Callout Blocks in Reading View Flicker While Editing Callout Body

Bug reports
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1

Steps to reproduce

  1. Set your view to legacy editor mode.
  2. Open an editor pane and a linked reading pane, then start typing a callout block in the editor pane.
  3. After setting the callout’s type (e.g., “note”, etc.), start typing the callout’s body text below the title.

Expected result

While typing the body text of the callout in the editing pane, the corresponding reading pane should display the stylized output text of the callout smoothly.

Actual result

While typing in the editor pane, the corresponding callout in the reading pane should flicker rapidly as you type. Sometimes the entire reading pane flickers, but usually only the callout part of the pane’s text does. I don’t notice any flickering while scrolling, reading or otherwise only observing the page, in either the editor or reading pane.

I thought maybe because I was using LYT Mode and it’s not an “official” community theme (i.e., it isn’t included in the Community Themes area when you click the “Browse” button in the setting Appearance tab), that might be causing it, but it occurs whatever theme I use.

Environment

  • Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 21H2 (64-bit)
  • Debug info:
    SYSTEM INFO:
    Obsidian version: v0.14.5
    Installer version: v0.13.30
    Operating system: Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19044
    Login status: logged in
    Catalyst license: none
    Insider build toggle: off
    Live preview: on
    Legacy editor: on
    Base theme: dark
    Community theme: LYT Mode
    Snippets enabled: 0
    Safe mode: off
    Plugins installed: 480
    Plugins enabled: 6
    1: Consistent attachments and links
    2: Get Info
    3: Sliding Panes (Andy’s Mode)
    4: Bartender
    5: Workspaces Plus
    6: Obsidian42 - BRAT

Additional information

I’m sorry if I’m inserting the text of this bug report in the incorrect area. I wasn’t sure if it was supposed to go inside the HTML comments or below it; it’s my first report. But as the first comment says “Type below” I did so. :slight_smile:

2

does it happen in the help vault with the new editor?

3

btw, why are you still you using the legacy editor?

1 Like
4

I apologize that it’s taken over a week to reply to your questions. It’s not an excuse, really, but work’s been crazy lately. :wink:

Edit: I also apologize, perhaps more importantly, for the absurd length of this wall-of-text response. I don’t mean to be tedious, but I do tend to take questions asked of me seriously, simply because I respect the person asking, and figure a good question deserves a good answer.

First of all, thanks for replying, and showing interest in this. It means a lot. The issue isn’t life-altering or anything, but it is frustrating and distracting. To answer your questions:

Firstly, yes, it does seem to happen in the Help vault, too, as of this morning. That said, it doesn’t happen every time I write a callout in the Help Vault, leading me to believe it could be a community plugin or theme issue (I’m using California Coast), although that’s merely a guess. I’ll investigate more and get back to you.

As to your second question (and please forgive the thesis-length answer :stuck_out_tongue_winking_eye:, why I still use Legacy Mode in my workflows, the answer is twofold and somewhat complex, the first reason being strictly practical and the second more subjective.

Don’t feel like you have to read the whole answer—I’m including a “too long; don’t read” summation before the long answer—but if you’re bored or just really curious feel free to. It’s a perfectly valid and good question, BTW, and as I said, my respect for your asking a good question demands a good answer.

Reason #1:
A lot of the plugins I make extensive use of don’t as yet “play nicely” with the new Live Preview mode. For this reason, purely practical in nature, I choose to use Legacy mode lest I forfeit the benefits those plugins provide. For me, at least, this far outweighs any slight improvements added by the new, simpler mode.

Reason #2 (TL;DR Version):
I simply prefer Legacy over Live Preview mode. I’m a software engineer by trade, and have spent approx. the past 34 years—the majority of my life—coding, debugging and otherwise developing software, and although there are exceptions, especially these days, many programmers like to be able to see the code they write, forgoing the “black box” a real-time preview mode affords, even if it’s simply Markdown code/text.

Reason #2: Complete Version:
True, I’m a product of the '90s, to be sure, and for some, it no-doubt seem old-fashioned, but there are several advantages to seeing the code (and optionally the preview) separately. For one thing, it’s easier to tell when the program you’re using to write it is behaving counter to the way it is specified to. There are many other reasons, but the intricacies would wast yours and my time, and this reply is already bordering on the level of tedium you find in most normative standards specifications.

All this said, I do occasionally use the Live Preview mode, and I hope you don’t mistake my statements as claiming it’s not useful or prettier than Legacy; it’s just not me, for the most part. If I want see a preview, I’m perfectly content having the Reading View of a file rendered in a separate pane.

Anyway, I hope this answers your question without causing you to fall asleep from boredom. I don’t mean to be long-winded, but just wanted to give your question an answer worthy of its merit. It’s a very good question.

Suffice it to say, Live Preview is great in certain situations, and for many people, but Legacy mode is every bit as great—it’s just a matter of taste. Now why couldn’t I have just said that in the first place? :laughing:

5

No the reason I asked this question is because the new editor has two modes:
Live Preview (which you don’t like)
Source mode (which works similarly to the legacy editor but uses the new engine)

We are trying to understand why people who use the legacy editor don’t migrate to the new editor in source mode.

Back to your problem. Downloand and reinstall obsidian.
If you can reproduce your problem in the new editor-source mode in the sandbox vault, post a screen recording here.

6

I get this issue as well, though it is isolated to the callout icon. Using the current Source View and Reading Mode. This is stock, safe mode, default theme:

CalloutGlitch

The bug occurs on my Windows 10 Pro 64-bit system (0.14.6 installer, 0.14.9 app) as well as my PopOS VirtualBox dev environment (0.14.6 installer and app).

1 Like
7

thanks

8

Thanks, @WhiteNoise. I gotcha. Misunderstood at first—my apologies. :slight_smile: Ok will do. I’ll keep you updated. Thanks again! :wave:

9

Couldn’t have said it better myself. Thanks a lot @MalignantCarp. That screenshot could very easily be on my screen; it’s exactly th e same. The only difference is the whole callout box, including icon, flickers, only in preview mode, of course. :slight_smile: