Automate Your Vault With Templater - How to Use Templater in Obsidian 

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Oh my god- you RULE. I'm not a programmer & you're the only person that has been able to explain this process in plain english so that a non-programmer with zero coding skills can understand it. I've seen SOOO many other templater videos that are incomprehensible because the devs get lost in the sauce. Thank you so much for taking the time to do these videos on Obsidian. You are a very gifted teacher.

Wooow... i cannot thank you enough for this video. I have been searching for a more detailed explanation of certain things and you have greatly helped me with this video. I will take my time to go through all of your videos on obsidian. 🤝

Excellent overview and explanation Sergio, thanks. I had been debating putting in the work to get Templater to automate some of my daily and weekly note tasks, and now I see that it won't be too complicated at all. Thanks!

Thanks, Sergio. These videos are great to watch to get a feel for the plugin and concepts before walking on the hot coals of the documentation.

Yes, more advanced user scripts please. Thank you for the awesome content.

So good, very useful information Sergio. Many things I learn form your videos, thanks 🙌

For your default template, accidentally re-running your template (via the apply hotkey) will add the template again, possibly breaking your file. You can fix this by moving the closing } for the first if statement to below the last line. That way, it will only output the template if the title of the document starts with "Untitled" - otherwise you can press the hotkey as many times as you want and it won't do anything after the initial time, unless you change the name back to Untitled. Thank you so much for your content, though - I'm trying to get better at Obsidian, and your ideas and suggestions are amazing!

This thing is really useful. I will have to watch this video a couple times to get it.

Thank you so much! This is so easy to understand and very helpful. I'm waiting for more videos like this c:

Thanks for your awesome videos. You are the first source I go to when I want to learn something Obsidian related. I have a question: the "last modified date" part of your default template is not dynamic, so do you manually change that each time you do some big modification to the file? I guess you could assign a hotkey to inserting a templater for current date/time and it wouldn't be too hard.

Hey Sergio again, very significant on point content, thank you a lot. Definitely I would be pleased to see and advanced templater video. Thanks for your effort and contribution.

Always great content. Keep making.... keep inspiring to be more helpful to others.😀

The only problem with videos about note-taking is that you keep on endlessly taking notes about note-taking than actually get much done. It's also important to not get overwhelmed by all the tech complexity any of the note-taking platform offers and get going with taking real notes (and not just more keep taking notes about "how to take better notes")

Gah, the default scripts that blocks on a prompt when the title contains "untitled" fixed a frustration I had with dataviews being locked to the wrong file after renaming the file. Wasn't even trying to solve that issue right now, but this did it for me

Awesome vids man, plain and simple. God bless ya!

Am I being stupid or missing something? Other than using undo, I cannot get back to the syntax to edit it after I have applied the template.

Crazy great video. Going to watch many of your others now.

This video helps me a lot. Thank you Sergio.

Amazing video, thanks for making this.

Thanks for the great video! Regarding your having to type both Cmd + N and Cmd + M to create a new note then apply the default template, I think there is a solution. In "Folder template" setting, assign the default template to the root directory "/". So all you need is "Cmd + N" to achieve what you are doing with 2 strokes. This does not conflict with other folder templates for more specific folders if you put this at the bottom of the list.

2:49 when you say "simple right " At this moment I feel the same emotion I did when I saw Jack Bauer killing president palmer's murderer

I love your videos! They're very easy to follow, so I would like to make a request: please, pleeeeease make a video on the heatmap plugin for obsidian! I would love to use it but I know absolutely nothing of coding (and my english is very basic so I didn't understand the forum entries about it either...) I really hope you see this comment and decide to do a video on this, if you have the time!

I think you should have started with the 'folder templates' bit. For a newbie like me (who doesn't do journalling) that is the most useful. Great video.

Hello from New York City! In the default template, can tp.file.cursor be used to move input focus to the bottom of the page? Thank you for your informative video.

Thanks a lot this has been super helpful.

