Non-whitespace character count

Feature requests
1

Use case or problem

Usage in English: Many academic document submissions have a character limit excluding newline and spaces.

Usage in other languages: Counting characters with whitespace characters in other languages can lead to errors (see the request on the obsidian subreddit)

Proposed solution

Add a simple toggle option to “word counter” which

exclude white-space in character count

Current workaround (optional)

My current workaround is to open the md file in kate (kde’s editor) which has a character counter or copy the text to libreoffice write which gives with and without whitespace character count.

2

As i cannot edit the post: Correction I could not find a way to get this using ‘file info pane’ plugin. So, no obsidian solution exists for this.

3

I edited it for you. If you’re active in the forum for a while you’ll gain the ability to edit; it’s restricted to prevent certain spam techniques.

4

As a potential workaround (?), in the meantime, there’s the plugin Novel word count…

Although I didn’t test, from its documentation, it seems to have “advanced options” for the words and characters count :blush: …

5

I tested the ‘Novel Word Count’ and it has the advanced option to exclude whitespace from character count for language compatibility, but this doesn’t work as the replacement for the FR.

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This gives a very cluttered look. It shows “words|characters” next to the file name in the folder view sidebar, not in the bottom right corner like the word counter.

6

I never said it was or would be :wink: :blush: …
I just mentioned it as a potential workaround (while waiting) … nothing much more :blush: …

7

I agree you mentioned it as a workaround. Sorry, if my comment came across too strong! thanks for the suggestion :slight_smile:

8

I’m also looking for this feature! University assignments in many European countries require a certain character limit and this is always without spaces. Having to manually switch to another word processor just to see the count is a bit clumsy, especially when you’re nearing the limit and have to check more regularly :))