个人 wiki 是许多高级用户首选的笔记格式。毕竟，将您的笔记组织在一个相互连接的 wiki 中比线性的页面集合更容易导航。
但大多数创建私人 wiki 的方法(methods of creating private wikis)都相当乏味。要么他们需要你设置一个离线服务器，包括HTML和CSS，要么他们只是让你用你的网络浏览器访问一个网页。
如果您想要可以在您的计算机上以单个文件或文件夹存储的简单明了的 wiki 页面怎么办？这就是黑曜石(Obsidian)的用武之地。
黑曜石是什么？
从根本上说，Obsidian是一个了不起的笔记应用程序。然而，从表面上划掉(Scratch)，你会发现它远不止于此。
Obsidian 让您能够使用互连节点网络创建自己的 wiki，让您以更自然的格式组织您的想法（或研究）。有许多“脑图”应用程序已经做到了这一点，但没有一个像 Obsidian 那样简洁易用。
此外，您的所有笔记都保存在您自己 PC 上的文件夹中，完全离线。这意味着您的数据在您手中是安全的，可以备份到USB驱动器或您首选的云存储中。
最大的吸引力是什么？它是完全免费的。您可以开始使用这款功能丰富的笔记应用程序，而无需花一分钱或让第三方服务器勒索您的数据。
为什么需要个人 Wiki？
如果您曾经参与过需要大量研究和笔记的复杂项目，那么您就会知道内部 wiki 的价值(value of an internal wiki)。在它变成难以辨认的混乱之前，您只能在一系列页面中放入这么多信息。
维基百科(Wikipedia)（或任何 wiki，就此而言）以它的方式组织其信息是有原因的——遍历相互关联的主题网络更直观。wiki 软件可以实现同样的功能，但仅供您个人使用。
归根结底，它是一种笔记范式，可让您创建各种知识库，主题按彼此之间的关系整齐排列。无论您是从事创意项目还是研究复杂的主题，个人 wiki 都是必备工具。
使用黑曜石
Obsidian 是一个基于 Markdown 的文本编辑器。这使得开始变得非常容易 - 只需打开一个空白页面并开始输入。当然，一些基本的 Markdown 格式(basic Markdown formatting)知识会派上用场，尤其是添加链接的语法。
- 首先，从官网下载Obsidian 。有一个适用于Windows的安装程序，以及Mac和几个Linux发行版。移动用户可以前往Google Play Store和Apple App Store在他们的智能手机上安装Obsidian。
- 安装速度快如闪电 - 只需运行设置，应用程序将在几秒钟内打开。
- 黑曜石笔记被组织为“金库”。每个 Vault 本质上是一个充满纯文本Markdown文件的文件夹，通常以主题为中心。Obsidian 既可以创建新的保管库，也可以打开以前创建的保管库，甚至可以从其他设备创建。现在，让我们选择中间选项。
- 系统将要求您命名保管库并指定目的地。您可以选择将其存储在您的 PC 或与其连接的便携式驱动器上。
- 最新版本的 Obsidian 带有实时预览功能。基本上(Basically)，它可以让您直接查看Markdown格式的效果（如所见即所得(WYSIWYG)的编辑器），而不必切换到预览。我们建议打开它。
- Vault 将在标准项目(Project)视图中打开，显示所有文件的列表和当前选定文件的文本。除了没有什么可显示的，所以你得到一个空白画布。
- Ctrl+N或使用左侧的New Note按钮创建一个新文件。
- 您现在可以开始键入笔记的内容，必要时使用Markdown格式。虽然完整的Markdown语法指南超出了本文的范围，但我们将演示创建链接笔记。只需(Just)将一些文本放在双方括号内，它就会变成一个链接。
- 单击链接直接创建一个名称在括号中的新注释，可以进行类似的编辑。您还可以在左侧列表中看到不断扩展的笔记层次结构，并通过单击切换其中任何一个。
- 您还可以在图形视图中查看节点网络，该视图由左侧侧面板中的专用按钮（类似分子的图标）打开。它显示了你所有的笔记，并用线条连接了链接的笔记，提供了一种查看它们之间关系的好方法。只有两个音符看起来并不多，但是当你有几十个（或数百个）文件时，它就非常方便了。
差不多就是这样。您可以通过简单地输入笔记并将相关主题链接在一起来创建自己的个人知识库，而无需涉及任何其他降价格式。
话虽如此，学习一点Markdown可以让您包含项目符号列表和外部链接等内容，以及一系列其他格式选项，使您的笔记更易于阅读。
超越笔记 - 插件
Obsidian 与其他笔记应用程序相比的最大优势在于它的可扩展性。使用正确的插件，您可以将 Obsidian 变成几乎任何东西，从看板到日记工具。
并且有相当多的插件可用。与任何免费工具一样，Obsidian拥有一个庞大而活跃的社区。有一些插件可以为Obsidian(Obsidian)添加各种功能，使其成为与Trello或Notion类似的生产力工具。
- 要开始使用插件，请在您的计算机上运行 Obsidian 应用程序，然后从左下角的齿轮图标打开设置。(Settings )
- 选择社区插件(Community plugins)选项。
- 默认情况下，安全模式(Safe mode)已打开，防止在您的 PC 上安装任何社区插件。使用按钮将其关闭。
- 系统将提示您确认选择，并警告您制作不良插件所带来的风险。选择关闭安全模式(Turn off Safe Mode )以继续。
- 界面现在将发生变化，显示附加选项以查找更多插件并查看所有已安装的插件。单击(Click)浏览(Browse)以获取所有社区插件的列表。
