Setting up the LANA method in Scrintal | Obsidian

Kemal Tekce
5 min readOct 1, 2022

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Photo by Barney Yau on Unsplash

I enjoy using the graph view in Obsidian. It helps me take a more visual approach to note-taking. It makes taking notes more nonlinear and creative instead of linear and rigorous. I’m able to view my notes in organized clusters with meaningful connections. This is nice because our brain also seems to work more nonlinearly and creatively.

hello Scrintal

A tool that takes visual note-taking to the next level and has it as a primary feature is Scrintal. I got the chance to test it out and play with it a bit. The first thing I did to get a feeling for Scrintal, was to set up my LANA method in it.

I’m currently using the LANA method in Obsidian and I wrote a detailed description of it in this article.

So let’s see how we can set up the LANA (Literature — Area — Notes — Archive) method in Scrintal.

Scrintal building blocks

The two main building blocks in Scrintal are notes and boards. Notes are simple post-it-like elements that you can create and use to write on. These notes can be placed and organized on boards.

You can create as many notes and boards as you like.
You can arrange and organize notes on a board however you like.
You can connect notes on a board.

Knowing this, let’s dive into setting up the LANA method.

home

For easier access to areas and the literature notes, I always like to create a Home page. Scrintal has a search archive which you can use as a Home page replacement but right now it is only organized by date and I would like to have a bit more freedom.

To overcome this, I created my own Home page by creating a Scrintal board and naming it HOME. My own HOME board.

literature

After having my HOME board, it is time to create the first element of the LANA method — Literature. It will be a place for my literature notes. In Scrintal I’m using a separate board for this and call it LITERATURE.

All my literature notes will live on this board.

Additionally, I’ll also create a new note in my HOME board and save a link in it which leads me to my LITERATURE board.

On this LITERATURE board you can organize your literature notes however you want. You can either create a table and save all your literature notes in it:

or you can save them loosely and more freely on your board and organize them however you want:

area

Next up in our LANA method are the areas — areas that interest you and which you want to learn more about. The areas will again consist of Scrintal boards. Each area gets its own board. Additionally, I’ll also create a note for each area on my HOME board and link the respective board in it. This way I can use my HOME board to navigate quickly to my area boards.

notes

Now the essential part of note-taking — the notes. In Scrintal, notes can be placed on boards. Depending on the note, I’ll create and place the note inside the respective area I’ve set up.

You can even connect notes like in Obsidian by mentioning one note in another note. So you have all the freedom to organize and connect your notes inside a board.

Just remember to make meaningful connections, organize your notes, make them directional, and express everything in your own words. Even express it in your own visual style. You might arrange it visually in a specific way. You might use drawings or images. You might even use emojis.

archive

Finally, we need an archive which is the last element of the LANA method. It is a place for old and currently not relevant notes. Luckily we don’t have to set this up in Scrintal. Scintal has a built-in archive.

All notes you create are automatically saved in an archive. Even if you delete a note from a board, it will still be alive in the archive. You can easily search in your archive by clicking on the element on the top right corner.

This is it. This is all it takes to set up the LANA method in Scrintal. If you like to learn more about the LANA method, check out this article. Otherwise, feel free to give Scrintal a try. I enjoyed playing with it and I might give it a try in the future.

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