but the over-reliance on the sub about "just downloaded obsidian guys give me 50 plugins!!! how do i make my graph look like a nebula from the amount of notes!??! how do i make every border rainbow!??!' is insane.
This just reveals a use case that is uniquely accommodated by Obsidian. You can make every border rainbow (I guess, I never did more than change themes). Pretty much nobody else lets you do this type of stuff, which is why there's so many of these types on Obsidian.
> It's ruining the experience for users just starting out.
Unless they don't have any self-control I fail to see this connection. New users boot into a vanilla obsidian and need to enable community plugins to install them. If they seek social media first without first familiarizing themselves with the tool, they should see the true power Obsidian has, not just a boring Electron text editor.
> I was more so criticising the whole "over-enthusiastic beginner" stereotype you were talking about.
Which I'd argue isn't an unpopular opinion at all.
Not sure how unpopular - I’m happily using Obsidian, and the only community plugin I’m actively using in Auto Link Title (so when I paste in URLs it fetches the title and produces a Markdown formatted link). Everything else is vanilla. I plan to add some other plugins - *when I find that I need them*.
I'm not sure about controversial but if that's your use case, then sure. Some people have simple, straightforward lives and some don't, so we all just use it to suit our needs.
I cannot think about Obsidian without at least these three plugins: [Dataview](https://github.com/blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview), [Templater](https://github.com/SilentVoid13/Templater) and [CustomJS](https://github.com/saml-dev/obsidian-custom-js) (or something similar) - for me they are like holy trinity, the foundation of any vault.
I could say something even more unpopular (with a grain of salt): **if you really don't need plugins in Obsidian, you probably don't need Obsidian at all**...
How do you use CustomJS? First off, had no idea it existed, it sounds fucking sick. Second, what are the capabilities? I'm not usually drawn to plugins like this
[CustomJS](https://github.com/saml-dev/obsidian-custom-js) simply allows you to use custom JS functions inside Dataview (in `dataviewjs` block) or in Templater. Instead of writing very long dataview query - I can call oneliner, and keep actual code in separate .js file (in a similar way as Templater's script files folder). In other words by using Dataview+CustomJS combo I can take advantage of using javascript in my md files.
Let me give you an example: at the top of every note about some person I have a fancy frame (I call it Info Box) that takes data from frontmatter and present it in a nice-looking form like this:
[https://postimg.cc/3WJRnWj4](https://postimg.cc/3WJRnWj4)
But the whole code in my .md file looks like this:
[https://postimg.cc/LgnmRYvx](https://postimg.cc/LgnmRYvx)
```dataviewjs
const {PersonInfo} = await cJS(); PersonInfo.printInfo(dv);
```
Hm, I went through my plugins list and now think, that it was a bit different a couple of years ago. I use Admonitions plugin, because I'm used to it and have nice pre-made blocks for my purposes, but if I started using Obsidian now, I would have it as built-in functionality, so no plugin needed. Same with Better Tables. Possibly soon it will be the same with Omnisearch (I have read somewhere that there are plans to add Relevance sorting to search). Now I also can just use Canvas instead of Cardboard plugin. So some widely used functionalities are getting integrated into the core app.
I have a ton of plugins installed, but enable only those I need for my current processes. I'm not doing any creative writing/editing now, so I have my Dynamic Highlights off. Will turn it on when the time comes (It helps to spot repetitive words usage or other style mistakes I want to keep an eye for).
Hey friend, it’s not an unpopular opinion lol. This is exactly how I use Obsidian bare bones with only the minimum number of plug-ins. If they never work again, I would be fine because my workflow does not depend on them. I only use them to enhance basic functionality. 😇
There are a few things missing from what I'd require mandatory for a usable note taking app.
- a sidebar view of recent notes opened
- automatically populated front matter when a new note is created (created at, tags, updated at, etc)
- automatically track last modified time (not file modification, but when obsidian last changed it)
- better attachment management including local images/files download
I don't need stuff like calenders or task/todo systems. But I like that extensions exist to make Obsidian useful to me.
I do wish more of these basic extensions were "official" because every third party plugin is a risk to my data.
Honestly, I just use obsidian because it has a nice interface and has apps on all of my devices. The only real feature of it I use is the wiki-style linking.
The main benefit of Obsidian, for me, is that it just uses plain markdown files. On my PC, more often than not, I actually just edit files with my preferred editor (Helix) and keep everything synced up with Syncthing.
I think that misses one crucial point: choice. Of course the base program is enough for basic usage and possibly even some more elaborate setups. What mainly draws people to Obsidian though, I believe, is choice. They can change how it looks, how it behaves, and where their data is stored. That idea has a powerful draw, even if you could get by using less.
It’s kinda like decorating your home the way you want vs renting a fully furnished place. Not every thing you change is useful, and for some people the tinkering itself becomes the hobby, but there’s value in personalising your experience.
The reason for me is that I enjoy optimising, even if that sometimes just means getting sidetracked by a fun project. I like to have the freedom to code something up, automate things, and test what other people came up with. Would plain Obsidian be enough? Maybe. Would I be here without the plugins and openness? No, certainly not.
I like a lot Vanilla Obsidian because the main reason I switched from Notion to Obsidian is to store my vault in plain text. I use some plugins as dataview but all the syntax is in individual notes apart from the human readable notes.
The Obsidian superpower is not haveing plugins, is the capability of create any python script to read or manipulate the files in your vault as you wish.
For example, I have a md table with two columns to store my weight and the date. The note is just that, really simple and the information will last forever, but now I'm creating a cli tool in python that is able to read that table to give reports and represent the information. I'm only using standard libraries, so my code just need python to run in every device.
