Obsidian: из хаоса заметок в систему задач — базы данных на практике

KanalTok cordially welcomes you. Today, we will look into databases in Obsidian. I truly love this program immensely and believe that living without it is impossible. That is why I occasionally make, and will continue to make, videos about things that I feel must be covered. Well, regarding Obsidian. Actually, databases in Obsidian did exist, but only with the help of external plugins. Image viewers were there, and Kanban cards were there, but also only through external plugins. But now, all of this is implemented through the program's internal logic. And, in my opinion, the introduction of databases takes Obsidian to a whole new level. Now it is a fully-fledged tool.

It doesn't quite reach Notion, of course, but just wait and see what's coming. Actually, databases appeared in Obsidian a long time ago—apparently, a year ago. But I somehow walked right past them, and I fear you might not have paid attention to them either. And even if you did, in this video I will describe them in sufficient detail, and perhaps you will learn something new for yourself. Well, let's first talk about what appeared in Obsidian relatively recently, although you have probably seen it at least: the way images are handled has changed. Finally, you can easily zoom in and out, and most importantly, an image viewer has appeared. That is, a nice full-screen view of the image. It didn't take 5 years, as they say, but better late than never. Also, there is now the ability to highlight text in different colors without adding extra CSS tags.

You just type two equals signs and choose which color you need. If you don't need to highlight the whole paragraph, just put two equals signs at the end of the desired block. It is essentially a closing tag, which was also long overdue. There are a number of other small innovations in the latest updates, but that is not why we are here. So, databases. A file with the .base extension. Those who have worked with Notion or Airtable roughly understand what this is and what it gives you. Like any database, it is essentially a table where you can very precisely configure the display and interaction of data. For example, you can group them by certain categories.

In this case, we divide the rows by the degree of urgency: high, low, medium. Or we can filter data, and filter it very precisely at that. Actually, filters are the most important thing here. Next, we can configure views—that is, set up several tables so you don't have to cycle through filters inside the table every time. Data also interacts. We changed the priority. In the urgency row, the value changed to high. And here, for example, is a view where all data with the "high urgency" status is selected. And here is a view where everything incomplete is selected.

We mark it as done, and the row disappears from here. And in the main table, well, in the main view, a checkmark appears next to "done." And, naturally, formulas. This is, of course, not Excel or Airtable, but there are formulas here. In this case, it’s a simple formula that outputs different values in the urgency column depending on what is in the priority column. And so on. Let's figure it out. Actually, the ability to create a database appeared here on the new tab page, but I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago, even though the text has been there for a year. By the way, the option to create a canvas has also appeared here, that is, an unlimited space for managing a project. I hadn't noticed this either, and it is actually very convenient, but it's extremely simple, so I won't talk about it. But a database is worth talking about, because there is plenty to discuss, especially if you have never worked with databases before. So, we create a database, and it immediately includes all the notes you have in Obsidian. Because a database is not a table where you transfer data using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, and only then do they appear there. It is a table that contains everything at once, but most of it is hidden. In general, you need to understand this logic once. I even think you understand it when you start interacting with databases. But in reality, a deep understanding comes later. You could say that in this case, you are a sculptor who takes a piece of marble and chips away everything unnecessary, but everything you chipped away doesn't go anywhere, and you can later assemble something no less significant than the statue of David from it. Therefore, since we named the database "Work," let's select only those notes that are in the "Work" folder. In total, we have 144 notes found in the database. And if we set a filter where we select only files from the "Work" folder, that is, "file in folder work," we will get only 123 entries. As you understand, the remaining entries haven't gone anywhere, and if we change the filter, we will get different entries. That is all you need to know about a database. Now,

