full WYSIWYG applications can (and some do) store the notes in markdown exactly like Obsidian does, the way you input data into your note on the screen doesn’t have to match the way the program stores them.
I assume you’re talking about apps like Typora. They’re not true WYSIWYG; they’re similar to Obsidian’s current Live Preview mode, even though they might makes it easier to work with tables, etc. I know some people call them WYSIWYG, but they’re misusing the term.
The Obsidian roadmap used to informally say they were working on “WYSIWYG like Typora,” but by the time it showed up as an actual feature in the software, they’d changed the name to the more accurate Live Preview.
It doesn’t make any sense to try to turn a plaintext markdown app into a full-blown graphical word processor. If that’s what you want in a PKM app, you’ll probably be happier with something like Craft.
My only complaint with obsidian is that switching between editing view and reading view will cause jitter, this problem is especially obvious in canvas
The lack of clean editing experience is the main reason I’m not using Obsidian.
If I want to move a block of text together with an image that’s a very complicated operation compared to any other note editing app where you can simply drag and drop.
The text jumping between preview and markdown is fancy idea but distracting from thinking / writing
One of the best things about Obsidian is how flexible it is and how easy it is to toggle things on/off. I would love the option to see a WYSIWYG toolbar that fades in/out. There are some plugins supporting this but I think you call could implement something much cleaner that combines it with hiding the markdown. I think this would bring a lot of new folks in.
I wonder if the amazing Lexical Playground could be implemented into obsidian either natively or as a plugin, due to lexical playground is made with ReactJS as well. Obsidian with that way of writing experience would be a dream.
I agree, but it would be much easier to use if that peek-a-boo formatting did not make it nearly impossible for me to edit the [[some link|alt text]] (on Android) after the link is activated and made clickable. Trying to select the text just toggles the peek-a-boo between “code version” and “formatted version” and moves the cursor around.
So I can’t edit links at all (on Android). It’s like trying to play whack-a-mole with my document. I have to delete the text and type it over.
It sounds like this “wysiwyg” editing request would fix that issue for me. If it’s feasible to implement (and it seems to me that it might even be simpler than the peek-a-boo markdown formatting), I would like to see it implemented.
I appreciate the suggestion, but Craft does not have an Android version. Also, what makes you happy appears to be slightly different from what makes me happy. I don’t think it’s unreasonable for us both to be happy. I would like you to be happy.
I just meant that you might be happier with a rich-text notes/PKM app (Craft just happened to come to mind as an example), since rich text already does everything you’ve said you want. Neither rich text nor plaintext is “better” in some absolute sense; they just have different sets of advantages and disadvantages.
FWIW, John Gruber, the inventor of markdown, doesn’t think it’s suitable for taking notes. I strongly disagree with him, but he’s not wrong. We just have different preferences and value different things in a notes/PKM app.
He and another dev built a paid notes app called Vesper that failed in the marketplace. You can still download it from the App Store for free, though it hasn’t been updated in years. It didn’t use markdown.
Iirc, he uses Apple Notes now. For writing, last I heard he was using BBEdit on macOS and iA Writer on an iPad.
This account is a very selective description of the plaintext landscape of the time. Ignores asciidoc and org-mode, both of which are in their different ways more suitable for some of the current things markdown is expected to do.
Understanding Gruber’s precise work (tech blogger, journalist) explains some of the peculiarities of markdown. And why markdown isn’t great for those of us who write for print formats.
It’s a pity that markdown has ossified into different variants and immutable ‘standards’. Also a pity that the format is text only - it would be easy enough to extend to save images rather than only link them; links nearly always break in the long-term.
Registered here just to +1 about the WYSIWYG functionality. I’m new to Obsidian but already super inspired about possibilities as PKM, but the whole “markdown philosophy" making it’s way too unfriendly.
My brother is a teacher at medical university, not a tech guy at all, researches a lot, has over 1000 notes, and was super excited finding obsidian, yet the markdown scared him immediately…
It’s been 2 years since the thread started and there is still no mention of WYSIWYG in the roadmap, nor anything decent in community plugins. So what is the status?
If the word WYSIWYG is a problem, how about a « markless» editor.
A lot of users where very happy when the new Properties interface was introduced.
Its still Markdown behind, but so much more convenient, clean and unobtrusive.
I can foresee a lot of people would feel the same with a nice table interface, and then a link interface, and a footnote interface… and then… oh my… eventually you end up with a modern coherent editing interface that does not require you to fiddle with inline codes like in the good old days of WordStar.
After spending a month exploring Obsidian and diving deep into its capabilities, I’ve encountered a significant hurdle when it comes to writing in the live edit view. The constant shifting and distracting elements in the UI make it challenging to focus on the writing process. Additionally, as a heavy user of plugins and custom CSS, the content in the preview mode often doesn’t resemble the final rendered page.
I’ve pondered a mechanism that could provide a more intuitive editing experience, allowing me to simultaneously view the live render and the actual markdown content side by side. Presently, I need to focus out from the section to ensure that everything is formatted correctly. What I envision is something akin to an editable “bubble” positioned next to the focused section, offering a simultaneous view of the live content and the underlying markdown. This solution would provide a better editing experience without requiring excessive screen real estate.
