#obtf — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #obtf, aggregated by home.social.
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After the best part of 2 years appending to my #OBTF, I've finally got my head around prepending. And I think it's my #PlainTextPlanner that's helped my neurons accept that this is a good move.
Working with the brain cell pathways, not trying to force them into what I'm told is the 'right' path, has taught me more about productivity than pretty much anything else.
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Brainwave! I am renaming my One Big Text File. It’s no longer an #OBTF, it’s a One Note Inbox. #1N Much more descriptive of how I actually use it, and it fits in nicely with my One Page Notebook.
#1P #productivity #plainTexthttps://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/the-surprisingly-powerful-one-page-notebook-thats-always-with-me-0027bf5d1e8b
https://ellanew.com/2025/09/01/ptpl-171-edc-one-page-notebook -
Brainwave! I am renaming my One Big Text File. It’s no longer an #OBTF, it’s a One Note Inbox. #1N Much more descriptive of how I actually use it, and it fits in nicely with my One Page Notebook.
#1P #productivity #plainTexthttps://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/the-surprisingly-powerful-one-page-notebook-thats-always-with-me-0027bf5d1e8b
https://ellanew.com/2025/09/01/ptpl-171-edc-one-page-notebook -
Brainwave! I am renaming my One Big Text File. It’s no longer an #OBTF, it’s a One Note Inbox. #1N Much more descriptive of how I actually use it, and it fits in nicely with my One Page Notebook.
#1P #productivity #plainTexthttps://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/the-surprisingly-powerful-one-page-notebook-thats-always-with-me-0027bf5d1e8b
https://ellanew.com/2025/09/01/ptpl-171-edc-one-page-notebook -
Brainwave! I am renaming my One Big Text File. It’s no longer an #OBTF, it’s a One Note Inbox. #1N Much more descriptive of how I actually use it, and it fits in nicely with my One Page Notebook.
#1P #productivity #plainTexthttps://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/the-surprisingly-powerful-one-page-notebook-thats-always-with-me-0027bf5d1e8b
https://ellanew.com/2025/09/01/ptpl-171-edc-one-page-notebook -
Brainwave! I am renaming my One Big Text File. It’s no longer an #OBTF, it’s a One Note Inbox. #1N Much more descriptive of how I actually use it, and it fits in nicely with my One Page Notebook.
#1P #productivity #plainTexthttps://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/the-surprisingly-powerful-one-page-notebook-thats-always-with-me-0027bf5d1e8b
https://ellanew.com/2025/09/01/ptpl-171-edc-one-page-notebook -
@saraschlijper 👋 Nice to hear the #OBTF works for your tasks as well! How do you structure them, and keep track of projects and deadlines?
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@matcha06 Always append to my #OBTF these days.
Two reasons:
First, I keep the top of the file as a dashboard for important information and links. Things I am happy to see every day. Second, it feels more natural, especially if I'm writing a lot in one day; it's counterintuitive to write/read down, but add new entries above that.
Bank records prepend and I can read those just fine, so really it's just personal preference.
Read more: https://ellanew.com/2024/04/15/ptpl-100-obtf-top-down-bottom-up
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people using #OBTF for their lists do you append or prepend to the file?
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I just discovered there’s a Reddit community for #OBTF. These people are hard core! And there aren’t too many of them, but enough to show that there’s a desire for simplifying out there coupled with a need to keep control of where and how data is stored.
It’s really good to know I’m not alone. #plainText
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Welcome @prealpinux's blog ✨ https://notes.prealpinux.com ✨ to https://LMNO.lol
Custom domains welcome! #plaintext #privacy #smallweb #smolweb #spartanweb #obtf #markdown
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@pmidden I mainly use single big org file for most of my notes, paired with context based tagging.
such as, t@work, t@meeting, t@shop
t -> task
p -> project
l -> learnThis helps alot to narrow quickly with consult-org-heading, and org-ql-find.
Also i make use of
`#+select_tags:` which I export to temp org buffer (C-c C-e O O) to read certain tags just as individual files. -
#Journelly for #iOS can potentially support #markdown. I'm still gauging if there's enough Markdown interest (please boost for reach).
👉 Register your interest by emailing: journelly + markdown @ xenodium.com
The more requests I get, the sooner I'll get markdown out the door.
If you haven't heard about Journelly, here's a blog post https://xenodium.com/journelly-like-tweeting-but-for-your-eyes-only
#plaintext #privacy #orgmode #vim #swift #swiftui #ios #iphone #obtf
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This week: PTPL 155 · When the Wonderland222 Met My Old Moleskine Cahier Layout.
Pros and cons of both of these analog calendar approaches. A curiosity-driven tiny experiment, with a reference to the OBTF of digital notemaking.
“…simple, rustic, and unpretentious, and the very essence of uncomplicated freedom I was — and am — drawn to.”
