📚 Quick Start Guide - devonthesofa/obsidian-note-status GitHub Wiki

Quick Start Guide

Get the Note Status plugin working in under 5 minutes.

Installation

Method 1: Community Plugin Store (Recommended)

  1. Open Obsidian → Settings → Community plugins
  2. Disable Safe mode
  3. Click "Browse" → Search "Note Status"
  4. Install and Enable

Method 2: Manual Installation

  1. Download latest release from GitHub
  2. Extract the following files into your Obsidian vault under .obsidian/plugins/note-status/:
    • main.js
    • manifest.json
    • styles.css
  3. In Obsidian, go to Settings → Community plugins and enable Note Status.

First Status Assignment

Using the Toolbar

  1. Open any note
  2. Click the icon in the toolbar:
    • Status From Toolbar Screenshot
  3. Select a status (e.g., "active")
  4. Status appears in status bar and file explorer:
    • Status Bar Screenshot
    • File Explorer Screenshot

Using Commands

  1. Press Ctrl/Cmd + P for command palette
  2. Type "Change status"
  3. Select status from dropdown

Essential Settings

Access via Settings → Note Status:

✅ Show status bar
✅ Show status icons in file explorer
✅ Enable multiple statuses
❌ Auto-hide status bar (disable for learning)

Status Templates

Enable a template for instant statuses: Recommended for beginners: "Minimal workflow"

  • todo 📌
  • inProgress ⚙️
  • review 👀
  • done

First Workflow

  1. Create a project note → Set status to todo
  2. Start working → Change to inProgress
  3. Need feedback → Change to review
  4. Complete → Change to done

Viewing Your Statuses

Status Pane (Recommended)

  • Click status icon in left sidebar
  • See all notes grouped by status
  • Click any note to open Status Pane Screenshot

File Explorer

  • Status icons appear next to file names
  • Right-click files to change status
  • Select multiple files for batch updates - Status Pane Screenshot File Explorer Screenshot

Performance Setup (Large Vaults)

If you have 1000+ notes, set the settings:

✅ Exclude unassigned notes from status pane
✅ Hide unknown status in file explorer

Frontmatter Format

The plugin stores statuses in YAML frontmatter:

---
obsidian-note-status:
    - active
---

Multiple statuses:

---
obsidian-note-status:
    - idea
    - HelloWorld
---

Next Steps

Quick Reference

Action Method
Set status Click toolbar icon
Batch update Select files → right-click
View all statuses Open status pane
Add custom status Settings → Custom statuses
Remove status Click status chip → X