forum.obsidian.md

The Obsidian Forum is the official community discussion site for Obsidian users, hosted at forum.obsidian.md. It's a Discourse-based platform where people ask for help, report bugs, request features, discuss knowledge management, and share plugins, themes, and workflows. It's useful if you want searchable, threaded discussions you can return to later; if you prefer real-time chat, the site points to Discord channels instead.

What the forum covers

The forum is organized into categories, each with a distinct purpose:

How to use it effectively

1. Search before posting. The bug report and feature request categories explicitly ask you to check for duplicates first.
2. Pick the right category. API and CSS questions have their own sections under Help, and completed plugins or themes belong in Share & Showcase rather than the dev categories.
3. Use hearts as votes. In Feature requests, likes count as votes, so adding a like to an existing request is more useful than posting a duplicate.
4. Read the linked guides. The Help category points to the User Guide, and Bug reports points to the Troubleshooting Guide.

When to use the forum vs. Discord

The forum is the better fit when you want a durable, searchable record of a problem or discussion. The site itself notes that if you prefer chatting, there are Discord channels—including #plugin-dev and #theme-dev—for real-time conversation. For questions about inclusion in the community directory, the forum directs you to a Discord forum instead.

What to expect

The forum is powered by Discourse and is best viewed with JavaScript enabled. Guidelines, Terms of Service, and Privacy Policy are linked from the site. Topic counts visible on the homepage show that Help and Bug graveyard are among the largest categories, so you're likely to find prior discussion of common issues before starting a new thread.

The Obsidian Forum is organized into a small set of top-level categories, each with a defined purpose: Help, Bug reports, Feature requests, Knowledge management, Share & showcase, two developer sections (Plugins & API, Theme Design & Custom CSS), Meta, plus archived areas (Bug graveyard, Feature archive, Plugins ideas, Basement). To pick the right one, match your intent to the category description: questions about using Obsidian go to Help, reproducible defects go to Bug reports, and so on. The category list below reflects the forum's own category descriptions and topic counts at the time this was written.

Main categories and what belongs in each

Archived categories

These exist for reference and historical threads rather than new posts:

• Bug graveyard — resolved or retired bug reports.
• Feature archive — features that have been implemented.
• Plugins ideas — ideas for third-party plugins; the description notes archival is in progress, and implemented plugins should open a thread in Share & showcase instead.
• Basement — other archived threads that are too old or no longer relevant.

How to choose a category

1. You can't get something to work. Start in Help. If it looks like a defect rather than a usage question, move to Bug reports — but search for duplicates and check the Troubleshooting Guide first.
2. You want Obsidian to do something it doesn't do. Post in Feature requests for core functionality. If it's a third-party plugin idea, use Plugins ideas; if you've built the plugin, use Share & showcase.
3. You want to discuss method, not tooling. Knowledge management is the place for PKM methodology.
4. You made something. Share & showcase covers plugins, themes, CSS snippets, workflows, templates, and hacks.
5. You're writing code. Plugin and API work goes to Devs: Plugins & API (after reading the Dev Docs); theme and CSS work goes to Devs: Theme Design & Custom CSS.
6. Your topic is about the forum or the project itself. Use Meta.

A practical check before posting anywhere: search the forum for an existing thread on the same issue, since the category descriptions explicitly ask for this in Bug reports and Feature requests. If you'd rather chat than post, the descriptions point to Discord channels for general chat, plugin development (#plugin-dev), and theme development (#theme-dev).

Before posting on the Obsidian Forum, do two things: search the forum for an existing thread on your issue, and read the relevant official guide. The forum's own category descriptions ask for this explicitly — Help points to the User Guide, Bug reports asks you to search for duplicates and read the Troubleshooting Guide, and Feature requests asks you to search before posting. Doing this first is also what keeps your post from being merged, locked, or ignored as a duplicate.

