# Devonthink version 4?

**URL:** <https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252>\
**Category:** DEVONthink\
**Created:** [April 5, 2023, 6:15pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252 "2023-04-05T18:15:02Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 20\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Amontillado](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Amontillado](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Amontillado)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 11:53am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/21 "2023-08-24T11:53:29Z")

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Keyboard Maestro can help a lot with friction in many apps, including Devonthink.

For instance, here’s a date and time stamp in two keystrokes, F5 and F6 - August 24, 2023 6:39 AM.

If you want to pin a document, you could replicate it to your database’s local inbox. In my personal finances DT database, I use a tag Attn. An invoice gets scanned into the group it belongs to and has the Attn tag applied. When I pay it, I tag it with the day I paid it and remove the Attn tag. The Attn tag is my way of pinning bills I need to pay.

Obsidian is a wonderful idea. There is great friction, at least in my use cases, with certain plugins like Dataview. Dataview is highly regarded. I also found it finicky. In one case I could not get an example to run until I added an invisible trailing space to the query.

The only think I miss from Obsidian is the canvas feature and tagging is a decent workaround.

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**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 2:07pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/22 "2023-08-24T14:07:03Z")

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> [@Amontillado](#):
>
> For instance, here’s a date and time stamp in two keystrokes, F5 and F6 - August 24, 2023 6:39 AM.

And WordService can also do this in two keystrokes… or one 😃

 ![Screenshot 2023-08-24 at 10.05.37 AM](https://devontech-discourse.s3.dualstack.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/uploads/original/3X/5/6/56132fa7073bf97eadf823d7337ec5dc2decba60.jpeg)

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**Author:** ![SlickSlack](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@SlickSlack](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/SlickSlack)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 2:25pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/23 "2023-08-24T14:25:45Z")

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There’s already Devonthink menu commands (File/Insert/Date and File/insert/Time) that can be assigned to a keystroke via MacOS System Prefs. No need for anything else. Unless I am missing something, that seems the simplest.  
Now if only there was something as simple on iOS…

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**Author:** ![GJT333](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9a140/32.png) [@GJT333](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/GJT333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 2:27pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/24 "2023-08-24T14:27:07Z")

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I agree with you on Obsidian. And I am using it lightly, and only for its ability to link to other notes and content and capture a daily note.

DevonThink is the only app I’ve used consistently on every Mac I’ve owned. It is the only constant in my workflow. So I’m committed to making it work for the daily notes functionality.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 2:30pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/25 "2023-08-24T14:30:42Z")

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> [@GJT333](#):
>
> And I am using one lightly, for its ability to link to other notes

A visual example would be useful.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Amontillado](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/e47c2d/32.png) [@Amontillado](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Amontillado)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 6:49pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/26 "2023-08-24T18:49:16Z")

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One thing DT has almost nothing else does is linked annotation files.

I might not want to put Devonthink links in word processing document, for example, but I can add them with notes in the associated annotation. The same can be done for file types that can’t include comments, like audio recordings.

Out-of-band context, it’s a powerful thing.

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**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 6:56pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/27 "2023-08-24T18:56:27Z")

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> [@GJT333](#):
>
> A lot of my daily work is logged in a Daily Note.

My “Daily Note” is maintained in Devonthink  
It’s auto-created each morning by an Applescript  
which also generates an entry/link in Apple Calendar

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/bluefrog/32/135_2.png) [@BLUEFROG](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/BLUEFROG)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 7:04pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/28 "2023-08-24T19:04:43Z")

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> [@DTLow](#):
>
> which also generates an entry/link in Apple Calendar

Nice! So every day has a link back to the DT note?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![SlickSlack](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/s/74df32/32.png) [@SlickSlack](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/SlickSlack)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 7:15pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/29 "2023-08-24T19:15:32Z")

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> [@DTLow](#):
>
> It’s auto-created each morning by an Applescript  
> which also generates an entry/link in Apple Calendar

I have a daily journal created by Shortcuts in iOS. I have never considered linking it to the calendar. I know I could pretty easily do this, I just have to answer the question: why do I want to do that, other than it’s a cool thing to do?

