Dann Berg's Meeting template for Obsidian. Full implementation instructions here: https://dannb.org/blog/2023/obsidian-meeting-note-template/. See the YouTube tutorial here: https://youtu.be/Ud16HOQoS5Q

obsidian-meeting-template.txt

---
date: <% tp.file.creation_date() %>
type: meeting
company: 
summary: " "
---
tags: [[🗣 Meetings MOC]]
Date: [[<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD-dddd") %>]]
<% await tp.file.rename(tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") + " " + tp.file.title) %>
# [[<% tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") + " " + tp.file.title %>]]

**Attendees**: 
- 

## Agenda/Questions
- 

## Notes
- 

@ashepp To be honest, I don't really use my People MOC page that much, so I haven't spent too much time fleshing it out yet. However, for a consultancy, there are a few ways I would approach building it:

1. One giant dataview table, with separate columns for name, company, category, (or any other categorization data you want to easily view)
2. Separate dataview tables, separated by company, category, or some other parameter that makes sense to you
3. Create sections in your People MOC page with client names as H1 tags. Under that, use dataview to create a list of names associated with that client. Maybe a separate dataview to pull in meeting notes right there, if that's useful

At the end of the day, you have the freedom to build what's most useful to you. For me, the most useful People MOC would sort of look like scrolling through my Contacts app on my phone. I don't have this built myself, because I get that same experience by looking in the People directory where all these People files live. However, you can use the People MOC page to build something more useful to you and your business.

Hope that helps!

@ashepp The LYT Kit (Linking your Thinking by Nick Milo) has been a big inspiration to me, and might help you as well: https://notes.linkingyourthinking.com/Atlas/People+MOC

It's not exactly what you're looking for, but might prove a solid foundation.

Thanks Dann, I appreciate your thoughts and sounds like a good approach. I'll check out your podcast too. Cheers!

Thanks for sharing these templates! Can you share the general folder structure you use to organize content in your vault?

@ekerstens I'm actually working on a big Meeting Note blog post now (publishing soon). EDIT: this has been published. But here's my full directory structure. It's largely based on Nick Milo's Linking Your Thinking (and adapted for my own use), so check him out for more detail.

The biggest thing that might need explaination is the Timestamps directory. Each year directory inside the Timestamps folder houses my daily notes. Each daily note is in a month directory (learn more here). The Meetings directory has no sub-directories. It's just a single directory for all my meeting notes. And the meeting notes all are named "[date | Y-m-d] [title]" so they're in order.

Also, the "Umami" folder is from LYT. And I really didn't like the name "umami" at first, but it grew on me. It's where 90% of my content goes (whatever doesn't fit in any of the other directories). It's basically "everything else."

• Atlas
  • MOCs
• Extras
  • Images
  • People
  • Templates
• Sources
  • Articles
  • Books
• Spaces
  • Monthly Newsletter
  • My Articles
  • Physical Objects
  • Work
    • Company 1
    • Company 2
• Timestamps
  • 2020
  • 2021
  • 2022
  • 2023
  • Meetings
• Umami

Thank you for this great starting point. I have used your template to create my own meeting template from it:

Additionally, I am using the obsidian-google-calendar plugin to create my meetings directly from my Google Calendar. (which might be unnecessary overhead for some, I guess).

The template is the following:
GCal-meeting-template.md

---
type: meeting
location: "{{gEvent.location}}"
date_start: "{{gEvent.start.dateTime}}"
date_end: "{{gEvent.end.dateTime}}"
date: "<% window.moment('{{gEvent.start.date}}' != '' ? '{{gEvent.start.date}}' : '{{gEvent.start.dateTime}}').format('YYYY-MM-DD') %>"
MOCs:
  - "[[Meetings MOC]]"
  - "[[<% window.moment('{{gEvent.start.date}}' != '' ? '{{gEvent.start.date}}' : '{{gEvent.start.dateTime}}').format('YYYY-MM-DD-dddd') %>]]"

summary: 
---
# [[<% tp.file.title %>]]
{{gEvent.description}}

You can now put links to other notes into the front matter, and they will update accordingly, if the name of a MOC changes.
Everything can become more compact thanks to that Update in Obsidian.

In my Google Calendar Event, I have the following text in the description, which will be pasted into the {{gEvent.description}} automatically. The last line there tells the plugin where to store the note and which template it should apply to it.