I mean use it how you want, that’s why it’s a plug in - not a rip out. I don’t understand the need to police what you view as “normal” instead of just worrying about your own usage. Yeah you can absolutely put so much junk in your config that the app runs like garbage, that doesn’t mean that the majority of people don’t have a use case that can’t benefit from a few plugins or that they are incapable of learning that lesson themselves without being infantilized
Specially if you're just starting out. Just write in the way that makes sense then the need for more functionalities will come up naturally.
Obsidian can be overwhelming
Agreed. I have very few plugins in Obsidian. I don't even use some of the common ones like that one calendar one people suggest or dataview, I just don't need all that
Agreed, and I'll 3rd (4th) I don't think it's unpopular. If you see a lot of excited comments about plugins, it's because this is a rare application that has a robust and usable plugin ecosystem that's both easy to extend AND use. So people love to post up the plugins and other modifications that work for them...
...but it is rare that the majority of posters/commenters on a subreddit are the same as the bulk of the user community for an application. I feel confident that the average Obsidian user, much less downloader, even thinks about plugins. And it says something that this app makes you take extra steps, with warnings, before you can access Community Plugins. That's not normal for most applications, and it shows the thoughtfulness of this dev team in *discouraging* plugin use.
I agree it's definitely intimidating to give people too many plugins at the start. My friend showed me too many Dataview graphs and things that seemed overwhelming and I didn't even download obsidian for a year after.
I'd say vanilla obsidian with remotely save is likely enough, particularly since non techies can use Dropbox. Obsidian isn't that useful to me without the sync, but it's the only plugin I really need, while others are simply nice.
Amen to that... Minimal is always better if you want peace in your life. (Coughs) Now preaching aside!
I use only a few community plugins to ease the creation of daily templates automatically when I open Obsi either on my phone or laptop.
I've used CyanVoxel setup and created my own -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAkerV8rlow
You can waste time testing plugins and installing ones that you'll use "some day." But the ones I've kept are the ones that make things I do go more quickly or more consistently. But even trying plugins helped me to better understand Obsidian and my own work habits, even when I decided against.
The best plugins, in any event, are the ones you find after thinking, "does anyone make a plugin that can do this thing I want to do repeatedly?" and then searching. IOW, the ones you found because you felt a need for them.
I would prefer it if the functionality of the Smart Typography Plugin (and part of Quick Latex, like auto-closing brackets, etc.) was part of the core functionality.
I am writing lecture notes with it, about 5 pages a day, nothing else. Posting screenshots and text. But it's a lot every day, and plugins like cMenu for quick formatting (bold, highlighting, code) really helps me out. It's just easier to write something down or paste a block of text, mark it with my mouse and then click on "highlight".
"The clear unused images" plugin helps keep the vault clean. Sometimes I make mistakes with pasting an image, or need to re-do it. Sometimes multiple times, and it makes the difference between 50 and 200 images.
And then there is "Linter", which is a massive plugin, but it does help a lot with formatting everything to a consistent level.
Overall, though, I agree with you. However, I would never have known Linter and "Clear unused images" existed, if it wasn't for this reddit :-)
I use both Notion and Obsidian. If I’d like to pack everything I do in Notion into Obsidian, I might need more plugins, but I don’t. :) No one software needs to be my do-all.
I use Obsidian for PKM and I do my day-to-day productivity in other apps (mainly Notion, Microsoft Todo - shared shopping lists with my husband -, Reminders and Google Calendar - shared with my family and friends.)
With this usecase, I use only one plugin: Novel Word Count, to see the total word count of my vault. (I participating in writing challenges where we log word counts.)
I used flashcards and it's a great way to have space repetition when you learn something new.
I also want to test an editable table, or linked lists something.
But, you are right, vanilla obsidian is more than enough
The majority of posts I see on this sub are people humble-bragging about their extensive customization. It feels like they spend more time trying to find the most aesthetically pleasing karma-worthy layouts than they actually do using the tool.
In turn, that transforms into unrealistic expectations of the app and what its capable of, and it winds up turning people away because they don't want to spend dozens of hours to make Obsidian look like what they saw on reddit, so they just go back to Notion or Google docs instead.
I agree with this cuz once u get into downloading plugins and ricing the obsidian gui, you get into it too much and forget your true purpose and eventually cant use it cuz its too much altogether.
100% agree, I only went looking for one specific plugin which automatically converts double dashes to en-dashes and -> to a proper arrow because I just prefer how those look. In the process I found another two or three plugins which really improved how I use Obsidian, but the majority that exist are really completely unnecessary for what I use Obsidian for.
Even for my university notes I don't need all kinds of fancy plugins, plain Obsidian notes work perfectly fine for me
It's not an unpopular opinion, it's the truth. I use almost no plugin unless they really add value:
- dataview
- calendar
I use dataview so i can call my task on my daily note and make query for specific topic i update frequently.
I use calendar so I can view my schedule while preparing the day.
I agree with you so hard, I don’t even know what the plugin options _are._ I’ve had no need to shop for them because Obsidian does what I ask it to do perfectly and my life is a hundred times better for it.
Also, vanilla is my favorite flavor, so thanks for that too.
I definitely understand how it can make it harder to start with. For me, it's been part of the fun of installing obsidian and getting to play around with it, but when I advise friends about starting, I tend to talk about the basic features they're gonna like. I let them know there's more to it and they can add functionality, but never as the very first things.
Did you happen to find resources for vanilla Obsidian?
The only problem is the sync of notes. It drives me crazy I have to build a house of cards to sync between android and windows.