- 这些插件按下载次数排序，因此您会在最顶部附近找到最受欢迎的插件。每个条目都带有名称和简短描述，您可以选择它们以查看更多详细信息。
- 选择插件后，只需单击安装(Install )按钮即可将其添加到 Obsidian。
- 您必须先启用(Enable )插件，然后才能使用它。如果您愿意，这也是您可以卸载或禁用插件的地方。
- 该插件将被激活并准备好使用。
黑曜石好用吗？
任何曾经尝试为他们的笔记编译一个全面的知识库的人都知道使用普通的文字处理器是多么困难。对于创意项目尤其如此，您的想法在所有切线中都分支出来，很少保持严格的线性流动。
确实存在具有内部链接的Wiki软件，但很少有像(Wiki)Obsidian那样精简和易于使用。更不用说可扩展了，拥有完整的Markdown支持和社区制作的各种插件。
最好的部分是什么？该应用程序是完全免费和本地的。您的文件存储在您自己的计算机上，确保您的数据安全和私密。这使得 Obsidian 成为组织信息的最佳方式之一。
How to Use Obsidian as a Personal Wiki on Your Computer
A personal wiki is the preferred note-taking format for many power usеrs. Aftеr all, having your notes organized in an inter-connected wiki makes them much easier to navigate than a linear collection of рages.
But most methods of creating private wikis are rather tedious. Either they need you to set up an offline server of sorts, complete with HTML and CSS, or they just let you access a webpage with your web browser.
What if you wanted plain and simple wiki pages that can be stored on your computer in a single file or folder? That’s where Obsidian comes in.
What Is Obsidian?
At its basic, Obsidian is an amazing note-taking application. Scratch beyond the surface, however, and you’ll find that it’s much more than that.
Obsidian gives you the ability to create your own wikis with a network of interconnected nodes, allowing you to organize your thoughts (or research) in a more natural format. There are many “brain mapping” apps that already do that, but none are as clean and simple to use as Obsidian.
Furthermore, all your notes are held in a folder on your own PC, completely offline. This means your data is safe in your hands, to be backed up to a USB drive or your preferred cloud storage.
And the biggest draw? It is completely free. You can get started with this incredibly versatile note-taking app without having to shell out a penny or have your data held to ransom by a third-party server.
Why Do You Need a Personal Wiki?
If you have ever worked on a complex project needing a lot of research and notes, you know the value of an internal wiki. There is only so much information you can put in a series of pages before it becomes an indecipherable mess.
There is a reason Wikipedia (or any wiki, for that matter) organizes its information in the way it does – it is more intuitive to traverse through a web of interconnected topics. A wiki software achieves the same thing, but for your personal use.
