The Obsidian Theme I've Refined for 3 Years...  🔗 **Source:** [The Obsidian Theme I've Refined for 3 Years...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68#transcript) > [!note]+ Document Notes > tags: [obsidian, personal-knowledge-management, note-taking-tools, theme-design, reading-environment, ideaverse] > author: Nick Milo > source: Linking Your Thinking (LYT) — YouTube > reference: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68 > date created: 2026-06-19 09:30 > > # 🏷️ Title: The Obsidian Theme I've Refined for 3 Years... > <!-- deep-read:sections start --> ## 🧭 Table of Contents - [📝 Summary](#-summary) - [📖 Main Content](#-main-content) - [🗒️ Notes](#️-notes) - [📚 References](#-references) - [🗣️ Paraphrase](#️-paraphrase) - [📰 Newsletter](#-newsletter) - [✅ Action Items](#-action-items) - [🧪 Hypotheses](#-hypotheses) - [📊 Methodology](#-methodology) - [❓ Questions](#-questions) - [🔮 Future Research](#-future-research) - [💡 Implications](#-implications) - [🧠 Learning Styles Assessment](#-learning-styles-assessment) - [📊 Accessibility Assessment](#-accessibility-assessment) - [🌍 DEIB Assessment](#-deib-assessment) - [✅ Logical Validity](#-logical-validity) - [🛡️ DARVO Analysis](#-darvo-analysis) - [🎯 Conclusion](#-conclusion) ### 🔗 References - [Soft Paper theme (Obsidian community themes)](https://obsidian.md) - [Style Settings plugin (Obsidian community plugins)](https://github.com/mgmeyers/obsidian-style-settings) - [Ideaverse Pro (Linking Your Thinking)](https://www.linkingyourthinking.com) ## 📝 Summary - **What happened.** Nick Milo walks through installing and tuning his "Soft Paper" Obsidian theme — now shippable in one click from Obsidian's built-in theme browser — and then customizing it via the Style Settings plugin. He shows light/dark modes, condensing toggles for bases, file explorer, sidebar panes, and settings, plus "special tweaks" like hiding the add-property button, rainbow folders, and a flippable status bar color. - **Why it matters.** The argument is environmental, not technical: the look and feel of a thinking tool changes the *quality* of thinking. A warm, paper-like, serif environment pulls the user into "a creative contemplative space" rather than the cold blank of a Google Doc. For a PKM practitioner, the workspace aesthetic is a lever on focus, calm, and willingness to return. - **Key stakeholders.** Obsidian users building a long-term note system; PKM practitioners; the LYT audience; theme/plugin authors (Soft Paper, Style Settings, Obsidian core appearance team). - **Risks and tradeoffs.** Customization is preference-bound, not prescriptive — Nick repeatedly notes where he goes one way and the viewer might go another (condensed vs. extra-condensed, scroll bars on/off, body text density vs. readability). Soft Paper is "optimized most for light mode," so dark-mode users get a slightly secondary experience. The closing pitch to Ideaverse Pro mixes free guidance with a paid upsell. - **Bottom line.** Install Soft Paper in one click, install Style Settings, then toggle density and "special tweaks" to taste — the goal is to turn Obsidian "from just a collection of notes into a real ideaverse, a home that you enjoy returning to." ## 📖 Main Content - **One-click install.** Soft Paper is now available directly in Obsidian's theme browser: Settings → Appearance → Themes → Manage, type "Soft Paper," and it applies live. Nick also recommends Command/Ctrl-P → "theme" to arrow through installed themes and preview each on a real note. - **The aesthetic thesis.** The theme is "warm," "cozy," "inviting," "almost like you're typing onto paper." Switching to it "brings out a sense of creativity… a sense of calm, of focus." This is the core claim: the visual environment shapes the cognitive state of writing and thinking. - **Three signature features.** (1) Colorful folders down the sidebar to "bring your folders to life"; (2) a serif body font — rare among Obsidian themes because "serif is harder to get right" — evoking print publication; (3) a card-like writing space that returns the user to a "physical analog" feel for "tactile, slow, and reflective" work. - **Light vs. dark mode.** Both ship; switch via Command/Ctrl-P. Nick uses dark mode situationally (airplanes — privacy, and not annoying neighbors with brightness) but prefers light mode, which Soft Paper is "optimized most for." - **Style Settings customization.