>[!meta-dates] >- **Created:** 2025-06-29 >- **Last updated:** 2025-07-01 >- **Author:** TJ Trewin ## My "why" Ok so before I share with you *how* I use this Obsidian vault, I think it's important to start with the *why*. ==Edit:== Woops I this became a note of it's own ๐Ÿคฃ **TL;DR -** to regain attention span, autonomy & critical thinking skills, and to share cool stuff with other worldbuilding nerds and pass on the inspiration. The "why" matters a lot to me, so if you like to read more it's here: [[Why I use Obsidian]] ## System / process I don't particularly use any set process or workflow, but I know there's a lot of popularised methods of personal knowledge management & notetaking out there - I looked into so many of them that I got stuck in a loop of overthinking and decision paralysis ๐Ÿ˜† so now I just do what works for me! ### Writing I usually start with a broad topic first (either for a project, or for research), and then start with a few headings off the top of my head. I'll maybe jot down a few bullet points of topics I want to cover under each one. For pretty much all of my notes, I'll continue expanding on those into paragraphs, and if those sections get too long (like at the start of this note) then I branch it out into its own separate note and add a short 1-2 sentence summary and a link to that new note. Once I feel like I've got "a bit too many" notes I'll make a structure note, which is kinda like a category page / index page like you might find on a Wikipedia category that points to all of the relevant topics under that term. For all notes, if I notice that I'm mentioning a particular topic frequently, I'll make a placeholder note for it. When I'm ready to write it, I just click on it and it will show me all of the existing connections I've linked it to. Oh right, I also have a [[Glossary]], too. I chuck unfamiliar words and acronyms in there as I learn more about them. I list out the expanded acronym on the first instance of it before continuing with just the acronym. Example: - Mid-ocean ridges (MORs) occur along divergent plate boundaries. Two well studied MORs on Earth are the Mid-Atlantic Ridge and the East Pacific Rise. *Source: [NOAA Ocean Exploration](https://oceanexplorer.noaa.gov/facts/mid-ocean-ridge.html)* ### Research If it's specifically for research, I then put Obsidian on the right half of my screen and put my browser on the left and start searching for research papers on each topic. My process goes something like: 1. Open a journal/article matching the same level of broadness as my note. 2. Read the abstract (aka the short intro summary) and check any available figures/images to see if the paper is *relevant*. If it isn't I'll check another paper. 3. If I have (or can find) access to it, I'll use the search function `Ctrl + F` to look jump to each mention of each specific keyword I want to cover, and then read a few sentences either side of it to gather the context. 4. When I find something interesting, I'll copy a passage into my note within quotation marks (so that I know it's not my own words and needs rewriting), and immediately make a reference by typing `[^1]`. I put the reference (I've settled on Vancouver style because it's number based and works really nicely with Obsidian's markdown) and make sure to add in both the date I accessed it, and the link (preferably the DOI which is like a permanent link so people can always find the source). 5. Then I'll continue through that paper and continue grabbing relevant quotes, and once I've finished I will then tidy up the note, put things under the right headings, and start rewriting and forming my own opinions and summaries. 6. Unless I've already seen another paper to explore, I'll check who this first paper cited and go and explore those using the same process - I'm particularly interested in reading about opposing theories on the topic so I can get the full picture of: what's new, what's outdated, what's debunked, and what's still up for debate (also this is where the nerd drama is). 7. Inevitably, I get super interested in a subheading topic and it gets *way* too long, so then I create a new note for that subtopic, create a short 1-2 sentence summary and link to the new note, moving my relevant quotes, citations, and reference in there too. 8. When I'm writing a new note that's related to something I already have, I'll go and check the older note first and revisit the references to see if there were more nuggets of information relating to the new topic. I tried making some private source notes (aka reference notes or literature notes) containing metadata, direct quotes, and my own summaries - but it felt too much like archiving and hoarding data for the sake of it. I felt like it took time away from doing actual writing and exploring my ideas. Instead, I'm trying to get in the habit of marking noteworthy references so they're easier for me to pick out again later (or for you to explore by my recommendation!): - High quality sources / personal favourites are ==highlighted==. - Free/open access content are **emphasized in bold**. ### Credibility & accountability All of my notes are hand typed myself and in my own words. These are all my thoughts and opinions at the time of writing the note, and if those opinions change I aim to include a note to say what changed and why. Furthermore, none of the files, folder, or data in this vault are processed or fed into an external tool. ๐Ÿšซ๐Ÿค– I'm very particular about following usage guidelines and licences for content I want to share, and I'm a strong advocate for respecting these, and citing even if the licence doesn't require attribution. ### File over app *File over app* is probably one of the most impactful 1-minute-read articles I could ever recommend: https://stephango.com/file-over-app It really is a quick read, and I don't want to spoil it for you - needless to say it has influenced the choices I made in how I use this Obsidian vault! ๐Ÿ˜ ## Naming I try and follow these naming conventions for this vault because I want things to be easier to find and understand (both for myself, and for others). I also try to keep things both as futureproof *and* backwards compatible as possible (which is one of the key reasons I chose Obsidian to start with), so my naming convention excludes emojis ๐Ÿ—บ, non basic-latin characters `ฤ—รฉรชรจรซฤ›ฤ™`, other unicode characters `โ†’ โ—† โ—`, and anything that's likely to mess with the paths of filenames `*"\/<>:|?`. - **Folders** - Capitalised first word, title as short as it needs to be. - I don't add numbers and just keep it sorted alphabetically. This used to bother me when I used *lots* of folders, but since slimming them down I'm okay with it. ๐Ÿ˜„ - **Notes** - Much like folders: the first word is capitalised (unless there's also a proper noun included), and the title as short as it needs to be. - Each note has `aliases` in the frontmatter that include the lowercase and pluralised versions of it so I can link things quicker. - **Images / attachments** - Clear title or short description of what it is, words-are-separated-with-hyphens and a change in information starts with two underscores. e.g. `description-of-image__example-1.jpg` - Anything I've created myself I end in my username in case anyone wants to find the source again after saving it offline. e.g. `description-of-image__tjtrewin.png` - Anything I've sourced from elsewhere includes the creator or author's name, year of publication (if relevant), and ends in the licence or usage rights so that I remember what I'm allowed to use it for - and so does anyone else. e.g. `Author-and-Author-2001__image-title__CC-BY-NC.png` ## Folders I do have some folders, but you'll soon find that some of the deeper level ones are a catch-all of unsorted notes for a particular topic. - **Archived notes** A place for old blog posts and discarded notes to gather dust. I try not to delete things now in case someone enjoyed it more than I do - and also that maybe one day I'll rediscover an idea in there that I have new thoughts on. - **Attachments** The default folder where all attached files like images end up in. It's unsorted, but due to my file naming structure for these it's pretty for me easy to search through. - **Miscellaneous** This is where I shove any non-worldbuilding related notes, along with Obsidian template notes, and reference sheets or reminder snippets. - **Worldbuilding** This is really just a top-level folder to keep things less overwhelming when you first explore my vault! The folders within are for broader topics or project-based folders. ## Tags I've fallen into the useless tags trap too many times before! ๐Ÿ˜† Instead of using tags for countless topics, I've tried to keep it simple and only use tags to define what type of note it is, and maybe its status or progress. I desperately wanted to use nice looking emojis as tags, but it didn't fit the *file over app* philosophy\* and also made it slower for me to type out (i.e. pick from the emoji keyboard, `Windows key + .`) and I'd also forget which emoji I used. \* same issue with nested tags (e.g. `#geology/tectonics/plate-boundaries`). I only use these tags occasionally in the Obsidian graph view to check at a glance if there are any particular short notes that I want to expand, or long ones that need breaking up into a structure note and several snippets. Here's what I settled on: **Size based** from smallest to largest, tags get replaced by the next as it grows: - `#note-snippet` for tiny notes <200 words that haven't been expanded yet. - `#note-short` for short notes and subtopics <1,000 words. - `#note-long` for bigger, beefier articles >1,000 words. - `#note-structure` for index/category pages that point to several other notes. **Context based**, what the note is for: - `#note-tutorial` for a set of notes that belong to a tutorial or guide. - `#note-idea` a thought I've had, or that someone else has had and that I want to expand on. - `#note-reference` stuff I want to keep handy for reminders, or copy/paste formatting