I currently use MindManager for documenting client work, and am looking to replace it with Obsidian. One feature that is crucial for this is being able to export the complete vault as a single HTML 5 (or other) file that my tech-limited clients can view in a browser. Optimally it would look similar to a vault posted using the new Obsidian Publish feature.
It needs to be offline because this is personal, private information.
It needs to be simple to access because these clients are not techies.
It needs to be easily archivable for the client, not needing ongoing payment of hosting fees.
It needs to be relatively easy to export for me, not requiring conversion of dozens or hundreds of md files into html and kludging together some interface for example.
It needs to preserve backlinks and embeds.
Preferably (but not critically) it should include options for the left sidebar folder tree, page outline, and graph similar to the Publish implementation.
Iāve used MindManager for files with hundreds of ātopicsā containing hundreds of thousands of words and many images. The files get large-ish (25MB) but manageable, and the convenience for the client is wonderful.
Hereās a link to an example MM export file to show a little of what I mean. You can just click the link to open it online or download it and open it locally.
Yes, exactly. We work together on Zoom, I record all the key information from our sessions in MindManager and send them the exported file after we finish. They view it from their local file in their browser.
Thank you @Froodooo, itās a start. Iāll keep an eye on it. For now, Iāll need to wait until they figure out how to work with the ![[]] embeds, as I use those extensively. But this looks like something others will find useful, too.
Pandoc is the tool for concatenating multiple source documents together and converting them into another format.
As far as dealing with Obsidianās internal links, I might suggest waiting for the āExport to Standard Markdownā feature on the current roadmap to find its way into the wild. Once thatās available, converting an entire Vault into a single, standalone HTML5 file is just a one-liner shell command.
Edit: It looks the original post was edited at the same time I made this reply. Iām going to amend my post to mention that the requirements now fall well outside of the scope of simplicity in regards to Pandoc.
Interesting, and thanks! Iām just discovering Pandoc and am concerned itās beyond my pay grade. But Iām willing to take a shot at it. Let me make sure I understand.
Youāre saying that when Obsidianās āExport to Standard Markdownā feature goes live, Iāll be able to export the vault to standard markdown, and send that through Pandoc to make a single HTML5 file. What kind of format would that be? Looking at the beginning documentation, āIf multiple input files are given, pandoc will concatenate them allā makes me imagine a long web page type of thing. Would you be able to view one note at a time, or all at once, as if itās been made into a PDF? What would the framing/interface look like?
Also, how would Pandoc handle Obsidian embeds? The way I do my notes involves up to three or four layers of embeds, which works great within Obsidian, but would that survive the conversion?
Before the original post was edited I mistakenly thought what you needed was, in fact, one long page. What I now believe youāre looking for is the user experience of Publish, with all the bells and whistles, wrapped up into a single downloadable file that can be passed on to clients. Thatās far more work than I initially suggested.
As an example, for context, if you have a hundred Markdown files, all named something like 00_Forward.md, 01_Chapter1.md, 02_Chapter2.md, etc. Pandoc can easily combine those hundred files, create a table of contents, and output that copy as whatever format you like, in a single file. What Pandoc cannot do is determine backlinks, create a graph, or any of the other special features that Obsidian and Obsidian Publish can do - Pandoc is strictly a conversion tool.
@0x4A you made a great point when I raised this on Discord, saying that exporting a local āPublish Siteā would disrupt the current Obsidian business model. It would be too easy to just post that exported file somewhere and have a similar result.
Out of this conversation Iāve come up with a new solution to my problem, which Iāll post in another Feature Request. Once Iāve done that Iāll post a link here for anyone thatās interested.
The article mentions āRā indeeed but the magic happens in pandoc which is indeed a very (very) robust tool. It converts .md-file to any supported export format that pandoc has (and believe me there are fexw ;-)).
Remark - Pandoc can also convert the other way around which can be pretty neat sometimes ā¦
Iāve been running into the problem of not being able to share my notes with colleagues. I donāt really mind any format, I just want a quick way to export a note (or group of notes?) in a more readable format for others to follow while I present or talk about them, or for them to be able to add comments and send it back to me. Whatās the current best way to do this? An external md to pdf tool?
Thanks @joeshirley for taking time to describe this important feature-request.
I have exactly the same background.
Iām also an old MindJet MindManager user and I have the same workflow with Export of the MindMaps to HTML5 and sharing them.
I currently use RoamResearch, I use Notion ( Sharing Kanban Boards ) , I used CintaNotes for many years and I used SSH & cloud shares with my own folder hierarchy of markdown files.
I use Hugo.io since years for many website projects and I really appreciate the strategy to store the information in plain markdown files.
But Export as HTML / PDF is so important and Iād really prefer to buy this as a module with a single price tag instead of a monthly fee.
I wonder if there is a plug or extension for Hugo to make it talk āObsidianā. Namely generate similar to Publish.
Thatās the reason it should be also available as a One Time Payment for a plug in with this capability.
Obsidian has some engine, in the form Static Site Generator (SSG) that speaks āObsidianā and generate those sites. If we could have it in the form of a plug in, Iād pay for it. So their model could expand into pay per service and pay per feature.
I am in the same situation with you . With thousands of topics in Mindjet Manager which is so unfriendly with search, I switched to OB. After lots of manually linking and embedding, those flavored marks such as ![[ ]], [[ ]], ![[ #^]] are liked to get me kidnaped by OB. In other software or platform , those linkings and embeddings just donāt work , What makes worse is, other than the linking and embedding syntax, I canāt see the content itself of the note.
This feature would be huge. Export to HTML5 that looks just like Obsidian Publish. If it is a problem for the Publish business model, I would happily pay for the feature with some other payment scheme.