The short version

Step 1: Search the forum for duplicates

The category descriptions repeat this request three times: Bug reports says "please search the forum for duplicates," Feature requests says "try searching the forum for duplicates before posting," and the same expectation applies to Help.

Search before you write, not after. If a thread already exists, add your details to it instead of starting a new one — that keeps the original thread's context and any workarounds in one place.

Step 2: Check the guide that matches your post type

For help questions: the User Guide

The Help category description says: "Get help from fellow Obsidian users. Don't forget to check out our User Guide!" Many "how do I…" questions are already answered there, so check it before asking other users to explain a built-in behavior.

For bugs: the Troubleshooting Guide

Bug reports states: "Before posting, please search the forum for duplicates and read the Troubleshooting Guide." The Troubleshooting Guide is where you confirm the problem isn't a known configuration or environment issue before filing it as a bug.

For feature ideas: search, and check where it belongs

Feature requests covers features for core Obsidian, and the category description notes that "Likes (Hearts) = Votes" — so the reaction count is how demand is measured. If your idea is for a third-party plugin rather than core, the description directs you to post under Plugins ideas instead.

Step 3: Pick the right category

The forum separates topics by type, and the descriptions are specific about routing:

• API questions — the Help description notes "There are separate sections on the forum for API and CSS questions." API and plugin-interface topics belong in Devs: Plugins & API, which also points to the Dev Docs and the #plugin-dev Discord channel.
• CSS and theme questions — go to Devs: Theme Design & Custom CSS, which also has a #theme-dev Discord channel.
• Finished work — completed plugins go in Share & showcase; completed themes go there too. The Plugins ideas description adds that implemented plugins "should open a thread in Share & showcase."
• Plugin directory inclusion — the Devs: Plugins & API description says questions about inclusion in the community directory go to a specific Discord forum rather than the main board.

If you would rather chat than post, the Help description mentions a Discord channel as an alternative.

Step 4: Write the post

Once you've confirmed your issue isn't already covered, include enough for someone to reproduce or answer it: what you did, what you expected, what happened, and your Obsidian version and platform. For bugs, this is what makes the report actionable rather than a back-and-forth.

Common pitfalls

• Posting a bug without reading the Troubleshooting Guide. The category asks for it directly, and skipping it often means the "bug" is a setting or plugin conflict.
• Filing a third-party plugin idea under Feature requests. That category is for core Obsidian; plugin ideas have their own section.
• Putting API or CSS questions in Help. Both have dedicated developer sections.
• Opening a new thread for something already discussed. Search first and continue the existing thread.

What happens to old threads

The forum archives rather than deletes. Bug graveyard holds closed bugs, Feature archive holds implemented features, and Basement holds threads archived for being too old or no longer relevant. If you land on a thread in one of these from a search, treat it as background — start a current thread if the issue is still live for you.

The Obsidian Forum hosts a dedicated Knowledge management category for talking about PKM (personal knowledge management) methodologies. If you want to compare note-taking systems, debate how to structure a vault, or see how other people organize their thinking, that category is the place to start. The forum also spreads related discussion across Help, Share & showcase, and the developer sections, so knowledge-management ideas often surface outside the dedicated category too.

The dedicated Knowledge management category

The forum's own description of this category is short and specific: "Talk about PKM methodologies." That scope is the clearest signal of what belongs there. Expect threads about approaches to capturing, linking, and retrieving notes rather than troubleshooting a specific plugin or CSS snippet.

Because it is a methodology category, the useful discussions tend to be about how and why people organize knowledge, not just which button to press. That makes it a good fit if you are deciding between systems or trying to fix a workflow that has stopped working.

What "PKM methodologies" covers in practice

The category description does not enumerate topics, so the safest way to describe it is by the phrase the forum uses: methodologies for personal knowledge management. In practice, that means discussions about how people approach knowledge work in Obsidian and knowledge management generally.

If you are looking for a specific method by name, treat the category as the entry point and search within it. The forum does not publish a fixed list of approved methodologies, so the range of what appears depends on what users choose to post.