about how to apply this in practice. There can be many options, but we will consider the most direct and, probably, the most effective one. And for this, we will create a folder right inside "Work." Topics. I won't overthink it. Let's assume I need a database for topics for new videos on the channel. Initially, I had it in Notion, then in Obsidian in the form of chaotic notes. And so, finally, it will appear for me again as a database, but now in Obsidian. So, we’ve created a folder and are creating a new note here. Specifically, a note about databases in Obsidian. Then you can write your text. That’s all clear enough. Making some sketches for yourself, that doesn’t matter. What is important is that you can insert file properties here. This existed before, but I didn’t really find much use for it. Now I do. You can, for example, add tags. The tags will appear in the general tag cloud. You can choose something created previously or add your own property. For example, importance. Here are the property types. Importance is, for us, a number. In principle, you could choose text in this case, and it would treat the number as text, but it's better if the type matches the data. This will give you more options later. Let’s also set a deadline. This will be a date and time for us. We select the date and time of the deadline. Let’s also add a completion property. This will be a checkbox. Here it is called a "checkbox." In principle, the properties can be collapsed. And then you just write your note, add links, and so on. Well, standard Obsidian notes. And let’s now create another database and call it "Video Topics." In principle, I think it’s better to keep databases in one place, but maybe I’m wrong. And what is this? Actually, it’s nothing. So, here is our "Video Topics" database. Right now, it contains everything that is in Obsidian. So let’s select what we actually need. For that, we use the filter and all views. I’ll explain the difference in a moment. For now, we just take all views and choose filtering conditions where the file is located in the "Work Topics" folder.

The folder we created and where we already put one file. Actually, here it is. In principle, you can choose anything you want here, for example, conversely, files that are not in a certain folder, or, say, files that have a property, such as "subtopics." These are files from another one of my databases that I was experimenting on. But in this case, the problem is that I have five rows in the database, but only four here. And this is because all entries have the "subtopics" property, but only four have the field filled in. That’s why one of the rows doesn’t appear here. Which means the most reliable way to get all the necessary records is to take them from a specific folder. And now let’s add properties. Or rather, we already have the properties. We add them to the table. We had importance, a deadline, and tags. In general, you don't necessarily have to add only what we filled out in the original file. You can add anything you want. There just won't be any valu

You just type two equals signs and choose which color you need. If you don't need to highlight the whole paragraph, just put two equals signs at the end of the desired block. It is essentially a closing tag, which was

also long overdue. There are a number of other small innovations in the latest updates, but that is not why we are here. So, databases. A file with the .base extension. Those who have worked with Notion or Airtable roughly

understand what this is and what it gives you. Like any database, it is essentially a table where you can very precisely configure the display and interaction of data. For example, you can group them by certain categories.

In this case, we divide the rows by the degree of urgency: high, low, medium.

Or we can filter data, and filter it very precisely at that. Actually, filters are the most important thing here. Next, we can configure views— that is, set up several tables so you don't have to cycle through filters inside the table every time. Data also

interacts. We changed the priority. In the urgency row, the value changed to high. And here, for example, is a view where all data with the "high urgency" status is selected. And here is a view where everything incomplete is selected

. We mark it as done, and the row disappears from here. And in the main table, well, in the main view, a checkmark appears next to "done." And, naturally, formulas. This is, of course , not Excel or Airtable, but there are

formulas here. In this case, it’s a simple formula that outputs different values in the urgency column depending on what is in the priority column. And so on. Let's figure it out. Actually, the ability to create a database appeared here on the new tab page, but

I only found out about it a couple of weeks ago, even though the text has been there for a year. By the way, the option to create a canvas has also appeared here, that is, an unlimited space for managing a project. I hadn't

noticed this either, and it is actually very convenient, but it's extremely simple, so I won't talk about it. But a database is worth talking about, because there is plenty to discuss, especially if you have never worked with databases before. So, we create a

database, and it immediately includes all the notes you have in Obsidian. Because a database is not a table where you transfer data using Ctrl + C and Ctrl + V, and only then do they appear there. It is a table that contains

everything at once, but most of it is hidden. In general, you need to understand this logic once. I even think you understand it when you start interacting with databases. But in reality, a deep understanding comes later. You could say that in this case,

you are a sculptor who takes a piece of marble and chips away everything unnecessary, but everything you chipped away doesn't go anywhere, and you can later assemble something no less significant than the statue of David from it. Therefore, since we named the

database "Work," let's select only those notes that are in the "Work" folder. In total, we have 144 notes found in the database. And if we set a filter where we select only files from the "Work" folder, that is, "file in

folder work," we will get only 123 entries. As you understand, the remaining entries haven't gone anywhere , and if we change the filter, we will get different entries. That is all you need to know about a database. Now,

about how to apply this in practice. There can be many options, but we will consider the most direct and, probably, the most effective one. And for this, we will create a folder right inside " Work." Topics. I won't overthink it.

