@toiteam : I have also been dying to have this feature. In fact, I am surprised it is still outstanding even though it is a basic requirement. The right-click āsolutionā is just a workaround, but of not much use.
Still, this request only has 8 upvotes (see OP at the top of this page), so will it ever be implemented???
Made an account to like and comment on this issue. As I use internal links in headers, and just did a note name overhaul, essentially all of my header links (which are the main way I link) are broken. This is causing serious frustration with Obsidian/reconsideration of using Obsidian, please fix. Been great otherwise.
Preserve links after renaming headings has already been implemented - you just have to trigger the rename using the right click menu on the heading. Blocks donāt get renamed often so we havenāt prioritized it.
My reply:
The right click trigger is not workable in practice. You have to remember to do it. It should be an automatic thing, like the automatic adjustment of links when file names are changed.
Licatās explanation:
Unfortunately, monitoring heading changes automatically is impractical from a performance perspective. Automatic rename would mean that the program has to constantly monitor what youāre typing in the document.
Constantly checking if youāre editing a heading or not a heading, whether that heading has references to it. It also doesnāt know when your rename is finished.
So, that means this feature request will never be implemented natively in Obsidian. @WhiteNoise can therefore close this topic.
Huh, I vaguely thought that links and headings were indexed, and so could be updated at least when the page saves. Also, āPreserve links after renaming headings and blocksā is on the short-term roadmap (as pointed out by @I-d-as), so Iām not sure what that means.
I would never have thought to use a context menu to rename headings. Iāll try to remember to do it, but I donāt expect much success.
@CawlinTeffid Sorry to mislead you. All this time, I had been thinking, in the works, was a feature that immediately automatically updated links to a heading when it was edited. I hadnāt seen this thread obviously. The problem I have with the context menu is forgetting to use it or accidentally editing headings. Still processing this. Oh well. Better to know than not.
Itās not your fault, I do think the trello card was poorly worded (for brevity).
Check out Block-reference-count plugin, itās a good solution for knowing when to use the rename functionality and maybe some of that will be implemented in core.
The Block-reference-count plug-in has the problem Licat referred to when he answered me about the automatic updating of links to headers: it slows down Obsidian. I used the plug-in, and noticed that when you type there is a distinct, irritating lag before the text is rendered.
The dev went through several iterations to improve it, which he did, but a lag remained nevertheless, so I gave up on that plug-in.
I know you saw me make this comment in Discord, but I just repeat it here for others.
@CawlinTeffid the context menu to adjust links to headers is useful if you just change one header name.
I use the Number headings plug-in, which adds a number to all of the headers and subheaders in a note. If you then add or delete only 1 header, the plug-in adjusts all the header numbers on that page, bypassing the context menu.
The problem for me isnāt how many headings I want to change, itās that headings are part of the text, and I change text by selecting and typing, not by right-clicking. When I inevitably click a broken block/heading link, I suppose Iāll be able to find the text and update the link without too much work, itāll just be an annoyance. (Just clarifying, not expecting any action.)
@CawlinTeffid I agree with that, and that is what I told Licat in the Discord discussion yesterday. I have used the right-click option once, even though there have been instances where I should. I just forget to do so, probably because, as you indicate, it is unnatural.