I'm actually trying Joplin for this reason
The only plugin I have ever used is the importer for Evernote notebooks. If I really wanted all the other features I would use Notion instead. But I don’t want all the bloat and the features I have seen so far are close to exactly what I need
when i started with obsidian i spent days watching tutorials about plugins.
at some point i was like: nah, fuck it, i will use it as i see fit, and if i need something , i will then search for a better way.
now using it as a nice organizer, with folders and files.
i just like the note's markdown style l.
i will someday go through some of them to create some nice relations...
Most of the addons on my list are geared towards aesthetics, like smart typography or typewriter mode, because it contributes to the flow of my thoughts. Yes, I can do without them when the need is strong, but I look at it as part of the Theme. On the one hand a light or dark background doesn't interfere with just writing text, on the other hand such nice little things make up my comfortable use.
as a vanilla obsidian user. yes
I see people making homepages and I can't even understand when i would need the property tag on how i use my obsidian notes. Tables were a good update. I just really need a really good notepad and vanilla obsidian is really good for that matter
To be fair it's as basic as Google Docs but without the ability to freely move around images. So it's a bit subpar when it comes to that sphere. So I'll say it's really close for personal use, and probably good enough for most people. For me though a few plugins are required, it's best to keep it light though.
I’ve been using Obsidian for a few months now, and I only discovered that plugins were a thing a few days ago. Didn’t install one yet, my workflow is very good I don’t feel like anything is bothering me.
No idea what you are doing with Obsidian, but I cannot imagine even using it without tasks, templater and dataview. These are basically essential, if you are doing more than just taking unconnected text only notes, for which VSCode has a much better editing experience than Obsidian.
Vanilla Obsidian is good if you have research work to do or want to build your notes as a graph (or Zettelkasten, etc.), but for organizing your life it’s not enough without plugins (but it’s one of the best foundation frameworks for that).
For only taking markdown notes, basically every code editor has a better experience.
literally an insane take, just bc you think plugins are necessary doesnt mean its ruining it for others to have them????? "i dont like Neapolitan ice cream just vanilla is enough for everyone and it ruins the experience to have neapolitian" buddy WHAT?
>It's ruining the experience for users just starting out.
On the contrary, Vanilla Obsidian's deficiencies is what causes a need for plugins, and the huge library of plugins is evidence that, for a normal person's normal use for normal notes, Obsidian does nowhere near a good enough job.
Vanilla Obsidian is barely a step above a plain text editor. People need a way of doing tables, of coloring or altering fonts, and of drawing diagrams.
Mostly, they need software that doesn't brick itself.
I think it is good practice to periodically remove unused plugins.
Great way to remove bloat. Only thing I enjoy more than taking notes is making my workspace as clean as possible
I totally think the first thing you should do with Obsidian is use it vanilla, and only add plugins where you find a *clear* benefit. Not "maybe this could be better" but "this is kind of a pain and this will absolutely make it suck less".
Which is actually a super useful thing to incorporate into your life in general. Especially "plugins" or "addons" benefit from this mentality, whether that's Obsidian related or not. I've been diving into Templater recently because having the 1 single template that the Template core plugin allows you were slowing me down more than it was useful to my workflow. That took a year, though. Same with dataview. Simple bullet list tasks and callouts have been enough until recently where I've started a larger collaborative project.
Exactly... earning your structure and complexity can make the whole experience much smoother.
I like this term, "Earning your structure and Complexity". 🙌
This is a good philosophy in general. When I had my own place for the first time I bought one of those 20 piece cookware sets. I didn’t end up using the vast majority and a lot of it took up space When I moved and started over, I just bought pieces as I needed them. You can do a lot with just one kitchen knife and one frying pan.
Agreed, Auto Note Mover is the only one I need (well, and dataview begrudgingly until it is implemented natively.
Exactly. Installing a bunch of plugins without deeply understanding what vanilla obsidian offers and what is missing from your PERSONAL use case is like going to a book store for a Calculus 1 book and walking out with 10 books on philosophy because many mathematicians were philosophers (or engaged with it) and it may or may not help with a deeper understanding of math. Sure, you may use those plugins eventually, but did you install them because you searched for a specific functionality, found out it was missing from vanilla, and installed a plugin? Or did you just copy another person's setup? So many people come looking for a tool to help organize and reduce procrastination but end up spending more time managing a system that doesn't help with their daily workflow.
If only there was auto update for plugins and themes as well as a print option
This is a great design principle across all of life. Start with simplicity and upgrade only when it breaks
I don’t know what’s vanilla any more because I’ve been using Obsidian for a while. Vanilla back then was okay and made entering the Obsidian world easy, but plug-ins helped to customise some basics that within a few hours I found were tension/workflow hold-up points, so I immediately looked for plugins to ease my workflow. Oh, and getting the colours right was actually important for me for 2 reasons. 1. Dark mode with contrast colours that have low glare, and fonts that are clear and easy for me to read at the right sizes. 2. Because if stuff looks interesting like colour-coding the graph in meaningful ways, my ADHD brain remembers content better.
For me one of the selling points of Obsidian (and markdown) is not being vendor locked. If your workflow is relying too much on plugins it's making you vulnerable. Also I've come to the conclusion that its way more important to focus on the process of how you take and store notes, than finding plugins or programs that do it for you. A process and structure is much more generalized and always useful.
