ExcaliBrain is transforming how I use Obsidian.md

Introduction to Excalibrane

In this section, the speaker introduces Excalibrane and explains its purpose in transforming the way they use Obsidian.

What is Excalibrane?

• Excalibrane is a tool that visualizes hierarchy in your vault.

• It is inspired by the Brain application and the Breadcrumbs plugin.

• The Brain application has been transformational for personal knowledge management.

• The Breadcrumbs plugin introduced the use of dataview fields for directional links in Obsidian.

Architecture of Excalibrane

• Excalibrane is based on two plugins: Xcolitron and Xcolidraw.

• Xcolitron serves as the engine behind displaying the graph.

• Using Xcolidraw for visualization allows easy editing of graphs in Excolidraw.

Automation Capabilities and Data View

• Xcolitron's automation capabilities were a design choice for experimentation.

• Hoping to inspire other developers to create plugins around Xcolidraw automation.

• Excalibrane utilizes Obsidian Data View as its underlying engine for insights.

LATCH Principle

• LATCH stands for Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, and Hierarchy.

• These principles are essential ways to organize information effectively.

• Mapping knowledge in a personal knowledge management system should consider all these categories.

Understanding Excalibrane Graph View

This section provides an overview of what can be seen in an Excalibrane graph view and how relationships are derived.

Spatial Representation in Graph View

• Nodes represent documents, with the active document at the center.

• Children nodes are displayed below the active node, while parents are above it.

• Friends (lateral connections) are shown to the left, and siblings to the right.

Siblings and Tag Categories

• Siblings are the children of parent nodes.

• Displaying tag categories can increase the number of siblings.

• Hiding tags reduces the number of siblings, focusing only on children.

Relationships in Excalibrane

• Relationships can be explicit or inferred.

• Explicit relationships are specified using data view fields.

• Inferred relationships are based on link placement and backlinks between documents.

Understanding Relationships in Excoli Brain

In this section, the speaker explains how relationships are defined and represented in Excoli Brain using data view fields. They also discuss explicitly defined and inferred relationships.

Typifying Relationships with Data View Fields

• Data view fields provide additional information about relationships between nodes.

• By adding a data view field called "working on" and linking it to "What is Excoli Brain," the relationship becomes clearer.

• Different fields describe friend relationships, such as "working on."

• The graph displays explicitly defined relationships in white letters, while inferred relationships are shown differently.

Explicitly Defined and Inferred Relationships

• Obsidian Data View is a child of Excoli Brain because there is a link from this document to Obsidian Data View.

• Similarly, Obsidian Excoli Brain is a parent of What is Excoli Brain.

• When a relationship is explicitly defined, the text appears white, indicating its significance.

Transforming the Use of Obsidian with Excoli Brain

This section explores how Excoli Brain has transformed the way the speaker uses Obsidian. It focuses on typifying relationships using data view fields and creating more atomic nodes.

Typifying Relationships with Data View Fields

• Relationships are typified using data view fields that provide context to paragraphs or rows in documents.

• Different words like "from," "inspired by," or "friend" help contextualize the text and define different types of relationships.

Using Directed Relationships

• Based on which file has the data view field, directed relationships can be created between two files.

• For example, Obsidian Excoli Brain is inspired by The Brain and Breadcrumbs, creating a directional arrow in the graph.

Moving Towards Atomic Nodes

• Using Excoli Brain encourages moving towards more atomic nodes to avoid cluttered graph views.

• Embeds are used strategically to link related content and simplify the layout.

• The Node Refactor plugin helps in cutting larger documents into smaller parts for better organization.

Simplifying Excoli Brain Layout with Atomic Nodes

This section focuses on how using Excoli Brain has helped simplify the layout by utilizing atomic nodes and embedding documents strategically.

Utilizing Atomic Nodes

• Atomic nodes help avoid cluttered views of the graph by linking everything directly to the document.

• Embedding documents strategically reduces clutter and improves organization.

CSS Customization for Embedded Documents

• CSS magic is applied to enhance the appearance of embedded documents.

• Transclusions are used to display continuing content from other pages, improving readability and organization.

Understanding Relationships in Excoli Brain Layout

This section explains how relationships are represented in the Excoli Brain layout, showcasing examples of inferred friend relationships.

Inferred Friend Relationships

• Inferred friend relationships are displayed as blue links in the Excoli Brain layout.

• For example, Bob the Builder and Project B are inferred friends of Thursday because there are links between them on different pages.

Benefits of Using Excoli Brain for Organizing Notes

In this section, the speaker discusses the benefits of using Excoli Brain for organizing notes and how it provides a less cluttered view compared to other methods.

Less Cluttered View

• Using Excoli Brain allows for a more organized and less cluttered view of notes.

• References to different projects or topics are visible in the diagram, making it easier to navigate and understand relationships between them.

Virtual Notes

• Excoli Brain introduces the concept of virtual notes, which are links to files that haven't been created yet.

• Virtual notes play a role in navigating the graph by providing connections between different parts of the vault.

