## Community Events - The second half of the [community talk for how to leverage the Dataview plugin](https://youtu.be/jW5pD4SioFM) is now available on YouTube. You can vote for which upcoming community talks you're interested in [on the forum](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/obsidian-talks-which-talks-do-you-want-to-hear/15705/). - `@nickmilo` & `@skepticmystic` are hosting `@blacksmithgu`, the creator of the Dataview plugin, on a community Zoom meeting today (2021-04-17) at 10am PST. Details are [here](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/710585052769157141/832070319136833546) in the Discord if you're interested. - Wanna join a fancy book club? `@ryanjamurphy (he/him`) and `@bri (they/m)` are hosting the [first book club session](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/744933215063638183/830888490433904641) for [Knowledge Architectures by Denise Bradford](https://www.routledge.com/Knowledge-Architectures-Structures-and-Semantics/Bedford/p/book/9780367219444) on April 25th 11-12ish PST on Discord. ## Plugin News - The [outliner plugin](https://github.com/vslinko/obsidian-outliner) now lets you click on bullets to zoom in! - The [music notation plugin](https://github.com/TilBlechschmidt/obsidian-plugin-abcjs) renders music sheets from code blocks using the `music-abc` language. - There was a nice [discussion](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/710585052769157141/832070319136833546) initiated by `@pjeby` about some under-loved plugins that blend so well into the UI that you might not even known you need them, for example [Tag Wrangler](https://github.com/pjeby/tag-wrangler), [Hotkey Helper](https://github.com/pjeby/hotkey-helper), and [Pane Relief](https://githubmemory.com/repo/pjeby/pane-relief). - `@alex.dinu` published [an initial version of a plugin that performs table sorting](https://github.com/alexandru-dinu/obsidian-sortable/releases/tag/0.1.0); it works with [dataview](https://github.com/blacksmithgu/obsidian-dataview) but is not yet in the community plugins list. - From a plugin security perspective, this discussion about how [Obsidian has the ability to blacklist / disable plugins that are identified to have issues or vulnerabilities](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/707816848615407697/832445992808218635) was very reassuring. - `@mgmeyers` updated the [Style Settings plugin](https://github.com/mgmeyers/obsidian-style-settings) to give [better error reports](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/707816848615407697/832315933842079784), which is always useful. The repo also has [This CSS Snippet](https://github.com/mgmeyers/obsidian-style-settings/blob/main/obsidian-default-theme.css) can be used to adjust every CSS variable of the default Obsidian theme. ### For Developers - `@Liam` shared his [approach to mobile debugging on iOS](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/817515900349448202/826416602911211535). Plugin developers will need to add [this script to the plugin](https://gist.github.com/liamcain/3f21f1ee820cb30f18050d2f3ad85f3f). - There is a now [a method for developers to write test cases that interact with a running obsidian instance](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/for-plugin-developers-write-test-cases-that-interact-with-a-running-obsidian-instance/16574). ## Feature Requests - `@Murf` requested a [search operator similar to YAML similar to the line section](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/search-operator-for-yaml-similar-to-line-section/16565). As Dataview becomes more popular and better-understood, this will probably become more valuable, so if you have a use-case or want to advocate for this feature, please reply to the forum thread. ## Workflow Stuff - For folks using MacOS, `@benhamilton` figured out a workflow for using icalBuddy, a script, and a keyboard macro to [list events from a ical into a daily note](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/694233507500916796/832463345952620554). ## Tips & Tricks - PDF tip via `@cotemaxime`: you can embed a specific page of a pdf with `![[My File.pdf#page=number]]` - If you're using a sync service that doesn't let you opt out of syncing a particular folder, there is a setting in Obsidian that will let you override where that particular instance of Obsidian pulls its configurations from: in `About -> Advanced -> Override config` folder. This is also helpful if you've got access to the mobile beta and want to differentiate settings from your desktop config. - `u/aviranco` on Reddit asked [how to restyle checklists to](https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/mqndbf/is_there_a_way_to_have_a_note_after_a_checked/gup4eiq) _[not](https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/mqndbf/is_there_a_way_to_have_a_note_after_a_checked/gup4eiq)_ [change the display of subitems under a completed task](https://www.reddit.com/r/ObsidianMD/comments/mqndbf/is_there_a_way_to_have_a_note_after_a_checked/gup4eiq); the community came through with [a CSS snippet](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/702656734631821413/832507883925143552). - If you like the idea of being able to zoom in and out to various tiles on your Obsidian workspace, `@Licat` put together [a CLI snippet](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/744933215063638183/832420779378343937) that could be extended into a nifty plugin by an enterprising developer! - In base Obsidian, footnotes mess up the line height and make paragraphs look not-quite-right from a spacing perspective. But `@Klaas` has a fix on their [GitHub snippet repository](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/how-to-achieve-css-code-snippets/8474). - There's a mobile emulation flag in the desktop app that will let you check your CSS and whatnot before moving it over to mobile. ## PKM Tips - We had a discussion about how to [adapt the concept of a Resonance calendar from Notion to Obsidian](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/744933215063638183/832611785903308871) in order to help bridge the gap between "collector's fallacy" and "forgetting where you read something and not being able to find the reference again." - There was an insightful discussion of [when to use a "task in a page" vs "tasks in a list" structure](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/694233507500916796/832507555783770202) in the discord. ## Ancillary Tools - We had another [discussion of the Onyx Boox](https://discord.com/channels/686053708261228577/744933215063638183/832294628752752701) and how nice it is to have Obsidian mobile open on one half of the screen, with a PDF or epub on the other half, and take notes directly into Obsidian with either handwriting, voice, or keyboard inputs. - It's possible to get the raw list github merges for [plugins & themes as an RSS feed](https://github.com/obsidianmd/obsidian-releases/commits/master.atom) if you don't want to wait for the weekly newsletter but also don't want to hang out in the Discord. - You can also get a direct [RSS feed from the discourse forum](https://meta.discourse.org/t/rss-feed-for-category-latest/37192) from a tag or a category, for example if you just wanted to follow the [community talks RSS](https://forum.obsidian.md/tag/community-talks.rss). - For Static Site Generators, there was some [discussion about Hugo vs. Jekyll](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/694233507500916796/832502926555086908), and this [forum post](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/notenote-link-publish-your-obsidian-notes-with-jekyll-for-free/7951) about how to self-host your obsidian notes as a digital garden still proved useful. We also talked about [how to get a newsletter with Hugo](http://discordapp.com/channels/686053708261228577/694233507500916796/832332146194251816) if you're more comfortable with the technical side of things. - During a discussion about whether Sync is a viable _backup_ solution for your Obsidian vault ([possible but not recommended](https://help.obsidian.md/Licenses+%26+add-on+services/Obsidian+Sync#Can+I+use+Obsidian+Sync+as+a+backup+solution)), [Tarsnap](https://www.tarsnap.com/) was mentioned – it's billed as "online backups for the truly paranoid." ## Housekeeping I'm blown away by the interest & support the newsletter has already garnered! I really appreciate you guys [covering my server costs](https://eleanorkonik.com/pricing/) %% ( [[2021-11-29 Racing (DRAFT)]] ) %%. 💜