The block editor
Blocks, formatting, checklists, colours, flags and attachments, on both the desktop and the phone.
On this page
A note is a stack of blocks rather than one long slab of text. Each block knows what it is, how far it is indented, and how it should look. That is what makes it possible to reorder a paragraph, turn a line into a checklist item, or colour one sentence without touching anything around it.
Block types
Use the Block type button in the formatting toolbar to change what the current block is.
- Text
- What it is for: An ordinary paragraph.
- Bullet
- What it is for: An unordered list item. Indent it to nest.
- Numbered
- What it is for: An ordered list item, renumbered automatically.
- To-do
- What it is for: A checkbox. Promote it to a task and it appears in the Task Cockpit.
- Image
- What it is for: A picture, either copied into app storage or linked where it already lives.
- File
- What it is for: Any other attachment.
- Library reference
- What it is for: A link from a note to a chapter in your Library.
- Audio
- What it is for: A recording, playable inline beside its transcript.
| Block | What it is for |
|---|---|
| Text | An ordinary paragraph. |
| Bullet | An unordered list item. Indent it to nest. |
| Numbered | An ordered list item, renumbered automatically. |
| To-do | A checkbox. Promote it to a task and it appears in the Task Cockpit. |
| Image | A picture, either copied into app storage or linked where it already lives. |
| File | Any other attachment. |
| Library reference | A link from a note to a chapter in your Library. |
| Audio | A recording, playable inline beside its transcript. |
Formatting
The toolbar sits above the block you are editing. Bold, italic and strikethrough work two ways on both apps: with text selected they apply to just that text, and with nothing selected they apply to the whole block, which shows straight away while you type. Text selected and formatted inline shows its markers (such as **bold**) while you edit and is drawn formatted in Reading mode. Highlight and text colour always apply to the whole block. On the desktop, inline code wraps the selection or the word at the caret, and the link button wraps the selection with the address ready to paste.
| Ctrl/Cmd+B | Bold |
| Ctrl/Cmd+I | Italic |
| Ctrl/Cmd+K | Insert a link, with the URL pre-selected so you can paste over it |
| Tab / Shift+Tab | Indent or outdent the current block |
| Shift+Enter | A line break inside the block, rather than a new block |
On the phone the same toolbar is behind the Aa button in the note header.
Size, typeface, colour and alignment
Beyond the usual bold and italic, each block can carry its own type size and typeface, a text colour, and a highlight. There are sixteen text colours and six highlights, plus a custom colour picker.
Moving blocks around
On the desktop, grab the handle at the left of a block and drag. Click a handle to select a block instead, then Ctrl-click to add more or Shift-click to take a range. Selected blocks move together, and copying them puts clean Markdown on the clipboard.
Reading mode
The eye button in the note header switches to a fully rendered view, with no handles, no toolbar and no editing affordances. It is the right way to re-read something long. Press it again to go back to editing.
Flags and the flag rail
A flag marks a block so you can come back to it. Flagged blocks appear as marks on a thin rail beside the note, and F2 and Shift+F2 jump between them. Flags can be named, which makes them useful for things like "check this figure" or "rewrite".
Find inside a note
For a long note, Find in note searches just that note and steps through the matches with F3 or Ctrl+G. This is separate from searching your whole library, which is covered in Search.
Images, files and audio
Use the attach buttons in the note header or the insert buttons in the toolbar. You choose whether a file is copied into SILONotes storage or linked where it already sits. Copied files travel in a full backup; linked files stay put and the backup records only the pointer.