This is a great video - thanks so much for getting me going with using Templates within Obsidian! The only thing I'm missing is how are you 'triggering' the date functions to put in the actual date/time data?? I'm at the point where I'm going back and _updating_ existing files with the "normal" Date property in my notes, but closing/reopening the file doesn't trigger the date functions to update, and I'm not sure how to trigger them as you're doing here in your video? Any tips appreciated!

Thank you for the video. How did you do the star rating? Can you share?

Great stuff Sergio. Personal suggestion: Using the auto note mover filter to create rules to autolocate notes in folder according to the templates details that you use.

I grouped two plugins - templater and Note Refractor to help the automation further :D Thanks for the detailed video. More advanced scripts as well please :)

Hey Sergio, love your channel, have got a lot of useful tips that I-ve already implemented. Just wanted to ask you, what autocomplete/intellisense plugin are you using on this video? Cheers m8

How do you jumb back to templater editing? I used "Replace template in active file". How do I go back?

One question, after the default template is applied, the cursor lands at the beginning of the file name. I added tp.file.cursor(1) at the bottom of the script, but it still takes a `return` keystroke to take the cursor to the bottom of the note. Is there a way so the the cursor jumped directly to the bottom without additional keystrokes? thanks!

Is there any way to create a canvas-template and assign it - as well as a handful of file-templates - to populate a folder hiearchy that gets generated upon a single command? I have a handful of reoccuring project types that require quite a bit of set up before I can start working and I'd like to get rid of the time sink. - to just press "new project".

Hi Sergio, nice video! Just a question about your Default Template. I really like the idea of having the "Last modified" option in the YAML header, however, the time does not automatically update for me when I adjust the note. How does this work for you?

Great video! QUESTION: I’ve set up a variety of templates. I often am creating notes with new links that I want to both use and template that is not the default for the folder I’m in. For example, in my daily note, I might reference a person for the first time, and decide to make a CRM (person template) entry for him. Clicking the link will create the note, but not the template. And it won’t put the note into the people folder. Any suggestions? Is there a way to accomplish one or both objectives: create the new note from my link with the desired template and create it inside the appropriate folder? Thanks!!!

Hi Sergio, another great video! I have a tricky question I can't solve: if you use calendar to produce a daily note by clicking on a date, you can do this for any day in the past or the future, and the daily note can be given that date. But when you use the templater to retrieve yesterday or tomorrow daily note inside a link, it doesn't work for the daily note that you created. For example, if today is 10th October, and you use calendar to create a daily note that you missed for last week, 7th october. Then how do you automate the addition of a link inside that 7th October note for the note before or the daily note after it? Because if you use any formulas you show, it always gives 9th Oct and 11th Oct - e.g. relative to the current date.

Great tutorial

5 days into my Obsidian journey, I've learned a lot from your very informative videos - THANK YOU VERY MUCH and KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK :-) Is there a way that to auto-update the tp.file.folder() after having actived the YAML and moving the note to a different folder? It seems to keep holding the folder location of the folder in which the YAML was activated.

Big problem, need HELP plz: when I type Option+R on my MacOS 13, i get ® instead of it executing an assigned command. So operating system shortcuts overrides whatever an app has had in mind. Anyone knows how to deactivate OS special characters without deactivating the Option key entirely?

Very helpful. How can I delete multiple notes within a range of dates. These notes contain dates created with templates

Great tutorial Sergio, I'm trying to follow along but I'm stuck... When I try to create a new daily note not yet created by clicking through the link we just made with the script (Tomorrow link for example), it does create the note with the right path and title but it doesn't pull the Daily Note Template like clicking in the calendar does and it creates just an empty note. The only way is to create the the daily note through the calendar and then use the links just for navigation. Same thing happens for the week links, when I click it creates the note without the Week Note Template. Do you have any idea why in my case it doesn't work?

Question: Let's say I want to create a template for "Person". Is there a way for me to have a field at the top of the Person template either in the YAML or somewhere else like "Name:" and then when I add the person's name like "Name: Tom Brady", everywhere in the note where exists it inserts "Tom Brady"? This function would have to be contained to just this note, because each "Person" note would be using a different person's name.

I read that moment is going away.

