Have a PDF with headings (as in a Table of Contents) in the vault
Link to the heading using #bookmark after the filename in the link
Example: [[Basic_Rules.pdf#bookmark=Magic-items]] for the heading Magic Items in Basic_Rules.pdf
Open or embed the file from this link to view content at the given heading
Did you follow the troubleshooting guide? [Y/N]
Yes, in Sandbox
Expected result
Link should open to specified heading in the file if it exists
Actual result
Links with #bookmark after the file open the PDF but do not link to the specific heading. Testing with different PDFs in other vaults similarly did not match expected behavior.
Environment
SYSTEM INFO:
Obsidian version: v1.11.7
Installer version: v1.9.12
Operating system: Windows 11 Home 10.0.26200
Login status: not logged in
Language: en
Insider build toggle: off
Live preview: on
Base theme: adapt to system
Community theme: none
Snippets enabled: 0
Restricted mode: on
RECOMMENDATIONS:
none
Additional information
Struggling to find documentation on #bookmark now that Iāve been using it for a couple weeks. Not sure where I originally discovered this feature, and I canāt seem to find whether this was removed in an update.
Was this a recent decision to halt support? I have a few links that used this which are now broken since a recent update. I know thereās the ability to Copy link to a heading, but that involves clicking a few headings deep in some rather large files whereas typing the appropriate heading did not.
I use Obsidian to take notes for tabletop gaming. This at times involves needing to reference sourcebooks quickly on the fly for the game to move more smoothly.
While page references (#page=) can work, itās not often that I know the exact page number for the information I need, and one PDF in particular has an extra page that throws off the count. Previously it was possible to use #bookmark= following the file name of a PDF to preview or embed the contents the PDF at that heading for this purpose.
If I was reasonably certain under what heading I would find something in a PDF, I could link to said PDF then input a #bookmark= reference to the heading. With PDFs that have distinct section names, this makes rapidly adding new links to another note for quick reference much faster.
I could also use this to pinpoint and troubleshoot my reference, say if there was a section that Iām certain of the heading for but not certain which PDF it belongs to.
Fixing the file name from one sourcebook to another without changing the heading referenced resolves this confusion without needing to visually check the Table of Contents of both.
A useful āquirkā: Sometimes, I was able use #bookmark= to reference a subheading of a level that the PDF could jump to but did not appear in the Table of Contents.
Proposed solution
Per a previous bug report of mine, this #bookmark= āfeatureā would appear to have been unintended, as it was stated that this was never supported. I have since confirmed that none of my plugins were responsible for this behavior, but the ability to use #bookmark= had some advantages, as outlined above.
I would like for this type of reference to be officially supported, as it removes some manual searching and mouse clicking that the current method of referencing PDF headings requires, saving myself a considerable amount of time.
Current workaround (optional)
Keeping record of page numbers for certain information works for a best guess in lieu of more accurate heading references. Still, this requires the user to remember page numbers at a time where one may be juggling a substantial volume of information.
Currently, to link to a specific section, one must open or link to the appropriate PDF then navigate within the Table of Contents to where that section might be. One can then Right Click to copy a link to a specific heading.
If the section Iām looking for is not where I think it is, this can introduce some guesswork or require time spent looking through the Table of Contents.
As stated above, it would appear that sometimes a heading is omitted from the Table of Contents if there are several levels of headings. In this case, the user will have to skim over the PDFās contents to get a specific page reference for later use.
Opening a section to reveal its subheadings requires you to click on a dropdown arrow. You cannot simply double click the larger section to reveal subsections, and often the target to select these dropdown arrows feel a little small when trying to quickly find some info.
Many times the Table of Contents pane needs to be resized in order to read the section headings, adding additional mouse clicks.
With respect, my intention wasnāt to suggest a deliberate removal but perhaps accidental. I do not know where it came from, as none of my plugins appear to reference such a feature, but I know that it did work and I would like to see it implemented.
I feel that my FR post was written constructively and highlighted the usefulness of such a feature, however it came about. I would be happy to revert to a previous version of Obsidian to investigate this to help you all, but Iām unsure how to do so.