How to get templates created in markdown syntax to render in plain text mode?

Help
1

I’m currently using version 1.12.7 of Obsidian. I have several templates created in markdown syntax. I want them to render in plain text mode so I can create my notes and read them clearly without having to decode markdown.

Things I have tried

In Settings, I have my default editing mode set to “source mode”. I searched for “Toggle Live Preview/Source mode.” in the Command Palette but no change is executed when I click on it. Live Preview is absent from the view menu. I only have read mode and source mode in my view menu.

How do I fix this so that when I create a new note and select the template I choose to use, I can convert the markdown syntax to plain text reliably?

2

What do you mean by “plain text”? Plain text would be text without any formatting in my understanding.

If you mean the markdown syntax, none of this should be visible in reading mode. Reading mode should only show the formatted text defined by the markdown syntax.

Source mode and Live Preview are Editing Mode views. Source mode will show all markdown syntax, Live Preview will only show syntax for the element that is currently selected.

So when you add a template to a note and switch to reading mode you should have “plain text”.

3

When I select reading mode, nothing changes. I still see all the markdown syntax. There is no distinction between reading mode and source mode as I look at my note.

By plain text I’m referring to text as we see it in anything we read, a book, anything online, without any of the markdown notations directing how text should be displayed.

Your response Zodian makes perfect sense, but that’s not how my database is behaving. Reading mode is identical to source mode displaying all the markdown syntax. When I switch my Editing Mode to Live Preview it has zero impact. My note still displays markdown syntax. I’m at a loss as to what else I can try.

4

Is this issue with reading mode only for notes created with a template or for all you notes?

If only with the templates, can you share a simple example of a template that doesnt work for you?

5

All the notes I have taken are legible as plain text. The issue is when I create a new note and use a template. However, just about all of the notes I have taken thus far have been initiated using one of my templates. In trying to retrieve a template as an example for you, I see that somehow my templates in my template folder have gotten messed up. They don’t appear as they were originally created.

Let me try make some changes to these templates and see whether that resolves the problem.

6

Does the text include:

  • Paragraphs indented (by at least 1 tab or 4 spaces)? That marks the text as a code block and will show the Markdown syntax in all views (unless it’s a list item nested under another list item; those can be indented).
  • A code block that’s missing its end marker? That would turn everything after it into code.
  • An HTML starting tag without a closing tag (like <span>example instead of <span>example</span>)? Obsidian doesn’t render Markdown inside HTML. HTML content - Obsidian Help
  • Text with angle brackets around it (<example>)? Obsidian will think this is HTML. You can prevent this by putting a backslash before the opening angle bracket to “escape” it (mark it as literal, not special text): \<example>.

Also, I recommend reading Views and editing mode - Obsidian Help for a better understanding of editing view (source mode & live preview) and reading view.