Matthew Panzarino Tests the iPhone 13 Pro’s Cinematic Mode and Inteviews Apple Executives Austin Mann Puts the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max Cameras Through Their Paces iPad mini Review: Small Wonder watchOS 8: The MacStories Review iOS and iPadOS 15 Review Extras: eBooks, Shortcuts, Making Of, Obsidian Plugins, Safari Extension Beta, and...
Export Markdown with Embeds: An Obsidian Plugin to Compile Documents with Embedded Notes
[[finn]]
Export Markdown with Embeds is a customizable plugin that compiles documents with embedded nested documents into a single document. Obsidian’s note embed feature allows you to embed a file or note in another note using the syntax: ![[My Note]]. The contents of embedded notes will be shown in Obsidian’s preview mode in place of the link. The feature is a good way to break up longform writing into sections but still be able to review it as a single document. However, when you export a note that has others embedded in it, the exported text includes the note, not the contents of embedded notes.
When the Export Markdown with Embeds plugin is run, it swaps the contents of any linked notes into the note that you’re exporting. This makes it easy to to create a note that serves as a table of contents of embedded notes for navigating between sections of a long document. You can use Obsidian’s built-in preview functionality to read the full document in the app or use Export Markdown with Embeds to export it as Markdown-formatted text.
The plugin features a primary command and two convenience commands. The main command presents a popup with export options. The first option allows you to save the export as a new note with the first heading as the title if possible. Alternatively, you can copy the exported material to the clipboard, in which case all internal links will automatically be replaced with callback links that open the linked file in Obsidian.
The second option is ‘Increase headings of referenced notes ‘. Enabling this option will automatically increase the level of all headings in an embedded note by 1, creating a hierarchical structure. This allows you to create a ‘Chapter ’ note that contains an embedded ‘Section ’ note, and each heading in the ‘Section ’ note will be exported as a subheading of ‘Chapter ‘. This happens recursively, meaning embedded notes can contain embedded notes inside of them.
From left to right: the table of contents, a chapter, and a section from Federico’s iOS review, which was compiled with this plugin.
The third option when exporting is ‘Remove YAML ‘, which simply removes any YAML front matter from the document and any embedded documents when exporting. YAML is used to store metadata about your Obsidian notes but usually, it’s not something you want to export for publication.
The fourth and most niche option is ‘Convert references using baseURL ‘.
This option can be used to export notes into a format that can be used to generate a paginated web post. A ‘baseURL’ must be specified in the YAML front matter of the document you are exporting, and a ‘page separator’ must be specified in the plugin’s settings. Once both of these are in place, the export plugin will automatically insert the page separator above each H2 (or other level specified in the plugin settings). These separators can be parsed by a blog post generating script to place each section on a new page.
The ‘baseURL’ allows internal links to headings in the exported document to be replaced with paginated section links. For example, specifying https://staging.macstories.net/stories/ios-and-ipados-15-the-macstories-review` as 'baseURL ' will replace all internal links withhttps://staging.macstories.net/stories/ios-and-ipados-15-the-macstories-review/pageNumber/#heading`, where pageNumber will be determined based on how many page separators are above the linked heading.
Apart from the main ‘Export Markdown with Embeds ’ command, the plugin has two other commands to quickly export using common settings. The ‘Share Markdown with Embeds ’ will flatten and export a note using both the ‘increase heading levels ’ option and ‘remove YAML ’ option, converting internal links to callback URLs. It will then present the flattened note in the native iOS share sheet. The second command, ‘Share Markdown with Embeds using baseURL ‘, will do the same as the previous, however it will use the ‘Convert references using baseURL ’ option described above.
This plugin allows you to split up a long project (such as Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 15 review) into more manageable sections that can later be exported into a final single file.
Upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier
Export Markdown with Embeds requires a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier subscription. You can read more about our plans here, then sign up or upgrade your existing Club MacStories account using the buttons below:
Join Club MacStories+:
Join Club Premier:
:::
FedericoDownload and Installation
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You can download the Export Markdown with Embeds plugin in the Downloads area of your Memberful account page.
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Once you’ve signed up for or upgraded to a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier account, the Export Markdown with Embeds plugin will become available in the Downloads area of your Memberful account page.
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This plugin is not available in the ‘Community Plugins’ section of Obsidian, which means you’ll have to install it manually.
To do this, you have to disable Safe Mode in Obsidian; then, use a Mac, PC, or Android device to manually install the plugin files. You can read more about Safe Mode here.
To install the plugin, follow these steps:
- Disable Safe Mode in Obsidian’s settings
- Expand the plugin’s .zip archive
- Using Finder, navigate to the hidden
.obsidianfolder located in your vault, then open thepluginsfolder- To view hidden files and folder in the Finder, press this keyboard shortcut: ⇧⌘. (Shift-Command-Period)
- Paste the plugin’s folder inside Obsidian’s
pluginsfolder - Reload Obsidian and enable the Export Markdown with Embeds plugin under Community Plugins
I hope you’ll find Export Markdown with Embeds useful as much as I did when I was working on the iOS and iPadOS 15 review. As I will explain later this week in my ‘Making Of’ story, Export Markdown with Embeds was the plugin that allowed me to break this year’s iOS and iPadOS review into smaller, more manageable sections, and I’m happy that Club members will now be able to use it too.