Ultimately, it’s a note-taking paradigm that allows you to create a knowledge base of sorts, with topics neatly organized by their relations to each other. Whether you are working on a creative project or researching a complex subject, a personal wiki is a must-have tool.
Using Obsidian
Obsidian is a Markdown-based text editor. This makes starting out quite easy – just open a blank page and start typing. Of course, some knowledge of basic Markdown formatting comes in handy, especially the syntax for adding links.
- First, download Obsidian from the official website. There is an installer for Windows, along with Mac and several Linux distros. Mobile users can head to the Google Play Store and Apple App Store to install Obsidian on their smartphones.
- The installation is lightning fast – simply run the setup and the app will open up in a few seconds.
- Obsidian notes are organized as “vaults”. Each vault is essentially a folder full of plain text Markdown files, usually centered around a topic. Obsidian can both create new vaults as well as open vaults created previously, even from another device. For now, let’s go with the middle option.
- You will be asked to name the vault and specify a destination. You can choose to store it on your PC or a portable drive connected to it.
- The latest version of Obsidian comes with a live preview feature. Basically, it lets you see the effects of the Markdown formatting directly (like a WYSIWYG editor) instead of having to switch to a preview. We recommend turning it on.
- The vault will open in the standard Project view, displaying a list of all of your files and the text of the currently selected file. Except there’s nothing to show yet, so you get a blank canvas.
- Create a new file by hitting Ctrl+N or using the New Note button on the left.
- You can now start typing the contents of the note, using Markdown formatting when necessary. While a complete Markdown syntax guide is beyond the scope of this article, we’ll demonstrate creating linked notes. Just put some text inside double-square brackets, and it will turn into a link.
- Clicking on the link directly creates a new note with the name in the brackets, ready to be edited similarly. You can also see the ever-expanding hierarchy of notes in the list on the left, and switch any of them with a click.
- You can also view your network of nodes in the graph view, opened by the dedicated button in the side panel on the left (the molecule-like icon). It displayed all of your notes with lines joining the linked ones, giving a nice way to see the relations between them. With just two notes it doesn’t look like much, but when you have dozens (or hundreds) of files it comes in really handy.
And that’s pretty much it. You can create your own personal knowledge base by simply typing up your notes and linking together related topics, without any other markdown formatting involved.
That being said, learning a bit of Markdown will let you include things like bulleted lists and external links, along with a bunch of other formatting options that make your notes easier to read.
Beyond Notes – Plugins
Obsidian’s greatest advantage over other note-taking apps is its extensibility. With the right plugins, you can turn Obsidian into almost anything, from a kanban board to a journaling tool.
And there are quite a few plugins available. As with any free tool, Obsidian has a large and active community. There are plugins to add all sorts of functionality to Obsidian, making it a productivity tool on par with the likes of Trello or Notion.
- To get started with plugins, run the Obsidian app on your computer, and open Settings from the gear icon on the bottom-left.
- Select the Community plugins option.
- By default, Safe mode is turned on, preventing any community plugins from being installed on your PC. Use the button to turn it off.
- You’ll be prompted to confirm the choice, with a warning about the risks posed by poorly made plugins. Select Turn off Safe Mode to proceed.
- The interface will now change, displaying additional options to find more plugins and view all installed ones. Click on Browse to get a list of all community plugins.
- The plugins are sorted by their number of downloads, so you’ll find the most popular plugins near the very top. Each of the entries comes with a name and short description, which you can select to see more detail.
- After selecting a plugin, just click on the Install button to add it to Obsidian.
- You must Enable the plugin too before you can use it. This is also where you can uninstall or disable the plugin if you want to.
- The plugin will be activated and ready to use.
Is Obsidian Any Good?
Anyone who has ever tried to compile a comprehensive knowledge base of their notes knows how difficult it is with a normal word processor. This is especially true for creative projects, where your thoughts branch out in all tangents, rarely keeping to a strictly linear flow.
Wiki software with internal linking does exist, but few are as lean and easy to use as Obsidian. Not to mention extensible, with complete Markdown support and a variety of plugins made by the community.
And the best part? The app is completely free and local. Your files are stored on your own computer, keeping your data safe and private. This makes Obsidian one of the best ways to organize information out there.
