Obsidian Setup and Configuration

This guide walks you through installing Obsidian and configuring it for effective project documentation.

Installing Obsidian

Download and Install

Visit https://obsidian.md
Download the installer for your operating system:
- Windows: .exe installer
- macOS: .dmg installer
- Linux: AppImage, .deb, or .rpm
Install following standard procedures for your OS

Obsidian is free for personal use. Commercial use requires a license ($50/user/year).

Create Your First Vault

When you first launch Obsidian:

Choose “Create new vault”
Name it after your project (e.g., “Garage Project”)
Choose location - ideally somewhere backed up (Dropbox, iCloud, OneDrive)
Select format: Stick with default markdown format

Pro Tip: Store vaults in a location that’s automatically backed up, but outside of cloud-synced folders if you plan to use Git for version control.

Essential Plugins

Obsidian’s power comes from its plugin ecosystem. Here are the essential plugins for project documentation:

Core Plugins (Built-in)

Enable these in Settings → Core Plugins:

1. Templates

Purpose: Create reusable document templates
Usage: Define templates for meetings, vendors, orders, etc.
Configuration:
- Template folder location: Templates/
- Date format: YYYY-MM-DD
- Time format: HH:mm

Example from Garage Project:

# Templates/Meeting.md
---
title:
type: meeting
tags: [meeting]
date: {{date}}
time: {{time}}
attendees:
---
 
# Meeting Notes
 
## Attendees
-
 
## Agenda
 
## Discussion
 
## Action Items
- [ ]
 
## Decisions Made
 
## Next Steps

2. Daily Notes (Optional)

Purpose: Quick capture of thoughts and updates
Usage: One note per day for ongoing updates
Configuration: Date format matching your preference

3. Backlinks

Purpose: See which documents link to the current document
Usage: Automatically tracks relationships
Always keep enabled

4. Outgoing Links

Purpose: See which documents this document links to
Usage: Visual representation of connections
Always keep enabled

5. Graph View

Purpose: Visualize relationships between documents
Usage: Understand document connections and clusters
Great for presentations and understanding project structure

Community Plugins

Enable Community Plugins in Settings → Community Plugins:

1. Dataview (ESSENTIAL)

Why it’s critical: Enables dynamic queries to aggregate content across your vault.

Installation:

Settings → Community Plugins → Browse
Search “Dataview”
Install and Enable

Configuration:

Enable JavaScript Queries: ON (for advanced queries)
Enable Inline Queries: ON
Enable Inline JavaScript Queries: ON

Example from Garage Project:

This index query shows all pending tasks grouped by file:

TASK
FROM ""
WHERE !completed
GROUP BY file.link
SORT file.name ASC

This shows all orders with key information:

TABLE vendor, status, order_id, stage
FROM "30-Vendors & Contacts/Orders"
WHERE type = "order"
SORT status ASC, file.name ASC

More Examples: See Dataview Queries

2. Calendar (Optional but Recommended)

Why useful: Visual calendar for navigating daily notes and dated documents.

Installation: Same as Dataview Usage: Creates calendar sidebar showing documents by date

3. Admonition (Optional)

Why useful: Create callout boxes for warnings, tips, notes.

Example:

> [!warning] Important Safety Note
> 
> Always turn off power before working on electrical

Renders as a highlighted warning box.

File and Links Settings

Configure in Settings → Files and Links:

Recommended Settings

Default location for new notes: In the folder specified below → Set to root or a default folder
New link format: Shortest path when possible
Use Wikilinks: ON (enabled)
Automatically update internal links: ON

Why Wikilinks?

