BIG Update to Craft!--AGAIN

Question to you all deep diving into Craft: how is it’s database structures progressing? Last I looked it was still a good way off Airtable and Notion?

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It’s probably never going to get true databases à la Notion, if that’s what you need. That’s not the goal.

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Two more things that bum me and I’m running into with Craft compared to Obsidian:

  • No embedding of anything anywhere; without going to full transclusion, documents can only be referenced through links, which is a pity because blocks do transclude way better than in Obsidian
  • No deep links to embedded documents.

These seem critical for a true “tool for thought” workflow, which tips the scale notably towards Obsidian for that use at the moment.

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New update to Craft today: there’s a trash (finally) and search is now a lot faster. Nothing groundbreaking but a great quality of life update.

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On that search related note, I found this Alfred Workflow that seems to work just fine.

I’ve been seriously considering moving from Obsidian just because I’m much more inclined to a WYSIWYG editor than a dual-mode markdown approach…

I’m hearing that WYSIWYG is coming to Obsidian. I admit I’ve been conflicted on this. I finally realized why I was having trouble so I’ve made peace with how I want to deal with these apps as I noted here. Perhaps this will be helpful to you as well.

Also, the just released mobile Obsidian app is as good as the desktop version so now I can use Obsidian seamlessly for research.

Indeed WYSIWYG is going the be the next big thing in Obsidian. But I’m thinking it still won’t compete with Craft’s ability to polish documents. I still enjoy its native aspect very much, and despite Obsidian being far superior in power, I find I am always happy to write in it. In Obsidian, it always feels like I’m slightly fighting something. YMMV obviously.

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I agree wholeheartedly. The difference is that I don’t use Craft for writing per se. I find blocked paragraphs to be frustrating when navigating a document for medium to long-form writing.

I use Craft for notes and it is superior for that purpose. The “/“ functions are excellent and save a lot of clicks. I experimented with Craft for PKM and it is functional but not as good as Obsidian for this purpose. Not surprising given that Obsidian has been designed ground up for PKM. The release of the excellent mobile app makes it ideal for working on my iPad or MBP. I tried DT for PKM but it is clunky in comparison.

I’m using Scrivener and/or Ulysses for writing projects. I admit, sheepishly that I’m once again leaning toward Ulysses because of its focus on MD. This makes it more “compatible” with my research notes, which are MD files and accessed through Obsidian. I am also able to add the same folders (Vaults) I use in Obsidian as external folders in Ulysses, making all of my research notes available in both apps.

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ummm I just tested this and it works just fine. I had a message in my inbox, I clicked and dragged it into an open Obsidian note and it created this sort of link

[SheepShorts:  Wolf Open House Meetings Begin Today](message:%3C364211923.2484010.1626102467736@mail.yahoo.com%3E)

Which I can command click in Obsidian to open the message up and see it.

What’s missing form that that you expect to happen?

@OogieM It works on my MBP but I can’t get it to work on the mobile app on my iPad.

I see that as a feature not a bug. I am Mac based but I can set up things so I can run on Linux as well and I like that I can make my vault on any device I decide to use now or in the future.

What d you mean by “atomic notes”? I’m asking because I am finding that I have a lot of index, TOC or MOC type notes in Obsidian that re basically an index into all the other notes. A big benefit to me of Obsidian is that I can link the same note from many of these index notes. So whenever I look for a note and I can’t find it in the place I look I add a link there to it when I do find it so my web is building automatically. Individual content notes in my previous systme tended to have several related items in a single note but in bsidian I am finding I split them into separate ideas and that it makes it much faster to get to a specific item later.

ah ok, I never do email on any iOS devices so I never tested that now would I ever use it.

Have you asked on the Obsidian forum? There might be a simple solution.

I don’t write long form either in Craft beyond notes, just short pieces if needed. For long form, I think I’ve said as much, but beware: Ulysses is a joy to write in, a hell to revise in.

I haven’t but I will! :slight_smile:

It is not that bad, I promise! I’m STILL using Craft extensively—for ALL of my work and personal notes—meetings, projects, quick reference, journal, etc….

I’m ONLY using Obsidian for research notes-PKM.

:slight_smile: So, keep working with Craft—it is great!

See this post.

I am finding I like Craft and Obsidian combination as well… Can you describe what your PKM is and how you use it in obsidian ?? I find that my biggest obstacle in this area is I don’t have a clean demarcation between when to use which app :slight_smile: -

Certainly. Basically, Obsidian is used ONLY for research notes. I use these notes for large writing projects, including a book I’m working on. I had these notes in DT but find DT’s editor to be clunky and inefficient.

Craft is used for both personal and work related meeting, interview, project, reference, and journal notes. In Craft I have both a work and a personal space for separating the aforementioned notes.

No research or writing of articles of any sort is done in Craft. All writing is done in either Scrivener or Ulysses.

I hope this helps. Let me know if you have any questions or need additional information. I’m happy to help if I can. I’ve received so much good help and advice on this forum that I always want to pay it forward if I can.

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We don’t run Craft or have an account.
What exactly is the integration ?

Thanks!

Hi, Jim! I think you may have intended that reply for someone else.

I am not gone by any means. :slight_smile: I am actually running Craft and Obsidian for my professional work in parallel. I’m going to do that for a period of time until I decide which one really works best. It’s a little extra work but I think will be worth it in the long run. So, I am completely on board with Craft simultaneous with Obsidian.:blush:

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