Enhancing Obsidian Publish: A Unified Call for Improvement

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Hello everyone,

Over time, discussions about Obsidian Publish have become fragmented—ranging from feature requests and bug reports to help topics and integration guides. Given its critical role within the Obsidian ecosystem and its importance as a revenue driver, it’s high time we consolidate our insights into one comprehensive discussion. This post is intended as “food for thought” to drive meaningful enhancements for Publish.

Purpose of This Discussion

This thread isn’t solely about one aspect of Obsidian’s functionality; it’s about addressing the broad spectrum of improvements needed in Publish. My earlier post was removed as “off-topic” because it was mistakenly posted in a discussion centered on the desktop app’s web interface. This standalone post is dedicated exclusively to exploring the current capabilities, limitations, and future direction of Obsidian Publish. While a fully functional web version of Obsidian isn’t strictly necessary for core operations, it would definitely be a bonus feature that enhances the overall user experience.

Key Areas for Improvement

1. Core Functionality and Feature Requests
A notable discussion in “Seeking an Alternative to Obsidian Publish for Sharing Vaults” (Joeweb, May 2024) highlights several unmet needs:

  • Selective Sharing: The ability to share specific vaults or individual folders directly on a website.
  • Enhanced File Handling: Support for uploading and offering linked files of any extension for download.
  • Advanced User Management: Comprehensive user management features that go beyond the basic password protection currently offered.

These enhancements are particularly critical for educators and professionals who need a robust, user-friendly publishing solution.

2. Interface, Customization, and Integration
Users consistently express a need for a more intuitive and customizable experience. For instance:

3. Additional Critical Concerns
Several pressing issues require immediate attention:

  • SEO: Currently, the SEO of Obsidian Publish is subpar—limiting the discoverability of published content. Enhancing SEO is essential to reach a wider audience.
  • Performance: Faster load speeds are crucial. Imagine if the initial “chunks” of a page could load almost instantly while the remainder loads in the background. This chunked loading approach would significantly improve the experience, especially on content-heavy pages.
  • Social Customization: The current handling of social links and preview styles is inadequate. A complete overhaul, allowing users to fully customize these elements, would better serve diverse branding and functional needs.
  • Mobile Experience: The mobile version of Publish is notably limited. Essential features like the graph view—vital for visualizing note relationships—are missing, severely hampering usability on smaller screens.
    (Reference: Making Graph View Accessible on Mobile)
  • Archiving Compatibility: The way Publish is currently served disrupts functionality with web archiving services, such as the Internet Archive. This issue prevents us from reliably preserving the historical record of published content and, consequently, from maintaining a long-term history of Obsidian’s evolution.

Our Unified Community Request

Instead of relying on incremental, surface-level updates—such as a canvas feature that merely replicates tools like Excalidraw—we urge the team to focus on essential improvements:

  • Transparent Roadmap: Develop and share a clear, public roadmap outlining planned enhancements for Publish.
  • Fundamental Building Blocks: Invest in critical areas including advanced customization, robust authentication, integrated commenting, comprehensive analytics, enhanced SEO, and performance optimizations (like chunked loading).
  • Enhanced Documentation: Consolidate feature requests and guidance to facilitate community engagement and contribution.

Call to Action

I invite everyone to share your experiences, link to related discussions, and offer suggestions on how we can collectively push for a more robust and competitive Obsidian Publish. This meta post is intended as the central hub for all discussions regarding the current state and future development of Publish. If you’re aware of any other relevant threads or have additional feedback, please contribute your insights here.

Together, we can ensure that Obsidian Publish receives the attention and development it deserves. While expanding Obsidian’s web capabilities would be fantastic, our immediate priority is to enhance Publish as it exists today.

Looking forward to your thoughts and contributions.

Best regards,
b.

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Hello everyone,

I realize there hasn’t been much discussion on post yet, but I’ve been thinking further about how we can drive meaningful enhancements for Obsidian Publish. I have an additional idea that I believe could open up exciting possibilities for creators on the platform.

Here’s my thought: what if we could introduce a tiered sharing model that goes beyond the current public/private settings? Specifically, I’m proposing a system where creators can set up multiple levels of access to their content. For example, a basic layer could be freely accessible to all, while additional premium layers might be available only to users who hold certain NFTs that act as digital keys.

This NFT-based access mechanism would offer a flexible way for creators to monetize their work without having to build an entirely new backend. It could provide a more nuanced approach to content distribution—allowing creators to offer exclusive content, behind-the-scenes insights, or extended works to a dedicated audience.

I know this idea is a bit experimental, but I believe it aligns with our shared goal of making Obsidian Publish even more powerful and adaptable. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this concept and explore whether this approach could be a viable addition to the platform.

Looking forward to your feedback!

Best regards,
b.