** Requires the Style Settings community plugin (Settings → Community plugins → Browse → "Style Settings" → Install → Enable). Under Style Settings → Soft Paper there are two groups: "See More Settings" and "Special Tweaks." - **Density toggles ("See More Settings").** Bases tables condense ~33% of vertical space (20 notes visible instead of 14) while staying readable. File explorer offers "condensed" and "extra condensed"; Nick prefers regular condensed. The condense setting also carries to sidebar panes (tags, properties, backlinks, outgoing links, outlines, bookmarks, search) and in-note properties. Body text density he keeps **off**, prioritizing readability over fitting more words. Settings panels condense too — he keeps that on. - **Special tweaks.** A see-through settings panel (helped by toggling off Obsidian 1.13.0's "open settings in new window"); hiding the add-property button he "despise[s]"; toggling scroll bars (now kept on so AI-generated daily briefs of unknown length show progress); flipping the status bar from beige to blue; and full 11-color "rainbow colored folders" beyond the default 5-deep palette. - **Upsell + next step.** The full configured setup is bundled in **Ideaverse Pro**, described as "how I run my whole Obsidian thinking system," not just a theme. He closes by pointing to a follow-up video teaching "the most important 80% of Obsidian in just about 15 minutes." ### 🗒️ Notes #### ⏱️ [00:00:00](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=0) Intro + one-click install - Soft Paper is now installable directly from Obsidian's theme browser after "a single click." - Path: Settings → Appearance → Themes → Manage → type "Soft Paper" → applies live. - Tip: Command/Ctrl-P → "theme," then arrow keys to preview installed themes on a real note. #### ⏱️ [00:00:31](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=31) The aesthetic thesis - "We're no longer staring into the white of… a blank Google Doc." - The theme is "warm… cozy… inviting… almost like you're typing onto paper." - Switching it on "brings out a sense of creativity in me, a sense of calm, of focus." #### ⏱️ [00:01:05](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=65) Three things he loves - Colorful folders down the sidebar "to instantly bring your folders to life." - A serif body font — "serif is harder to get right, so most themes don't even bother." - A "card-like format" returning the user to a "physical analog space." #### ⏱️ [00:01:37](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=97) Light and dark mode - Both modes ship; switch via Command/Ctrl-P. - Dark mode situationally (airplane privacy, not annoying neighbors); light mode preferred. - "Soft Paper is optimized most for light mode." #### ⏱️ [00:02:43](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=163) Install Style Settings - Customization "is as simple as toggling things off and on." - Install the Style Settings plugin (Community plugins → Browse → "Style Settings"). - Under Soft Paper: "See More Settings" and "Special Tweaks." #### ⏱️ [00:03:15](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=195) See-through panel + Obsidian 1.13.0 note - A special tweak makes the settings panel translucent so you can watch changes live. - As of Obsidian 1.13.0, an "interface" setting adds "open settings in new window" — toggle it off so the translucent view works. #### ⏱️ [00:03:48](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=228) Condensing bases and file explorer - Bases tables condense ~33% vertical space (20 notes visible vs. 14), still readable. - "I'm not trying to read an article in the New York Times. I'm trying to see my content." - File explorer: he chooses regular "condensed" over "extra condensed." #### ⏱️ [00:05:27](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=327) Sidebar panes, properties, body text - Condense carries to sidebar panes and in-note properties (reclaims real estate at the top of a note). - Body text density he keeps **off**: "I do want to prioritize readability over getting another 33% of the words on screen." #### ⏱️ [00:06:03](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=363) Special tweaks: add-property button + scroll bars - Hides the add-property button: "I despise that button… I was having an irrational amount of anger around this button." - Scroll bars