Questions? Reach out on Slack or support@sourcemedium.com
What is Notion?
Notion is an All-in-one workspace. One tool for your whole team to Write, plan, and get organized.
Well, hello there 👋 Welcome to the internet's only all-in-one workspace for essential work tools! Sounds fancy, but honestly — at the end of the day — Notion's just a set of building blocks for creating things you love to use on your computer. Things like:
- Documents
- Databases
- Knowledge bases
- Project managers
- Productivity systems
- The world's most beautiful notes... 😉
Notion is different from other software in a few ways. And once you master these basics, you can pretty much build whatever you want. So let's start and go from there!
1. Notion is a flexible canvas
Every Notion page is a blank canvas you can build on, but you don't have to use all the tools in the toolkit. Use it as simply as the simplest of text editors. Just open a page and start typing:
Or add different types of content. Like checkboxes for a lightweight to-do list:
Add pages inside pages to build out a knowledge base in minutes:
Or create a database that gets as sophisticated as any problem you're solving:
Notion can be as light or as complex as you need it to be. This tutorial, the guides we've created, and our templates are here to give you the recipe for anything you want to build 🍪
2. Everything in Notion is a block
Imagine every piece of content you add to a page — whether it's text, an image, or a table — as a single building block. Every page is a stack of blocks combined however you want.
Here's just one example with different block types pointed out:
All of these are blocks that can be added to a page simply by hitting /:
- Text
- Headings (H1, H2, H3)
- Images
- Bullets
- Checkboxes
- Pages (inside pages)
- Tables
- Boards
- Calendars
- Galleries
- Videos
- Maps
- 500+ embeds
- Code blocks
- Files
3. Your format is fluid
Any block in Notion can be turned into any other type of block in order to use, view, or deepen that information in a new way — without losing any of it.
Here are just a few ways this comes in handy:
- Bullets → Pages: Turn a bulleted list of ideas into a list of pages where you can add more research, tasks, and context.
- Tasks → Board: Drag and drop to rearrange and transform your content.
- Table → Calendar: View your data however is most helpful for you.
4. Organize on infinite levels
There are no folders in Notion. Instead, you can organize pages inside pages inside pages. There are no limits on how you organize your work, and you can always find it in your sidebar.
- Everything has its place. Keep it simple, or see it all.
- Every database item is its own page (which can contain more pages).
5. Drag & drop it all
At any time, you can rearrange, reorder, and reshape your thoughts with one motion.
We hope this quick overview was helpful. Most importantly, don't worry about not knowing everything you can do right away. We'll discover it together. Click below to get started!