If you prefer to read (or listen to) this newsletter in your browser, click here.

💡 The Big Idea: A New & Improved Workflow for Managing Writing Projects in Obsidian

Historically, I've used the Projects plugin to manage my different writing projects.

Unfortunately, shortly after writing about my workflow, the developer announced he was retiring the plugin several weeks ago, and I've been trying to find a new workflow ever since.

Specifically, there were three specific things I wanted my writing workflow to have:

1. I wanted to be able to visualize my writing projects in a Kanban-style view so I could see progress as I worked on my writing projects, visualized by the cards moving from left to right as I worked on them.
2. I wanted note templates for the different types of writing projects I did to automatically be applied to the notes themselves with the appropriate metadata and sections when necessary, so it minimized the friction when it was time to just sit down and write.
3. I wanted the status of the notes to automatically update as the cards move from column to column, which is necessary for me because I have a Hazel automation that automatically archives these notes once the status property is set to published.

While I couldn't just replace the Projects plugin with something else that did all of this, this week I was able to craft a workflow that used existing plugins that I already had installed in my Obsidian vault:

• I use the Kanban plugin to create a Kanban board that displays links to my active writing projects as cards and incorporates the metadata from the linked notes in the cards themselves
• I use the Templater plugin to apply the appropriate project template when creating a new note in the appropriate folder
• I use the QuickAdd plugin to automate the creation of the file in the appropriate folder and the addition of a card to the Kanban board
• I use the Kanban Status Updater plugin to automatically update the status property of the linked note when I drag the note from one column to another.

TL;DR - I'm really happy with how this turned out 😁

Here's what it looks like:

There's a lot to this workflow, so rather than make this email extremely long, I recommend you read the blog post with accompanying screenshots that walk you through the entire thing here.

😎 Something Cool: Custom Task Styling in the Playground Theme

The developer of the Keep the Rhythm plugin that I mentioned last week has also done some CSS wizardry that significantly improves the look of tasks in Obsidian:

There are three different styles you can use simply by applying a CSS class to the note where your Obsidian Tasks queries reside (tasks-styled, tasks-styled--minimal, or tasks-styled--detailed). You can find out more about how to use it (and see a video which shows the different styling options) in this Obsidian Discord thread.

But the quickest way to get this up and running is to install the Playground community theme.

📣 Last Call for Macstock!

The Macstock Conference and Expo is THIS WEEKEND (July 11-13) in Woodstock, IL. This is a great Apple tech conference (if that's your thing) and is always one of the highlights of my year.

I'll be speaking Friday afternoon on using AI as your creative co-pilot, and it's not too late if you still want to join me 😉 Use the code PRACTICALPKM at checkout to save $50 on your weekend pass.

📚 Book Notes: You Need a Manifesto by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn

A few months ago, Library member and recent Focused guest Kara Monroe recommended this book during her Facts of Life Book presentation. And while it took me longer to finish You Need a Manifesto by Charlotte Burgess-Auburn than I would have liked, I did recently, and I really enjoyed it!

There's a lot of overlap here with the LifeTheme Hybrid Cohort I teach in The Library, but the fresh perspective on the topic was refreshing. It even gave me a few new ideas that I want to add to the next version of the course.

If you want to download my mind map book notes, click here.

— Mike