now kept **on** so AI-generated daily briefs of unknown length show reading progress. #### ⏱️ [00:07:08](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=428) Status bar color + rainbow folders + Ideaverse Pro - Flip status bar from beige to blue "for fun." - Default folder colors go 5 deep; "rainbow colored folders" unlocks the full 11-color set. - Ideaverse Pro bundles "this theme, but a whole lot more" — "how I run my whole Obsidian thinking system." #### ⏱️ [00:07:41](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68&t=461) Closing — from notes to an ideaverse - The end goal: Obsidian "from just a collection of notes into a real ideaverse, a home that you enjoy returning to to do some of your best thinking." - Points to a follow-up video teaching "the most important 80% of Obsidian in just about 15 minutes." ## 📚 References - [Obsidian — appearance and community themes](https://obsidian.md) - [Style Settings plugin (Matthew Meyers)](https://github.com/mgmeyers/obsidian-style-settings) - [Linking Your Thinking / Ideaverse Pro](https://www.linkingyourthinking.com) - [Obsidian 1.13.0 release notes — "interface" / open settings in new window](https://obsidian.md/changelog) ## 🗣️ Paraphrase - Soft Paper, Nick's three-years-refined theme, now installs in one click from Obsidian's theme browser; preview themes live with Command/Ctrl-P. - Its value proposition is environmental: a warm, paper-like, serif workspace replaces the cold blank page and shifts the user into a calmer, more creative state. - Three standout traits: colorful sidebar folders, a hard-to-get-right serif font, and a card-like analog writing surface. - Both light and dark modes ship; light is preferred and the theme is tuned for it, with dark reserved for situational privacy. - Deeper customization runs through the Style Settings plugin, splitting into density "See More Settings" and "Special Tweaks." - Density toggles reclaim ~33% of vertical space in bases, file explorer, sidebar panes, and properties; body text density stays off to protect readability. - Special tweaks include a translucent settings panel, hiding the add-property button, toggling scroll bars, a blue status bar, and full rainbow folders. - The configured whole is sold as Ideaverse Pro; the free path still gets the viewer "one step closer" to an enjoyable thinking home. ## 📰 Newsletter **Make Obsidian a home you want to return to** If your vault feels like a cold Google Doc, Nick Milo's three-years-refined **Soft Paper** theme is worth a look — and it now installs in *one click* from Obsidian's built-in theme browser (Settings → Appearance → Themes → Manage → type "Soft Paper"). The pitch isn't pixels for their own sake; it's that a warm, paper-like, serif workspace "brings out a sense of creativity… a sense of calm, of focus." From there, the real tuning happens through the hugely popular **Style Settings** plugin: condense your bases, file explorer, and sidebar panes to claw back ~33% of vertical space (20 notes on screen instead of 14) while keeping body text comfortably readable. The "special tweaks" are the fun part — make the settings panel see-through to watch changes live, finally **hide that add-property button** at the top of every note, keep scroll bars on as a progress gauge for AI-generated daily briefs, and flip on the full 11-color rainbow folders. One gotcha for the up-to-date crowd: on Obsidian 1.13.0, toggle off "open settings in new window" so the translucent panel works. The whole configured system ships as Ideaverse Pro if you want it done for you — but the free recipe alone turns "just a collection of notes" into a real ideaverse. ## ✅ Action Items #### DevRel - Developer advocacy: clip the "one-click theme install" flow as a short showing Obsidian's appearance browser to newcomers. - Education: build a 5-minute "tune your vault density with Style Settings" walkthrough for the PKM audience. - Developer experience: document the Style Settings → Soft Paper toggle map (See More Settings vs. Special Tweaks) as a reference. - Developer marketing: package the "aesthetic of thinking" angle (workspace shapes cognition) as evergreen content. - Community management: host a "show your vault" thread for theme/customization sharing. - Internal/external/cross-project: Not applicable to this source. #### OSPO - Policy & Governance: Not applicable to this source. - License