References should work for all lines

[xenohunter]

Use case or problem

Block references work inconsistently across different types of lines. For subheadings, items in marked lists, quotes, etc they work just fine but for most combinations of those, block references are broken.

For example, if I try to reference a quote that is inside a marked list with the [[^^ syntax, it doesn’t show up on the suggestions list.

Since I structure all my notes as nested marked lists, this often breaks my working process.

Proposed solution

To make ^abc123-like references work for any given line.

Current workaround

When I need to have a reference to a line, I change it to make it searchable with the [[^^ syntax. Then, when the reference link (the ^abc123-like) is created, I change the line back to the desirable form.

An example of all steps a line undergoes...

- > Quote inside a marked list

- Quote inside a marked list

- Quote inside a marked list ^abc123

- > Quote inside a marked list ^abc123

Unfortunately, when I change the line back, the reference gets broken and is not displayed in the popup window anymore:

Related feature requests and bugs

https://forum.obsidian.md/t/block-reference-to-work-for-headers-within-lists/18838

(It can be considered closed when this one is closed.)

Block reference doesn't work for headers

Steps to reproduce Create a block reference by typing [[^^ and selecting a block. This appends a hash to the end of the block, for example ^abcdef. Type any number of # at the beginning of the referenced block so that it becomes a header. Expected result The block is still referenced by its hash value ^abcdef. Actual result Upon hovering, the popup says Unable to find section #^abcdef in {note_title}. Clicks lead to the beginning of the note. Environment Operating system: Arch Linux (5.11…

[anon12638239]

Block references work, but individual lines can’t be referenced unless they are formatted as discrete blocks.

The manual says:

A “block” can be a paragraph, a blockquote, a list item, etc. In general, anything that has empty lines before and after is a block.

If a quote is inside a list, it won’t have empty lines before and after it, so it can’t be considered a block or linked to.

Angel

[stevelw]

1. You can’t put headings inside a list item in Markdown.
2. To put a quote inside a list item it must be indented.

[xenohunter]

Oh, I see. Well, it seems there’s no way around this, right? Like, probably that would be too much of an undertaking to redefine what a basic markdown entity (like a block) is.

[anon12638239]

I think you’re absolutely right.

Block-level referencing is relatively easy to target with markdown syntax, and it is probably a good-enough delimitation for most use cases.

But this is a feature request, so line-level referencing might come in time

Angel

[efemkay]

+1 on this feature request.

I’ve been using Outliner & Indentation Guide plugin for my daily journal. And some of the bullets I formatted them as headers for sectioning and better readability. But now I’ve stumbled upon that I cannot do block reference to that particular header-bullet.

Would like to see this feature happen.