snippets. - `#note-source` sources of noteworthy content that I've cited in my vault that I want to revisit. ## Templates & frontmatter I've just got a couple of templates set up at the moment, one for research notes and one for pages in my [[GPlates Worldbuilding Tutorial]]. I tend to make templates as & when I need them. I'm still experimenting with what metadata and frontmatter info I add to my notes - at the time of writing, Obsidian Bases is about to release - so I'm not sure how I'll want to make the best use of it yet. ## Plugins In following Steph Ango's *file over app* philosophy, I use as few plugins and modifications as possible in this vault. I'm currently using just one community plugin, [Vault Changelog](https://github.com/philoserf/obsidian-vault-changelog/tree/main) for a nice-to-have feature on the [[Vault Entrance|vault entrance]] page so anyone checking can explore what's new. The plugin automatically rewrites this page: [[Recent updates]], which I use as an embed. Aside from that I just use Obsidian's built in core plugins. I used to use the Dataview plugin, but with the new release of [Obsidian Bases](https://help.obsidian.md/bases) I now use this instead :D ## UX & accessibility As I'm sharing my notes online (using [Obsidian Publish](https://obsidian.md/publish)), I try to keep you in mind (yes, you - hi!). To the best of my ability I try to keep things easy to find, easy to navigate, and relatively easy to read (though my grammar and punctuation tends to be a bit all over the place). I'm actively working towards meeting as many [WCAG 2.2 accessibility guidelines](https://www.w3.org/TR/WCAG22/) relevant to this vault as is I can (minimum AA, aiming for AAA). If there's a particular area that causes a problem for you, please [[Contact|contact me]]. ### Image alt text & captions Alt text is added as `![[image|alt text goes here]]`, and in order to add captions beneath I put this inside of a custom callout: ```md >[!caption] >![[image|alt text goes here]] >Caption text goes here.[^1] ``` I then styled this caption with css (feel free to use this!): ```css .callout[data-callout~=caption] { background: transparent; margin-block: -1em; .callout-title { display: none; } .callout-content { font-size: 0.8em; } img { display: block; } } ``` Here's how it looks: >[!caption] >![[2025-06-12_15-37-52__image_2000.00Ma_tjtrewin.png|A low polygonal supercontinent containing a rift and 10 craton shapes, which covers a large area on the hemisphere of a 3D globe in the GPlates software.]] >**Figure 1.** Globe view of cratons and a rift on the initial supercontinent in GPlates. The area takes up less than 50% planetary coverage. >TJ Trewin (2025)[^1] I originally tried doing this with HTML figcaption but it required me to publish the image, then get its updated url, then go back and paste that in, and then publish the update. I couldn't mix markdown inside the HTML caption, which meant putting the citation awkwardly below. I aim to keep image file sizes small, not only for faster page loads but also for less data usage for anyone browsing with limited availability. ### Design choices Headings are in sentence case and follow clear size hierarchy, which not only helps with legibility but it also means the auto-created table of contents list is correct, and accessibility tools like screen-readers know what order to read and describe things in. I've made some CSS tweaks here & there to text sizing and spacing for better legibility across different screen sizes. **Fonts:** - Body text: [Atkinson Hyperlegible Next](https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/), with a fallback to a [Humanist system font stack](https://modernfontstacks.com/). - Headings, blockquotes, and captions: [Texturina](https://fonts.google.com/specimen/Texturina), with the same fallback as above. - Code blocks: [Atkinson Hyperlegible Mono](https://www.brailleinstitute.org/freefont/), with a fallback to a [Monospace Code system font stack](https://modernfontstacks.com/). One of the first issues that a friend pointed out was the confusion over placeholder links and their original styling. I've since updated them to make the difference clearer. Example: [[How I use Obsidian|this note exists]] and [[this note doesn't exist]]. ```css body { --link-unresolved-color: unset; /*remove link colour*/ --link-unresolved-opacity: 0.7; /*lower opacity but still good contrast*/ } .internal-link.is-unresolved { text-decoration-line: none; /*removes underline*/ cursor: not-allowed; /*changes cursor to add user context*/ } .internal-link.is-unresolved:hover { text-decoration-line: none!important; /*removes hover underline*/ color: var(--link-unresolved-color)!important; /*removes hover link colour*/ } ``` ## Other vaults I have a separate Obsidian vault for different worldbuilding projects that I have. I like keeping them distinct from one another so I don't mix up contexts. See also: [[Worldbuilding in Obsidian]] Those vaults are currently private for now :) [^1]: This is an example reference.