Interesting. They have sold a Ulysses course for years (which I bought nearly five years ago), and now they're selling a new one for Obsidian. Obsidian is the new Hotness in the market, and it's not coincidental that they're focusing on it now, while the more mature Ulysses course probably sells a lot less now.

https://thesweetsetup.com/courses/learnulysses/
https://thesweetsetup.com/obsidian/

I think Obsidian still has a long way to go to match the polish of the Ulysses writing experience on Mac and especially iOS, including choice of font, powerful export themes, trivial style changes, and even a user-submitted library of styles and export types for download.

https://styles.ulysses.app/themes/

Obsidian definitely has its advantages, but when I want to write long-form pieces that sync to my iOS devices and which I can easily export to txt, docx, html, pdf or epub I always reach for Ulysses, and I anticipate continuing to do so for at least another couple of years.

Can't argue with that – Ulysses is very much an optimised writer's tool in a way Obsidian simply isn't. But some of their suggested plugins are pretty cool (I've installed their "better" word count tool, as well as the clever "novel count" tool that counts up words in all the notes in a given folder, then displays both the note count and the word count alongside each folder in the navigation bar – and even the page count, if you want it to).

The very best Ulysses feature (IMHO) is the ability to view multiple notes together, as a single piece of text. While Obsidian doesn't do that (as far as I know, anyway), the new tab stacking feature does make it much easier to "stack" multiple notes adjacently and then leaf through them – moreover the selection can be entirely random.

I also like the simple fact that Obsidian notes are essentially separate text files, whereas Ulysses uses its own database (with the option of accessing "external" folders, of course). I should emphasise that I like Ulysses very much. But I'm not paying anything for Obsidian (yet!), and it's progressing at an astonishing rate (whereas Ulysses has defaulted to a somewhat sedate pace of development – understandable, because the last thing they want is feature overload, but still).

Cheers!
Bill

Oh, and it's also worth mentioning that there are loads of plugins enabling you to export Obsidian notes to virtually anything at all. Some of them are based on the Pandoc extension, for example. Others allow you to export to various flashcard formats (including Anki and Mochi). Their elegance/efficiency is, of course, variable, but some are already looking very polished.

As I've discovered, the nice thing about Obsidian is that it's easy to switch plugins on and off, as you need them.

Oh, and it's also worth mentioning that there are loads of plugins enabling you to export Obsidian notes to virtually anything at all. Some of them are based on the Pandoc extension, for example. Others allow you to export to various flashcard formats (including Anki and Mochi). Their elegance/efficiency is, of course, variable, but some are already looking very polished.

As I've discovered, the nice thing about Obsidian is that it's easy to switch plugins on and off, as you need them.

I completely agree with this. Being able to read your writing sections as one long document is very useful in ensuring a smooth, engaging flow to your writing. I wish more writing apps did this.

MadaboutDana wrote:

The very best Ulysses feature (IMHO) is the ability to view multiple
notes together, as a single piece of text.

Of course Obsidian does allow note embedding (like iA Writer), so you can quite easily embed notes in one big "master" note if you want to.

Indeed, you can embed individual blocks of text in a note, if you're prepared to give the blocks identifiers (very easily done – and you can create your own identifiers if you want, although Obsidian will create random ones for you if you prefer).

At the moment, it doesn't seem to be possible to edit embedded notes or blocks inline (you have to follow the – elegantly presented – link back to the individual note or block in order to edit them), but I'm sure that'll arrive somewhere along the line.

You **can** edit embedded data if you use the Dataview plugin, which allows you to collate master notes from all kinds of pieces of text or data in your notes, based on various criteria, including e.g. locations, metadata, strings and tags.

You can also embed files, graphics etc. in a note.

Can you tell I've become quite enthusiastic about this program? ;-)

There is a popular plugin, "Hover Editor", that turns the embedded text preview into an editor pane so that the transcluded text can be edited in the current view.

https://github.com/nothingislost/obsidian-hover-editor

and install from the Community Plugins panel in Obsidian.

MadaboutDana wrote:

At the moment, it doesn't seem to be possible to edit embedded notes or
blocks inline (you have to follow the elegantly presented
link back to the individual note or block in order to edit
them), but I'm sure that'll arrive somewhere along the line.

Dang – thanks, Paul!

Paul Korm wrote:

There is a popular plugin, "Hover Editor", that turns the embedded text
preview into an editor pane so that the transcluded text can be edited
in the current view.

https://github.com/nothingislost/obsidian-hover-editor

and install from the Community Plugins panel in Obsidian.

MadaboutDana wrote:
>At the moment, it doesn't seem to be possible to edit embedded notes or
>blocks inline (you have to follow the elegantly presented
>link back to the individual note or block in order to edit
>them), but I'm sure that'll arrive somewhere along the line.

Obsidian is now amazing, and with certain plugins matches almost anything else in the field. But I've been finding the lack of block management frustrating. To explain: In e.g. Craft, Ulysses, Dynalist, Workflowy and many other editors, you can drag and drop blocks of text around – in certain apps you can even embed them. And it's easy; handling blocks of text (sentences, paragraphs, list items etc.) becomes a very convenient way of building rapid lists or editing complex trains of thought. The fact that Obsidian doesn't allow you to do that was beginning to get me down...

... But of course someone has developed a block manager that enables Obsidian to do exactly the same thing: Drag'n'Drop for Blocks. It adds a very faint dotted oblong alongside each block of text, and by selecting it you can drag and drop the block under or over another block, or by using a modifier key, embed it in another document (in which case the plugin will automatically append a link ID to the block – in Obsidian, this takes the form of a random block of letters/numbers preceded by a ^ symbol, but you can manually assign your own link IDs to blocks as well).

