Settings search

Feature requests
1

It would be nice if there was an added search functionality to Settings. I find myself remapping hotkeys and adjusting various plugins and editor settings frequently, and being able to search for those settings would save some hassle over clicking and scrolling through the settings sections.

Maybe the answer is integrating settings into the Command Palette so they are searchable and adjustable with minimal time away from the keyboard.

37 Likes
2

I specifically would like search on Hotkeys in settings since there are so many of them now. :smile:

3

With plugin settings added, this would be an even nicer addition.

1 Like
4

I find the search functionality in VSCode’s settings pretty decent, as a reference.

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3 Likes
5

I have installed the “Settings search” plugin and thought that I could search and directly go to specific settings of plugins - but this does not seem to be the case. There’s a chance that I am missing something obvious, but I don’t seem to get what the plugin does for me. Could somebody explain this to me?

1 Like
6

Ah, maybe I am getting this - and this is a search field up on top when I open the “general settings” in Obsidian. I thought I could control this also via Ctrl+P (for example)…

7

Settings Search Plugin that @kennydenvers is referring to.

Kenny, you can CTRL + , to open settings, then start typing.

Gets the job done for me :+1:

6 Likes
8

Good stuff, mdroid! Thanks for that input! :slightly_smiling_face:

9

This does not work in my case. I am using version 1.0 on Win10. Could there be a difference between versions?

10

Sorry, found the problem. Had to install the plugin. I am new to Obsidian and just installed it :sweat_smile:

1 Like
12

Nice stuff, but I feel like it’s incomplete. It is capable of searching & jumping to the correct settings page, yes. But navigate inside a really-long settings page(Namely, Excalidraw and Style settings)? That, it cannot do.

13

be able to search through settings panel for specific features

14

Reasons why this feature is so important:

  • This feature would speed up development & testing time of Obsidian and its plugins because plugin authors and tinkerers use settings a lot.
  • Many Obsidian users are tinkerers and use settings OFTEN. Those are important users because they provide support to others.
  • To make Obsidian’s plugin ecosystem work, the plugins need to be convenient, and I find myself avoiding the hassle of finding the plugin in question via Settings so I can change something; and the more plugins I have, the harder that process becomes.
  • This feature would provide a predictable means of configuring plugins. Plugins have their own unique ways of doing things, e.g., (sometimes they show up in the “Community Plugins” sidebar, sometimes they have their own settings, sometimes important info is on the plugin download page, sometimes they have hotkeys, sometimes they rely on altered settings for basic functionality)
  • As Obsidian matures, it’s going to become increasingly necessary to deal with increasing complexity, much of which will be found in the Settings menus.
  • This feature has the potential to eclipse the need for other Settings UI enhancements.
  • This feature makes tutorials easier. Case in point: I was a tech support person and SO much time was saved when we could tell a person to search for something in their Start menu on Windows rather than clicking through menus to find obscure settings.
  • This feature is what keyboard users want. I hate using my mouse and I have to do that in the Settings menu.

IMO, I feel like putting this feature in the command palette could really clog that up, and it would be easy enough to open the settings window with a hotkey and start typing there.

@mdroid already cited VSCode as a model, which is all that’s needed, but I wanted to throw in JetBrains products. Plus, Mac/Windows have their own poor man’s versions of this in different ways. Mac’s help menu search is great for searching through menu items (I think Windows has this also?).

1 Like
15

Some other ways to quickly interact with settings:

Some settings like spellchecking can be toggled on/off using command Toggle spellcheck but obviously this cannot be generalized to every setting and is unnecessary anyways because command palette needs to be simple, clear and efficient. I’m not sure about settingsection parameter in Advanced URI, but there could be also more specified parameter targeting specific settings in that setting section. Although settingsection parameter is very close to perfection how to quickly interact with the settings. As usual you can include links to properties so you just click a link on the right side bar to navigate to your setting.

1 Like
16

IMO, these other ways are still a bit overwhelming. Is there a strong reason this doesn’t make sense to add built-in?

Other examples include browsers (e.g. Brave), developer tools (e.g. VSCode, JetBrains), and OS Settings (System Settings on Mac).

17

Yes I agree this view. But we could apply this logic to many general-purpose feature requests. Settings search is very obvious built- in feature. We just have to wait it to be implemented. Some new features add unnecessary visual clutter or make certain workflows less fluid. Settings search doesn’t have the problem of being unwanted by some users.

There are some special cases like visually disabled users who prefer less clutter or are more affected by GUI changes. Considering that, setting search among many other new features in the future should be introduced as core plugins that users can turn on/off.

There’s also one more thing. We don’t want features that doesn’t work well. In case of settings search we want that users don’t encounter any problems using it. This is not trivial and requires many hours of testing by many users from different professions and fields.