How I use Obsidian for work as a software developer advocate

[@nicolevdh]

Obsidian THEMES I used in this video: 3:05 is Moonlight and 5:14 is Gitsidian

[@CameronFlint07]

Amazing, thank you for the inspiration! I’ve been a software engineer for over a decade but I’ve never quite managed to develop a consistent and reliable method for technical note-taking. Seeing your implementation is definitely encouraging that it can be done (and that it’s worth the “overhead.”)

[@nicolevdh]

I hear you. I've always been a note-taker, but always struggled to have my notes be useful beyond the immediate present. Since I started using the Zettelkasten methodology, I've realized that that was because I never went the extra step of connecting notes or questioning how they fit into my view of the industry. I feel like my notes are digital gardens rather than chronological feeds now, which make them infinitely more useful for me. I wish I'd done this sooner! Thanks for stopping by!

[@coffeehousephilosopher7936]

I second this; I take lots of notes for technical skills ... so having an organized structure would be helpful.

[@waffleocalypse]

Thank you for your no-nonsense videos on Obsidian. I felt like I was at a pyramid scheme seminar watching videos from other channels.

[@nicolevdh]

Hey, happy you didn't get that feeling from me! I'm allergic to most methodologies because I feel like most of them are so rigid and created by people whose entire job it is to create methodologies that sell. Glad to see that resonated with you!

[@MatthewHoworko]

@billwarner8 haha I get that feeling too with some other channels. They have so many views, but I feel like they aren't really talking about anything.

[@AlessioVecchioDraelAV]

One of the best video about obsidian out there. It's not obvious how ti stich together all those things and the way you did It Is remarkable. Thanks for the inspiration

[@nicolevdh]

Wow, thank you for that! I really appreciate you saying so. I'm very happy it gave you ideas for how to use Obsidian yourself!

[@meowmeowmotherpucker]

Big thanks for your videos on Obsidian. I've watched a lot of note taking KZbin videos, but I find that you as a fellow software developer have the most relating way of wanting to store your knowledge. Great help for me right now, thanks!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you so much! I too found there were many people talking about using Obsidian for academic research or processing productivity books, when what I need to do most often is learning new languages, tools, or systems. Thanks for the support, and I'm glad I could help! :)

[@sha0linjr]

I'm binge-watching your videos. You have such a nioce way to present information and explain! I'm dabbling in Obsidian, trying to use it to store my notes on learning to code, so that I can have something familiar to quickly refer to, whenever needed (my Personal Knowledge Management System). Thanks for the lessons and insights! And please keep making content, you rock!

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks, I'm happy you're liking my videos! :) Welcome to the Obsidian community! I think it's perfect for learning how to code. When I learn new programming languages, it's extremely useful for me to have my own Stack Overflow of things I've searched for and found before. Thanks for the support as well! :)

[@neobat1]

Impressive what you can do with Obsidian I like your videos easy to follow, clean, and to the point. Also I like the transitions you do and images, etc.

[@nicolevdh]

Glad you think so! Thank you for the words of encouragement. :)

[@lnebres]

Nicole… your way of explaining Obsidian - with a very clear explication of your particular use cases - is the most coherent and elegant I’ve seen. Thank you! (And believe me I’ve watched a LOT of these YT vids by all these… ::ahem:: guys. You know what I mean. ;-) I look forward to checking out your other Obsidian-related videos. Mahalo/salamat! :-)

[@nicolevdh]

Aww, thank you so much! I'm happy to know I'm communicating my use cases clearly. I'm sure they don't apply to everyone, but I'm glad to show what I do for people who DO share my use cases! :) Salamat din!

[@rsg7221]

I come from Evernote and I feel, apart from the web clipper, the options there are too limited. This video will help me build my more advanced "learning pipeline". Thanks! Bedankt!

[@miraSugoi]

KZbin just recommended me this video and i'm so glad it did! I just got Obsidian and I'm a developer as well so this is very helpful! I also noticed that you play D&D and use Obsidian for it so I'm definitely going to watch that as well! I'm a DM and I immediately fell in love with the idea of managing a campaign with this system.

[@nicolevdh]

Oooh, awesome! If I'm being honest, D&D (and other TTRPG games) accounts for a lot of my usage of Obsidian. You're in for a treat. If you're looking for something to help with campaigns, Obsidian has unparallelled support for that. :)

[@FunFreakeyy]

Really a great introduction video! I'll share it to show the benefits of Obsidian to my friends.

[@nicolevdh]

Aww, thank you! Hope more people see how awesome Obsidian is. :)

[@pb9405]

Wow, seems a bit overwhelming at first but I feel it's going to be worth it. Your videos help a ton, thanks!

