Is there a way to keep the Outline permanently folded?

[danitrusca]

I’d prefer to keep Obsidian’s Outline permanently folded, and to only unfold sections of it when I need it. Is there a way to do this?

[CawlinTeffid]

The outline should remember it’s folded state. Whoops, that doesn’t apply.

The Quieter Outline community plugin might do what you want.

There’s a feature request for a default fold level setting.

Outline default fold level

It would be nice if for the outline plugin a default fold level for the headings could be configured. I tend to split up my notes in H1, H2, H3 and H4 headers mostly. This gives me the possibility to link to a file#header and also looks good. The outline can be quite large though. I would like to set a default heading fold level so when I get to a note this level of folding is shown. For example H2 then the outline is folded on the H2 level.

[danitrusca]

Thank you. I was thinking of the outline in the side panel – I use it to navigate large pages. I should have been more explicit.

[CawlinTeffid]

Sorry, I knew what what you meant — I’m not sure why I thought that first link applied.

The other 2 suggestions are about the outline pane.

[ZenMoto]

Hey Dani,

You love UI experiments, so I made you a feature.

WHAT IT DOES: Automatically folds all top-level outline-headings… when you:

1. open a doc / load Obsidian.
2. change tabs.
3. press the Hot-Key (ctrl g).

**

DEMO: here is a demo, so you can see.

… in the video:

• The first top-level multi-fold in every note-outline is automatic.
• The next top-level multi-fold in a note is done by the Hot-Key (ctrl g).
• subheader-unfolds are preserved.

**

HERE IS THE CODE:

// outlineFOLD v2

// create css rule for children and arrows
function setRule() {
  var styleSheet = document.createElement("style");
  styleSheet.type = "text/css";
  styleSheet.innerHTML = `.outline > .tree-item > .tree-item-children, .outline > .tree-item > .tree-item-self > .tree-item-icon { display: none;}`;
  document.head.appendChild(styleSheet);
  rule = document.styleSheets[document.styleSheets.length-1].cssRules[0];
}

// hide or display arrows/children
function hideTree() {rule.style.display = 'none';}
function displayTree() {window.setTimeout(() => {rule.style.display = 'block';}, 300)}

// fold top-level outline items
function foldAll() {
  let tt = document.querySelectorAll('.outline > .tree-item > .tree-item-self > .tree-item-icon');
  for (i = 0; i < tt.length; i += 1) {
    let arrow = tt[i].firstChild;
    let flip = window.getComputedStyle(arrow).transform;
    if (flip === "none") {
      tt[i].click();  
    }
  }
}

// get leaf
function leafSelector() {
    let leafArray = document.querySelector('.titlebar-text');
    titleObserver = new MutationObserver(function() {  
        titleObserver.disconnect();  
        hideTree();
        window.setTimeout(() => { foldAll(); leafSelector(); displayTree();}, 300)
    });
    titleObserver.observe(leafArray, {  childList: true  });             
}

// hotkey (control g), get leaf, => first run
(function() { 
  let titleObserver, rule; // create leaf observer, css rule for show/hide
  setRule(); // set the show/hide css rule
  hideTree(); // hide arrows and tree
  window.setTimeout(() => {foldAll(); leafSelector(); displayTree();}, 500) // => first run  

  window.onkeydown = function (e) {
      if (e.ctrlKey == true && e.key == "g") {
          e.preventDefault(); // override "control g"      
          foldAll(); // => run it
      }
  }
}());

… here is the exact same code on privatebin.

**

HOW TO ADD IT:

The “Javascript Init” plugin is great for running JS in Obsidian.

To set it up (first-time only), just go to:

• Preferences > community plugins > get “Javascript Init”.
• Preferences > Javascript Init settings > paste the JS code in the box.
• Refresh Obsidian [View > Force Reload]. (And if you ever modify the code, reload.)

**

If you have any questions/thoughts, feel free to say -

Also - I explored many posts on your site. I like it very much. Every hour, a brand new start.

[danitrusca]

I tried it, and it didn’t work for some reason. But thank you anyway. You’re awesome!

I also tried out the Quieter Outline community plugin, and it works beautifully.