> [!info]
> ![[Sidenotes Beta]]


## Before going further...  a little explanation is needed
This vault includes all you need to start using Tufte sidenotes in your vault. However, Tufte sidenotes are not enabled in this vault by default. Why is that?

This vault focuses on the Cornell Notes Note-taking System. While Tufte sidenotes are a helpful concept, they are actually something different. However, since some users of Cornell Notes would also like to use Tufte sidenotes, this solution is being provided to you as a bonus feature.

Additionally, the Cornell Notes Learning Vault includes no plugins. However, the solution for Tufte sidenotes will require a plugin and additional configuration. Therefore we did not want to enable this feature in the vault since some customers will not use this feature.

## Technical information needed for the installation
To enable Tufte sidenotes, a few things are needed in your vault:
1. A CSS snippet named **tufte-sidenote.css**. This file contains all the formatting for sidenotes.
2. The Templater plugin.
3. A Templater template called **templater-tufte-sidenotes**

The following are step-by-step instructions for configuring your personal vault to use the Tufte sidenotes solution in your own vault.

Unfortunately, it is not a simple process, so follow the steps closely.
### Step 1: CSS Snippet tufte-sidenote.css 
You have likely already read the document [[Installing the snippet]]. This document walks you through step-by-step how to add the CSS snippet **cornell.css** to your personal vault. 

Using the same steps, copy the **tufte-sidenote.css** to your personal vault. The steps are the same, but the file you are copying is different.

Don't forget to enable the tuft-sidenote snippet in the Appearance tab in Settings after copying **tufte-sidenote.css** to your personal vault. 

Also, note this solution requires that you have added the **cornell.css** to your vault as documented in [[Installing the snippet]]. The reason is that the Cornell Notes cues and Tufte sidenotes are designed to work together.

### Step 2: Install and configure the Templater plugin and the templater-tufte-sidenotes.md file

To enable Tufte-style sidenotes, you must install the Templater plugin and a template file containing the code that makes Tufte-style notes appear in the margin. 
###### Install the Templater Plugin
This plugin enables advanced templating for performing frequent tasks to save us time. For instructions to install this plugin, see [[Install and Config Templater|Install and Configure the Templater plugin]]
###### Copy the file **templater-tufte-sidenotes** to the Templates folder for the Templater Plugin
After installing the plugin, copy the file [[templater-tufte-sidenotes|templater-tufte-sidenotes]] into the Templates folder you defined when [[Install and Config Templater|installing and configuring the templater]] plugin. 

Be careful not to edit this file since it contains code Obsidian will use.
###### Add a startup template
In the Templater tab in Settings, find the section called **Startup Templates**. add a new startup template by adding **templater-tufte-sidenotes.md** to the list of startup templates. 

Your Startup Templates section should look similar to this, depending on where your Templates folder is located:
![[StartupTemplates.png|700]]
This tells the Templater plugin when Obsidian starts to load the code in the templater-tufte-sidenotes.md file. 
### Step 3: Restart Obsidian
For all these changes to take effect, please restart Obsidian.

Your vault is now ready to use Tufte sidenotes. Please proceed to the document [[Using Tufte Sidenotes in Obsidian]] to learn how to add sidenotes to your documents.


>[!info] ***For the Nerds amongst us***
> Some of you might be curious why this setup is so complicated. The footnotes generated by Obsidian are at the bottom of the document. However, we want to show them in the margin next to where they are used in the main body of the text.  The Templater file you added to your startup templates includes JavaScript that adds some additional logic to how pages are viewed in Obsidian to make the sidenotes possible. The other file you added, the CSS snippet, contains all the formatting logic we need. Combining the JavaScript and the CSS snippet gives us the secret sauce for Tufte Sidenotes.