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**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 7:29pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/30 "2023-08-24T19:29:24Z")

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> [@SlickSlack](#):
>
> …daily journal … I have never considered linking it to the calendar. I know I could pretty easily do this, I just have to answer the question: why do I want to do that, other than it’s a cool thing to do?

Just a shortcut to each days note  
Even better on my iPad; it shows in the calendar widget  
Plus it’s a cool thing to do 🙂

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**Author:** ![Cali310](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@Cali310](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Cali310)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 8:31pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/31 "2023-08-24T20:31:00Z")

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It’s great to see this conversation evolve. Since there is no DT4 as of yet, IMO this kind of blue sky approach to comments and questions is reasonable. Also good to see @GJT333 offer the clarification suggested by @rmschne. The notes and note taking approaches has been discussed in various threads on the forum here. It’s always interesting to see how people approach it. Like many on this forum, I enjoy tinkering with and exploring new apps, but DT is my rock.

I take a similar approach to @DTLow. I create a daily note in DT. I drop files into DT (or groups of files) that are relevant to current research projects. I copy the links into the daily note and try to say something about how the sources are related to each other, how they might relate to current research, or what observations/takeaways I had. Sometimes the note/journal entry is very short, sometimes it gets complex. Ultimately this has saved me so many times when I’m working on a project and I search for key terms and DT reminds me that I have a number of notes on these themes. It’s no where near as disciplined and well integrated as Luhmann’s method, but it does pay off.

I have a variety of templates set up using Placeholders and the Templates folder in DT.

That being said, just for sake of variety. I use Obsidian from time to time also. I index Obsidian in DT. The indexed notes can be modified either in Obsidian or DT. This seems to work just fine. DT is a much more robust database management system than Obsidian. But if you use Obsidian to write files that can be absorbed into DT, why not? This is just like collecting a file from anywhere, be it a PDF, webpage, scan etc.

The other apps I use as sidekicks for DT are HoudahSpot for global iOS searching. And more recently Hookmark. These were advertised as part of the Winter and Summer Fest.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GJT333](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9a140/32.png) [@GJT333](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/GJT333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 11:23pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/32 "2023-08-24T23:23:00Z")

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Would you be able to share the script? Is it already shared somewhere here? One of the useful things about Obsidian is that I can hit the daily note button and it will bring up the note or create it. Much faster than searching for it over and over again. Maybe the calendar link your script creates will provide the same functionality?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 11:31pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/33 "2023-08-24T23:31:22Z")

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> [@GJT333](#):
>
> Would you be able to share the script?

Script is listed below  
Runs automatically at 8:00 each evening  
Only creates record if filename is not already on file  
My ‘daily note button’ is on my Apple calendar

> **Click to see script**
>
> This text will be hidden
> 
> ```auto
> set theDate to ((current date) + 1 * days)
> set {year:yyyy, month:mmm, day:d, weekday:dddd} to theDate
> set Jan1Date to current date
> set year of Jan1Date to yyyy
> set month of Jan1Date to 1
> set day of Jan1Date to 1
> set dayNum to 1 + (theDate - Jan1Date) / days as integer
> set dd to (texts -2 thru -1 of ("0" & d as text))
> set m to mmm as integer
> set mm to (texts -2 thru -1 of ("0" & m as text))
> set dayNum to (texts -3 thru -1 of ("00" & dayNum as text))
> 	
> tell application id "DNtp"
> set theTemplate to get record with uuid "EA711D51-A60A-409C-9D07-9814AD570E5C"
> set theName to yyyy & "-" & mm & "-" & dd & " tbdJournal - ⭕️" & yyyy & "." & dayNum & " " & dddd as string
> 		
> set myNotes to search "name:\"" & theName & "\""
> if myNotes = {} then
> set theGroup to preferred import destination
> set theNewRecord to duplicate record theTemplate to theGroup
> set name of theNewRecord to theName
> set tags of theNewRecord to {}
> set noteLink to reference URL of theNewRecord
> 			
> tell application "Calendar"
> run
> set theSummary to "Journal " & yyyy & "-" & mm & "-" & dd
> tell calendar "Devonthink"
> set theCalendar to make new event at end of events with properties {summary:theSummary, start date:(theDate), end date:(theDate), allday event:true, url:noteLink}
> end tell
> activate
> end tell
> end if
> end tell
> 
> ```

