Do you use another app as a "scratchpad" for drafting thing?

Knowledge management
1

I draft things in SUBLIME, and just keep opening new tabs. When it’s ready, I bring it into OBSIDIAN, send the EMAIL, post the MESSAGE etc.

It quickly gets messy with the tabs. But it seems to work better than doing this inside Obsidian.

Thoughts and comments on this workflow?

Edit:
Check out “Drafts”, because it does this automatically

3

Everything remotely worth saving and revisiting in the future is saved and drafted within obsidian. The only reason I use an extra app for drafts and quick notes is because the obsidian app opens way to slow on android phones. Instead i use an app called “drafting” that opens crazy quick and autosaves everything. Since you can set the Save folder, if integrates nicely within obsidian (in the “inbox” folder)

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4

I use an app called Drafts on the Mac, iPhone and iPad for just that purpose.

https://agiletortoise.com

Drafts has evolved into a very sophisticated program, comparable to a text-only Obsidian. But I barely use any of the features. It started out as the “place where text starts.” You open Drafts quickly, type something in, and Drafts automatically saves it. From there you can send the text to any other app–email, messages, Obsidian, whatever. And that’s how I use it.

I’m forever neglecting to clean out Drafts. Right now I have 63 unprocessed drafts in there.

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5

Same! It’s a great app, and I recommend it. 169 in my inbox. So I definitely don’t trust it for tasks or anything important. But it’s a great way to just scratch out thing and send them on their way, with some templates/formatting for different purposes.

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6

Part of the reason I use Drafts as an inbox in that fashion is because I don’t trust that Obsidian sync on the iPhone or iPad will work for rapid notes. It seems to take a couple of seconds to synch when I open the app. Not a big deal if I’m at my desktop or have a moment to wait, but not practical if I just want to tap out a quick thought while walking the dog.

If I’m at my desk, I don’t bother with Drafts, except when composing social media or microblog posts that will be sent immediately after they are finished.

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7

I use Freeplane to dump thoughts, ideas and reorder them as I go. FP’s new layout options are helpful in creating layout structures that are non-linear.

It’s fairly easy to import the nodes into Obisidian when I’m ready.

I find that mind-mapping is easier than outlining a note.

8

I draft in Obsidian, but if doing it elsewhere works better for you, then do that.

9

I use the Markor Android app and its QuickNote for this. [recently Obsidian has been so fast & stable that I don’t use it as much as before]

My Markor settings make it access my Obsidian vault files location:

LEFT.Obsidian_RIGHT.Markor.PNG | Markor settings.PNG

To keep my Obsidian notes compatible with regular Markdown I use the following settings for all my Obsidian vaults(& check my setup in Markor) …

Under Files and Links:

  1. “Default location for new notes” - “Same folder as current file”.
  2. “New Link Format” - “Relative path to file”.
  3. “Use [[Wikilinks]]” - “off” … yet I still get the advantages of [[]]
  4. Detect all file extensions - enabled
  5. “Default location for new attachments” - “In subfolder under current folder”.
  6. “Subfolder name” - value: “attachments”.
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10

I recently started using Freeplane again after purchasing a Windows device. However I mainly find myself using Obsidian with the MarkMind plugin.

I absolutely love the basic free version that lets me edit in either markdown or mindmap mode(incl. drag&drop) by pressing “Alt + M”

Using the Commander plugin I made myself a “obsidian markmind: Toggle markdown/markmind mode” command in the Ribbon. I also added it to the mobile toolbar for easy access on my Android devices.

By default MarkMind’s “Max level of node to create a Heading” is set to “2”.

#

## Sub title

  • Sub title
    • Sub title
      • Sub title
        • Sub title

## Sub title

  • Sub title
    • Sub title
      • Sub title
        • Sub title

I’ve changed my setting to “0” as I prefer to not have Headings, just a hyphenated unordered list.

    • Sub title
      • Sub title
        • Sub title
          • Sub title
            • Sub title
    • Sub title
      • Sub title
        • Sub title
          • Sub title
            • Sub title

However when I need to have markdown with Headings [#,##,###,####,#####,######) same as Freeplane produces on export, all I need to do is set “Max level of node to create a Heading” to “6” and add a single node WHEN IN MINDMAP mode, for MarkMind to convert everything(works in the other direction also)

#

## Sub title

### Sub title

#### Sub title

##### Sub title

###### Sub title

## Sub title

### Sub title

#### Sub title

##### Sub title

###### Sub title

Don’t forget to set default “Max level of node to create a Heading” back to your “favorite” level, else all your existing files will be altered the next time you edit them in mindmap mode.

 

A huge advantage to me of having everything in Obsidian is that all is available to me nearly instantly on all my (active) 6 devices, thanks to syncthing.
My LenovoPC, 2 Chromebooks, 1 Android Tablet, 2 Android Phones required 15 connections but it has been worth it.
[L-Ph1 L-Cb1 L-T L-Ph2 L-Cb2] [Ph1-Cb1 Ph1-T Ph1-Ph2 Ph1-Cb2] [Cb1-T Cb1-Ph2 Cb1-Cb2] [T-Ph2 T-Cb2] [Ph2-Cb2]
I also have scheduled backups of my vault to OneDrive, Google Drive and especially to Dropbox as I can restore from Version history going back 30 days.

 

Obsidian markmind docs

11

On MacOS, I use the Tot app as a scratchpad. It’s rather limited, but to me, thats the beauty. Somebody mentioned how their Drafts app accumulates detritus, Tot limits you to 7 notes. You can choose a font, but no fancy formatting (AFAIK) beyond limited markdown.
I use it just like id use a scratchpad- quick notes, lists, pseudocode, or as a quickly accessible multiple clipboard. I keep the window small and Alfred brings it up with a quick keystroke.

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12

I like the look of the DRAFTS app. Better suited than sublime. I’d just never ever clear out the drafts and leave them in the inbox, using the app as a time based rediscovery option.
Why not?

Perhaps it can be made to save ready files into Obsidian directly, to avoid the copy and paste?

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13

Drafts can send notes (Drafts) as files to Obsidian.

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14

Thanks for letting me know. It’s on the pro plan.

I noticed that Drafts hides some formatting text, something like <000x00> for some kind of tab/spacing stuff I don’t really understand. This messed up a few copy and pastes, so watch out for that!

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15

Got this last week after seeing your post and I love it so much. I have it title each note with the date and time, save it in a folder in my obsidian vault, and copy whatever I need to into Obsidian proper when I’m at my desktop. The tap to ALWAYS open a new note is so fantastic.

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16

You should do whatever is best for you, but I can’t see how anything could be much easier than just opening obsidian, hitting new note and writing something!

17

You could have the Pro Plan for a month and set up the “Send to Obsidian”. The action will still work after your pro subscription expires but you won’t be able to modify it.

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18

I have a folder called “Napkins”

Works fine. Fewer apps with overlapping functions, the better.

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19

The slight convenience edge of the Drafts app makes a difference when I’m out and about, doing errands or walking the dog. Drafts opens to a blank note—no need to start a note. Saves a tap or two.

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20

I use FSNotes for this (https://fsnot.es/). It’s native and opens quickly on iOS and MacOS and and I link to a folder that’s inside of Obsidian so I don’t even need to move the files … they just go right to Obsidian.