Mastodawn

Obsidian 1.5 is now available to all! ✨🎅

- New table editor
- New formatting menu
- Revamped Sync version history
- Sync remote vaults increased to 10, and max file size to 200MB
- Properties can be renamed globally

And lots lots more!
https://obsidian.md/changelog/2023-12-26-desktop-v1.5.3/

Obsidian 1.5 Desktop (Public)

Shiny new things Introducing a brand new editor for Markdown tables. Table rows and columns are now easier to create, edit, sort, reorder, select, copy, and pas...

🅱🅻🆄🅴🅱️Dec 26, 2023

I'm a pretty big fan of obsidian. I use it for most of my note taking for new projects.

My favorite feature is the wiki links [[ EX; name of concept here creates link ]] which makes it extremely easy to create new pages and rename concepts.

Two complaints:
You can't use Colon ( ':' ) in wiki links and other symbols that are commonly used in titles

There is no code for changing the color of text or highlight color other than using HTML which is not impossible, but is time consuming. (Though there are plugins that make it possible.)

Chris Offner Dec 26, 2023

@BlueBee @obsidian I share both the praise for Obsidian and your two complains/requests. Especially being able to use colours would be very nice, although I can see how that would be in tension with keeping the files in standard Markdown format and maximally portable.

🅱🅻🆄🅴🅱️Dec 26, 2023

@chrisoffner3d @obsidian

I have already broken portability ☺️

So long as I can dig out the important parts if I for some reason no longer have obsidian, but do have the text files I'm good.

I saw someone's theme use a setup where they used ==text here== with more *'s being different colors.

Something like that would suit my needs and only minimally break the portability.

Yusuf Dec 26, 2023

@BlueBee @chrisoffner3d @obsidian

I use this plugin https://github.com/chetachiezikeuzor/Highlightr-Plugin

GitHub - chetachiezikeuzor/Highlightr-Plugin: A minimal and aesthetically pleasing highlighting menu that makes color-coded highlighting much easier 🎨.

A minimal and aesthetically pleasing highlighting menu that makes color-coded highlighting much easier 🎨. - chetachiezikeuzor/Highlightr-Plugin

GitHub

Sobral Dec 26, 2023

@chrisoffner3d @BlueBee @obsidian, I'm sorry, but I really hope your complaint on colors never gets solved. I want my notes to persist. To open the door for custom code would just make them harder to read without Obsidian. There's already tools which can give you that.

Please, don't take it personally. I don't intend to offend any of you.

🅱🅻🆄🅴🅱️Dec 26, 2023

@sobral @chrisoffner3d @obsidian

Ugh I'm so offended 😂

Nah, I understand your take. In my case, I think the lack of text color and highlight in markdown is a huge mistake that should be fixed across all versions of markdown. The lack of it really hamstrings ones ability to differentiate types of text.

I get your point, but it seems like a core weakness of markdown at the moment as well.

Sobral Dec 26, 2023

@BlueBee @chrisoffner3d @obsidian , I agree on the highlight! Something to be parsed as `<mark>` would be useful.

🅱🅻🆄🅴🅱️Dec 26, 2023

@sobral @chrisoffner3d @obsidian

Also, who hurt you? ☺️

While I disagree somewhat, I see no reason to get mad about it. I imagine everyone's just trying to reach the best possible note taking system.

Clair (KD3BCC)Dec 26, 2023

@BlueBee @obsidian I think this is a file system limitation. This isn't as easy, but you can use after a pipe to make the link text different. But this does somewhat defeat the purpose.

[[Title|Title: the extra bit]]

kepano Dec 26, 2023

@BlueBee @obsidian Unlikely that either of these will change because supporting those features would break our core principles around durability of your notes

1. Limitations on characters in titles are defined by the OS. MacOS and Linux are more permissive than Windows. You can also use an H1 in your file.

2. Colored highlights don't exist in Markdown syntax

See https://stephango.com/file-over-app

File over app

If you want to create digital artifacts that last, they must be files you can control, in formats that are easy to retrieve and read. Use tools that give you...

Steph Ango

🅱🅻🆄🅴🅱️Dec 26, 2023

@kepano @obsidian

If it's not possible then I guess I'll have to stomach using HTML occasionally instead. The lack of color doesn't give me enough to work with to quickly parse different types of strings or headings.

On the file side of things, I had not thought about the file naming conventions of the operating system. Now that I'm thinking about it, we really screwed ourselves by not having some agreed upon solution for string collisions. So many limitations and vulnerabilities because there is no way to say this is just text, vs this is intended to be a command at some point. It feels like it's more us butting up against the limitations of language.

It's not a deal breaker as wiki links are so incredibly valuable, but it is a shame as color is a core component of readability.

Niiju Dec 26, 2023

@obsidian Excellent release 👑
I'm looking forward to databases so much.

What I would absolutely love would be the possibility to self host an obsidian server that would serve my files to a web interface accessible online ✨

Brody 🚀 Brooks Dec 26, 2023

@obsidian Ah, the table editing is sooooo much nicer!! Thank you!!

mafe en españa Dec 26, 2023

@obsidian Looks awesome. When will there be a way of getting Obsidian Android installable on Google-Apps-Free OSes like LineageOS?
Installing from untrusted internet sources feels terrible.