While testing it, I experienced the occasional glitch (easily resolved by disabling and then reenabling the plugin) – now that I'm used to it, it behaves very well. The embedding works particularly well if you use the "Stacked Tabs" function.

I can recommend it to all those who've had enough of copying and pasting large chunks of Obsidian text!

Cheers,
Bill

That looks super promising, thanks!

Just an FYI, I searched and found 2 versions, only one of which is active-

This is the original:
https://github.com/GitMurf/obsidian-drag-and-drop-blocks

An explanation of why development was halted and picked up by someone else:
https://github.com/GitMurf/obsidian-drag-and-drop-blocks/issues/36#issuecomment-1251469845

The new plugin currently under development:
https://github.com/artem-barmin/obsidian-block-drag-n-drop

Ah, thanks – I think I've got the original, which does occasionally freeze and fail. I might look at the second version you mention!

steveylang wrote:

That looks super promising, thanks!

Just an FYI, I searched and found 2 versions, only one of which is
active-

This is the original:
https://github.com/GitMurf/obsidian-drag-and-drop-blocks

An explanation of why development was halted and picked up by someone
else:
https://github.com/GitMurf/obsidian-drag-and-drop-blocks/issues/36#issuecomment-1251469845

The new plugin currently under development:
https://github.com/artem-barmin/obsidian-block-drag-n-drop

Ah, no, it *is* the second version I'm using.

Really great for stuff in lists, not so good for paragraphs that aren't in a list. The behaviour is a little variable! However, a promising project.

Here's an interesting plugin - longform, which is for writing stuff in sections. Pardon me if this runs a little long. It's hard to type, keep a train of thought running, and hyperventilate with childlike excitement into a paper bag, all at the same time.

Longform is a little quirky, but not bad.

You start by creating a normal folder in Obsidian. Right click on it and choose "create Longform project". This will create a subfolder named for your project. You can apparently create as many projects as you want in a normal Obsidian folder.

There is a new Longform button on the upper toolbar. When you click it, you go into a new sidebard for the last Longform project you were in. If you click the name of the project you'll get a dropdown list of all your Longform projects in the current vault.

There are two kinds of Longform projects. A single file, where Longform tracks your writing progress, or a multi file project, which is what has my attention.

The multi-file Longform sidebar can be reordered with drag and drop, which is great. You can also compile the project into a single Markdown document.

Each file in a Longform project is called a scene. A scene can have sub-scenes, which can in turn have their own sub-scenes. You might consider that acts, chapters, and scenes.

When you drag and drop a file/scene, you only move that one file. If you want to move its children, they have to be individually moved, and proper indentation in the hierarchy is up to you.

You delete a project in the Obsidian folder tree, but there are quirks. If you delete the project you're currently in, Longform will revive it. You'll lose the contents of your files, but the empty files will come back.

The rule seems to be don't delete the project you're currently in. If you have just one project to delete, delete the parent folder it's in. Probably a good idea to use a Longform folder for nothing but Longform projects, and it's probably not a good idea to put a Longform folder inside another Longform folder.

Outlining is where the hyperventilation kicks in for me. I think Longform could serve as a flexible two pane outliner.

You can use links and frontmatter however you want in Longform notes/scenes/whatever you want to call them. Excalibrain will work fine in conjuction with Longform as best I see.

Nice stuff.

Hot damn! Sounds great – pass me a paper bag, someone... ;-)

Amontillado wrote:

Here's an interesting plugin - longform, which is for writing stuff in
sections. Pardon me if this runs a little long. It's hard to type, keep
a train of thought running, and hyperventilate with childlike excitement
into a paper bag, all at the same time.

Longform is a little quirky, but not bad.

You start by creating a normal folder in Obsidian. Right click on it and
choose "create Longform project". This will create a subfolder named for
your project. You can apparently create as many projects as you want in
a normal Obsidian folder.

There is a new Longform button on the upper toolbar. When you click it,
you go into a new sidebard for the last Longform project you were in. If
you click the name of the project you'll get a dropdown list of all your
Longform projects in the current vault.

There are two kinds of Longform projects. A single file, where Longform
tracks your writing progress, or a multi file project, which is what has
my attention.

The multi-file Longform sidebar can be reordered with drag and drop,
which is great. You can also compile the project into a single Markdown
document.

Each file in a Longform project is called a scene. A scene can have
sub-scenes, which can in turn have their own sub-scenes. You might
consider that acts, chapters, and scenes.

When you drag and drop a file/scene, you only move that one file. If you
want to move its children, they have to be individually moved, and
proper indentation in the hierarchy is up to you.

You delete a project in the Obsidian folder tree, but there are quirks.
If you delete the project you're currently in, Longform will revive it.
You'll lose the contents of your files, but the empty files will come
back.

The rule seems to be don't delete the project you're currently in. If
you have just one project to delete, delete the parent folder it's in.
Probably a good idea to use a Longform folder for nothing but Longform
projects, and it's probably not a good idea to put a Longform folder
inside another Longform folder.

Outlining is where the hyperventilation kicks in for me. I think
Longform could serve as a flexible two pane outliner.

You can use links and frontmatter however you want in Longform
notes/scenes/whatever you want to call them. Excalibrain will work fine
in conjuction with Longform as best I see.

Nice stuff.