[@Flipah]

I am going back to Computer Science (software engineer) school this june and I am trying to teach myself how to use Obsidian. I want to make sure I am somehow prepared to what is coming XD but I feel I am going to get slapped in the face by pretty much everything. Hahaha! Thank you for your videos

[@nicolevdh]

Awww, thank you, Flip! Very happy to hear that. I appreciate the nice words, and I think Obsidian would have been SO HELPFUL if it had been around when I was in uni. Good luck with everything, and welcome to the Obsidian community! :)

[@hongkonger1964]

Many thanks again, Nicole. Your videos have helped me tremendously as I learn to use Obsidian for PKM.

[@nicolevdh]

Nice to hear that! That's my goal. Thank you for reaching out! :)

[@Tennisbull-match-statistics]

I didn't know about the slides feature, very cool. Sharing your vault between devices using icloud or obsidian sync is another benefit

[@nicolevdh]

I do wish there were more customisation options for Slides, but it's good in a pinch! And yes, I really love Obsidian Sync as well. I need all my devices to be able to access the same data, otherwise it's not really a full solution. Thanks for watching!

[@Tennisbull-match-statistics]

@@nicolevdh checkout advanced slides plugin for more options

[@jiangwu5565]

Thank you for explaining things so simply for us!!!

[@ShivanS]

This is a useful video about Obsidian. I'm using Notion at the moment and thinking of a way of bolstering my content creation system. Thanks for the video!!!!

[@nicolevdh]

Notion is great! I used it for a while as well. I think it's still better than Obsidian on the kanban board view front, but with all my other notes being already on Obsidian, I've moved my content creation to Obsidian as well. Good luck finding something that works, whichever one you end up with!

[@ShivanS]

@@nicolevdh Thank you! I guess whatever works for you works for you. :) Not let's get creating.

[@chrisronan]

Your videos are very helpful. Given the background you have in software I am curious if you think obsidian would be a good tool for writing PRD or functional specifications documents?

[@ronvzla]

Wonderful! Thanks a lot for this great and useful video… well all of your vids are relevant and useful, thanks again, blessings.

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks so much, Ronni! I'm glad it was helpful. I'm hoping it will help others who are wondering how in the world they're going to be able to learn and remember new tools/technologies!

[@thymeparzival]

Thanks for sharing these tips. I immediately implemented the slides into my workflow. The vast array of community plugins are on of my favorite features of Obsidian, but because there are so many of them, sometimes I don't know what to look for until someone recommends them.

[@nicolevdh]

I get it! I feel like there's always something I'm learning anout Obsidian. Btw, check out the Advanced Slides plugin too! It has more options.

[@aliciasouzan]

When I tried Obsidian for the first time I was so overwhelmed by it because I didn't knew where to start. I watched some videos and it went like "that's so complicated I'm never gonna use this". But then Notion became my nightmare with sync problems and no offline mode, and then I wanted to give it another try to Obsidian and came to your video. I loved it so much, you explained perfectly and made me look differently at it. PS: I didn't found your page from Obsidian in the description, can you send me? Thanks! xo

[@belphegor_dev]

Finalky, an Obsidian video that doesn't sound like a paid ad.

[@JosephAuslander]

Love your breakdowns! These tips are great

[@nicolevdh]

Awww, thank you! Glad you liked them!

[@savi6032]

Your glasses in 2011 were so sick love that

[@docouto]

Obrigado for the video! Being a knowledge worker myself this really sparkled some ideas.

[@nicolevdh]

Hey! I know this is a late reply, but I still wanted to say I'm happy that a fellow knowledge worker got some ideas from this! I considered putting "Every knowledge worker should do this" in the thumbnail but it was too long. Glad you liked it anyway! :)

[@Richard-sp3ul]

Build a personal knowledge management system. Great advice. Looking forward to checking your links and following you. Thank you.

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks, Richard! It's so simple but it's life- and career-changing. I wish I'd known about it sooner!

[@sinxenon3181]

thank you! your content is of great value❤

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you for watching! :)

[@mrrohitjadhav470]

I have gone through your obisidian publish And other podcast but which were related to conding And I was about to contact you to make videos on how you use obisidian effectively Suddenly you video pop up I was excited Please make more videos on obisidan system if you have time ❤️❤️ Btw you are awesome 😊

[@nicolevdh]

Awww, thank you so much! I'm glad I made a video you were hoping for. It's great that you've also been going through my Obsidian Publish. I am obsessed with Obsidian, so yes, there are definitely more videos to come on the topic! Thanks for your support! :)

[@mrrohitjadhav470]

@@nicolevdh too excited 🤩🤩 Thanks a lot ❤️

[@ckp4all]

You rock! Congratulations on getting tech right.

[@naimulislam1263]

Nicely explained. Thanks

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks, Naimul!

[@CariadEccleston]

This is fantastic, thank you! I'm going to check out Readwise!

