Side Comments origin
jepicaju862-lab1k downloadsSidebar annotation and commenting with text highlights, hover previews, Markdown comments, image support, sidebar management, export, and backup features.
- Overview
- Scorecard
- Updates4
A sidebar annotation and commenting plugin for Obsidian. Side Comments allows you to highlight any text in your notes and attach standalone comments with Markdown support, image embedding, hover preview, and centralized sidebar management.
🌟 Features
✍️ Text Annotation
- Select any text in a Markdown note and attach comments instantly.
- Highlighted text is visually marked inside the editor.
🛠️ Selection Toolbar
- Floating toolbar automatically appears after text selection.
- Quickly add comments or change highlight colors.
💬 Hover Preview
- Hover over highlighted text to preview comment content in a tooltip.
- Supports Markdown rendering, links, and images.
📑 Sidebar Comment Management
Dedicated Side Comments View for managing all comments in the current document.
Quickly jump to the original annotated text.
Supports:
- Sorting by timestamp or document position
- Global search
- Edit / Delete actions
🖼️ Markdown & Image Support
- Full Markdown rendering inside comments.
- Paste or drag images directly into the comment editor.
- Images are automatically stored in a configurable attachments folder.
📤 Export & Backup
- Export all comments into a beautifully formatted Markdown file.
- Create standalone Markdown backups for long-term storage and synchronization.
🧹 Orphaned Comment Detection
- Automatically detects comments whose original text has been removed.
- Orphaned comments are displayed with red dashed highlights.
- One-click cleanup available in settings.
📥 Installation
Option 1: Community Plugins (Recommended)
Once the plugin is available in the official community plugin directory:
- Open Obsidian Settings → Community Plugins.
- Disable Safe Mode.
- Click Browse and search for "Side Comments".
- Click Install, then Enable the plugin.
Option 2: Manual Installation
- Download the latest release from the GitHub Releases Page.
- Extract the plugin folder into your vault:
<vault>/.obsidian/plugins/side-comments/
- Reload Obsidian.
- Enable Side Comments in Settings → Community Plugins.
🖊️ Usage
Add a Comment
- Select any text in a Markdown note.
- The Selection Toolbar will appear automatically.
- Click the Add Comment button.
- Enter your comment in the popup editor.
- Optionally choose a custom highlight color.
- Press
Ctrl+Enter(Cmd+Enteron macOS) or click Save.
Open Side Comments View
Use the command palette and run:
Open Side Comments View
Inside the sidebar:
- View all comments as cards
- Click cards to jump to original text
- Sort comments by time or position
- Edit or delete comments from the
...menu
Paste Images into Comments
- Paste screenshots directly with
Ctrl+V/Cmd+V - Or drag and drop images into the editor
- Images are automatically saved and linked using Markdown syntax
Export Comments
Click the Export button in the sidebar toolbar to generate a standalone Markdown summary file containing:
- Original quoted text
- Related annotations
- Structured callout formatting
⚙️ Settings
| Option | Description |
|---|---|
| Comment sort order | Sort comments by timestamp or document position |
| Show highlights in editor | Toggle inline highlight rendering |
| Enable selection toolbar | Enable/disable floating selection toolbar |
| Highlight color | Default highlight color |
| Highlight opacity | Adjust highlight transparency |
| Markdown comments folder | Folder used for Markdown backups |
| Attachments folder | Folder for pasted image attachments |
| Orphaned comments | Manage and clean orphaned comments |
❓ FAQ
Why do comments remain after deleting the original text?
Comments are linked using text anchors. If the original content is removed, the comment becomes an orphaned comment. You can remove them manually or use the cleanup option in settings.
Can I change the color of a comment?
Yes. Edit the comment from the sidebar or use the color picker in the selection toolbar.
Why was the popup menu hidden or clipped?
This issue was fixed in v1.0.3 by improving CSS stacking order and overflow handling. Please update to the latest version.
🤝 Support & Feedback
If you encounter issues or have feature requests, please open an issue on the repository:
Side Comments GitHub Repository
📄 License
MIT License
🙏 Acknowledgements
This project was inspired by and references ideas from several excellent open-source annotation and commenting plugins.
Special thanks to the following projects and their contributors:
https://github.com/catmuse/HiNote
For inspiration on inline annotation interactions, document highlighting workflows, and reading-note experiences.https://github.com/mofukuru/SideNote
For ideas related to sidebar-based annotation management, comment organization, and user interaction design.
We sincerely appreciate the open-source community for sharing ideas, implementations, and user experience explorations that helped shape this project.
📬 Contact
Feel free to join the community for discussions, updates, and bug reports:
- QQ Group:
1094620986