Highlighting from the browser to Obsidian, an alternative solution


One of the most common ways of capturing content from the web is by highlighting/annotating content. There are many different tools to accomplish this like Readwise, raindrop.io, and Hypothesis. These highlighting solutions are fantastic and have an easy sync with Obsidian. But there comes an issue with processing these highlights/annotations. It's not clear how to utilize or store highlights/annotations especially if it isn't something planned to be used immediately.

One key feature of Obsidian is to link notes together using wikilinksbi-directional linksBi-directional links, also known as backlinks or cross-references, are links that connect two or more pieces of information in both directions. In other words, a bi-directional link allows you to navigate from one piece of information to another and back again. They can be a powerful tool for building a personal knowledge base and for making connections between related ideas. They can also make it easier to find and access specific pieces of information within a large collection of notes.. Wikilinks break the traditional top-down organization methods and in my opinion, has already revolutionized the note-taking space. I found this tweet to be particularly insightful.

Categorizing notes using folders and tags only works if future-you perceives the world the same way today-you does. Pray that won't be true.

So why isn't there a solution to quickly organize highlights/annotations through wikilinks?

I had the same question myself. This is why I created Fleeting Notes. A way to capture quickly create highlights/annotations and categorize them through wikilinks. Combined with the Fleeting Notes sync Obsidian plugin, notes are seamlessly synced to Obsidian. If you're interested in seeing how the browser extension works, check out my video showcasing the Fleeting Notes browser extension.

In addition, through customer feedback (in discord), I've added a faster way to capture highlights by automatically appending the highlighted text and URL when opening the browser extension.

Anyways, I'd love to hear any feedback, comments or suggestions below!