### Attendees
- [[My Colleague|colleague]]
### Notes
- 

:Extras/Meetings-obsidian-GCal-meeting-template:

The created meeting note then looks like this:
2023-09-27 Weekly Meeting with my Colleague.md

---
event-id: 123456 (this is the google calendar event id)
type: meeting
location: "[[Earth]]"
date_all_day: ""
date_start: 2023-09-27T16:00:00+02:00
date_end: 2023-09-27T17:00:00+02:00
MOCs:
  - "[[Meetings MOC]]"
  - "[[2023-09-27]]"
summary: 
---
# [[2023-09-27 Weekly Meeting with my Colleague]]
### Attendees
- [[My Colleague|colleague]]
### Notes
- 

@mgorfer Thanks so much for sharing this! I haven't explored the obsidian-google-calendar plugin yet. Seems compelling.

Do you auto-create notes in Obsidian for every meeting on your calendar? Or do you pick and choose? What does that process look like for you?

The plugin, by default, only imports events which have the :obsidian: keyword in the description. And I do not want to import all events from my Google calendar into my Obsidian notes. Entries like going to the hairdresser are nothing I need an event node for. But you could import all events in your Google Calendar automatically if you want.

I made several templates depending on the type of event I want to record.
The one I shared above is just a basic meeting template I used to create more specific templates.
For my work, I have 3 different types of weekly meetings. In Google Calendar, I set all of these events to reoccur weekly. I also pre-filled more general details, like participants and the expected agenda of the meeting. You can enter these details either in the template file in Obsidian, or in the Google Calendar description (as I did in the example above). It just depends on your preference where to enter the details.

I also created an events template, which I use for memorable private events, which I activate with the keywords
:Cards/Events-obsidian-GCal-event-template:, which automatically imports the event to the Cards/Events folder using the GCal-event-template.

In the plugin, you can also decide the time-range of import. You can choose between 0 and 7 days both into the past and into the future, depending on when you want your future events to appear in Obsidian, or if you want to add past events to Obsidian.
I set it up to check events for today and tomorrow. When they appear in Obsidian, I also add some more details to the meetings, like questions, before the event starts.

The Event Note Name and Properties (like date, time, location) are taken from the Google Calendar. So no need to fix dates of events which start in the future. There are also more convenience features, like the Event Note Name Format, Prefixes, Default Calendars, etc.

I am very pleased by the performance and convenience of the plugin, just the documentation is a bit sparse.
(Something I want to contribute with a PR soon, hopefully ;) )

@mgorfer Here's one more question for you: what is your process for actually using the notes that you take during meetings?

Do you do any sort of regular review, and pull important details into a topic-based note? Are they tagged and searchable in some way? Do they more just sit there without being reviewed (like I currently do lol).

I'm fairly good at the taking of the notes, but not quite as good with the using of the notes. Curious if others have figured this part out better.

@dannberg I cannot give you an answer to that yet. I just started using obsidian and taking digital notes very recently and have never used my notes yet, actually.
My expectation is, unfortunately, that my elaborate system of capturing will be mostly used just for capturing, haha . .
For my analogue notes, I rarely used them ~

But I will try to give you an update on how actually using my notes is working out, maybe one month in into this new project.

@mgorfer if you're able to solve the problem, please share! It's one I still very much struggle with.

Theoretically, I imagine a working habit might look like:

1. Weekly review of takes taken this past week
2. Process notes (use bold and italics to emphasize words and sentences, for easier review later
3. Add tags to notes so it's easily searchable in the future
4. Take any important information out of the meeting note, and add it to a topic note

I say "theoretically" because this sounds all fine and dandy, but it's a really difficult habit to actually stick to. And I need a habit that actually sticks lol.

Let me know what you figure out.

I just published a new blog post about my full Meeting Note Template and system, in case anyone is interested in the finer details.

@dannberg Somehow when I created the button for "new meeting", my meeting template got moved out from the template folder to the meeting folder in my timestamps. Is there anything I did not do or steps that I've missed as I just copied and paste your code.

@jasonchuasg Did you follow the instructions on my blog in order to create the button? Check out the section "Creating new meeting button (continued)" at the bottom. It sounds like it might be an issue with the button, rather than the template.

@jasonchuasg Did you follow the instructions on my blog in order to create the button? Check out the section "Creating new meeting button (continued)" at the bottom. It sounds like it might be an issue with the button, rather than the template.

I follow every step that was given. Tried a few more times, somehow, my meeting template got moved to the timestamps folder and the meeting template name was changed to the title of a new meeting that render the button useless.

@jasonchuasg It sounds like what's happening is that when you press the button, it's running the templater code on your template file, rather than making a new copy from the template and running templater code on that. I'm not sure at what step in that process it's happening, but make sure you're not expanding the templater code in the template file. The template file is only used to create new documents.

@jasonchuasg It sounds like what's happening is that when you press the button, it's running the templater code on your template file, rather than making a new copy from the template and running templater code on that. I'm not sure at what step in that process it's happening, but make sure you're not expanding the templater code in the template file. The template file is only used to create new documents.

How do I ensure that my Templater code did not get expanded in the template file?

