Simple Editorial

Simple Editorial is a minimal Obsidian plugin for lightweight manuscript editing on iPhone and macOS. It uses only ordinary Markdown and native Obsidian syntax.

Quick start

Use the comment button in the note header to turn persistent Comment Mode on or off. While the mode is on, the first text typed at an empty cursor becomes an Obsidian comment automatically. For a one-off comment, select text and run Simple Editorial: Toggle comment.

Features

• Persistent Comment Mode toggle: the same view-header action is available on iPhone and macOS. Its icon is neutral when Comment Mode is off and editorial red when it is on. With an empty cursor, the first text you type is automatically wrapped as an Obsidian comment: %% comment %%. Comment Mode stays on while you move between Markdown notes and resets when Obsidian or the plugin reloads.
• Toggle comment: inserts %% %% at an empty cursor, wraps selected text, or removes the surrounding comment markers when invoked inside an existing comment.
• Editorial styling: comments and Obsidian's native strikethrough use #C64A3D in the editor.

Comment Mode does not lock the document. Selections, deletion, replacement, Return, paste, cut, drag-and-drop, undo, redo, and other normal Obsidian editing remain unchanged. Typing inside an existing comment also remains normal.

Mobile Toolbar

The persistent toggle requires no setup. To add the optional Toggle comment command to Obsidian's Mobile Toolbar, open:

Settings → Mobile → Manage toolbar options → Add global command

Search for Simple Editorial: Toggle comment and add it to the toolbar.

Commands and suggested hotkeys

Simple Editorial does not assign default hotkeys, so it cannot overwrite an existing shortcut. On desktop, open Settings → Hotkeys and search for Simple Editorial.

The same commands can also be launched from the Command Palette. On mobile, the note-header button is the quickest way to toggle Comment Mode.

Installation

Once Simple Editorial is listed in the Obsidian Community directory:

1. Open Settings → Community plugins.
2. Select Browse and search for Simple Editorial.
3. Install and enable the plugin.

Until then, the release can be tested with BRAT:

1. Install and enable BRAT from Obsidian Community Plugins.
2. Open Settings → BRAT.
3. Choose Add Beta plugin.
4. Enter beppepic/simple-editorial.
5. Enable Simple Editorial under Settings → Community plugins.

Privacy and security

Simple Editorial works entirely inside the active Obsidian editor. It does not use the network, collect telemetry, require an account or payment, display ads, or access files outside the vault.

Development

pnpm install
pnpm lint
pnpm test
pnpm build

License

MIT