Hi, I’m a new user who decided to move from OneNote to Obsidian. But I’ve encountered some serious problems and don’t know how to fix them or if they’ll be added to the next update.
Auto RTL Langugaes Support
It’s been more than 2 years from requesting the RTL languages support, yet not implemented on the main app. when will this be added? I have many Persian-Arabic-English notes, It’s a crucial feature.
Viewing Headers in Side pane like it implemented on Google Colab
I didn’t find this on the app, I think it would be very useful to see the whole md file titles at a glance.
Subnotes !?
As a OneNote user, I’ve many notes nested together. for example, I have a section for the grammar of languages I’m learning, the main note is an introductory note about that part of grammar, then made 5 notes under it for more detailed notes. in Obsidian I should create a folder just to name the grammar part and then place the introductory note among other notes which is a bit messy IMO.
Hovering menu after text selection
If there was an option to turn on the hovering menu access, that’d be helpful for new users; a hovering menu can be customized to have text highlighters, changing font color, changing font style (the font file should be stored in the main dir too), etc.
I think these features are vital and should be optionally activatable as core plugins.
Proposed solutions and Current workarounds
RTL: I’m not a JS or Java Developer but the Telegram app developed good RTL supporting apps on both Web and Android, also the user can change the direction manually by inserting an LRM mark (\u200E). Viewing titles like Colab: Here. Subnotes like OneNote: I didn’t find any other apps and have no idea how this can be implemented on the md file, maybe a default linked mention to that note and some UI/UX designs. Hovering menu after text selection: It’s on many Microsoft apps like OneNote and Word, it should be a WYSIWYG shortcut to HTML scripts like
One thing it’s worthwhile keeping in mind is that OneNote is a database program, while Obsidian is based on files. There are advantages to both approaches, but a feature tht is trivially easy to implement in one may not be in the other.
The most narural way to do sub-notes with markdown files is to have one file (=OneNote top note) with headings (= OneNote subnotes).
For subnotes, you can use one of the “folder note” plugins. They make a conventionally-named note and its parent folder appear to be a single item in Obsidian (if you look in your OS’s file browser, you’ll see they are separate). I use Folder Note Core with AidenLX’s Folder Note.
Thank you so much! I was looking for official plugins because the warning message scared me! :)) (Community plugins can access files on your computer and even install additional programs).
But now I see there are many great plugins, so how can I ensure the plugins are safe?
And… Are there any sources to find all the plugins? there’s an awesome-Obsidian but it doesn’t have a full list of plugins.
That warning is there because it’s technically possible, but:
most community plugins are open source, and anyone with knowledge of programming can audit them(you, or someone you trust)
Plugins are reviewed by the Obsidian developers, before they are accepted into the list.
This is not an Obsidian exclusive problem, most other software that allows extensions does not warn in the same manner as Obsidian(VS Code for example).
Just be sure to have good backups of your vault, in case a plugin malfunctions.
You can read the technical stuff here:
You will have a button to browse all community plugins once you disable safe mode.
