Template by Note Name

Template by Note Name

This is a simple Obsidian plugin to automatically template notes based on their name when created or renamed. Users can template notes that match their desired naming conventions with any template that exists in their specified templates folder (including sub-folders).

Examples:

• Create notes that start with Meeting with the content of Templates/meeting.md
• Create notes that end with Task with the content of Templates/task.md
• Create notes that contain Idea with the content of Templates/idea.md

Features

• Quicker templating: Automatically template notes based on their name at creation time
• Customizable: Users can create rules to template notes based on their personal naming conventions
• Multiple match options: Choose from prefix, suffix, or contains to template notes
• Optionally template on rename: Choose whether or not to template notes when they are renamed If a note is renamed to a matching template, the template content will be prepended to the existing note.
• Case sensitivity options: Choose whether or not to match note names against rules in a case-sensitive manner

Installation

You can install the plugin via the Community Plugins tab within Obsidian or by direct link here.

Zettelkasten Inspiration

While the plugin supports general usage beyond Zettelkasten, my primary motivation for building the plugin was quicker templating of notes in a Zettelkasten system.

In Zettelkasten, notes are generally one of three types: reference notes, literature notes, or permanent notes (although many variations exist based on personal preference).

• Reference notes contain information that is useful for reference, such as direct quotes from a source
• Literature notes contain concise summaries in your own words a key point or idea made in a reference note's source.
• Permanent notes contain fully-worked original thoughts or ideas inspired by one or more literature notes.

To manage these, I prefix each note type with a different color emoji for easy visual identification within Obsidian: 🟦 for reference notes, 🟨 for literature notes, and 🟩 for permanent notes.

I then have a template for each note type in my Templates folder, for example Templates/reference_note.md:

---
type: Note
tags:
  - reference-note
  - inbox
date:
source:
author(s):
reviewed: false
---
**Summary**:

**Highlights**:

Using the plugin, it's simple to create new Zettelkasten notes that are already populated with the Obsidian page properties I like to include for each note type.

Settings