external-file-card: Display External File Information in Obsidian

Introduction

The external-file-card is an Obsidian plugin designed to enhance your note-taking experience by seamlessly integrating external file information directly into your vaults. This plugin allows you to display a card showing basic details of files located in pre-defined folders outside your Obsidian vault. It supports various file types and provides clickable links to open files and their containing folders using your operating system's default applications.

Installation

To install the external-file-card plugin in Obsidian:

1. Open Obsidian.
2. Navigate to Settings (gear icon).
3. Go to Community plugins.
4. Ensure Restricted mode is turned off.
5. Click Browse next to Community plugins.
6. Search for "External File Card".
7. Click Install.
8. Once installed, toggle the plugin on in the Community plugins list.
9. Configure the External paths in the plugin's settings to specify the root directories where your external files are located.

Examples

The plugin offers flexible ways to display external file information:

• Code Block Card: Use ef or extfile language in a Markdown code block.

  ef
  file.pdf
  
  

  This will render a card displaying information for file.pdf. You can list multiple files for a single card:

  ef
  file.pdf
  another_file.pdf
  
  

  For a more compact view, use efc or extfilec:

  efc
  file.pdf
  
  

  You can also customize the displayed text in the card:

  ef
  file.pdf|This is my important document
  
  

• Inline File Link: Create direct links using Obsidian URIs like obsidian://ef?file.pdf.

  [Open my PDF](obsidian://ef?file.pdf)
  

  Remember to encode spaces with colons, for example, obsidian://ef?this:is:a:file.pdf for "this is a file.pdf".

• Folder Links: To link to a folder, simply end the path with a backslash /:

  ef
  my-folder/
  
  

  Or in an inline link:

  [Open my Folder](obsidian://ef?folder/)
  

Why Use

The external-file-card plugin is particularly useful for users who store many document files outside their Obsidian vault, perhaps in cloud storage like OneDrive or Google Drive. It bridges the gap between your notes and these external resources, making them easily accessible and referenceable within Obsidian across multiple devices. This enhances productivity by centralizing access to all relevant information, regardless of its storage location. It's a powerful tool for anyone looking to integrate external documents, PDFs, or other files directly into their Obsidian workflow.

Links

• GitHub Repository: James-Yu/external-file-card