Let's assume I need a database for topics for new videos on the channel. Initially, I had it in Notion, then in Obsidian in the form of chaotic notes.

And so, finally, it will appear for me again as a database, but now in Obsidian. So, we’ve created a folder and are creating a new note here.

Specifically, a note about databases in Obsidian. Then you can write your text. That’s all clear enough. Making some sketches for yourself, that doesn’t matter. What is important is that you can insert file properties here. This existed before, but I didn’t really

find much use for it. Now I do. You can , for example, add tags. The tags will appear in the general tag cloud. You can choose something created previously or add your own property. For example, importance. Here are the property types

. Importance is, for us, a number. In principle, you could choose text in this case, and it would treat the number as text, but it's better if the type matches the data. This will give you more options later. Let’s also

set a deadline. This will be a date and time for us. We select the date and time of the deadline. Let’s also add a completion property. This will be a checkbox. Here it is called a "checkbox ." In principle, the properties can be

collapsed. And then you just write your note, add links, and so on. Well, standard Obsidian notes. And let’s now create another database and call it "Video Topics." In principle, I think it’s better to keep databases in one place, but maybe I’m wrong. And what

is this? Actually, it’s nothing. So, here is our "Video Topics" database. Right now, it contains everything that is in Obsidian. So let’s select what we actually need. For that, we use the filter and all views. I’ll explain the difference in a moment. For now, we

just take all views and choose filtering conditions where the file is located in the "Work Topics" folder.

The folder we created and where we already put one file. Actually, here it is. In principle, you can choose anything you want here, for example, conversely, files that are not in a certain folder, or, say, files that have a property, such as "subtopics."

These are files from another one of my databases that I was experimenting on. But in this case, the problem is that I have five rows in the database, but only four here. And this is because all entries have the "subtopics" property,

but only four have the field filled in. That’s why one of the rows doesn’t appear here. Which means the most reliable way to get all the necessary records is to take them from a specific folder. And now let’s add properties.

Or rather, we already have the properties. We add them to the table. We had importance, a deadline, and tags . In general, you don't necessarily have to add only what we filled out in the original file. You can add anything

you want. There just won't be any values in those columns. But you can fill them in later directly in the table. There are preset values, like creation date or modification date, which Obsidian pulls from the system.

And we also came up with something like a "Done" status there. Columns are quite easy to rearrange. And the main advantage of such databases is that when you create a new row, in our case a new note, it inherits all parent

settings. That is, if we create a new note, it is created in the same folder.

And with the same set of properties as the other notes in the table. Actually, you can specify properties here during creation, or later in the table. The result will be the same. And here is the note that appeared in the same

folder as the first one, because we have a filter set to this folder in the settings. Now, instead of creating everything from scratch, let me jump into my table that I have already created to show you everything that's

here. I've already told you how to create such tables. So, there is sorting here. This is the simplest part . Sorting by a parameter, for example, by priority. And it sorts from highest to lowest or vice versa. In the case of

text, it simply sorts alphabetically. Next, groups. Grouping is more interesting. It groups entries by a certain property. In this case, we chose urgency. And you see, it split everything into three segments, since we have three parameters for urgency.

And also, by grouping by topics, it combines everything into segments. with a single parameter, and then you can sort them, for example, by date or other properties. Let's skip the filter for now. Let's save that for dessert.

But first, about properties. In principle, I showed what they are and what kinds exist. This is how you can edit the properties you already have.

If you change the property type, it will later issue a warning that the properties need to be updated. Property types seem pretty straightforward. The only thing is the concept of list versus tags, which might seem like the same thing, but it takes tags from the

global tag cloud in all of Obsidian. And a list is conditionally tags for this specific table. But essentially, it's the same thing. Although no, you could find another use for the list property, but I don't think there's much else to put there besides tags. So

, now filters. Perhaps the most important thing here, since filters are exactly what you use to configure the table. So, there are filters for all views and for the current view. You could say that the filter for all views

is like a parent setting. So, in this way, you select an array from the total volume of notes in Obsidian and then work with them in a specific table.

