After I had completed my small plugin, I realized that there doesn’t seem to be a one-click solution in the note-to-blog field. So, I wrote this article to analyze whether it would make sense to create a new project to fill this gap.
There is no such thing as a “better” or “worse” project; there is only whether it is suitable or not. The evaluation criteria in this article are based on whether they meet the requirements of a blog website. Therefore, some projects may not be suitable for creating a blog site, but this does not diminish their value.
Field Definition #
Before we begin the analysis, it’s important to have a clear understanding of the note-to-blog field.
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Notes: In this context, “notes” specifically refers to the notes in Obsidian, which use Obsidian Flavored Markdown. This adds certain complexities to the process of converting notes to a webpage.
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Blog: A blog, by definition, is a means to gain traffic. Creators spend time writing notes, and then using conversion software, generate beautifully formatted, feature-rich blog websites.
Evaluation criteria are as follows:
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Privacy:
- Does it run locally?
- Is it open-source?
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Usability:
- How well does it adapt to Obsidian’s syntax?
- How complex is the service deployment?
- How detailed is the documentation?
- How easy is it to customize settings?
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Web Functionality:
- Does the default web template include all essential functions (search, day/night mode, etc.)?
- How visually appealing is the default webpage?
- Does it support SEO?
- How smoothly does it convert Obsidian’s native syntax (for example, are there untranslatable code blocks in internal links, or does it discard some Obsidian syntax features)?
Project Overview #
In my vision, this project would be an Obsidian plugin that seamlessly exports Obsidian notes into Hugo blog webpages, supporting all of Obsidian’s basic core features.
Result: It greatly reduces the cost of creating a blog webpage, allowing anyone who can use Obsidian to have their own blog.
Market and User Feasibility Analysis #
Market Demand Analysis #
Overview #
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Basic Needs: The demand to build a personal website and continuously produce content, including for self-improvement, self-expression, and creating a unique and comprehensive personal skill showcase (for corporate recruitment), etc.
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Target User Group: Heavy Obsidian users who want to share notes; knowledge creators who want to build a personal blog but have abandoned the idea due to technical difficulty.
Relevant Data #
- Flowershow: As of October 2024, the plugin had been downloaded 3,355 times; by January 2025, this number had risen to 4,594, while the most downloaded plugin had reached 3,211,992 downloads.
- Quartz: As of January 2025, Quartz had accumulated 7.7k stars on GitHub.
Existing Solutions #
Quartz (Hugo) #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥
Introduction #
Quartz is a toolset that converts Obsidian notes into web pages. The latest version, v4, has undergone a complete rewrite compared to v3, removing its dependency on Hugo and optimizing the user customization experience. The v4 version is now primarily built with TypeScript, and the original Hugo templates have been replaced with JSX.
As a result, Quartz in its current form is almost entirely disconnected from Hugo. However, much of the information available in Internet still advertises Quartz as being built on top of Hugo.
Official example website: Welcome to Quartz 4
Review #
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Pros:
- Extremely complete functionality
- The only toolset that successfully handles display wiki links
- Detailed documentation
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Cons:
- Virtually no drawbacks, but one notable limitation is the lack of Chinese documentation.
Summary: An excellent project, where the styles displayed in Obsidian are the same as those displayed on the webpage. It has garnered the most stars on GitHub among all available solutions.
Flowershow #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🩶
Introduction #
Flowershow is an overall publishing service based on Obsidian, which can convert your Obsidian notes into an online digital garden website with directory structure. Vercel is a cloud service for front-end deployment, enabling serverless front-end deployment via GitHub. Each content submission triggers automatic deployment. For domestic users, Netlify is an alternative.
Subjectively, the development team behind Flowershow is very passionate and mission-driven. Their core philosophies are detailed in their About page.
Objectively, Flowershow’s positioning as a blog webpage generation platform based on Obsidian is spot-on, and the final result is very good both from a front-end and back-end perspective.
Review #
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Pros:
- Clear positioning and a straightforward workflow
- Comprehensive feature support
- Professional team behind maintenance and operations
- Highly customizable, suitable for creators who enjoy personalizing their setup
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Cons (as of January 2025):
- Some Obsidian features are not handled, such as display wiki links. At least this section is omitted in the documentation.
- A reverse link feature is mentioned on the homepage, but it’s unclear in the site’s details.
Summary: Overall, the project is well done, but some details still need improvement. This solution is suitable for creators who don’t require high support for Obsidian syntax.