Compliance: note Soft Paper / Style Settings licensing before redistributing configs. - Security Management: Not applicable to this source. - Software Inventory: catalog community themes/plugins used in the recommended PKM stack. - Developer Support: Not applicable to this source. - Community Engagement: Not applicable to this source. - Strategic Alignment: Not applicable to this source. #### Community - Maintainers: Not applicable to this source. - Contributors: Not applicable to this source. - Sponsors: Not applicable to this source. - Ecosystem: Not applicable to this source — this is an Obsidian (not WordPress) ecosystem topic. #### WordPress - Core through Plugins: Not applicable to this source — the content is about Obsidian theming/PKM, not WordPress. (Loose analogy only: theme.json design tokens shape reading experience the way Soft Paper's settings do.) #### The WPCC - Programs / Projects / Funding experiments: Not applicable to this source. ### FAIR - Technical independence: Not applicable to this source. (Loose analogy: a local-first, plain-Markdown vault is itself an independence play.) - Policies and covenants: Not applicable to this source. - Productized governance artifacts: Not applicable to this source. ## 🧪 Hypotheses - H1: A warm/serif/paper-like writing theme increases self-reported focus and session length versus a default high-contrast theme. - H2: Condensing bases/file-explorer/sidebar density (~33%) increases the number of notes a user navigates per session without reducing comprehension. - H3: Hiding the add-property button reduces friction-related abandonment at the top of new notes. - H4: Light mode produces higher subjective "creative/contemplative" ratings than dark mode for this theme. - H5: Users who adopt a deliberately customized environment ("a home you enjoy returning to") have higher long-term vault retention than default-theme users. ### 📊 Methodology - H1/H4: within-subjects A/B with the same writers across themes/modes; measure session duration, word count, and a focus self-report (e.g., Flow Short Scale). - H2: task-based navigation study (find N notes) measuring time-to-find and recall accuracy at condensed vs. default density. - H3: instrumented friction study comparing note-creation completion and time-to-first-word with the add-property button shown vs. hidden. - H5: longitudinal cohort tracking 90-day vault retention/active-days for customized vs. default setups. ### ❓ Questions - How much of the reported "calm/focus" is the theme itself versus the novelty of a fresh, deliberate setup? - Does serif body text help or hinder on-screen reading comprehension in a notes context specifically? - Where is the line between "useful density" and cramped illegibility for different eyesight/age groups? - How transferable are these preferences across people, or is the whole talk irreducibly personal taste? ### 🔮 Future Research - Controlled study of typography (serif vs. sans) on note-taking comprehension and recall. - Effect of UI density on navigation efficiency and cognitive load in PKM tools. - Whether "environmental" theme choices measurably affect creative output or are purely affective. - Accessibility impact of condensed UI density across vision and motor profiles. ### 💡 Implications - **Practice:** Treat the vault's look-and-feel as a first-class productivity lever, not cosmetics; tune density to your own readability threshold rather than copying defaults. - **Policy:** When publishing recommended setups, separate free guidance cleanly from paid bundles (Ideaverse Pro) so users can replicate without buying. - **Security:** Not applicable to this source. - **Education:** PKM onboarding should include an "make it yours" environment step early, since enjoyment of the space drives return visits. - **Funding models:** A free-theme-plus-paid-system funnel (theme → Ideaverse Pro) is a viable creator monetization pattern in the PKM space. ### 🧠 Learning Styles Assessment - Reading level estimate: spoken instructional transcript; ~Flesch–Kincaid Grade 6–8 (short, concrete sentences, everyday vocabulary plus a few tool-specific terms: "bases," "Style Settings," "ideaverse"). Flesch Reading Ease ~65–75. #### 👀 Visual learners - Present: strong — it's a screen-share tutorial with before/after theme states, live toggles, and a see-through settings panel. - Improve: a labeled callout map of