Simpler syntax: [[Document Name]] vs [Document Name](path/to/document.md)
Obsidian auto-completes as you type
Easier to maintain when reorganizing

Link Display Options

[[Document Name]]                          # Shows: Document Name
[[Document Name|Custom Text]]              # Shows: Custom Text
[[Document Name#section|Section]]                  # Links to specific section
[[Document Name#section|Custom Text]]      # Section link with custom text
![[Document Name]]                         # Embeds entire document
![[image.jpg]]                             # Embeds image

Appearance Settings

Theme Selection

Settings → Appearance → Themes → Manage
Browse community themes
Popular themes for documentation:
- Minimal: Clean, distraction-free
- Blue Topaz: Professional, feature-rich
- Things: macOS-inspired
- Prism: Colorful and modern

Garage Project uses: Default theme (works well for web publishing)

Font and Display

Base font size: 16px (adjust to preference)
Readable line length: ON (limits line width for readability)
Show frontmatter: OFF (hide YAML in reading view)

Editor Settings

Configure in Settings → Editor:

Recommended Settings

Spell check: ON (language: English)
Line numbers: ON (helpful for long documents)
Readable line length: ON
Strict line breaks: OFF (allows soft wrapping)
Show frontmatter: OFF in reading view, ON in editing
Auto pair brackets: ON
Auto pair markdown syntax: ON
Smart indent lists: ON

Useful Hotkeys

Learn these essential shortcuts:

Navigation:

Ctrl/Cmd + O: Quick open (fuzzy search for any file)
Ctrl/Cmd + P: Command palette
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + F: Search in all files
Ctrl/Cmd + E: Toggle edit/preview mode

Editing:

Ctrl/Cmd + B: Bold
Ctrl/Cmd + I: Italic
Ctrl/Cmd + K: Insert link
Ctrl/Cmd + ]: Indent
Ctrl/Cmd + [: Unindent

Organization:

Ctrl/Cmd + N: New note
Ctrl/Cmd + W: Close tab
Ctrl/Cmd + Shift + N: New note in new pane

Frontmatter (YAML) Configuration

Frontmatter provides metadata for documents. This is CRITICAL for the system.

Basic Structure

---
title: Document Title
type: document_type
tags: [tag1, tag2, tag3]
status: in-progress
date: 2025-10-22
---

Common Document Types

Based on the Garage Project:

type: index          # Dashboard/overview pages
type: meeting        # Meeting notes
type: decision       # Decision documentation
type: vendor         # Vendor/contact information
type: design         # Design specifications
type: build          # Construction documentation
type: order          # Purchase orders
type: reference      # Reference materials
type: photo-documentation  # Photo descriptions

Example from Garage Project

Vendor Document:

---
title: Hershberger's Amish Builders
type: vendor
tags: [vendor, contractor, primary]
status: active
phone: (989) 386-5338
email:
---

Meeting Document:

---
title: 2025-10-13 - Contract Signing
type: meeting
tags: [meeting, hershberger, contract]
date: 2025-10-13
attendees: [Dan, Marcus]
---

Order Document:

---
title: Radiant Slab Materials Order
type: order
tags: [order, radiant-heat, insulation]
vendor: Hershberger's
order_id: 97898
status: delivered
key_dates:
  ordered: 2025-10-20
  delivered: 2025-10-21
---

Why Frontmatter Matters

Dataview Queries: Filter and display documents by metadata
Organization: Quickly identify document purpose
Search: Find documents by type, status, or tags
Templates: Auto-populate with template variables
Web Publishing: Quartz uses frontmatter for page metadata

Creating Templates

Templates ensure consistency and save time.

Template Directory

Create folder: Templates/
Settings → Core Plugins → Templates → Template folder location: Templates

Example Templates from Garage Project

Meeting Template (Templates/Meeting.md):

---
title: {{date}} -
type: meeting
tags: [meeting]
date: {{date}}
attendees: []
---
 
# Meeting Notes
 
## Attendees
-
 
## Agenda
1.
 
## Discussion
 
## Action Items
- [ ]
 
## Decisions Made
 
## Next Steps
 
## Related Documents
-

Vendor Template (Templates/Vendor.md):

