Obsidian Gems of The Year 2022(Plugins)

Obsidian’s “Gems of the Year 2022” nominations spotlight plugins that make note-taking feel less like static writing and more like a connected workspace—turning vault content into databases, calendars, search engines, and even task systems. The core idea behind the list is straightforward: the most valuable 2022 additions are the ones that improve how people capture information, navigate relationships, and act on it, whether that means scheduling events, reviewing knowledge, or generating text.

The lineup begins with “Database Folder” by Raphael GV, aimed at people migrating from Notion. It lets users create Notion-like databases inside an Obsidian vault, view content in tables, and edit entries directly—though it depends on the Data View plugin. Next comes “Excelibrin,” an interactive, structured mind map that builds a hierarchy from folders, files, and metadata (including links, Data View fields, tags, and YAML front matter). It’s positioned as more meaningful than a generic graph view because it emphasizes relationships in a navigable structure.

Several nominations focus on turning everyday workflows into first-class Obsidian objects. “Obsidian Full Calendar” integrates the Full Calendar library so daily schedules, special events, and plans live alongside tasks and notes. Each calendar event becomes its own node with metadata, enabling notes and context to attach to dates. “Obsidian Hover Editor” upgrades page previews into a full-featured editor, supporting drag/resize popovers and multiple pinned popovers in the same tab.

Navigation and retrieval get a major boost from plugins like “Influx,” which acts as an alternative to backlinks by showing linked mentions with real context and formatted excerpts. “OmniSource” targets search that “just works,” especially for natural-language queries, and can search through images and PDFs within the vault—reducing the need to manually open documents. For relationship discovery, “Strange New Worlds by TFT hacker” highlights interconnected links and embeds, aiming to eliminate the time sink of hunting through backlinks.

Knowledge management and writing are also heavily represented. “Obsidian LaTeX Suite” speeds up LaTeX math entry using snippets and shortcuts. “make.md” adds beginner-friendly editing enhancements, including spaces, a flow editor for connected nodes, and “maker mode” styling for Markdown. “Obsidian Memos” provides quick capture into daily notes, while “Metadata Menu” makes it easier to modify frontmatter metadata so other plugins (like Data View) can query it more effectively. “Obsidian Space Repetition” uses spaced review via flashcard-style review of notes to fight the forgetting curve.

Finally, the nominations include tools for action and organization: “Obsidian Projects” brings plain-text project planning with multiple views (table, board, calendar, gallery), “Obsidian Tasks” manages due dates, priorities, recurring tasks, and task queries, and “Obsidian Live Sync” offers self-hosted synchronization for users who want to avoid external syncing options. “Surfing” brings in-app browsing and saving web pages as Markdown, while “Obsidian Text Generator” adds AI-assisted drafting (ideas, titles, summaries, outlines, and paragraphs). The list closes by encouraging voting through the Obsidian Members Discord announcement channel, with GitHub links provided for deeper plugin documentation and changelogs.