the Style Settings panel; a before/after density still; a folder-color legend. #### 🔊 Aural learners - Present: clear spoken narration throughout; light background music. - Improve: a 60-second audio recap of the install + top three tweaks; chapter markers. #### 🗣️ Verbal learners - Present: vivid analogies ("typing onto paper," "blank Google Doc," "NYT vs. my content"). - Improve: a short glossary callout (theme, Style Settings, bases, ideaverse). #### 🧩 Kinesthetic learners - Present: strong — explicit click-by-click steps the viewer can follow in their own vault. - Improve: a printable checklist of the exact toggle sequence; a "try it now" pause prompt. #### 🧠 Logical learners - Present: the tradeoff logic is stated (density vs. readability; "high upside, low downside"). - Improve: a decision table mapping each toggle to its benefit/cost; a flowchart for condensed vs. extra-condensed. #### 🧑‍🤝‍🧑 Social learners - Present: none in-video; first-person solo tutorial. - Improve: a "share your tuned vault" prompt; a community thread link. #### 🧘‍♀️ Solitary learners - Present: strong — self-paced, do-it-in-your-own-vault format suited to solo work. - Improve: a reflection prompt ("which density feels right for *your* eyes?"). #### 🌿 Naturalistic learners - Present: the "paper / analog / tactile" framing leans on physical-world metaphor. - Improve: tie the warm/paper aesthetic to broader calm-environment design principles. ### 📊 Accessibility Assessment #### Screen reader semantics - Present: YouTube provides standard player semantics; spoken steps are descriptive. - Improve: ensure the video description includes a text version of the click path for non-visual users. #### Keyboard navigation - Present: the tutorial itself teaches keyboard shortcuts (Command/Ctrl-P theme switching). - Improve: confirm captions note the exact key combos for keyboard-only viewers. #### Contrast and readability - Present: light mode is the recommended high-comfort default; dark mode offered. - Improve: verify Soft Paper body/serif text meets 4.5:1; condensed density may reduce target spacing — flag for low-vision users. #### Text resizing and reflow - Present: theme supports light/dark and density scaling. - Improve: confirm condensed modes don't clip or overlap at larger system font sizes / 200% zoom. #### Media and captions - Present: YouTube auto-captions available; clear narration aids them. - Improve: add human-verified captions and a downloadable transcript; avoid relying on music-only stretches. #### Forms and interactions - Present: not a form-driven page; toggles are described verbally. - Improve: Not applicable to this source beyond caption coverage of UI labels. #### Standards reference - Maps to WCAG 2.2 AA: 1.2.2 Captions (verify human captions), 1.4.3 Contrast (verify serif/condensed text), 1.4.10 Reflow (verify condensed density at zoom), 1.4.12 Text Spacing (condensed modes), 2.1.1 Keyboard (shortcuts taught ✓). ### 🌍 DEIB Assessment #### Cultural breadth - Present: neutral, broadly applicable tool tutorial; no region-specific assumptions. - Improve: note that serif/typography preferences and language scripts vary; mention non-Latin script rendering in the theme. #### Inclusive language - Present: plain, friendly, jargon mostly explained in context. - Improve: define "bases," "ideaverse," and "Style Settings" for first-time viewers. #### Neurodiversity support - Present: clear chunked steps, consistent path, predictable structure; density options let users reduce or increase visual load to taste. - Improve: explicitly frame density/scroll-bar/scrollbar toggles as accommodations for different attention and visual-processing needs. #### Representation - Present: single presenter (one voice/perspective). - Improve: include other practitioners' setups to show varied preferences and needs. #### Psychological safety - Present: low-stakes, encouraging tone ("make it truly your own"); normalizes personal preference and even "irrational" annoyance at a UI button. - Improve: clearer separation of the paid Ideaverse Pro upsell so viewers don't feel the free path is incomplete. ### ✅ Logical Validity #### Strong reasoning - Causal (environment → cognition): the claim that a warmer, paper-like workspace produces "calm… focus" is plausible and consistently illustrated, though self-reported. - Cost/benefit reasoning (density): "high upside, low