• These uncreated documents still display relationships such as parent-child or friend relationships.

Enhanced Navigation Experience

• Excoli Brain enhances the navigation experience within the vault.

• It seamlessly integrates folders, tags, notes, and virtual notes into one integrated experience.

• Users can easily navigate through their vault using Excoli Brain instead of relying on file explorers or tag panes.

Xcoli Brain Settings

• The speaker briefly demonstrates some settings available in Xcoli Brain.

• Users can set the file path for Xcoli Brain drawings.

• Hierarchies can be defined for parents, children, and friends using comma-separated data view fields.

• Display options include hiding virtual nodes, folders, tags, attachments, etc.

• Styling options allow customization of canvas color and node styles based on type.

Xcolibrane Taking Over Vault Navigation

This section highlights how Xcolibrane has become an essential tool for navigating through the user's Obsidian vault.

Seamless Integration

• Xcolibrane seamlessly integrates with folders, tags, notes, and virtual notes within the Obsidian vault.

• It provides a unified and integrated experience for navigating through different structures such as tag hierarchies, folder hierarchies, and node connections.

Richer Context

• Xcolibrane enhances the user's understanding of their vault by providing a richer context.

• Tag hierarchies, folder hierarchies, and node connections come to life in the visual graph representation.

• This richer context helps users gain a better understanding of the relationships between different parts of their vault.

Exploring Xcoli Brain Settings

In this section, the speaker explores various settings available in Xcoli Brain to customize its behavior.

File Path Setting

• Users can set the file path for Xcoli Brain drawings.

• This is necessary because Xcoli Brain uses an Excludra document as its engine, which requires an open file in the vault.

Hierarchies Definition

• Users can define parent-child and friend relationships using comma-separated data view fields.

• These fields determine how notes are connected within the graph representation.

Display Options

• Various display options are available to customize what is shown in Xcoli Brain.

• Users can hide virtual nodes, folders, tags, attachments, etc., based on their preferences.

• These options can be accessed both from settings and through buttons located at the top of Xcoli Brain.

Maximum Number of Nodes

• There is a setting to limit the maximum number of nodes displayed as children or friends of a particular note.

• This helps prevent cluttered views when dealing with notes that have numerous links.

Styling Options

• Users can customize the canvas color and style of different types of nodes within Xcoli Brain.

• Nodes are styled based on their type (e.g., inferred nodes, virtual nodes, central node).

The transcript provided does not include timestamps for all sections.

Customizing Node Appearance

In this section, the speaker demonstrates how to customize the appearance of nodes in Excalidraw drawings.

Overriding Node Styles

• The speaker overrides the prefix, border color, and font family of a node in Excalidraw drawings.

• This customization allows for personalized and distinct visual representations of nodes in the graph view.

Customizing Link Types

• The link types in Excalidraw correspond to data view fields.

• By defining different link types, users can assign specific visual representations to each type.

• The speaker showcases an example using the "inspired by" link type, which is represented by a yellow arrow.

Modifying Base Link Types

• Users can override base link types using toggles provided.

• This flexibility enables users to create unique and customized visualizations for their links.

Navigating and Searching within Excalidraw Brain

This section focuses on navigation and searching capabilities within Excalidraw Brain.

Searching for Documents

• The speaker demonstrates how to search for documents using the search bar.

• When searching for a document, if no specific field is entered, a list of items related to the search term is displayed.

Stored Documents and Favorites

• Empty fields display a list of stored documents that match the search term.

• The "starred" core plugin allows users to mark documents as favorites for quick access.

Pinning Documents to Panes

• Users can pin specific documents to panes for consistent viewing.

• By selecting the desired pane and clicking on the pin button, users ensure that navigating through other documents does not change the pinned document's view.

Advanced Features: Docking Hover Editor and Creating Snapshots

This section explores advanced features in Excalidraw Brain, including docking the hover editor and creating snapshots.

Docking Hover Editor

• The speaker demonstrates how to dock the hover editor into a workspace pane.

• Docking allows for easier access and navigation between documents.

Pinning Excalidraw Brain

• Users can pin Excalidraw Brain to a specific pane, ensuring that it remains fixed while navigating through other documents.

• This feature provides a focused view on the brain map without changing other panes.

Creating Snapshots with Drawings

• Clicking the pencil button opens drawings in a new pane, allowing users to edit and save them as snapshots.

• Snapshots capture graph views and can be accompanied by additional content for reference or documentation purposes.

Conclusion and Installation Instructions

The speaker concludes the video by summarizing what Excalidraw Brain is and its impact on their use of Obsidian. They also provide installation instructions for Excalidraw Brain.

Summary of Excalidraw Brain

• Excalidraw Brain is an extension based on Obsidian that transforms the user's experience.

• The speaker shares how it has positively influenced their usage of Obsidian.

Installation Instructions

• Currently, Excalidraw Brain is not available in the community plugin store.

• Users need to install it using Obsidian Brat, which is explained in a linked video provided in the description.