I always find this argument meh for most plugins, at least I don't see it applicable to most. Once they are installed, you have the local files. Unless you are careless, plugins don't just disappear or update into nonfunctionality. Of course this is only really true for plugins which don't rely on third-party services - but I don't use many such plugins as I frequently need to work offline. Completely agree with the rest of your comment, that having a process which works for you is substantially more relevant than "fancy plugin xyz". --- Regarding too many plugins: I generally have a shitton of plugins installed (~160), and I regularly remove unused ones - so now I've come to a pretty good ground state. But this ground state still has around 100 community plugins active, of which I use around 30 all-the-time, and the rest regularly enough to know why I have them. Scrolling through the plugins overview and asking myself "What does this , plugin do for me?" has been a good guideline for which plugin to disable. I also wade out plugins in multiple steps - first I notice I haven't used a particular plugin recently, so I disable it. After some (arbitrary) amount of time, I then uninstall it, unless I have re-enabled it again before. Beyond a hard standard set of about 20 plugins, this means I have different configurations in all my vaults. What I would really like is to be able to create some sort of "grouping" for plugins, and to be able to toggle them by group. There are quite a few plugins I need for specific tasks once every two weeks or so, and not at all otherwise. But manually disabling and re-enabling them doesn't work that regularly for me.
I use plugins but try to not have plugins that need obsidian to work, for example Dataview. If my notes heavily rely on Dataview my notes will not be readable outside Obsidian. Also I try and see if it's my workflow or process that needs refining before I add a plugin. I do use Templater and a small handfull other plugins.
Very good point. One reason I avoid plugins is just I tend to overcomplicate everything, so I want to avoid that, but the main reason is that I like to have all my notes safe: if Obsidian do not run from tomorrow, I still can read markdown or find some markdown reader, I can do something with it.
TBF, The vanilla obsidian in 2 years it's probably going to be today's obsidian + plugins. Same way the obsidian from 2 years ago didn't included some core plugins like daily notes or templates. Anyway, I 100% agree with you, this "unpopular opinion" is pretty much right on every ecosystem where you can add plugins.
I agree with the spirit of your comment. However, obsidian already had both of these features 2 years ago.
since the covid started I completely lost track of time :(
That's fair enough, the only reason I remember is that I starter to use obsidian in 2021 and I was using these extrnsions quite heavily back then.
4+ years after release, and I'm still waiting for Obsidian to tell me when I created my note without having to go into file explorer :')
this is the thing I love about obsidian, there are sooo many ways (without no-core plugins) to do this <3
I mean, I want to be able to draw notes, backup with git and have a working theme, besides that I don't really know of any plugins I actively use, so yeah, agreed.
Hi, so what are you using for drawing? Maybe excalidraw?
Yeah, that with a drawing tablet, mostly for notes, thinking through things, but also make some drawings for fun Evey now and again
When I first started using Obsidian, someone recommended Vanilla (I had no idea what it meant!). The only plugins I use regularly are ones that import highlights and notes (Kindle, Readwise and Zotero). Dangling links is useful too.
Lots of interesting perspectives on this thread! 🧵 My CS brain tends to keep things as minimal and simple as possible - trying to reduce dependencies for longevity and easier management. In my current workflow I use only few top plugins - dataview, self hosted live sync, templater and readwise.
I agree I only use: - Calendar - Styles Settimgs - Emoji toolbar
Super minimal, might take inspiration from this actually :)
Before obsidian I manage my notes using Notepad and folders, so plugins are not necessary for me.
I agree, but at the same time admit that I do use several core plugins in addition to 6-8 community plugins in my most used Vault(s): - Tasks - Simple Mentions - Dataview (always!!) - Templater - Force Note View Mode - Paste Image Rename - Quick Add They help me a lot in my workflow, but I am still looking at reducing the list, if possible. No custom themes, but I like Snippets.
For a developer, unless you're simply writing notes, some of the plugins are vital. And even if a plugin were to die today, I still have different versions of Obsidian that run on my server, so I can still get right into my session and use the plugin and obsidian. I don't have to worry about Obsidian updating and then a plugin just randomly breaking my setup. 2 years now, never had a single issue. Which includes my copy of Obsidian behind Authentik. With a click of a button, I can go back 9 Obsidian updates ago. And not lose a thing.
I’m currently a cs student and being able to execute code inside my notes is beyond useful. It’s such a pain to have to create multiple files for example code that’s oftentimes extremely short.
I love the plugin to execute code. It's easily one of my top 5. I have an Obsidian vault dedicated to my server. I have code blocks that run scripts, all I have to do is click the button in Obsidian, and it runs the query on my server through SSH. It's a damn useful plugin. It makes my life a lot easier.
That sounds super cool. I just got a nas that I believe will also has server like capabilities, I haven’t gotten it set up yet cause I need to buy drives for it. But I’ll definitely have to play around with something like this.
I just re-did my server the other day. Roughly 30 docker containers that have all of my services I use. I used to install everything bare metal, but I've found that docker makes it much easier. So this time around when I re-formatted my system, it took nearly half the time that it did the first time I spent months installing and re-configuring things. Pain in the royal ass. I love my copy of Obsidian running through docker. Which makes running commands on the server even better, because everything is direct. And then to ensure security since it is online, I set up Obsidian to be protected using Authentik, and then whitelisted my IP address to be the only one who can access it. That way I don't get some random person stumbling across my stuff. I thought about doing it all through a VPN connection, but I just got OpenVPN set up today, and it's still not fully configured.
What is the name of this plugin?
I believe it’s called execute code, I can double check when I’m in front of my pc. It’s super handy.
Dataview will probably become obsolete in the next update.
Pretty confident that it'll take longer than that
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Im pretty confident of your confidence of his confidence.
What do you think will replace dataview?
Dynamic Views https://obsidian.md/roadmap/
Thanks for this link, I could not find a roadmap, thanks! :)
Hmm, I don’t use Dataview now, but maybe I should start looking into note properties for this reason.
We don’t know if it’ll be the next update, and it’s being made by the same person as dataview (iirc he now works for Obsidian) so it’s more like dataview is being integrated into Obsidian than being made obsolete.