downside" for condensing bases is well-supported by the concrete 14→20 notes example, with an explicit exception carved out for body text to protect readability. - Pragmatic consistency: the scroll-bar reversal (off → on once AI daily briefs made note length unknown) shows reasoning that updates on new evidence — a strength. #### Fallacies - **Subjective preference presented as benefit** — "brings out a sense of creativity… calm… focus" is personal experience generalized to the viewer. Location: [00:00:31]–[00:01:05]. Fix: frame as "for me," which he often does, and acknowledge taste variance. - **Appeal to novelty / aesthetic over evidence** — the implied "default white = blank Google Doc = bad" contrast assumes the warm theme is better without measurement. Fix: present as a hypothesis worth A/B testing, not a settled claim. - **Soft upsell (suppressed-evidence risk)** — "if you want the entire setup done for you, check out Ideaverse Pro" funnels from free tutorial to paid product; the free path is real but the pitch could overstate the gap. Location: [00:07:08]. Fix: state plainly that everything shown is achievable free. #### Tone of voice - Warm, calm, encouraging, lightly humorous ("irrational amount of anger around this button"), first-person and preference-honest; gentle promotional close. Matches the "cozy/contemplative" theme it sells. ### 🛡️ DARVO Analysis - Deny: None — no accusation is being deflected. - Attack: None — no accusers; the only "target" is a UI button he dislikes, which is humor, not attack on a person. - Reverse victim/offender: None. - Overall: DARVO is not applicable to this source. It is an instructional product tutorial with no conflict, accusation, or defensive reframing; the only persuasive pressure is a mild product upsell. ## 🎯 Conclusion - **Bottom line.** Soft Paper's pitch is that the *environment* of thinking matters: a warm, serif, paper-like vault — installed in one click and tuned via Style Settings density and "special tweaks" — turns Obsidian "from just a collection of notes into a real ideaverse." The strongest, most repeatable ideas are workspace-shapes-cognition and tune-density-to-your-own-readability-threshold; the weakest are the unmeasured affective claims and the paid-system funnel. - **Next steps for readers.** (1) Install Soft Paper in one click and preview themes with Command/Ctrl-P. (2) Install Style Settings and condense bases/file-explorer/sidebar — but keep body text readable. (3) Apply the "special tweaks" that remove your own friction (e.g., hide the add-property button). (4) Decide light vs. dark by context, and treat the result as a home you actually want to return to. ## 🔄 Refactor Appendix — The Obsidian Theme I've Refined for 3 Years... > Density: 2–5 Literature atoms (H3), 0–3 Permanent candidates (H4). > Defaults applied. Resonance filter on. > > Tag pool: #bmf · #addendum · #xref · #articleseed · #storystem · #share · #aphorisms ### 📚 Literature Atoms (H3) #### [H1] A warm, paper-like theme shifts you into a creative, focused state > [!quote] ID:rw_pending > "Switching to this theme brings out a sense of creativity in me, a sense of calm, of focus." **Context & use**: - [00:00:31]–[00:01:05]; the core "aesthetic of thinking" thesis — the workspace environment shapes the cognitive state. - Connects to building a PKM vault you actually return to. **Tags**: #xref #aphorisms **Highlight**: [view highlight](readwise://pending) <!-- atomicity: 1 idea ✓ --> #### [H2] Condense UI density to see more content, but keep body text readable > [!quote] ID:rw_pending > "I do want to prioritize readability over getting another 33% of the words on screen." **Context & use**: - [00:03:48]–[00:05:27]; condense bases/file-explorer/sidebar ~33% (14→20 notes), exempt body text. - A tunable tradeoff, not a one-size rule. **Tags**: #xref **Highlight**: [view highlight](readwise://pending) <!-- atomicity: 1 idea ✓ --> #### [H3] Remove UI friction that blocks the first written words > [!quote] ID:rw_pending > "before your first written words, you have this option to add properties. I despise that button." **Context & use**: - [00:06:03]; hiding the add-property button so the note opens to writing, not chrome. - Generalizable: strip whatever sits between you and the first sentence. **Tags**: #xref #share **Highlight**: [view highlight](readwise://pending) <!