Related discussions elsewhere on the forum

Knowledge-management conversations are not confined to one category. The forum's structure shows several adjacent places where they appear:

The Share & showcase category is especially relevant if you want to see a methodology turned into templates or workflows rather than discussed in the abstract.

How to get useful answers from these discussions

The forum's Help category gives one concrete instruction worth applying across the board: "Don't forget to check out our User Guide!" Before posting a methodology question, it also helps to search for duplicates, since the forum explicitly asks users to do this in several categories.

A practical sequence:

1. Search the Knowledge management category for your topic or method name.
2. Check the User Guide for anything that is really a product question rather than a methodology question.
3. If you post, put methodology debates in Knowledge management and concrete artifacts (templates, workflows) in Share & showcase.
4. For live chat, note that the forum points to a Discord channel if you prefer chatting.

What you will not find stated

The forum's category descriptions do not promise a curated curriculum, a ranked list of methods, or official recommendations. The Knowledge management category is described only as a place to "talk about PKM methodologies," so treat it as a peer discussion space. The value comes from other users' experience, not from an authoritative ruling on the right way to manage knowledge.

The Obsidian Forum routes each kind of contribution to a specific category, and picking the right one is most of the work. Core feature suggestions go to Feature requests, third-party plugin ideas go to Plugins ideas, and finished work — plugins, themes, CSS snippets, workflows, templates — goes to Share & showcase. Theme and CSS development questions have their own developer category. The sections below cover what belongs where, how voting works, and what to check before you post.

Suggesting a feature for core Obsidian

Post in the Feature requests category when you want something added to Obsidian itself, not to a community plugin.

Two things to know before you write:

• Likes are votes. The forum states plainly that "Likes (Hearts) = Votes," so a suggestion's support is measured by hearts rather than by replies. A short, clear request that people agree with can outrank a long thread.
• Search for duplicates first. The category description asks you to "try searching the forum for duplicates before posting." If a thread already exists, adding your heart and a comment is more useful than starting a parallel one.

If your idea is really about a third-party plugin rather than core Obsidian, it belongs in Plugins ideas instead — see below.

Sharing a plugin idea vs. a finished plugin

These are two different categories, and mixing them up is the most common misfile.

The Plugins ideas category is described as a place to "share ideas for third-party plugins you would like to use." Its description also notes that implemented plugins "should open a thread in Share & showcase" — so once an idea becomes real code, it moves.

Share & showcase is the home for finished work of any kind: "Showcase your plugins, themes, CSS snippets, workflows, templates, and nifty hacks." If you've built something and want people to use it, this is the destination.

Getting help while building a theme or plugin

If your work isn't finished yet and you're stuck on the technical side, there are dedicated developer categories:

• Devs: Plugins & API — for the plugin interface and technical questions while working with Obsidian. The category points to the Dev Docs and a #plugin-dev channel on Discord. Note that questions about inclusion in the community directory are handled in a separate Discord forum, and completed plugins still go to Share & showcase.
• Devs: Theme Design & Custom CSS — for designing themes and snippets with CSS, with a #theme-dev channel on Discord. Completed themes also go to Share & showcase.

So the pattern is: ask development questions in the Devs categories, then post the finished result in Share & showcase.

Before you post anything

A few habits save you and everyone else time:

1. Search first. Both Feature requests and Bug reports explicitly ask you to check for duplicates.
2. Read the relevant guide. The Help category points to the User Guide, and Bug reports points to the Troubleshooting Guide. There are separate forum sections for API and CSS questions.
3. Match the category to the artifact. Idea → Plugins ideas. Finished → Share & showcase. Core suggestion → Feature requests. Development question → the matching Devs category.
4. Use hearts as votes. If you support an existing feature request, like it rather than posting "+1."

If you'd rather chat than post, the forum notes there's a Discord channel for general help, plus the #plugin-dev and #theme-dev channels for development topics.