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks for watching! I've been wanting to make a video about my Readwise setup for a while as well! Love that service.

[@hejsara]

Awesome video and impressive vault!

[@nicolevdh]

Hey Sara!! Thanks for stopping by! :)

[@gregetto2009]

Love these videos, thanks! Also saw those references to Exandria #critters!

[@nicolevdh]

When you know, you know! I am a Critter for sure! I play in two different weekly games in Exandria (I DM one and play in the other)!

[@vernonneile]

hey @nicole i am a night owl too... seems like so many speak about waking up early, 3am or 4am. ...while that''s the time I go to bed. lol. thanks for sharing on Obsidian

[@nicolevdh]

Hey! I know what you mean. I don't understand those people. Here I am, responding to you at 1:30am. ;)

[@maurolimaok]

So you work in Portugal! 🧐 I'm Brazilian, giving my first steps in coding. If I manage to get some presidential job in Portugal, I already know someone. Thanks for the video.

[@nicolevdh]

I actually work remotely, but yes, I do (sometimes) live in Portugal.

[@jeanchristophechamparnaud]

I tried dot box but doesn’t work on iPhone/iPad. Obsidian don’t let me choose the cloud directory. Many thanks for your clear and helpful video on obsidian 😉

[@hdubbs9174]

This was a really nice video. I'm not very organized, but obsidian might be ok for me. I used to use org-mode, but honestly it was a bit of a pain, because it wasn't very shareable.

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks! I think Obsidian could be good for all types of people for sure. You can chuck in there what you feel like putting in, and even if you don't set up backlinks, unlinked mentions will still have your back. Happy you found this useful!

[@CryptoDarktrader]

The part in which you say I reserve an hour for myself at 9 p.m. I'm a bit of a night eater killed me, 😂 haha ​​I haven't even had dinner at that time, normally dinner is at 10 p.m. and some hours for my night are at 2 a.m. but In Spain we go to bed very late even though we get up early haha🤣

[@alfonsodonotsi6691]

Amazing! I'm gonna start using it now

[@nicolevdh]

Great! Welcome to the Obsidian community!

[@codetothemoon]

Fantastic video, thank you!

[@nicolevdh]

Hey, glad I could help! :)

[@nicKcin1010]

Great info thanks Nicole!

[@nicolevdh]

Thank you as well!!

[@PEdulis]

Thanks for your video, I've just installed obsidian and will see how it will work for me. One question: You mention that you can use existing github repositories as vaults. I browsed the community plugins and only found one that would display gists which our repository does (not yet) have and other plugins that allow to backup my vault on github. I've also searched through your other videos and watched your 10 plugins video but you did not mention a github plugin there. Did I miss something? Could you explain how you access a github repository as a vault, especially when the repository requires you to sign in? Maybe you could even make a video on it if you find the time.

[@kuzco7061]

How do you colorcode your Graph View? It looks so beautiful its insane! :D

[@shamas_zaman]

Really great content!

[@keroesparrow]

In terms of coworking in obsidian seems like a «Syncthing» may be a solution, cause it's sync on any change on any amount of devices

[@nicolevdh]

Hey! For collaboration, my coworkers and I are already using GitHub, so we typically just use that these days. I'm sure Syncthing would work too!

[@lorenabezerradealmeida8512]

How can I get this calendar you have in this part of the video 8:14

[@nicolevdh]

Hey Lorenza! I use Fantasy Calendar. Thank you for this comment. I actually started to write back to you, then decided to turn it into a video. Here it is: kzbin.info/www/bejne/n4aZYXyqmtKoetE

[@vikranthkanumuru8900]

I was planning to couse notion with obsidian for the content creation system, so thank you for showing the calendar plugin. One question would be which philosophy are you currently following for organizing your notes.

[@nicolevdh]

Great, I'm glad I'm not the only one wanting to do that. :) I loosely follow the Zettelkasten system, but I've found I write more when I don't adhere too strictly to any system!

[@ckp4all]

Can you import files .txt or .pdf or .doc I to Obsidian? Tx

[@training7574]

Very interesting with many highly usable suggestions (Readwise) - thanks. I will try to put (some of) my conversations with ChatGPT here. Also nice video preentation, not too long or too verbose for the content. (But would be even better without the music.)

[@Abbyherrera96]

which pluggin do you use?

[@beniaminradomir9798]

Hey, love the video but could you explain a little better how exactly you use readwise with obsidian? I mean you said that in the evening you have stuff that was "prepared by readwise" to go through. I believe in another video you mentioned that new stuff from readwise has an "TVN" Tag or something. Could you explain this workflow a little more in detail? Question: Do you get just the readwise "digest", 5 random hightlights send to your obsidian and this is you look at? Or do you get all the stuff you highlighted THAT day to look at in obsidian?