-- atomicity: 1 idea ✓ --> ### 🧠 Permanent Candidates (H4) #### [P1] A thinking tool's environment is a lever on the thinking it produces **Claim** (one sentence, Courtney's voice): How a knowledge workspace looks and feels — warmth, typography, density, friction — measurably shapes the focus, calm, and willingness to return that the work depends on, so the environment is part of the method, not decoration. **Evidence pointer**: [[#H1]] **Scope & conditions**: Holds for tools used for sustained creative/reflective work where the user controls the environment. Breaks where the claim is treated as proven rather than preference (effects here are self-reported, not measured), or where accessibility needs override aesthetic preference. **Links**: - [[Personal Knowledge Management]] — because applies-in the PKM vault - [[Friction reduction]] — because extends "design for the laziest version of yourself" - [[Default settings shape behavior]] — because contrasts on whose defaults win <!-- atomicity: 1 idea ✓ --> ### ✏️ Fleeting Queue - [F1] Try Soft Paper + Style Settings condensed mode on the real vault for a week; note whether focus/return-rate changes — https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l878ahBkx68 #fleeting #inbox - [F2] Open question: does serif body text help or hurt note comprehension vs. sans? #fleeting #inbox ### → Things 3 (max 2 actions) - [ ] Audit my Obsidian vault for first-word friction (hide add-property button, condense sidebar) — #things - [ ] Connect the "environment shapes thinking" atom to the Personal Knowledge Management MOC — #things <!-- deep-read:sections end --> 📄 **Full text:** ![[Full Document Contents/Articles/The Obsidian Theme I've Refined for 3 Years....md|The Obsidian Theme I've Refined for 3 Years... by Nick Milo (Linking Your Thinking)]] ## Highlights - Switching to this theme brings out a sense of creativity in me, a sense of calm, of focus. And I want to share with you a few things that I love most about it. First, you can have colorful folders running down the sidebar to instantly bring your folders to life. Second, you might notice there's a beautiful serif font. Most Obsidian themes use sans serif fonts because they're clean and readable. Serif is harder to get right, so most themes don't even bother. But Soft Paper is one of the few that make that timeless lettering that you'd see ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvga9vcg5mwrfytgpjvaf9hm)) - Note: H1 — the "aesthetic of thinking": a tool's environment (warmth, serif type, color) shapes the cognitive state it produces. - Tags: aesthetic-of-thinking, atom/literature/h1, pkm - can see I gained back just a little bit of the real estate of properties that were pushing down. It's subtle, but it adds up, especially when it's the first thing that you see in a note. And if all you see are these properties, it's a little annoying. I want to see what the actual text is as well. Which brings us to the body text itself. Just to show you, I'll make body text more condensed, and now you can see more of the note on screen at once. But for the most part, I'll keep this one off because when it comes to the body text itself, I do want to prioritize readability over getting another 33% of the words on screen. Next ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvga9ze21nxhqzn4rytvd5yr)) - Note: H2 — density-vs-readability tradeoff: prioritize readability over cramming more words on screen (tune to your own threshold, not defaults). - Tags: atom/literature/h2, pkm - properties. I despise that button. I wish it did not exist. So, I went out of my way to create a setting to hide the add property button because I was having an irrational amount of anger around this button. Obsidian wouldn't do anything about it. I took matters into my own hands. Then there's hide scroll bars. I go back and forth on this one. Until recently, I'd keep the scroll bars off because I was aware of how long each note was. Now that I have some daily briefs telling me about my day that are generated by AI, I don't know how long that note is. So, it's helpful just so I know how long a brief is to see the ([View Highlight](https://read.readwise.io/read/01kvgaa3sme3e12ja857ekvjd3)) - Note: Strip UI friction that sits between you and the first sentence (hide the add-property button) — environment tuning as a thinking lever. - Tags: atom/literature/h2, pkm