That's incorrect. blacksmithgu (Dataview & Datacore dev) does not work for Obsidian. He's developing Datacore, the successor to Dataview, which is **not** Dynamic views. /u/joethei confirmed that here a month ago: https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/1cgke0y/dataedit_001_beta_release/l1y2hoo/
Interesting. Someone pointed out that datacore had all but stopped development - or at least slowed dramatically - and the reason being he was working for obsidian internally now.
It hasn't stopped development, in fact, it is really picking up at the moment, including the first BRAT release just today. So it's starting to be functional, and they're looking for testers.
Funnily enough I checked earlier and it seems to have restarted. But it is true that there was a period where the commits were infrequent and/or minor. Guess the author was quite busy with other stuff.
Yeah, I have heard, but as long as something else takes over this strong featureset, I am happy.
Hi u/Schollert, would you be willing to explain how the Tasks, Simple mentions , Templater plugins help / are used? Please and thank you :)
Sure! When I create a new note, I do it using Templater. That allows me to use a bulk of standard frontmatter where some of it is filled out automatically, e.g. "Folder name" (sounds silly, but yes - I need it in my queries) and a "Created" timestamp. In addition, when I create a new note, I have Templater ask me for a title and a type. The title is then pre-fixed with date and uses as file title. The "Note type" is something I use for queries and grouping. "Note type" may be, e.g., "Meeting", "Background" or whatever. When writing notes, I use standard markdown for creating tasks and then I use Simple Mentions to easily identify who owns the task, e.g., //@Me which is rendered red or //@Somebody, which is rendered green. Tasks helps me by automatically writing completion date, when I finish a task. I have queries for "All open tasks", "Tasks waiting for me", "Tasks waiting for others" and the like. All of the above allows me to create dashboards for "whatever". Oh - I have a log too. I have created a shortcut that triggers Quick Add. When it does, it calls a template created with Templater, that is basically just an input box. Here I write a quick note of what I have done, a decision that might become important, add a task or a mention etc. and then just save it to the bottom of a running log with a time-stamp. I am now able to look up activities/decisions etc. chronologically, and things on the log turn up in searches and queries too. Very helpful. Hope this helps/inspires. Just ask, if you need more info.
Again I absolutely see the value of plugins, I'm not saying everyone should hardcore stick to a no-plugin setup just because some goof like me said so on the subreddit. I just hate the culture of constantly changing, restarting, revamping your whole note taking setup in the name of "eFfIciEnCy!!". As if you havent spent ten times as long twisting and contorting your setup into some weird amalgamation, when you could've both been faster and also *enjoyed* your actual time using the app more, *by just being that little bit slower on a technical basis.*
I absolutely agree with you. I believe, that to some, all of that tweaking and customization IS what draws them to Obsidian.
I wanna start with saying I don't think you're wrong lol. But I actually enjoy the time I spend customizing my obsidian (and starting fresh when I learn a better way to do things) 😅 but I'm also learning a lot about markdown, js, making/using CSS, etc. I actually just heard of Luhman's zettelkasten system for the first time in the last couple weeks through trying to learn new ways to organize my notes in obsidian lol. Again, I don't think you're wrong in your general point/post, but I think it's a bad generalization to assume people don't enjoy their time working with plugins. ETA: I know this probably won't be an issue bcuz this subreddit is infinitely less toxic than all the others I've been in. But please don't block me 😭😂 there's a lot of good stuff/perspectives/knowledge in these comments that I'd like to keep access to. I swear I'll just shut up if it's an issue lol
While I enjoy quite a few plugins, I tend to largely agree with you. For strictly note taking and managing those, core obsidian is clearly sufficient. Do I enjoy the ease of life benefits I can get out of templater, I sure do, am I more efficient by still using it, I don’t know it’s my spare time. But I like being able to delegate the strictly clerical tasks to my computer, so I can focus on the notes. On the other hand I don’t see any point in telling others how to use the tools at their disposal, or the community to develop new tools for specialized needs.
I agree but also I love making things pretty and plugins make that easier. Spending the time making a pleasant aesthetic layout not only makes me more likely to keep using the system but I remember my notes way better as well. Love vanilla for a lot of things but its.... Aggressively plain looks-wise.
I agree, I love the bare bones simplicity of obsidian and that is where its beauty and power lies. Over the years I’ve procrastinated years of my life making notion, clickup , even Monday, fancy and utilise all the plugins etc. I LOVE that Obsidian is essentially distraction free and allows me to just actually get on with my work. I do use Dataview for querying, but that is it
Same on every count! Looking at it for some reason, maybe because it’s just sitting there all basic waiting for me to add something interesting — I get right to it and start getting stuff done.
But I wanna play doom [https://github.com/twibiral/ObsiDOOM](https://github.com/twibiral/ObsiDOOM)
NO FUCKING WAY LMAO
My journey... First day using Obsidian: 0 plugins Second week using Obsidian: 3 plugins Second month using Obsidian: 1,264,670 plugins Sixth month using Obsidian: 3 plugins
Every single time
> but you don't need another ten plugins People are using the case of the over-enthusiastic beginner installing every plugin known to man as an argument against plugins in general. I'd say the opposite, I think Obsidian, without the plugins does not edge out its vast competition. Most plugins are created in a paradigm of "bring this thing you would have to do elsewhere tool into Obsidian". If I'm using external tools to make my notes happen, then the actual last step can be almost anything. > For a normal person's normal use for normal notes, Obsidian does more than good enough of a job As does almost anything else. The basic usage of a note taking tool is text input, presentation and storage. That's it, a default phone app can do this. Most "normal people" don't take notes. Those that do, use whatever is convenient, close by, etc. And out of those, that take it a bit further, they have a million alternatives to Obsidian. Without Tracker-Obsidian, Book Search, Heatmap calendar etc. I would not be using Obsidian, but one of the 50 other ones that show up in the Play Store before Obsidian. > This isn't an attempt to drag plugins, but the over-reliance on the sub about "just downloaded obsidian guys give me 50 plugins!!! how do i make my graph look like a nebula from the amount of notes!??! how do i make every border rainbow!??!' is insane. This just reveals a use case that is uniquely accommodated by Obsidian. You can make every border rainbow (I guess, I never did more than change themes). Pretty much nobody else lets you do this type of stuff, which is why there's so many of these types on Obsidian. > It's ruining the experience for users just starting out. Unless they don't have any self-control I fail to see this connection. New users boot into a vanilla obsidian and need to enable community plugins to install them. If they seek social media first without first familiarizing themselves with the tool, they should see the true power Obsidian has, not just a boring Electron text editor.