This was extremely helpful sergio. I finally have a default template set up now. By the way, I just assigned it to the root folder, "/" which saves me the extra step of using a hotkey.

Great stuff. Where does the quotes pull from? Can you also do it for a quote folder you’ve personally created?

Why is it that for example when you create a new note that uses your default template, that the frontmatter is in YAML format? If we use dataview, is there a way to make it output in inline or dataview format (for example with the 2 colons)....Example: "tags:: sometag" I'm still a noob so I'm a bit confused on these things. Or is it just possible that if you make a table of contents for example that dataview can read the notes that have the YAML frontmatter?

Hey Sergio! It was a great explanation, I wish you had posted this videos a few months ago when I was getting started with Templater. 😄 Thank you for the video! I got one question for you, I have a very similar setup for the YAML header and the “last updated”/“last modified” script does not update, do you happen to know how do I get it to update?

how could you pull retrospective dates if you have more than one note in journal during that day?

Hi thanks. When I move my file to another folder with template that show folder name, it didn't change the name. How can I fix it.

There is problem coming up, when i'm trying to use the command "replace templates in active file", it showing "templater error : template prasing error, aborting. Check console for more information." I'm using ipad, and have searched alot in the internet, wasnt able to solve this, if anyone can help, it would be a immense help

First item of frustration. lol. Why I am here :) Thanks.

excellent video. Thank you Sergio. Q: for your default template, is it possible to have the current date automatically included in the title within the title prompt? ex. "2022-07-27 ...." (then the title can be added after the date)

I would love smn to explain clearly the add and button maker plugin for windows. Nicole (found her name) explains it but it doesn't work on Windows. It keeps making a new folder the first time, the second time it makes a note and then it stops working when I try using it. I just need the automation done well

Somehow I cannot cmd+o search the aliases from your default template, any opinion ?

Hi Sergio, many thanks for your video! This is very helpful. I have a question about the hotkey to replace templates in the active file. The hotkey to do this for me is also option+R, but for some reason every time I press the hotkey it does not work as supposed. I am wondering if you have any ideas about how to deal with this? Many thanks for answering!

Thanks, Sergio! Could you give us a review on Joplin?

issue: consider I have a scenario where I created today's daily note on May 1 but unexpectedly due to lack of time I could not able to create a daily note for Dec 31, 2022 because I got busy in new year celebrations. So now when I consider about creating missed daily note of Dec 31 on May 1 2023 with breadcrumbs having previous day and next day then the problem arises PROBLEM: the breadcrumbs take previous day and next day of May1,2023 i.e April 30 and May 2, but not actual previous day of Dec 31,202 i.e Dec30,2022 and next day Jan 1 2023 as I'm trying to create a missed daily note of Dec 31, 2022 on May 1, 2023 Please let me know code for templater. thank you sergio.

Say I have a link within a template that I want to always create a note in a specific folder, even if I haven't created that note. Is that possible?

hey, what theme are you using ? great content btw

Would appreciate if you left 'My Default Template' in description as stated in video

9:17 oh man... this one is a work of genius : a good old fashioned product placement, the Wayne's World style.

that Shaq quote deserved more love lol

Hey, Serg, nice video. I like your templates. I think I should make mines simpler and cleaner. If the need of more features comes I change templates later. By the way, do you have any kind of fast pace voice note taking into obsidian by the mobile? I was struggling to git my Vault across devices, including Android. Now that is accomplished I'm searching for voice note taking workflow. Thanks a million!

Plz can someone let me know why when I press options R the R symbol comes up. On the hotkeys it is set to options R but it’s doing a symbol instead of reviewing it. TIA

How did you move the calendar to the bottom so that it is visible while having the tags panel etc open?

Hi Sergio. I did like the "quote" use of Templater. I really am very bad in reading documentation, etc. so I will just pass the idea for you, OK? It would be nice if we could take quotes from an specific person like Thomas Sowell or Isaac Asimov. It should be just some add to the code.

Does not update when a file is relocated ?

