# [[Note taking templates I use in Obsidian (Obsidian Tour 2023)]] <iframe width="560" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/SUzRlhKFCYM" title="YouTube video player" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe> ## Pre-production ### Thumbnail ### Title 1. obsidian templates (44) 2. templates in obsidian (25) 3. checklists in obsidian (42) 4. ==note taking templates (81)== 5. ### Hook When I started to use Obsidian, it didńt take me long to notice that I was typing out the same things, or creating the same types of notes over and over again. I really dislike doing repetitive, low-value work like this - in fact, automation is part of my job. Luckily, one of the Obsidian core plugins, Templates (which I think should really just be a core functionality at this point), is built to automate exactly this tedious part of note creation. Fast forward three years later, and I've made over a hundred templates based on my own use cases. In this video, I'm going to take you through most of them and how I use templates in Obsidian to make my note-taking workflows just a little bit less tedious. ### Structure - What is a template? (pattern) - How do you use templates in Obsidian? - [[Obsidian Templater]] community plugin - [[Templates]] core plugin - Types of templates I use - Meetings - [[Default Meeting]] - People - [[Person]] - Periodic notes - Objective setting: [[Yearly OKRs]], [[Yearly Review]], [[Quarterly Review]], [[Monthly Review]], [[Weekly Review]], [[Daily]] - Traceability - Gaming - Session: [[session-gm]], [[session-player]] - NPC/location/item: [[TTRPG frontmatter]] - Creating - Video: [[NVDH Video]] - Livestream: [[live]] - Writing: [[Writing-Yes and]] - Databases - [[Crowdfunding Projects Backed]] - [[Tabletop Roleplaying Games|TTRPGs]] - [[Load Testing Tool|Load Testing Tools]] - [[video-database]] - Best practices for creating templates - Create them only when you find yourself creating the same thing over and over again. - Put them in a separate folder from your notes (so you can exclude them in Dataview queries, and so that they're easier to find and distinguish in general). - Update them when something changes. - Use [[QuickAdd plugin]] to automate the creation of notes using hotkeys or by folder. - When you create a template, also think about how to connect that template to other instances of that series (ex: create a recurring meeting note). - linking to the series note from the instance note - databases with Dataview to collate them ### Outro Not everything can or should be automated, but using templates as heavily as I do has some advantages: - Ensures consistency in metadata and format - Gives me a checklist of things to do so you don't forget to do stuff - Establishes traceability of my notes (by using Dataview to pull in similar notes in a series) - Helps me put mental models into practice and shake me out of creative ruts Using a template in Obsidian isn't the only way I automate parts of my writing. Check out this video to see how I use text expansion to create custom shortcuts that I can use in any app, not just Obsidian. ### Related videos and resources Using the Obsidian templater plugin: https://youtu.be/5j9fAvJCaig Using the Obsidian QuickAdd plugin: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrQVQ37y6IU Taking notes on people in Obsidian: https://youtu.be/4jYUQXy0nsg My setup in Obsidian for TTRPGs in 2023: https://youtu.be/003Jvume-cA Regular reviews in Obsidian with Periodic Notes: https://youtu.be/5Uxj0XgMp0k Text expansion in Obsidian with Espanso: https://youtu.be/zoeQ5yNoXsY ### Pinned comment ``` ``` ### Timestamps 00:00 Intro 00:47 What is a template and how do you use templates in Obsidian? 02:06 Templates for meetings 05:50 Templates for people 07:12 Templates for periodic notes 09:48 Templates for gaming 12:49 Templates for creating 16:49 Tips for using templates in Obsidian 21:14 Advantages of using templates in Obsidian ## Post-production - [x] Create captions using Rev, then edit them. - [x] Take a thumbnail photo and create one for YouTube (1280 x 720). - [x] Add description. - [x] Include the title and any keywords in the first few sentences, but in a natural way. - [x] Add related videos and resources as links. - [x] Add end screen. - [x] Add cards if necessary. - [x] Add chapters/timestamps for YouTube if longer than 5 minutes. - [x] Add mid-roll ads/check monetization settings. - [x] Add pinned comment. - [ ] Post video preview on Patreon. - [x] Schedule on YouTube. - [x] Add video to relevant playlist(s), or create a playlist if necessary. - [x] Schedule on Mastodon. - [ ] Create a blog post on [site](https://nicolevanderhoeven.com). - [ ] Add to [video-database](obsidian://open?vault=obsidian-playbook&file=video-database%2FVideo%20database). - [ ] Add to other notes in my vault as appropriate.