How to use Obsidian: Project vs Trello [Viewer Comment Response]

A common deal-breaker for people comparing Obsidian Projects to Trello is the lack of always-visible, multi-paragraph card content in the Projects board view. The workaround offered here reframes the difference: Trello cards are meant to function like self-contained “stages” in a workflow, while Obsidian Projects is built around markdown files where the note’s filename anchors the content and the full text lives inside the file.

That design choice drives what users see on the board. In Trello, the information placed on a card is the information you want available while you move it through stages, so the card effectively becomes the note. Obsidian, by contrast, treats each note as a separate file—specifically a markdown (.md) file—so the system prioritizes keeping data local and in a simple, long-lived format that other tools can read years later. Because the content is stored inside the file rather than embedded directly into the card, Projects often shows only the filename (and selected fields) in the table view unless the user opens or previews the underlying note.

To make Projects feel more like Trello’s “see everything at a glance” experience, the guidance focuses on two settings tweaks. First, under Community plugins → Projects, the “Link behavior” option determines what happens when a user selects a note link. Setting it to “Open note” (instead of opening the editor/front matter) makes the card title reveal the note contents directly, while choosing “Open editor” surfaces the front matter structure. The preferred behavior described is “Open note,” because it allows quick open/close of the full note content without extra keyboard steps.

Second, under Core plugins → Preview, enabling page preview on hover (with “require command to trigger page preview on hover”) creates a Trello-like glance view. With the preview enabled, hovering over a card while holding the Command key brings up a popup containing the note’s full information. That combination—filename on the board plus instant hover preview—addresses the frustration about not seeing multi-paragraph text in the combined view.

The result is a workflow where users can keep the Projects board clean while still accessing the complete note content quickly, and even interact with the note itself (including adding content and turning it into to-do items). The takeaway is less about forcing Projects to behave exactly like Trello and more about using Obsidian’s intended file-and-preview mechanics to restore the “at-a-glance” utility people expect from kanban boards.