Here, general laws of logic apply. For example, right now, the selection only works if both parameters are true. That is, the folder is the video idea, and the file has a subtopic property. We have four entries left out of five,

since in one entry the subtopic property is not filled in. And now we select "any of these is true," which means both work, and all five entries appear. Well, for a general selection, i.e., for all views, it's better to set

broad boundaries and do narrow settings within the views themselves. That is why we are moving on to views. A view is essentially an individual table configuration. It's easier to show than to explain here. We created a " completed" view. Here we have all our

notes, as nothing has been filtered yet . Let's quickly add properties and set a filter for the specific view. We no longer need the filter for all views.

It can be closed. We have already selected the array that interests us. And in the current view, we need to leave only entries where the "completed " parameter is, well, what's it called, a checked checkbox. So, when we do some

work, in this case, making a video, we check the box that it's done, and it appears in this table, or rather, in this view. So, in the entire database, we checked three boxes, as if we completed three tasks, and received

three completed tasks in the "completed " view. And before that, I created a " not completed" table, or "not done," also with a filter based on the checkbox. And when I check the box here , this row disappears from here. It

jumps over to "completed." There can be several filters. For example, we need to see all completed tasks on digital security. Do we even have any? Yes.

Here are two on digital security. Now, to avoid reconfiguring the table, we create a copy. Like this. We'll call it "completed digital security." And in the filters, we add a filter where the topic can be, for example, not this, it

could be "starts with" or "ends with" or, for example, "is empty." But in our case, where the topic is "digital security." Everything following is true . This means the row must have the checkbox checked and the topic "digital

security." If at least one condition is not met, the row will not be in our view. So, here are two completed tasks on the topic of digital security.

Another cool thing is that there are Kanban boards in the views. Classic boards, essentially. This one is broken down by stages of work. When you drag a card across columns, its property changes accordingly. Now it's back to the idea stage again. How are Kanban

boards created? It's quite simple. You create a Kanban board. You select the property that it will be sorted by. In this case, we're sorting by topics.

It's silly, but it's just for an example. Basically, that’s how Kanban boards work in Obsidian. And we will finish with formulas. Moreover, the formulas here are not just numerical, but also logical. For example, this one here is actually a formula. And it

looks like this. If the priority is one , then we output "high". If the priority is two or the priority is three, we output "medium". In all other cases, "low". Accordingly, change the priority here to two, the urgency is

medium, to eight, it's low, and so on. A formula is added like this: in properties, add a formula and a name.

And I didn't write this formula myself; I asked ChatGPT to do it for me. What does it calculate? It calculates the difference between the note creation date—which, let me remind you, is a system setting—and the last modification date. And it turns out

that all these notes have been in progress for 15 hours. And it created the formula with rounding to the nearest hour. I mean, I asked it to calculate how many days and hours have passed from the moment the note was

created until the last change. I assume that the last change for any note in this case will be checking the " completed" box. Thus, we learn how many hours we worked on a task from the moment it was created until the moment

we checked "Completed". It's not exactly a perfect solution, but why not ? And here we've created a new task, and it's been in progress for 0 days and 0 hours. That’s the story with Obsidian databases. And their arrival

is certainly something to be happy about. If you happen to not use Obsidian, I think it's time to change that. My whole life is in it now. These small but important innovations don't break the product; they add exactly

what was long needed, in a form you couldn't even imagine. All of this, of course, earns my love and respect. Pass on that love and respect to the developers. That's all for now. Like this video. When I stumble upon

something that I think is incredibly important, I will make a follow-up on Obsidian, even if it might be way overdue, like this video. I remind you that this feature is already a year old , but better late than never. Subscribe

to the channel, and love one another. That is absolutely vital now. And remember, in the end, everything will be fine. And this is coming from me, Vovlomov, and the TechTalk channel.

Yeah.