It's impossible for me to tell without looking at your entire setup. But my guess based on what you're saying it that it's something that's happening with the button. Make sure you're using the button maker interface to make the button (not copy/pasting), the button is in a different note than the template (I use a Meetings MOC file), and that you're using the same settings I'm using in the screenshot in my blog post.

I'm planning to record a video at some point soon showing how I set everything up, too. So hopefully one of those can help you get it working.

I'm facing the same issue, even when I copy-paste your exact files. There must be something wrong with the settings. I'll keep looking. Thank you so much for sharing your templates and your workflow!

I'm facing the same issue, even when I copy-paste your exact files. There must be something wrong with the settings. I'll keep looking. Thank you so much for sharing your templates and your workflow!

It's an awesome workflow. I spent the wholeday trying to figure out the settings to make it right. If you manage to find the solution, please let me know!

@antoineallard @jasonchuasg Hm, I'm not sure why both of you are having issues. I just filmed a quick video to test making a new button, and it still works for me. Is this the same as what you two are doing? https://youtu.be/YeyARTXBzTo

Thank you for the video. I'm doing the same this as you. I wonder if there is something in the settings that is interfering with Templater?

This is an issue with the latest version of the buttons plugin. Check out the issue here - shabegom/buttons#207

@horuscoding deus ex machina right here. thank you for helping solve this problem!!

Thank you. Moving the "moving" part to the button was the workaround I was considering. I'm glad we now know where the error was. Thanks again to all of you!

Replacing the button by this looks promising.

The template stops moving! But I have another issue: I can't find the dropdown for the template from my Templater despite of the fact that I've put that template folder in the Templater settings. Do you happen to know why?

I think you also need to indicate the folder in the (core) template settings.

I think you also need to indicate the folder in the (core) template settings.

Got it! Can you share your updated code for the meeting template and button code with me?

The meeting template does not need to be updated. The button object in the Meeting MOC needs to be replaced by a button from the Meta Bind plugin that should be similar to this

```meta-bind-button
style: primary
label: New Meeting
actions:
  - type: templaterCreateNote
    templateFile: "Templates/Template, Meeting.md"
    folderPath: "Timestamps/Meetings"
    fileName: "TKTK"
    openNote: true

You should probably use the Meta Bind Button Builder instead of copy-pasting the code above. Let me know how it goes!

The meeting template does not need to be updated. The button object in the Meeting MOC needs to be replaced by a button from the Meta Bind plugin that should be similar to this

```meta-bind-button
style: primary
label: New Meeting
actions:
  - type: templaterCreateNote
    templateFile: "Templates/Template, Meeting.md"
    folderPath: "Timestamps/Meetings"
    fileName: "TKTK"
    openNote: true

You should probably use the Meta Bind Button Builder instead of copy-pasting the code above. Let me know how it goes!

I can create the first note. But the next time I click on the button, it says "Templater Error: Template parsing error, aborting. Check console for more information."

Any idea what went wrong here?

Is there already a note with the same name as the target one (either TKTK or the name that your template renamed itself to)?

I also had success with the Meta Bind plugin - thanks @antoineallard !

Is there already a note with the same name as the target one (either TKTK or the name that your template renamed itself to)?

Yes. The first note that was created has the name TKTK. If I were to click on the button again, it doesn't allow me to create a new meeting note and a little pop up of "Templater Error" will be shown.

I just updated the original post to use the Meta Bind plugin rather than Buttons. It's working wonderfully for me, too. Thanks for the tips, all!

https://dannb.org/blog/2023/obsidian-meeting-note-template/

Also, in case people prefer to follow along to a video, I just turned my meeting note system into a YouTube tutorial: https://youtu.be/Ud16HOQoS5Q

Hi @dannberg , thank you very much for your tutorials and these templates!

I noticed one weirdness with the current setup: you only temporarily create a new file at the location given by the folderPath
of the meta-bind-button, which is then moved by the templater plugin. So if you want to change this location, only the tp.file.move command needs to change location, as the folderPath is for all practical purposes ignored (but might create an then empty folder). Which seems a bit counter-intuitive.

I would suggest to replace

<% await tp.file.move("/Timestamps/Meetings/" + tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") + " " + tp.file.title) %>

with

<% await tp.file.rename(tp.date.now("YYYY-MM-DD") + " " + tp.file.title) %>

Then the final location of the created note will be in the folderPath .
This also allows to create multiple buttons to different locations while using the same template.

Possibly, this is also related to the "my template is moving around" comments from above.

@JoschD Great call. This was an artifact from when I was using a different plugin to create these templates (manually with QuickAdd) but is reduntant (and as you pointed out, unnecessary) with the current Meta Bind button method.

I'll update this gist with your modification. Thanks!