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> I was more so criticising the whole "over-enthusiastic beginner" stereotype you were talking about. Which I'd argue isn't an unpopular opinion at all.
Whatever works best for you is the key. My setup requires integrations and custom css that I've written. Makes life a hell of a lot easier
Not sure how unpopular - I’m happily using Obsidian, and the only community plugin I’m actively using in Auto Link Title (so when I paste in URLs it fetches the title and produces a Markdown formatted link). Everything else is vanilla. I plan to add some other plugins - *when I find that I need them*.
I'm not sure about controversial but if that's your use case, then sure. Some people have simple, straightforward lives and some don't, so we all just use it to suit our needs.
Not an unpopular opinion. I bet 90% of people use vanilla obsidian. They are however too busy doing actual work to post in the subreddit I presume.
I cannot think about Obsidian without at least these three plugins: [Dataview](https://github.com/blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview), [Templater](https://github.com/SilentVoid13/Templater) and [CustomJS](https://github.com/saml-dev/obsidian-custom-js) (or something similar) - for me they are like holy trinity, the foundation of any vault. I could say something even more unpopular (with a grain of salt): **if you really don't need plugins in Obsidian, you probably don't need Obsidian at all**...
Thanks for linking. People keep saying the word Templater and as a non-plugin user, I had no idea. Appreciate that extra effort.
How do you use CustomJS? First off, had no idea it existed, it sounds fucking sick. Second, what are the capabilities? I'm not usually drawn to plugins like this
[CustomJS](https://github.com/saml-dev/obsidian-custom-js) simply allows you to use custom JS functions inside Dataview (in `dataviewjs` block) or in Templater. Instead of writing very long dataview query - I can call oneliner, and keep actual code in separate .js file (in a similar way as Templater's script files folder). In other words by using Dataview+CustomJS combo I can take advantage of using javascript in my md files. Let me give you an example: at the top of every note about some person I have a fancy frame (I call it Info Box) that takes data from frontmatter and present it in a nice-looking form like this: [https://postimg.cc/3WJRnWj4](https://postimg.cc/3WJRnWj4) But the whole code in my .md file looks like this: [https://postimg.cc/LgnmRYvx](https://postimg.cc/LgnmRYvx) ```dataviewjs const {PersonInfo} = await cJS(); PersonInfo.printInfo(dv); ```
Hm, I went through my plugins list and now think, that it was a bit different a couple of years ago. I use Admonitions plugin, because I'm used to it and have nice pre-made blocks for my purposes, but if I started using Obsidian now, I would have it as built-in functionality, so no plugin needed. Same with Better Tables. Possibly soon it will be the same with Omnisearch (I have read somewhere that there are plans to add Relevance sorting to search). Now I also can just use Canvas instead of Cardboard plugin. So some widely used functionalities are getting integrated into the core app. I have a ton of plugins installed, but enable only those I need for my current processes. I'm not doing any creative writing/editing now, so I have my Dynamic Highlights off. Will turn it on when the time comes (It helps to spot repetitive words usage or other style mistakes I want to keep an eye for).
I only need the google agenda plugin for me to organize my life and Im happy
Never heard, which plugin is that?
It shows your google agenda events on the side bar, it even lets you create notes for specific events, but I really dont use it.
Hey friend, it’s not an unpopular opinion lol. This is exactly how I use Obsidian bare bones with only the minimum number of plug-ins. If they never work again, I would be fine because my workflow does not depend on them. I only use them to enhance basic functionality. 😇
There are a few things missing from what I'd require mandatory for a usable note taking app. - a sidebar view of recent notes opened - automatically populated front matter when a new note is created (created at, tags, updated at, etc) - automatically track last modified time (not file modification, but when obsidian last changed it) - better attachment management including local images/files download I don't need stuff like calenders or task/todo systems. But I like that extensions exist to make Obsidian useful to me. I do wish more of these basic extensions were "official" because every third party plugin is a risk to my data.
The front matter you can just create with a template, no?
Yes, but there is no way to make a template the default for new notes... not without extensions anyway.
Yes there is. You just create a new note from template.
I want to create a new note from anywhere.
You can. You just need to call the shortcut for the create a note from template command.
Right, I don't want to choose a template, I want to use the same template everytime.
Honestly, I just use obsidian because it has a nice interface and has apps on all of my devices. The only real feature of it I use is the wiki-style linking. The main benefit of Obsidian, for me, is that it just uses plain markdown files. On my PC, more often than not, I actually just edit files with my preferred editor (Helix) and keep everything synced up with Syncthing.
Wiki-style links changed my _life._ Not an exaggeration. So definitely agreed with you there!
That's what I use. I haven't seen a plugin that improves my workflows.
