Journal and notes

Writing in Markdown

Notes and the journal are Markdown, shown as you’d read it. Formatting takes effect the moment you type it, and its symbols show only while the cursor is inside.

How the editor works

Type Markdown and it turns into what it means: **bold** becomes bold as soon as you close it, and # at the start of a line makes a heading. Move the cursor into a bold word, a link or a formula and its Markdown comes back so you can edit it; move out and it’s typeset again.

You don’t need to know Markdown to write in Glea: the formatting bar, the Format menu and the slash menu write it for you. The file on disk is always plain Markdown.

Format text

Select some text and a formatting bar appears above it: bold, italic, strikethrough, code, link, headings, quote, lists and tasks. The same commands are in the Format menu:

Also: ==highlight== marks text, and %%comment%% shows faded, for notes to yourself.

The slash menu

Type / at the start of a line, or after a space, to pick a block: headings, lists, a to-do list, a quote, a callout, a code block, math, a table, an image or file, a web embed, a divider, a link, a link to a note or an embedded note.

Keep typing to filter it (/tab finds Table, /todo the to-do list), move with ↑ ↓, and press Return or Tab to insert. Esc closes the menu and leaves what you typed.

Lists and tasks

• Start a line with - for a bulleted list, or 1. for a numbered one.
• Return continues the list (and quotes, and tasks); Return on an empty item ends it.
• Tab and ⇧Tab indent and outdent an item.
• Type [] (or [ ] , or [x] ) at the start of a line to make a task. Click its checkbox to tick it off.

Tables

Insert one with ⌥⌘T or /table, or type a header row like | Name | Year | and press Return. Tables show as a grid with aligned columns.

• Tab and ⇧Tab move between cells; Return adds a row.
• Column alignment follows the row of dashes under the header: :---: centers, ---: aligns right.

| Book                     | Year |
| ------------------------ | ---: |
| The Left Hand of Darkness | 1969 |

Math

Write LaTeX between dollar signs: $e^{i\pi} + 1 = 0$ in a line of text, or $$…$$ for a formula on its own, on one line or around several. Formulas show typeset and turn back into their source when the cursor goes in.

Inside a formula, type \ for a menu of LaTeX commands, each shown typeset. Dollar amounts like “$5 and $10” stay text: a dollar sign with a space just inside it doesn’t start math.

Code blocks

Put code between lines of three backticks, with its language after the first, or use /code:

```swift
let greeting = "Hello"
```

Code is highlighted for Swift, JavaScript and TypeScript, JSON, Python, Rust, Go, C, C++ and Objective-C, Java, Kotlin, C#, Ruby, shell, SQL, CSS, HTML and XML, YAML, TOML, diffs, PHP, Lua and LaTeX.

Callouts

A callout is a quote with a type, drawn in its type’s color. Start a quote with [!type] and an optional title, or pick one from the slash menu:

> [!warning] Before you update
> Quit the other app first.

Types include note, tip, warning, danger, success, question and example, as in Obsidian.

Fold and move sections

The gutter on a note’s left edge has two controls:

• Chevrons by headings fold and unfold the section under them.
• A grip appears by the block under the pointer: drag it to move the block, with everything nested under it, to another place in the note.

The table of contents in the margin follows your headings; hover over it to see their titles, and click one to jump there.

Something missing or unclear here? Tell us on GitHub.