---
title:
type: vendor
tags: [vendor]
status: active
phone:
email:
website:
---
 
# Vendor Name
 
**Contact**:
**Phone**:
**Email**:
**Website**:
 
## Services Provided
 
## Quotes and Orders
-
 
## Notes
 
## Performance
- Responsiveness:
- Quality:
- Pricing:
- Would use again: Yes/No
 
## Related Documents
-

Using Templates

Hotkey: Set up Ctrl/Cmd + T for template insertion
Command Palette: Ctrl/Cmd + P → “Templates: Insert template”
Right-click menu: Right-click in editor → Insert template

Workspace Configuration

Set up your workspace for efficient documentation:

Enable:

File explorer
Search
Tags (optional)

Enable:

Backlinks
Outgoing links
Tags (optional)
Calendar (if plugin installed)

Split Panes

Work with multiple documents:

Ctrl/Cmd + Click on link: Opens in new pane
Drag tabs to arrange
Vertical or horizontal splits

Common Layout:

Left: Current document being edited
Right: Reference document or outline

Git Integration (Optional but Recommended)

While not required, Git integration provides:

Version history
Collaboration capabilities
Backup and sync
Change tracking

Setup

Install Git: Download from https://git-scm.com

Initialize repository:

cd /path/to/vault
git init
git add .
git commit -m "Initial commit"

Create .gitignore:

.obsidian/workspace*
.obsidian/cache
.trash/

Optional: Install Obsidian Git plugin for automatic commits

See Also: Version Control for publishing integration

Mobile Setup (Optional)

Obsidian has excellent mobile apps:

Install: Obsidian from App Store or Google Play
Sync Options:
- Obsidian Sync: Official sync ($10/month, encrypted)
- iCloud/Dropbox: Works but can have conflicts
- Self-hosted sync: Git-based solutions

For project documentation: Mobile mostly for reference, not heavy editing

Verification Checklist

Before proceeding, verify:

Obsidian installed and vault created
Core plugins enabled (Templates, Backlinks, Graph View)
Dataview plugin installed and configured
Templates folder created
Basic templates created (Meeting, Vendor, etc.)
Frontmatter structure understood
File and Links settings configured
Comfortable with basic navigation hotkeys

Next Steps

Now that Obsidian is configured, proceed to:

02 - Vault Structure and Organization - Learn how to organize your vault for maximum efficiency

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Problem: Links aren’t auto-completing

Solution: Check Settings → Files & Links → Use Wikilinks is ON

Problem: Dataview queries not working

Solution: Verify Dataview plugin is enabled and query syntax is correct

Problem: Templates not showing up

Solution: Check template folder location in settings matches actual folder

Problem: Slow performance with large vault

Solution: Exclude large folders from search in Settings → Files & Links

Additional Resources

Obsidian Help: Press F1 or use command palette → “Open help”
Obsidian Forum: https://forum.obsidian.md
Obsidian Discord: Active community for questions
Dataview Documentation: https://blacksmithgu.github.io/obsidian-dataview/

Configuration based on the Garage Project vault, refined over months of active use.

Garage Construction Project

Explorer

Obsidian Setup and Configuration

Obsidian Setup and Configuration

Installing Obsidian

Download and Install

Create Your First Vault

Essential Plugins

Core Plugins (Built-in)

1. Templates

2. Daily Notes (Optional)

3. Backlinks

4. Outgoing Links

5. Graph View

Community Plugins

1. Dataview (ESSENTIAL)

2. Calendar (Optional but Recommended)

3. Admonition (Optional)

File and Links Settings

Recommended Settings

Link Display Options

Appearance Settings

Theme Selection

Font and Display

Editor Settings

Recommended Settings

Useful Hotkeys

Frontmatter (YAML) Configuration

Basic Structure

Common Document Types

Example from Garage Project

Why Frontmatter Matters

Creating Templates

Template Directory

Example Templates from Garage Project

Using Templates

Workspace Configuration

Left Sidebar

Right Sidebar

Split Panes

Git Integration (Optional but Recommended)

Setup

Mobile Setup (Optional)

Verification Checklist

Next Steps

Troubleshooting

Common Issues

Additional Resources

Graph View

Table of Contents

Backlinks