:::not [[plus]]
To get Export Markdown with Embeds for Obsidian, sign up for or upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier.
Join Club MacStories+:
Join Club Premier:
:::
Markdown Insert: An Obsidian Plugin for Creating Markdown-Formatted Web and Image Links
[[finn]]
Markdown Insert is an Obsidian plugin that takes advantage of your system clipboard to let you link text and images as you write using Markdown syntax. The process is simple:
- Copy a URL or image
- Highlight some text in Obsidian
- Invoke the Markdown Insert command in Obsidian
That’s all there is to it. The highlighted text becomes linked text. If you have a URL on the clipboard, it’s linked to the text you highlighted. If you have an image link on the clipboard, an Obsidian image link is created instead, which can be viewed when you switch to Obsidian’s preview mode.
Markdown Insert also works if you haven’t highlighted any text. In that case, the plugin creates a Markdown-formatted link with no title, placing the cursor between the square brackets, so you can easily add the linked text.
If you spend a lot of time writing in Markdown, this simple plugin saves a lot of keystrokes over time, which makes it much faster to write in Obsidian.
Upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier
Markdown Insert requires a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier subscription. You can read more about our plans here, then sign up or upgrade your existing Club MacStories account using the buttons below:
Join Club MacStories+:
Join Club Premier:
:::
Download and Installation
:::if [plus]
You can download the Markdown Insert plugin in the Downloads area of your Memberful account page.
:::
Once you’ve signed up for or upgraded to a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier account, the Markdown Insert plugin will become available in the Downloads area of your Memberful account page.
:::
This plugin is not available in the ‘Community Plugins’ section of Obsidian, which means you’ll have to install it manually.
To do this, you have to disable Safe Mode in Obsidian; then, use a Mac, PC, or Android device to manually install the plugin files. You can read more about Safe Mode here.
To install the plugin, follow these steps:
- Disable Safe Mode in Obsidian’s settings
- Expand the plugin’s .zip archive
- Using Finder, navigate to the hidden
.obsidianfolder located in your vault, then open thepluginsfolder- To view hidden files and folder in the Finder, press this keyboard shortcut: ⇧⌘. (Shift-Command-Period)
- Paste the plugin’s folder inside Obsidian’s
pluginsfolder - Reload Obsidian and enable the Markdown Insert plugin under Community Plugins
I hope you’ll find Markdown Insert useful as much as I did when I was working on the iOS and iPadOS 15 review. As I will explain later this week in my ‘Making Of’ story, Markdown Insert made adding web and image links my review faster and easier than it would have been otherwise, and I’m happy that Club members will now be able to use it too.
:::not [[plus]]
To get Markdown Insert for Obsidian, sign up for or upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier.
Join Club MacStories+:
Join Club Premier:
:::
Todoist Tasks: An Obsidian Plugin to Create Tasks in Todoist with Two-Way Linking
[[finn]]
Todoist Tasks is a plugin for Obsidian that enables you to create tasks in Todoist directly from Obsidian. As you take notes or write in Obsidian, you can create inline tasks using syntax describing the project, label, section, due date, priority, and any notes associated with a task.
Running the ‘Create and update tasks in current file’ command in Obsidian will find new tasks in the current note, create the task in Todoist using the Todoist API, and add a link to the task in Obsidian using the Todoist URL scheme.
Tasks can then be marked as completed in Obsidian or Todoist, and they will be marked as completed in the other when running the command next.
Upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier
Todoist Tasks requires a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier subscription. You can read more about our plans here, then sign up or upgrade your existing Club MacStories account using the buttons below:
Join Club MacStories+:
Join Club Premier:
:::
The Syntax
The syntax for defining tasks in Obsidian is loosely based on the Todoist Quick Add syntax.
Tasks are created by adding a Markdown task using the - [ ] syntax. The task title is used in Todoist, and any metadata must follow the title. Each task must have a Todoist project specified, which can be added using a # followed by the project name. For example:
- [ ] Example Task Title #My Project
Tasks can also have optional labels, sections, due date, priority, and notes. A task can have any number of labels, which are created using @ followed by the label name. Sections are groups which can be added to a project in Todoist, and are created using + followed by the section name. A due date can be added to a task using / followed by a due date string.
Due dates are described in natural language (find out more here). A task priority can be added using ! followed by a priority, ranging from p1 to p4. Lastly, notes can be added to a task by including text inside parentheses, which will be added to the description field in Todoist.
Here is an example of a task created in Obsidian using all of this syntax:
- [ ] Example Task #myproject @mylabel1 @mylabel2 +mysection /tomorrow at 3pm !p2 (do this soon!)
While a task title and project are required, all other syntax is optional and can appear in any order. After running the ‘Create and update tasks in current file’ command, the task will be updated to include a link to the newly created task in Todoist as well as an Obsidian block ID. This allows the task in Todoist to contain a link back to the Obsidian task.
