Is there a concept of "block" in Obsidian?

[Wpq]

I have some notes that I would like to group. The natural solution would be to use a dedicated page but my workflow is a bit different.

I use daily notes for short notes, some have value, and others are just scraps. I however happen to gather several related notes in one go and would like to tag them all together.

Is there a way to “group” them in some kind of “block” that I could then tag? Or do I need to tag each paragraph independently?

[Cooper]

use a block reference. Use a ^what-ever-you-want-to-call-this-without-spaces block references reference the block and its nested contents
more at obsidian help

[holroy]

It kind of depends on what you want to use that “block” for. If you just want to be able to link to it, then a block reference like @Cooper is talking about is the way to go.

If on the other hand you want to group together information so that Dataview would be able to process it, then you’ll need to look into using lists/tasks. Or potentially wait until Datacore is released as is supposedly will have an extended view on paragraphs as block.

My preference for grouping information together is decorated tasks, that is tasks with unique status characters. These can be styled using CSS, and are readily available for access by Dataview. They’re also, due to their task nature, possible to use as backlinks from any queried result.

So I’ve assigned characters, or groups of tasks, to my interest groups like walking, training, telephone calls, visits, eating, costs, various hobbies, and so on. Each have their dedicated character, and I can then easily build my daily journals, and make whatever reports I want based upon tasks queries.

[blue_emperor]

@Wpq

Or do I need to tag each paragraph independently?

This is good question. It depends what metadata you want to associate to each paragraph. Block ids are just way to quickly navigate to specific content. In practice this can mean 1 paragraph or 5 paragraphs, depends how you want to interpret it. To associate several metadata to your paragraphs, you can use tags or properties in case you export your paragraphs to new notes. I recommend exporting your paragraphs because this requires one command only. After that you can add any metadata using note properties. In summary the “block” that you are looking for is new separate note.

In addition to Extract this heading context menu command there is Extract current selection context menu command. To configure extraction, go to Settings → Core plugins → Note composer, then press or

[I-d-as]

@holroy

My preference for grouping information together is decorated tasks, that is tasks with unique status characters. These can be styled using CSS, and are readily available for access by Dataview.

Great! I was on the verge of adapting my setup and had, in the past, used tasks in this way and felt like I must be misusing them. But, really they are very unique in what they are capable of, and hearing that you are doing this gives me a lot of confidence in, instead of going the direction I was going, trusting my instincts to leverage tasks this way.

@holroy

They’re also, due to their task nature, possible to use as backlinks from any queried result.

I think, from my own experience, that this is likely an often overlooked or forgotten functionality. For me, it may have been because there is no link icon like with embeds. Or possibly, because Dataview provides the ability to interact with the task’s checkbox directly within query, it implies that the task itself within the query might be otherwise functionally disconnected, which it is not. To be clear for anyone unaware, what I believe @holroy is referring to is the ability to simply click (or tap) on the text of a task, which will behave as a link to the note containing the task, and will navigate the view to that area of the note with the task highlighted.

Amazing stuff! So glad you posted here. I would love to hear more about your system including but not limited to the use of unique status characters as well as css in relation to tasks and Dataview. Also, that’s great information about Datacore’s planned functionality with regards to paragraphs. Thanks so much!

[holroy]

@I-d-as

I would love to hear more about your system including but not limited to the use of unique status characters as well as css in relation to tasks and Dataview.

I’ve posted some information in the thread below related to how to set it up. Basically I’m using that setup, and then I’ve chosen various characters to denote the various groups I’m interested in, like “disc golf”, “walking”, “work”, “food”, and various others. All groups or area of interests where I would like to keep some kind of tracking of those activities. I’m also using this to do bullet journaling tasks, that is tasks not only done or not done, but also partially started, migrated, cancelled, re-scheduled (or put on ice) tasks.

Alternative Checkboxes (Icon Bullets) - Copy and paste

I’ve used these, and extended with even a couple more of my own, and I’ll post a little reference as to how I go about when adding more alternatives to this impressive list. But first I wanted to show two queries I use to collate my alternative checkboxes from all around my vault. List all checkboxes of a given type ```dataview TASK WHERE status="?" ``` Where you can change the "?" to match whatever checkbox type you want to see. List all checkboxes for a list of types ```dataview TASK WHE…

I’m considering doing another explanation of my usage of this concept, but I’ve not managed to allocate time to do so. Yet.