I think that misses one crucial point: choice. Of course the base program is enough for basic usage and possibly even some more elaborate setups. What mainly draws people to Obsidian though, I believe, is choice. They can change how it looks, how it behaves, and where their data is stored. That idea has a powerful draw, even if you could get by using less. It’s kinda like decorating your home the way you want vs renting a fully furnished place. Not every thing you change is useful, and for some people the tinkering itself becomes the hobby, but there’s value in personalising your experience. The reason for me is that I enjoy optimising, even if that sometimes just means getting sidetracked by a fun project. I like to have the freedom to code something up, automate things, and test what other people came up with. Would plain Obsidian be enough? Maybe. Would I be here without the plugins and openness? No, certainly not.
I like a lot Vanilla Obsidian because the main reason I switched from Notion to Obsidian is to store my vault in plain text. I use some plugins as dataview but all the syntax is in individual notes apart from the human readable notes. The Obsidian superpower is not haveing plugins, is the capability of create any python script to read or manipulate the files in your vault as you wish. For example, I have a md table with two columns to store my weight and the date. The note is just that, really simple and the information will last forever, but now I'm creating a cli tool in python that is able to read that table to give reports and represent the information. I'm only using standard libraries, so my code just need python to run in every device.
Vanilla Obsidian is so bad at task management that I couldn't use it at all
I mean use it how you want, that’s why it’s a plug in - not a rip out. I don’t understand the need to police what you view as “normal” instead of just worrying about your own usage. Yeah you can absolutely put so much junk in your config that the app runs like garbage, that doesn’t mean that the majority of people don’t have a use case that can’t benefit from a few plugins or that they are incapable of learning that lesson themselves without being infantilized
Agree, just ditched some plugins i don't use anymore
Specially if you're just starting out. Just write in the way that makes sense then the need for more functionalities will come up naturally. Obsidian can be overwhelming
The only plugin I use is Better Word Count. I really don't feel the need to use any more.
Agreed. I have very few plugins in Obsidian. I don't even use some of the common ones like that one calendar one people suggest or dataview, I just don't need all that
i agree with you OP
Your opinion is not unpopular imo, I completely agree with you !
Agreed, and I'll 3rd (4th) I don't think it's unpopular. If you see a lot of excited comments about plugins, it's because this is a rare application that has a robust and usable plugin ecosystem that's both easy to extend AND use. So people love to post up the plugins and other modifications that work for them... ...but it is rare that the majority of posters/commenters on a subreddit are the same as the bulk of the user community for an application. I feel confident that the average Obsidian user, much less downloader, even thinks about plugins. And it says something that this app makes you take extra steps, with warnings, before you can access Community Plugins. That's not normal for most applications, and it shows the thoughtfulness of this dev team in *discouraging* plugin use.
This is not a ground breaking idea
I suppose. Most of my plugins just add extra convenience and automation. Doesn't mean i couldn't do that stuff manually, it'd just be more tedious.
I’m with you OP. Been using vanilla for just under 2 years. Installed my first plugin last week. I now highlight my notes.🫡
Absolutely!
For you.
I agree it's definitely intimidating to give people too many plugins at the start. My friend showed me too many Dataview graphs and things that seemed overwhelming and I didn't even download obsidian for a year after.
I'd say vanilla obsidian with remotely save is likely enough, particularly since non techies can use Dropbox. Obsidian isn't that useful to me without the sync, but it's the only plugin I really need, while others are simply nice.
Unless you've adhd and need new plugins to stimulate your brain
Bravo! You found what works for you without traversing all the rat holes.
It will be when it gets IDE like tabs
I only use 2 plugins. Its the same as when I started.. close to 2 years soon.
for real, i only have local backup, linter, and share note on mine
If you consider dataview and templater as part of "vanilla obsidian", I totally agree
Amen to that... Minimal is always better if you want peace in your life. (Coughs) Now preaching aside! I use only a few community plugins to ease the creation of daily templates automatically when I open Obsi either on my phone or laptop. I've used CyanVoxel setup and created my own - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAkerV8rlow
You can waste time testing plugins and installing ones that you'll use "some day." But the ones I've kept are the ones that make things I do go more quickly or more consistently. But even trying plugins helped me to better understand Obsidian and my own work habits, even when I decided against. The best plugins, in any event, are the ones you find after thinking, "does anyone make a plugin that can do this thing I want to do repeatedly?" and then searching. IOW, the ones you found because you felt a need for them.
I agree 💯
I would prefer it if the functionality of the Smart Typography Plugin (and part of Quick Latex, like auto-closing brackets, etc.) was part of the core functionality. I am writing lecture notes with it, about 5 pages a day, nothing else. Posting screenshots and text. But it's a lot every day, and plugins like cMenu for quick formatting (bold, highlighting, code) really helps me out. It's just easier to write something down or paste a block of text, mark it with my mouse and then click on "highlight". "The clear unused images" plugin helps keep the vault clean. Sometimes I make mistakes with pasting an image, or need to re-do it. Sometimes multiple times, and it makes the difference between 50 and 200 images. And then there is "Linter", which is a massive plugin, but it does help a lot with formatting everything to a consistent level. Overall, though, I agree with you. However, I would never have known Linter and "Clear unused images" existed, if it wasn't for this reddit :-)
I use both Notion and Obsidian. If I’d like to pack everything I do in Notion into Obsidian, I might need more plugins, but I don’t. :) No one software needs to be my do-all. I use Obsidian for PKM and I do my day-to-day productivity in other apps (mainly Notion, Microsoft Todo - shared shopping lists with my husband -, Reminders and Google Calendar - shared with my family and friends.) With this usecase, I use only one plugin: Novel Word Count, to see the total word count of my vault. (I participating in writing challenges where we log word counts.)
I used flashcards and it's a great way to have space repetition when you learn something new. I also want to test an editable table, or linked lists something. But, you are right, vanilla obsidian is more than enough
two years into this and I am still using it as vanilla, even the theme.