Official Publish #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🩶🩶
Introduction #
Examples of websites using Obsidian’s official publishing service:
- Obsidian Chinese Tutorial - A Chinese tutorial website, using the official Obsidian publishing service.
- Digital 3D Garden - Deep front-end customizations.
- Mister Chad - A simple, neat site with rich content.
- Discrete Structures for Computer Science - Official simple style.
Review #
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Pros:
- The official publish service offers top-notch support for Obsidian’s internal representations, ensuring all Obsidian features are correctly displayed on the webpage.
- Continuous maintenance ensures quick adaptation to updates from Obsidian.
- Highly customizable settings for users with coding experience, and a wide range of themes from other developers.
- Privacy settings, password protection, and access control for internal document management.
- SEO support and mobile platform adaptation for greater potential traffic.
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Cons:
- Costs $8 per month. Since personal websites typically have very little traffic initially, this can become a significant expense over time. This is the major drawback of the official service.
- If you stop paying, the website becomes inaccessible.
- Limited support in certain regions, with traffic constraints in China.
Summary: The official service is suitable for users with sufficient funds and moderate customization needs.
Digital Garden #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥❤️🔥❤️🔥🩶🩶
Introduction #
Digital Garden is an Obsidian plugin that exports notes as webpages and hosts them on GitHub, with deployment via Vercel or Netlify.
Example sites:
- Digital Garden - Official example
- Aaron Youn - Created by an individual user
- John’s Digital Galaxy - Rich content showcasing Digital Garden’s features, including display links.
Review #
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Pros:
- Comprehensive feature support
- Supports Obsidian theme migration
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Cons:
- Not friendly with Chinese paths
- Web interface customization requires direct handling of source code (
HTML,JavaScript,CSS), and the default interface is not very visually appealing.
Summary: The workflow is simple, and the feature support is extensive. However, the interface requires effort to improve, and creators who care less about aesthetics can jump straight into using it.
Perlite #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥❤️🔥🩶🩶🩶
Introduction #
Perlite is an open-source alternative to Obsidian’s official publishing service, providing a browser
-based file reader with an interface nearly identical to Obsidian’s.
Review #
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Pros:
- Supports almost all Obsidian features.
- Classic native interface, offering a familiar experience for users.
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Cons:
- It is not a blog page but a “file reader” instead.
- Requires Docker, which can result in slower startup times compared to the simplicity of a plugin experience.
Summary: Perlite is best suited for those who need a browser-based Obsidian experience, rather than as a public-facing blog.
Jekyll + Netlify + GitHub Pages #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥❤️🔥🩶🩶🩶
Introduction #
This method is derived from obsidian’s most perfect free publishing solution.
Example website by the author: oldwinter’s Digital Garden
Review #
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Pros:
- Simple configuration
- Highly customizable
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Cons:
- Does not support certain Obsidian features like callout syntax
- No dark mode support
- No search functionality
Summary: A good solution for converting Obsidian to a blog, but missing some core features, making it unsuitable for creators seeking a complete web experience.
TiddlyWiki #
Recommendation: ❤️🔥🩶🩶🩶🩶
Introduction #
TiddlyWiki is an older note-taking framework that remains very active today, with developers continuously enhancing it.
Review #
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Pros:
- Extremely simple and lightweight
- Widely used with a strong user base
- Domestic services available with no need for VPNs
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Cons:
- The simplicity might result in a somewhat primitive interface.
- Not a full-fledged personal blog; lacks SEO and is difficult to access via search engines, limiting traffic potential.
Summary: TiddlyWiki is ideal for personal note storage but not for creators seeking a blog that attracts traffic.
Conclusion #
Before conducting a thorough analysis, I was unaware of the actual landscape in the note-to-blog field, which led me to consider creating a simplified plugin. 💡
However, after systematic research, I must admit that Quartz stands out as the best project in this space. Whether it’s the adaptation to Obsidian’s syntax, ease of configuration, front-end aesthetics, customization options, or backend blog creation, there is very little room for improvement.
Thus, there is no need for me to initiate a project to duplicate what’s already been done. I salute all the teams involved in the note-to-blog field, whether mentioned in this article or not. 🫡
There are no “better” or “worse” projects, only those that are suitable or not. The evaluation criteria in this article focus on whether the solution meets the requirements for a blog webpage, and thus, some projects may not be ideal for blogging but still offer great value.
Saluting open-source pioneers! 🫡🫡🫡