YAML Front Matter Integration
Task metadata can also be specified in a note’s YAML front matter. This metadata will be applied to all tasks in a note, so you don’t need to specify the same metadata each time.
Example:
---
project: myproject
label: mylabel1, mylabel2
section: mysection
dueDate: tomorrow at 3pm
priority: p2
notes: (do this soon!)
---
While the syntax takes some getting used to, it enables task creation without leaving the context of your writing. The Todoist Tasks plugin is perfect for creating tasks alongside your research, outlining, and writing without having to ever leave Obsidian.
Download and Installation
:::if [plus]
You can download the Todoist Tasks plugin in the Downloads area of your Memberful account page.
:::
Once you’ve signed up for or upgraded to a Club MacStories+ or Club Premier account, the Todoist Tasks plugin will become available in the Downloads area of your Memberful account page.
:::
This plugin is not available in the ‘Community Plugins’ section of Obsidian, which means you’ll have to install it manually.
To do this, you have to disable Safe Mode in Obsidian; then, use a Mac, PC, or Android device to manually install the plugin files. You can read more about Safe Mode here.
To install the plugin, follow these steps:
- Disable Safe Mode in Obsidian’s settings
- Expand the plugin’s .zip archive
- Using Finder, navigate to the hidden
.obsidianfolder located in your vault, then open thepluginsfolder- To view hidden files and folder in the Finder, press this keyboard shortcut: ⇧⌘. (Shift-Command-Period)
- Paste the plugin’s folder inside Obsidian’s
pluginsfolder - Reload Obsidian and enable the Todoist Tasks plugin under Community Plugins
- When prompted, paste your private Todoist API token in the plugin’s preferences, which you can get here.
The Todoist Tasks plugin does not collect any data. The plugin communicates exclusively with the Todoist API and stores your API token locally inside Obsidian’s ‘plugins’ folder.
I hope you’ll find Todoist Tasks useful as much as I did when I was working on the iOS and iPadOS 15 review. As I will explain later this week in my ‘Making Of’ story, Todoist Tasks was essential to keep track of various tasks throughout the story while retaining the ability to view them in-place inside Obsidian. This plugin enables the kind of deep integration between task manager and text editor I’ve always wanted, and I’m happy that Club members will now be able to use it too.
:::not [[plus]]
To get Todoist Tasks for Obsidian, sign up for or upgrade to Club MacStories+ or Club Premier.
Join Club MacStories+:
Join Club Premier:
:::
Previously, On MacStories
Apple’s September 14, 2021 Keynote: By the Numbers Apple Updates the iPad mini and 10.2” iPad Apple Watch Series 7: The MacStories Overview The New iPhone 13 Lineup: The MacStories Overview Replay Apple’s September 14, 2021 Keynote and Other Videos Apple Announces New iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch Availability Shazam Crosses 1 Billion Songs Recognized...
Coming Next Week: Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 15 Review and Club Perks
It’s become a tradition that alongside Federico’s annual iOS and iPadOS review, we release a bunch of exclusive perks for Club members, and this year is no different. There will be a variety of perks, some familiar and others that are brand new, available at each membership level. We don’t want to spoil all of...
Up Next, On MacStories’ Podcasts
[[appstories_artwork]] Next week on AppStories, John and Federico will record AppStories live for the Club MacStories+ Discord community, digging into Federico’s iOS and iPadOS 15 review. [[unwind_artwork]] This week on MacStories Unwind, Epic versus Apple, new iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watches, Shazam posts big numbers, and more....
Apple Event, September 14, 2021
Club MacStories Town Halls are part of the monthly live audio events we hold in the Club MacStories+ Discord community. The show is a recorded and lightly edited version of the Town Halls that we produce, so Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members who can’t attend the event live can listen later. To learn more about Club MacStories+ and Club Premier, visit our Club plans page.
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AppStories Episode - Apple Event, September 14, 2021
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Federico, John, and Alex are joined by Stephen Hackett to talk about the new iPhone 13 lineup, the Apple Watch 7, the new iPad mini, and the revised 10.2” iPad announced by Apple today.
Show Notes:
- Apple Updates the iPad mini and 10.2” iPad
- Apple Watch Series 7: The MacStories Overview
- The New iPhone 13 Lineup: The MacStories Overview
- Replay Apple’s September 14, 2021 Keynote and Other Videos
- Apple Announces New iPhones, iPads, and Apple Watch Availability
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
[[include: town-hall-subscribe]]
Launch Day
Club MacStories Town Halls are part of the monthly live audio events we hold in the Club MacStories+ Discord community. The show is a recorded and lightly edited version of the Town Halls that we produce, so Club MacStories+ and Club Premier members who can’t attend the event live can listen later. To learn more about Club MacStories+ and Club Premier, visit our Club plans page.
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Hours after launching Club MacStories+, Club Premier, and AppStories+, Federico, John, and Alex were joined by Myke Hurley to talk about the launch live in the Club MacStories+ Discord community.
Follow us on Twitter
Follow us on Instagram
[[include: town-hall-subscribe]]