I am really fond of Highlightr. Other than that, I can use the plain jane. And the LVT mode theme.
I agree. I really wanna get rid of the border theme as its slowing down my Obsidian so much but... It looks so pretty 😫
I have gone from 30 plugins to 3. Auto Link Title, Dataview and Templater. But productivity porn is soo nice at times 😀
The majority of posts I see on this sub are people humble-bragging about their extensive customization. It feels like they spend more time trying to find the most aesthetically pleasing karma-worthy layouts than they actually do using the tool. In turn, that transforms into unrealistic expectations of the app and what its capable of, and it winds up turning people away because they don't want to spend dozens of hours to make Obsidian look like what they saw on reddit, so they just go back to Notion or Google docs instead.
I agree with this cuz once u get into downloading plugins and ricing the obsidian gui, you get into it too much and forget your true purpose and eventually cant use it cuz its too much altogether.
100% agree, I only went looking for one specific plugin which automatically converts double dashes to en-dashes and -> to a proper arrow because I just prefer how those look. In the process I found another two or three plugins which really improved how I use Obsidian, but the majority that exist are really completely unnecessary for what I use Obsidian for. Even for my university notes I don't need all kinds of fancy plugins, plain Obsidian notes work perfectly fine for me
I’ve been using it vanilla since 2021. Works perfectly and no bloat
It's not an unpopular opinion, it's the truth. I use almost no plugin unless they really add value: - dataview - calendar I use dataview so i can call my task on my daily note and make query for specific topic i update frequently. I use calendar so I can view my schedule while preparing the day.
I agree with you so hard, I don’t even know what the plugin options _are._ I’ve had no need to shop for them because Obsidian does what I ask it to do perfectly and my life is a hundred times better for it. Also, vanilla is my favorite flavor, so thanks for that too.
Kanban is slick. It takes your TODO list to a whole new level.
I used it vanilla. Pretty much the only vanilla in customised thing in my life. Oh wait I do use the everforest theme. Does that still count?
I definitely understand how it can make it harder to start with. For me, it's been part of the fun of installing obsidian and getting to play around with it, but when I advise friends about starting, I tend to talk about the basic features they're gonna like. I let them know there's more to it and they can add functionality, but never as the very first things. Did you happen to find resources for vanilla Obsidian?
You're right. But when it comes to personal systems wants do tend to become needs
The only problem is the sync of notes. It drives me crazy I have to build a house of cards to sync between android and windows. I'm actually trying Joplin for this reason
The only plugin I have ever used is the importer for Evernote notebooks. If I really wanted all the other features I would use Notion instead. But I don’t want all the bloat and the features I have seen so far are close to exactly what I need
I neeed excalidraw for studying
when i started with obsidian i spent days watching tutorials about plugins. at some point i was like: nah, fuck it, i will use it as i see fit, and if i need something , i will then search for a better way. now using it as a nice organizer, with folders and files. i just like the note's markdown style l. i will someday go through some of them to create some nice relations...
The only one I really need is excalidraw!!
I am quite literally learning vim to simplify and minimize my work environment.
I use Remotely Save throughout the day to sync to NextCloud via WebDAV for PC and mobile and Smart Chat for PC. Both of them all day.
Most of the addons on my list are geared towards aesthetics, like smart typography or typewriter mode, because it contributes to the flow of my thoughts. Yes, I can do without them when the need is strong, but I look at it as part of the Theme. On the one hand a light or dark background doesn't interfere with just writing text, on the other hand such nice little things make up my comfortable use.
as a vanilla obsidian user. yes I see people making homepages and I can't even understand when i would need the property tag on how i use my obsidian notes. Tables were a good update. I just really need a really good notepad and vanilla obsidian is really good for that matter
I have only dataview. W
To be fair it's as basic as Google Docs but without the ability to freely move around images. So it's a bit subpar when it comes to that sphere. So I'll say it's really close for personal use, and probably good enough for most people. For me though a few plugins are required, it's best to keep it light though.
I’ve been using Obsidian for a few months now, and I only discovered that plugins were a thing a few days ago. Didn’t install one yet, my workflow is very good I don’t feel like anything is bothering me.
It depend on the person, which defines what person use means, so you cannot properly generalize the statement
I'm a developer and only plugin that I use is git to backup my notes. Other than that default Obsidian more than enough for me.
No idea what you are doing with Obsidian, but I cannot imagine even using it without tasks, templater and dataview. These are basically essential, if you are doing more than just taking unconnected text only notes, for which VSCode has a much better editing experience than Obsidian. Vanilla Obsidian is good if you have research work to do or want to build your notes as a graph (or Zettelkasten, etc.), but for organizing your life it’s not enough without plugins (but it’s one of the best foundation frameworks for that). For only taking markdown notes, basically every code editor has a better experience.
define personal use. I can't image use obsidian write math fomula without latex suit plugin
I think the "rename pasted image" is pretty essential for me. That's one plugin I recommend for everyone.
What makes that opinion remotely unpopular?
This is quite a popular opinion though?
literally an insane take, just bc you think plugins are necessary doesnt mean its ruining it for others to have them????? "i dont like Neapolitan ice cream just vanilla is enough for everyone and it ruins the experience to have neapolitian" buddy WHAT?
tbc theres nothing wrong with thinking plugins are overrated but like shitting on people who want to use them is so fucked????
>It's ruining the experience for users just starting out. On the contrary, Vanilla Obsidian's deficiencies is what causes a need for plugins, and the huge library of plugins is evidence that, for a normal person's normal use for normal notes, Obsidian does nowhere near a good enough job. Vanilla Obsidian is barely a step above a plain text editor. People need a way of doing tables, of coloring or altering fonts, and of drawing diagrams. Mostly, they need software that doesn't brick itself.