Nicole van der Hoeven
The answer to many questions about #obsidian is "There's a plugin for that!" But for many people, community plugins add a lot of complexity and time to workflows. I think there's value in going back to the basics: the optional core plugins that Obsidian comes with by default. Here's a video overview of my top 10 CORE plugins: https://youtu.be/Lq33gNpeDkE
Top 10 Core Plugins for Obsidian in 2023

YouTube
Jan 20, 2023 at 5:03pmWeb
Show threadkrystofJan 20, 2023
@nicole Besides dataview and calendar I’ve been using #obsidian as is and it was an amazing and frictionless experience so far. I think I do enjoy the simplicity of things. Oh and tables. Advanced tables. Loving those as well :)
Show threadNicole van der HoevenJan 20, 2023
@krstf That's awesome! Yeah, I think there are still some community plugins that are (for me) worth the complexity, and the ones you mentioned are some of my favourites too! I have all of them. Glad to hear it's not just me. :)
Show threadkrystofJan 20, 2023
@nicole oh! Now I feel like a fraud :D :D Ofc they are the same, I’ve learned them from your channel. 🙇‍♂️ Thanks for that! Also I’m definitely not against community plugins - love them to the death. It is just I am sort of enjoying the rare situation where I really don’t feel the need to hunt for more. I don’t that ever happened to me before. :D
Show threadNicole van der HoevenJan 21, 2023
@krstf Oh haha! That's funny. I'm happy I could help. :) I think that's awesome that you found a stable setup that works for you!!
Show threadDonovan PalmerJan 20, 2023
@nicole Outstanding video. I agree with many of your points. I use the default Obsidian theme and mostly core plugins. What Community plugins I use, I use those that keep my markdown files in standard format. The except is a few files that I have written data queries for. The rest of my vault could be moved to another application because I want to keep my notes as future proofed as possible. This was why I came to Obsidian in the first place, and as you said, focus on mastering the basics!
Show threadNicole van der HoevenJan 20, 2023

@donovanpalmer Ooooh... I must admit themes are one thing I can't stick to the default on. Sometimes I feel "stuck" with Obsidian and unmotivated to write or take notes. It's funny how a fresh theme can change my mind completely.

Dataview seems to be quite an exception among those who want to be more intentional with plugin usage. Interesting.

Show threadDonovan PalmerJan 20, 2023
@nicole lol I am a bore when it comes to themes! I used to use minimal, but went default. I am probably the only one on the planet that uses it!
Show threadTamaraKJan 20, 2023
@nicole @donovanpalmer I try a new theme every week but keep switching back to Minimal because the check boxes I use in my daily note don't work in most themes.
Show threadNicole van der HoevenJan 21, 2023
@TamaraKraal @donovanpalmer Oooh! If you DO ever want a change, AnupPuccin has a lot of colour options AND it supports the custom checkboxes as well as custom speech boxes!
Show threadTamaraKJan 21, 2023
@nicole Thank you!! I will have a look at it. I do enjoy playing with colour options.
Show threadRic Raftis  🇺🇦Jan 20, 2023
@nicole That's true, but the same issue with plugins occurs with Wordpress and Joomla too.
Show threadAustin GovellaJan 21, 2023
@nicole In your backlinks toolbar, what are the two icons on the far right? My backlinks doesn't have those icons. (The glasses and stack of paper)
Show threadNicole van der HoevenJan 21, 2023
@austingovella They are "Render Markdown" and "Copy results". I think they only get shown if you have linked or unlinked mentions that have Markdown in them maybe?
Show threadAustin GovellaJan 21, 2023
@nicole TY! I don't get them... :-( but now I now what to investigate for
Show threadMaxim Syomochkin Jan 21, 2023

@nicole I understand the concept of this video well, and generally agree with it completely! But are all the examples from the video real? For example, do you really use Daily Notes instead of Periodic Notes, or Slides instead of Advanced Slides?

I don't want to catch you out on something; I'm just interested in your usage model. In any case, the video is great!

Show threadMaxim Syomochkin Jan 21, 2023

The only thing that calms me down about the stoppage of development, for example DataView, is the ability to write a relatively simple script in Python or GoLang that will traverse the Markdown files and give the necessary data.

Of course, this will only work on relatively simple queries, but it's like a fire exit - it must work.

Show threadNicole van der HoevenJan 21, 2023
@msemochkin Hey! No problem asking that! :) I do use them as well as, not instead of, community plugins. I have a few work vaults that I don't want to install community plugins on, so I have a few "core plugins only" setups. It's honestly quite refreshing.
Show threadGeorge Peckham-RooneyJan 21, 2023
@nicole I love the base plugins. They are amazingly robust.
Show threadCoyotebdJan 22, 2023
@nicole plugins are fun and exciting but they are like the OGL: you probably shouldn't let yourself be completely reliant on them.