Blog https://ellanew.com/ptpl/155-2025-05-05-wonderland222-meets-moleskine-cahier
Medium members, read here (please) https://miscellaneplans.medium.com/when-the-wonderland222-met-my-old-moleskine-cahier-layout-b4890b591adc -
I love my Wonderland222 but I’ve just realised I can draw up a Moleskine Cahier as a weekly planner and I really really like the idea. No regrets buying the W222, but man, that cahier is calling!
6 months in one book, 2 books for a year. Plus another cahier for notes, #obtf style, and a wad of scrap paper for going crazy. All in the one A5 binder.
My plan is to try it out from June to December and see what happens. It’s a tiny experiment (thanks, Anne-Laure)!
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Daily notes, or One Big Text File? It's not an either-or; you can have both! Here's the intriguing case for multiple unique notes per day.
Blog https://ellanew.com/2025-03-10-multiple-daily-notes-and-obtf
Medium https://medium.com/p/9c0ad830f47 -
Daily notes are notes you write on the days you feel like writing them. Whether your notes are in separate files or an #OBTF, the important thing is that you keep on writing and learning from them.
Read more:
Blog https://ellanew.com/ptpl/138-2025-01-06-daily-notes-dont-need-separate-files
Medium https://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/daily-notes-dont-need-to-live-in-separate-files-31569e7d09f2 -
What’s the best tool for recording that thought you just had before it’s gone? The one that’s always with you. The one that lets you start writing within 3 seconds of picking it up. Bonus points for working offline.
Drafts works well for this, and it can quickly append text to my One Big Text File in #Obsidian, but my fav quick capture tool when out and about is the cheap little A7 notebook that’s always in my bag. #analog #OBTF #EDC #productivity
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PTPL 131: Don't be dogmatic about the tools you use, but do insist on protecting your work. Dash-Plus works best on paper; letters work better when classifying daily notes in an OBTF (One Big Text File).
Medium members (please and thank you) https://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/classifying-notes-in-an-obtf-inspired-by-the-dash-plus-system-a22f2bc5f741
Indie blog https://ellanew.com/ptpl/131-classifying-obtf-notes-dash-plus-inspired -
Writing daily notes in both digital and analog formats that are useful to your future self takes some doing. I'm experimenting with the Dash-Plus system in both my paper notebook and One Big Text File, and loving it!
Bullet Journal symbols aren't better or worse than Dash-Plus, but at this point I prefer the simplicity of the latter, where every note begins with the same symbol.
Blog https://ellanew.com/ptpl/126-dash-plus-system-in-obtf-and-analog-notes
Medium members https://medium.com/@miscellaneplans/ptpl-126-what-the-dash-plus-system-looks-like-in-my-obtf-and-analog-notes-419873d27920 -
This week — how the top of my OBTF reinforces my values and motivates me to live up to them (with screenshots of it in 6 different apps), plus my first physical book buy of the year (Bob Doto's A System For Writing).
Medium (includes Friend link) https://medium.com/produclivity/ptpl-115-theres-something-new-at-the-top-of-my-one-big-text-file-89d62e340fdc
Blog (no paywall) https://www.blog.plaintextpaperless.com/p/ptpl-115-theres-something-new-in-my-obtf -
Something my One Big Text File helps me with is keeping to task when I’m beckoned down a rabbit hole by the words, “I wonder what would happen if…”
TBH I probably have about a 50% success rate of writing the Interesting Thing down and getting back to work, but hey, that’s better than it could have been!
The other 50% isn’t all bad. Sometimes following the sparkles to see where they lead can benefit the main task, too. Cultivate curiosity! Have fun! And write down what you learn.
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@publicvoit I don't think, that Markdown per se is a lock-in factor. Ideally, every tool would save everything as flat text files. That would truly be open, imho.
Ages ago, I was using a simple, text file based local wiki. Things got complicated ever since.
Btw, are you familiar with #obtf?
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Just started following the #obtf hashtag, as I find the idea compelling. I manage my to-do list in a single text file with the todo.txt syntax. Some 15 to 20 years ago, I also used a single file desktop wiki and a single file CMS. But it never occurred to me, that one could also take notes in one file.
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This week: Knowledge management practices in 19th C literature, dictionary and specimen notes in Obsidian, and why I'm glad I turned my 11-week-old One Big Text File on its head.
Medium (includes Friend link) https://medium.com/produclivity/ptpl-100-one-big-text-file-top-down-or-bottom-up-b712083b3485
Blog https://www.blog.plaintextpaperless.com/p/ptpl-100-one-big-text-file-top-down-or-bottom-up -
Asking for contributors to my new #obtf #pkm markdown journal template. I’ve been using a one big text file daily for over two years and really like. Would love some ideas on how to make the template better. It’s on #github https://github.com/CLSherrod/OBTF/
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I recently decided to start working with plain text (as in .txt) files for a few things, such as podcast notes. I'm not in the #OBTF camp (hat tip @mikegrindle) but I do find the plain, no-format text useful for notes. Now just trying to figure out the best app for my iPad for on-the-go editing and viewing.