[@kartibok001]

Seriously!! Now you show me it does presentations!! :)

[@nicolevdh]

IKR?!? And there is an Advanced Slides plugin that does even more stuff too!! It just keeps getting better and better :)

[@therocketmanprince682]

Awesome video.

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks for the support! :)

[@eddyscheidegger61]

Hi Nicole, i recently started to use Obsidian and just find your videos very helpful. I have one question, you show a huge graphic node view, i was wondering what was your setting that it looks so good on the video at 2:15 min? Thank you in advance for your feedback!

[@nicolevdh]

Really glad you like the videos, Eddy! :) I have some filters set up to colour the nodes differently depending on which folders they're in. No plugins required. :)

[@amazdrm]

Good job!

[@nicolevdh]

Hey, thanks!

[@neekubee]

Thank You for the information!

[@nicolevdh]

Thanks for watching! :)

[@speedhoithak8332]

Thank you 3 times you're the best

[@su.mmer19]

great vid, can you also create a vid on how you use readwise?

[@nicolevdh]

I do want to do this, but at the moment, my Readwise workflow heavily involves their Reader, which is in a private beta and I can't show videos of it (I asked). So unfortunately, this will have to wait until Readwise goes public with Reader!

[@AmeeliaK]

I started my CS studies in 2009 and I really wish I could travel back in time and give my past self Obsidian...

[@nicolevdh]

I know, right?? I feel the same way! I really wish I had thought to take digital notes maybe a decade or two ago. :)

[@saramshshrestha7641]

Awesome 😎

[@kukumuku2896]

How to compress a large PDF file for free or cheaply?

[@nicolevdh]

Hi Kuku, that isn't really within the scope of Obsidian. A Google search might be more useful for you than a comment on a video about Obsidian.

[@adhuc]

Thank you 😊

[@nicolevdh]

No worries! Thanks for watching.

[@JahTeo]

I am loving your public vault!!! It's been an epic resource for getting started with obsidian! But question: You mention that some vaults you use github and some you setup with the obsidian sync. Are you able to use both simulaneously on the same vault? (I've been struggling to setup github & icloud sync on the same vault & am hoping obsidian sync can manage it)

[@nicolevdh]

I'm so glad it's been able to help you!! Yes, I backup my main vault with GitHub, Obsidian Sync, and Dropbox simultaneously. I haven't had any problems with it, but I don't use iCloud. What issue are you seeing with your setup?

[@JahTeo]

@@nicolevdh ooh, that’s great to hear that they all work with obsidian sync, definitely makes it tempting for me to switch later, lol. I’m currently loving the iCloud sync itself, but iCloud doesn’t currently work with GitHub safely (can’t have a .git folder inside my icloud vault without risking file corruption & the no-sync workarounds were failing me). I actually came to the conclusion that for my current needs I don’t need to backup to GitHub to automate self-publishing, so it’s a bit of a moot point right this second, but knowing that obsidian sync would work for the use case I envisioned is great for future projects!

[@nicolevdh]

@@JahTeo Ahh, I see. I didn't know there were issues with iCloud! I guess I'm lucky that I just chose Obsidian Sync right off the bat. I haven't had any issues with it at all!

[@hc2159]

Doesn't this go against our company's security and privacy policies? Especially while using community plug ins. I feel like this is somethign I would get in trouble for using, especially community plug ins!!

[@nicolevdh]

Hey! I'm not sure what your company's policies are, of course, so I can't comment on that. Best to ask them about it!

[@hephzibahbradshaw9509]

OUR ABBAYAHUAH THANKS FOR YOUR LOVINGKINDNESS JUDGMENT AND RIGHTEOUSNESS IN THE EARTH. JEREMIAH 9:24 DEVELOPING MY BRAIN MY CONSCIENCE SPIRITUALITY. TURNING MY SPARK INTO A FLAME TO RETURN TO OUR ABBAYAHUAH FULL OF LIGHT. MUCH LOVE TO YOU.

[@productivity6693]

Are you Dutch like me? Also, great video and explanation.

[@nicolevdh]

Jazeker! By nationality, though not by ethnicity. :) Glad you liked the video!

[@tracklauonly]

The monolit vs microsevice just got me hahahah

[@nicolevdh]

Haha! I'm glad someone other than me found it amusing. :D

[@oddocid9734]

Thaaaaanks

[@thefirehawk1495]

I don't get the point. I was thinking this could give me an advantage but seems just time consuming to input stuff this way.

[@nicolevdh]

Ok, then Obsidian is not for you!

[@teeI0ck]

💙💛

[@nicolevdh]

💙💛 to you as well. :)

[@americatoken3334]

for some reason I did not understand one word you said.

[@alibulus4382]

The music is very disturbing. It outweights the quality of the content.

[@nevoyu]

Lol I use emacs org mode

[@nicolevdh]

Um, congrats?