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![GJT333](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/g/e9a140/32.png) [@GJT333](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/GJT333)\
**Post date:** [August 24, 2023, 11:43pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/34 "2023-08-24T23:43:46Z")

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Essentially the daily notes functionality boils down to a text editor (markdown based) that is a front-end client for DT. Another one of the ways of using DT. But a very powerful way of continuing to add, passively, information and context to what already exists in DT. And then DevonThink 5, we might end up with a personalized, interactive AI. 🙂

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![Cali310](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/c/8dc957/32.png) [@Cali310](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/Cali310)\
**Post date:** [August 25, 2023, 5:06pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/35 "2023-08-25T17:06:24Z")

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> [@GJT333](#):
>
> And then DevonThink 5, we might end up with a personalized, interactive AI.

That will certainly be the day! Although it does seem we are rapidly approaching it!

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**Author:** ![IvanPsy](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/ivanpsy/32/22597_2.png) [@IvanPsy](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/IvanPsy)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 8:11am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/36 "2023-08-26T08:11:38Z")

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Thank you for the script!

How do I make it run?  
I’m new to the topic.

And how do I change the trigger time? I can’t see anything similar to “8” or “20”.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![rmschne](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/r/8baadc/32.png) [@rmschne](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/rmschne)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 11:33am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/37 "2023-08-26T11:33:28Z")

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See the chapter “AUTOMATION” starting on page 198 (version 3.9.2) of the DEVONthink Manual. Explains where scripts are put, run, etc.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/dtlow/32/18161_2.png) [@DTLow](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/DTLow)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 11:37am UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/38 "2023-08-26T11:37:13Z")

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> [@IvanPsy](#):
>
> script … How do I make it run?  
> … And how do I change the trigger time?

We can assign a repeating reminder to a note in Devonthink  
An action option is to run a script

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![jasonekratz](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/5daacb/32.png) [@jasonekratz](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/jasonekratz)\
**Post date:** [August 26, 2023, 3:14pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/39 "2023-08-26T15:14:02Z")

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> Also, DT uses MultiMarkdown and obsidian is well known to „improve“ on MD with incompatible inventions.

MultiMarkdown is itself incompatible inventions 😂

That said, the Obsidian documentation clearly notes when something is only compatible inside Obsidian, the biggest example being block references. Not much they can do about that but given that Wikilinks are made-up syntax and not part of Markdown not sure why this is a problem.

@GJT333 you can almost always use Markdown-format links instead of Wikilinks inside of Obsidian and they work the same way. If you turn off Wikilinks in the settings you can still do autocomplete using [[ and it will still insert a Markdown-format link.

Your example of `[[This is a silly wiki-link|This is what people see]]` would be something along the lines of `[This is what people see](This%20is%20a%20silly%20wiki-link.md)` (has to be URL-encoded). This doc explains it [Internal links - Obsidian Help](https://help.obsidian.md/Linking+notes+and+files/Internal+links)

This document explains their updates to Markdown: [Obsidian Flavored Markdown - Obsidian Help](https://help.obsidian.md/Editing+and+formatting/Obsidian+Flavored+Markdown)

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**Author:** ![arasmus](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/user_avatar/discourse.devontechnologies.com/arasmus/32/34167_2.png) [@arasmus](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/u/arasmus)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2023, 9:25pm UTC](https://discourse.devontechnologies.com/t/devonthink-version-4/75252/40 "2023-08-27T21:25:57Z")

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That’s actully very good point. It’s not often I need FCP but then I _need_ FCP. That’s why I bought it.  
But a subscription would not make much sense, so then I would not have what I need when I need it…even though I did spend money to retain the option.

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