Venerable Sergio, is there a way of copy-pasting the theme/core/community plug-in settings of vault to another? Say I'm working in a vault X. I've got it exactly as I want. Now I want to convert a folder into a vault. I have to "again" replicate install all my core/community plug-ins and their related settings. Can't I just copy paste from the main vault?

17:26 Definitly make a deep dive video (Please 🙏 haha). As a programmer this can open up endless possibilities of using Obsidian as a DB and a View while programming the logic/etc. using Templater and other useful tools for Obsidian (without making your own plugin). I wonder how advanced is the prompt - can I create a small GUI app using it? I image it would cool if I can have a smart template, that asks me some stuff and based on my response, creates a new page ready with dataview tables for notes based on given input during the templater script handling / applying the template script (based on the function that took the title using an input dialog and injected it into the note). This can be like a small "app"/template that asks me what I want to find and generate a "report" / view / whatever that matches the logical idea I wanted. What do you think about this idea?

I can "replace templates in the active file", but I can't seem to revert back to the formula. The update converts the formula to real numbers and there is no way to toggle back. Now ctrl-z (undo) works. But does not seem like the right way.

The thing is after I press alt +R, and it showed correct date, but I cannot switch back to original expression like you did in video

How do you toggle the templater from being active and inactive ?

I don't have Folder Templates in Tamplater Settings, are you on a preview version?

Can you have both templates and templater accessible at the same time? One month prior to this video, you created a video on templates. Do/can you still access that now that you have installed templater?

Awesome video. However, I cannot seem to move the tp file note over into a folder on the left like you do at 8:21. When I try to move it into a folder , it does not place it inside the folder. It just copies the tp file inside the folder pane. Any ideas?

please post the code of the basic template that is shown at the end!!

Hi! can someone please help? I'm new to obsidian and I have made sure I copied it correctly. But it keeps saying . Templater Error: Template Parsing Error, aborting. Check console for more information. Thank you!

I know this is an older video, but was wondering. You've mentioned Evergreen like five times in this series. In this video, you said we wouldn't want the same template in our Movies, Evergreen, or Articles folders. Well...the question. What the heck is Evergreen? I don't even have any context to google up what it is.

I'm trying to apply some of your tips but I can't find the "Folder Templates" settings (13:06) on the latest version. Is it just me or was it removed?

Sir 😮‍💨 Is there a command to number notes #1, #2, #3, .... So I can keep a count of them.

At the very end of the video screen, why is the color of the time on 'created' and 'last modified' purple (20:28, 28 is purple)? And the time for 'created' and 'last modified' are the same, while even you did make some modification on the file. Thanks.

Did you ever face the problem that interface panels in obsidian become bizarrely enlarged and you can't reduce them?

yes i want follow up video

I'm not using Templater yet but I think about it for doing some kind of AI News related templates.

I can not exit the "replace templates in an active file" option ... the hot key is not switching it back😑

I still don't really understand what the benefit is of this plug-in ...

Hey sergio. thanks for this. how do you pull the [[]] after you replace templates in the active file? like if i want to revert it back so i can edit it?

Sergio > Shaq

This is a cool way of doing the next/previous day thing but it means you can create a daily file in the past or future and the links still go to the correct pages. Found in the github page you linked. Thanks! >

How the fuck can I use this to auto populate todays date in a task query

hmm. Moment JS is deprecated and has been for some time.

As someone not familiar with the coding, i find the presentation less appealing. May be i am not the target. It would have been good to demonestrate some examples of useful outputs and the questions or queries it will answer, put links to sources of commonly used codes. And then proceed to the coding itself. Not always easy to remember the specific scripts. Again, may be people like me are not the target audiences.

I am having a templater error with the embedded javascript items. I'd appreciate any help. Here is the items in the note that I am trying to do > And here is the error. plugin:obsidian-kindle-plugin:16 Templater Error: Template parsing error, aborting. Template syntax error: Unexpected token '(' In my template, I am not calling the kindle plugin so I am very confused.

how to you get rid of Cssclass dashboard Banner ![[mark-harpur-K2s_YE031CA-unsplash.jpg]] Banner_y 0.5 in read mode?