I had overlooked the “Add to database” feature. Thank you for mentioning it.
There are many Obsidian feature requests, and in many cases, perhaps hundreds of them, those features are already implemented in apps other than Obsidian. In those hundreds of feature request discussions, I could leave a comment recommending that people just use a different app instead. Would those comments add anything to the discussions of the feature requests? Absolutely not. Likewise for this discussion.
Now, if someone were to give examples of markdown-based note-taking apps that offer a WSWG mode, that would be a useful contribution – it might tell people something they don’t already know. Dissatisfied Obsidian users might consider switching (given that they know that switching is an option). Moreover, examples of such apps would provide additional details about what kinds of advantages and disadvantages the mode offers, and it might give the Obsidian developers insights as to how to implement the feature, and how complicated it might be to do so. If anyone could list examples of such apps, I would much appreciate it.
I think you have highlighted a valuable distinction here. Regarding this discussion, I feel (and hope) that most users are advocating for a markdown-based system (i.e., adding a mode that allows you to edit text in read-mode). If I am right, then perhaps this thread could remain as the request for markdown-based WSWG mode, and a separate request for non-markdown-based options could be created by someone who advocates for it. In the present thread, perhaps it could be clarified somewhere that the requested feature does not involve anything other than markdown.
Speaking of “flooding the forum”, you already expressed this concern in your October 3rd post.
What kinds of “issues” do you think users will encounter? If the mode is designed correctly, formatting text will be like formatting text in software like Word: you type letters, and change the appearance of some of them as per your desire. The only “issues” I can anticipate arising would be due to the mode not working correctly. Is that also your view, or do you think that even if the mode is functioning perfectly, there will be such issues? This seems like another case where it’d be useful to refer to examples of alternative software that use markdown and have WSWG modes.
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Hi all! New to the forum but have been toying with Obsidian for a few years. It has such incredible potential, but there are a few rough spots with the UI/UX that could use refinement.
I don’t think Obsidian needs a fully visual editor. What it does need is a smoother experience of editing certain markdown elements in Live Preview Mode. Especially with links: the way they suddenly unfold and shift text around is seriously jarring, as several people have pointed out. The brackets will show up even when you’re clicking the link to follow it.
What if Links received a similar treatment to the way Tables were updated in 1.5? Tables used to unfold into pure markdown upon cursor focus. Now, we have a visual way of editing them, but you can still go into source mode to see the markdown.
I’m not sure exactly what this should look like with links, but I expect it would be similar to how rich text editors do it. I’m basically giving a +1 to what yohome suggested in 2022.
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The point made, at least by me, is to
Without this i’m not moving a page. All it takes is a fourth mode which allows editing in read mode. It takes nothing from you, but would enable a gadzillion Word and OneNote users to give Obsidian a serious try.
This guy gets it.
Also this:
Well put. The box with sparking wires is appealing to software developers. But as a software developer myself, I feel that it just feels wrong. When I use a tool for notes, writing, and knowledge management, I want a user experience that gets out of the way so I can concentrate on writing. It is very distracting to see Markdown turds everywhere.
Obsidian is a great tool, but it limits its audience by insisting on catering to developers and people who need the validation of working with “code”. I’ve been an Evernote user for over a decade, and although I’d love to switch to Obsidian, I give up and go back to Evernote every time I try it because the editing experience is ugly. Don’t get me wrong - I love Markdown. But when I’m writing and taking notes, I’m not in the mindset of writing code.
X 10
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I want to add another supportive voice for this feature request. I never only read my notes, it’s always an active editing/revising process, so I use live preview mode 99% of the time. (I only switch to source mode when I need to fix some misbehaving markdown.)
And as others have pointed out, live preview mode is just a bit painful. If I click on a heading, the text jumps, if I move the cursor next to a link, the text jumps, if I click on a callout, it unfolds completely. I can’t predict where my cursor will end up when I click on an element, so editing an existing text (which for me is typically bulletpoint lists with plenty of links, interspersed with headings, tables and callouts) feels kinda like constant wrestling with the live preview UI.
As an aside, it’s a bit annoying that the live preview mode feels like the neglected middle child between source and reading mode, with stuff like syntax highlight not working for more niche languages when it works in reading mode 
TL;DR: live preview mode is the most useful to me, but in its current iteration it’s also my biggest pain point with the Obsidian user experience.
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The difference is that markdown is and always has been fundamental to Obsidian and to its core file over app philosophy, and for that reason IMO this feature request is unlikely to ever be implemented. If you consider that a dealbreaker and can’t make your peace with it, you may be happier using another app, as I’ve suggested.
Don’t get me wrong, you have a perfect right to post or support any feature request you like, and I don’t usually respond to requests that don’t appeal to me.
But this one if implemented would have a high risk of compromising or ruining what I and a large number of current users—most likely the majority—love most about Obsidian. So I don’t think it’s unreasonable for me to share my opinion about it as you’ve shared yours.
It’s not up to me to spend time finding alternative apps you might be happier with, but that I wouldn’t want to use. As a start, I suggest asking in the PKM and Notetaking subreddits.
I just know that if I have any formatting issues, the current live preview mode usually enables me to spot them if I run into issues, and if not, I can switch to source mode for an even closer look. But I couldn’t do that if I didn’t know markdown, which is very simple and easy to learn.
I’ve also spent a lot of time helping to answer user questions on the Discord, and I can tell you that even now people ask questions that they could have answered themselves if they had a better understanding of markdown. If they didn’t have to learn markdown to use Obsidian because the codes were completely hidden, it would be worse.
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But how is this related to markdown or file over app? Having basically a current reading mode with text editing enabled can perhaps be technically difficult to implement, but I fail to see how it changes anything below the hood.
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Yes, please add. I’ve been trying to convince my brother and family to high Obsidian a try, but the markdown codes popping up whenever I add a link or bold and italicize letters are really distracting to them. Yet I know that Obsidian is really good for us to learn better and make good connections. If people could get eased into using Obsidian and markdown by having a 4th kind of editing mode that is fully visual, then it can motivate them to then maybe one day learn about the power of markdown and how to use it, rather than just push them away from the very beginning. My family lives very stressful lives with work and what not, and it’s pretty tough to have to learn how to use markdown and/or at least bare with it to write down some notes on top of all of the things that they already have to learn and/or do for work and for just straight up surviving. This new editing mode could really change people’s lives!!
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Give* not high