When the line length option is disabled in settings, the text takes up the whole screen length, and the text gets too long. But when I enable Readable line length in Editor, the line length is indeed reduced, but is reduced to a fixed length.
Proposed solution
In other programs, such as, Focuswriter, Nimble Writer and Scrivener, there’s a slide bar that allows you to choose the line length with a slide bar, and you can choose how long the slide bar is. Or being able to type it, like in the screenshot. At the moment you either get the option where the line takes up the entire screen length, or a fixed length you can only change in CSS settings.
But I don’t like constantly having to add codes in css files for a simple feature, such as max-line-length.
When I switch to another theme, I have to add the code in the CSS file again, which I prefer to do with a slide bar.
Are there plans to implement the option to control line length any time soon? Developers are bombarded with feature requests, but this feature is simple to officialize and would address an elementary aspect of formatting.
It may seem merely cosmetic, but differences in appearance can influence writing, that conforms to what’s shown on screen. As an experiment that won’t involve CSS alterations, try to compose in different widths (by resizing the window from the maximized extreme) for a period and compare the average results of each.
Right now, there are two options for line length, which is better than a lack of alternative, but it’s still too limited, and we can assume these to be suboptimal for individual preferences. In addition, some people may want to approximate the format of composition to that of publication for better compatibility, and an adequate control would favor this.
In my opinion as a user it’s not pressing enough to justify the effort. Designers agree widely on what constitutes a good line length, so a single setting seems reasonable to me (tho a few options to dial it in would be nice). If someone really wants a different length, they can use a simple CSS snippet.
There are something like 10 similar threads about it, which shows that it’s bugging users despite the improvised means to circumvent. Take into account that issues tend to be underreported.
The best writing apps offer this as a customizable option. Considering that it’s relatively low effort for the return, I think that it’s justified to improve the feature.
Even if it was possible to stipulate an ideal line length for everyone, from what I can tell, it’s currently fixed on pixels in Obsidian. Once the person changes the font and its size, the relationship is lost and the constraint becomes pointless.
The ‘readable’ line length seems to be set to 700 px. If we go by the consensus on what’s ideal, this is probably the high end of the desirable range, and this is assuming that larger font sizes are used. For comparison, the reader mode of Brave browser standardizes the width of texts to about 580 px. However, some people may find it too narrow.
The best solution is to let the each person customize according to preference, just like font size (whose options are not limited to small, medium and large). It’s a simple implementation that increases likeability of the app. I’m certain that it’s not wasted effort.
I’m not saying it wouldn’t be nice or that it’s an invalid request, but in the context of the hundreds of other possible changes and given that users can achieve their desired line length already, it doesn’t strike me as a high priority.
If you’d like to add more weight to the request, you could gather the links to the threads you mention and post them in a comment here.
I’m aware that developers are overwhelmed with requests, but it’s not an issue that’s complex to address and may be viewed as a basic feature that’s missing. For instance, IA Writer is purposefully designed to offer only essential customization options. Still, line length (with ample control) is one of them.
Calmly Writer is even simpler and surpasses Obsidian in this regard.