# Introduce preset/user definable variables system **URL:** \ **Category:** Feature requests\ **Created:** [May 26, 2020, 9:48am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519 "2020-05-26T09:48:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Valery\_Kondakoff](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/valery_kondakoff/32/165_2.png) [@Valery\_Kondakoff](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Valery_Kondakoff)\ **Post date:** [May 26, 2020, 9:48am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/1 "2020-05-26T09:48:04Z")
I think some kind of preset and/or user definable variables will be a great addition to growing Obsidian possibilities. _ **Example of preset variables:** _ - `UName` = user account name - `Date` = current date - `Time` = current time - `Title` = current note name - etc It will be good to give user a way to define it’s own variables. (Special GUI needed? Or just a quick config-file setup.) There should be a special syntax to expand variables. Something like this: `[%Date%]` Thoughts? Let’s brainstorm this! ---
**Author:** ![BlueSun](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/b/8797f3/32.png) [@BlueSun](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/BlueSun)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 4:39pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/2 "2020-05-27T16:39:39Z")
Something like this is probably better suited toward a specialized text expansion program (I use aText, somewhat arbitrarily). This are going to be more fully featured than Obsidian could realistically be without taking time away from developing other features. I have a few useful shortcuts already set up. Besdies xdate (which would be replaced with 2020-05-27, or xday (Wednesday, May 27, 2020), I also have xz set up to replace with [[(contents of clipboard)]], so I can highlight text, press CMD-x to copy, then press xz to insert it as a link. ---
**Author:** ![Valery\_Kondakoff](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/valery_kondakoff/32/165_2.png) [@Valery\_Kondakoff](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Valery_Kondakoff)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2020, 5:01pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/3 "2020-05-27T17:01:30Z")
These are mostly mean to be used as a placeholder in newly created notes. Say: `%UName%-diary-%Date%`, or `%Cursor%` - for cursor placement. ---
**Author:** ![jozefs](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/9fc348/32.png) [@jozefs](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/jozefs)\ **Post date:** [May 28, 2020, 7:48pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/4 "2020-05-28T19:48:46Z")
I agree, this would be very useful with new note templates. I come from VSNotes which has a similar feature, where variables can be defined in the config and then used in new note templates (both in the file name and in the note content). Examples of variables I use: - ISO timestamp. This is included in the note header. - Note title. This is included in the generated note file name and automatically inserted as the title in the note content. A related feature I use in VSNotes is transforming the variables, specifically lowercasing the title and replacing spaces with underscores in the note title when used in the file name. ---
**Author:** ![achamess](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/achamess/32/257_2.png) [@achamess](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/achamess)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2020, 11:20am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/5 "2020-05-31T11:20:44Z")
Agree with this. If we could have variables, some parts of text could autogenerate on the fly. For example, in my notes, I like to have the note title as the first line, with Header 1: # My Note It would be nice if this was a variable such as: #\ So that it would automatically render properly, even if the note title changes. ---
**Author:** ![b3u](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/b3u/32/707_2.png) [@b3u](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/b3u)\ **Post date:** [June 4, 2020, 1:52pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/6 "2020-06-04T13:52:42Z")
I would find this very useful for generating daily notes. If the date is “2020-06-05”, I’d like to generate a title such as “Friday, June 5”. ---
**Author:** ![tristanbailey](https://forum.obsidian.md/user_avatar/forum.obsidian.md/tristanbailey/32/4657_2.png) [@tristanbailey](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/tristanbailey)\ **Post date:** [September 27, 2020, 4:33pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/7 "2020-09-27T16:33:09Z")
A note for future people searching for this. (I would still like a variables system) In v8+ there is date feature for Daily Notes re b3u question. Go to the Daily Notes plugin and change Date Format for new daily to “Friday, June 5” `dddd, MMMM d` And in the template if you wanted to repeat that in the markdown template. `{{date:dddd, MMMM d}}` ---
**Author:** ![JonesInTheSlowLane](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/j/6de8d8/32.png) [@JonesInTheSlowLane](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/JonesInTheSlowLane)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2020, 8:17am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/8 "2020-10-27T08:17:17Z")
Is there any feature like this now? 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Avdberg](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/a/bc79bd/32.png) [@Avdberg](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/Avdberg)\ **Post date:** [January 18, 2021, 11:00am UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/9 "2021-01-18T11:00:44Z")
Would also love to know! ---
**Author:** ![ktnr](https://forum.obsidian.md/letter_avatar_proxy/v4/letter/k/dfb087/32.png) [@ktnr](https://forum.obsidian.md/u/ktnr)\ **Post date:** [December 7, 2022, 10:23pm UTC](https://forum.obsidian.md/t/introduce-preset-user-definable-variables-system/519/10 "2022-12-07T22:23:38Z")
Does this do the job? [GitHub - d-brown43/obsidian-macros](https://github.com/d-brown43/obsidian-macros)