Sandra Koschel Dec 26, 2023

@obsidian love it! ty!

Dan Sanderson Dec 26, 2023

@obsidian Huge congrats and thanks! Powerful inline tables are a major value add for all kinds of notes, one of those things you don't realize until you try them. Excited to have richer editor support.

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@obsidian now can you please add real wysiwyg to the note editor? You're already doing it with the table editor, completely defeating the purpose of a "text first" editor that still shows markdown.

Niiju Dec 27, 2023

@fabioromeu @obsidian What do you mean by that?

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@Niiju @obsidian when you write on obsidian in "live preview", it in shows the underlying markdown instead of the formatted text when editing. So, if i click on something that is bold and italic, it explodes into a mess of text between asterisks; if I want to correct a typo in a link, it will inflate into markdown formatting instead of just letting me fix the text. Everything jumps around depending on where you click, it's awful all around: visually, for navegability and for intuitivity.

Niiju Dec 27, 2023

@fabioromeu @obsidian Ohh yeah I see. I'm not too bothered by this most of the time but I understand your view

kepano Dec 27, 2023

@fabioromeu @Niiju @obsidian This is a feature not a bug. But also, it's now becoming much easier to hide Markdown syntax entirely if you want to. I have added that as an option in Minimal 7.4.4

https://github.com/kepano/obsidian-minimal/releases/tag/7.4.4

Release 7.4.4 · kepano/obsidian-minimal

Adds two new Style Settings options Text → Markdown syntax color Advanced → Hide Markdown syntax (experimental)

GitHub

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian I still think it’s an awful feature that people should be able to choose if they want it or not, specially with the new WYSIWYG table feature. Anyway, I’ll check the extension, thanks for posting it!

kepano Dec 27, 2023

@fabioromeu @Niiju @obsidian "Awful" seems a little biased — I personally find it really useful. You can always revert back to Source mode if you want the Markdown syntax present at all times.

Are you suggesting that Obsidian should have a WYSIWYG editor? If so what differentiates it from other WYSIWYG tools out there?

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian Yes, exactly. If you’re doing WYSIWYG, do it properly without dirtying the view with code. Allow markdown to be behind the scenes, for everything, just like they’re doing with tables. The thing about Obsidian is that, while it’s awful to create and edit notes due to this horrible mismatch of concepts…

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian …it does everything else right. I like the way it allows me to manage my data, mix types of files and create links between them, which Joplin doesn’t do. It allows me to have a nice knowledge manager that allows me to retrieve information pretty quickly. Unfortunately, I find it terrible to create that info, so I use external editors to have proper notes, and manage everything in Obsidian creating tags and links and correlations.

kepano Dec 27, 2023

@fabioromeu @Niiju @obsidian so what are the external editors that you consider "not awful"?

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian Today I’m working mostly with Joplin, it has nice formatting view that hides markdown behind the scenes and allows me to export in HTML and MD, and with a plugin I can add handwritten notes. I used to use Microsoft Word, it’s awesome for text editing AND hand drawing, but the drawback is the need to open Word to see the notes. With Joplin I can export to a folder and in Obsidian it opens on the side with a click.

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian My workflow is messy. My data comes from many sources: handwritten notes made on Xournal+, screenshots, clips from emails, sound bites, text etc. In Joplin I organize and clean the data in a way that makes sense, and I format everything. I export it to Obsidian to connect the dots with tagging and links. All the data goes to a reference folder for archiving. If I could just use Obsidian I would drop a lot of apps, simplifying things a little.

Fabio Romeo Dec 27, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian Which is why I’m so mad at Obsidian, it’s THIS CLOSE to be the perfect knowledge manager (for me, at least). Needless to say, I’m putting high hopes to that extension. I can’t wait to try it as soon as I get the chance.

Fabio Romeo Dec 28, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian BTW, I think Joplin has the right idea: it puts a live preview in one panel and MD on the other, side by side, so people who really REALLY want to edit MD can do it without things jumping around, and they can check out the final result as they go. Or you can swith to full WYSIWYG and never deal with MD.

Honestly, if Joplin could save files in its database and manage those like Obsidian, I would be all in. Unfortunately, it cannot - and I tried...

Fabio Romeo Dec 28, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian I think I need some help here... I installed the theme from the link and all the suggested extensions, read the documentation, turned it off and on again, and I still can't figure out how to hide markdown. I found the references for hide-markdown on the CSS but could not find a way to activate it. What am I missing?

kepano Dec 28, 2023

@fabioromeu @Niiju @obsidian go to Style Settings → Minimal Advanced Settings

Fabio Romeo Dec 28, 2023

@kepano @Niiju @obsidian found it, thanks!

Ted Lemon Dec 30, 2023

Is there a reason not to allow the iOS/iPad app to run on Mac as well? I really don’t like installing apps that don’t have an enforced sandbox.

november Dec 30, 2023

Thanks so much! I love how Obsidian looks like WYSIWYG but isn't really. Real WYSIWYG interfaces are always so buggy.

Dan York Dec 30, 2023

@obsidian Wow! The new table editor is *great*! That was the one big thing that was frustrating me with Obsidian.

So the obvious question... this was for *desktop*. When will 1.5 come to IOS? 😀