LogseqTimes 2023-07-15: Logseq Updates, Learn Logseq, Media Library, Queries, Kanban, Performance Metrics, Hits and tips, DB Version Merge and more

Hi Everyone,

Welcome to the latest LogseqTimes. Today my better half and I had a bit of an aviary situation. This morning a poor-looking pigeon was hanging out on our balcony. It looked parched and that it was suffering from the heat (it is about 45 degrees C), so we gave it some corn and a container of cold water in a nice shaded area to see if it would find its wings again. So far, it has bathed in the container and seems to be getting better. Hopefully, when the sun goes down and the temperature cools a bit, he will be on his way again.

With the pigeon on the mend, let's see what Logseq had in store for us this week.

Learn Logseq → Getting Started Demo Graph for Beginners - Download Link

Candide shared an amazing post with us in the forum.

"I recently led a workshop where I talked about how I used Logseq as part of my creative thesis work, and created a demo graph for participants to play around with to learn Logseq."

The demo graph covers the following:

• blocks
• pages
• internal links & references
• graphs
• formatting (text, headings, links, flashcards, TODOs, media embeds, queries, tables, org mode alerts, drawing)
• advanced tips and tricks
• my favourite plugins
• working with media files: embed audio, photos, videos
• publishing your graph online

You can access the demo graph here: https://github.com/candideu/Logseq-Demo-Graph/archive/refs/heads/main.zip

Media / Reference Library

ElGatoPanzon continues to share his great work with an image / media reference library.

Everything starts with uploading a file (image, video, audio) and giving the tag #stashitem followed by other tags. With some CSS, these blocks are converted automatically into a gallery-view on any page. The key tag itself is hidden also using CSS, so the blocks only show the relevant data when not in the editor view.

I consider this to be worth the extra effort than simply copying images directly into the whiteboard. By using blocks to hold each image they are not duplicated when copying to the whiteboard, they exist as blocks in the graph. I believe this to be in-line with the "Logseq way" to handle media items.

And, the biggest bonus for me, I just finished full Pinterest integration! Now I just add items to my Pinterest account and choose the board/board section, and they are imported automatically into Logseq for offline use without extra steps.

Can't wait to see when this is shared to import into my Logseq.

Easier to Add (+) / New Bullet in Between Others

OP comes up with a very useful feature request, that then develops in the comments with answers from other fellow Logseq users regarding making it easier to add new bullet points instead of clicking at the end of a line and pressing enter or having to reshuffle blocks:

Hello, I find it very cumbersome and unfriendly to have to enter edit mode in the previous block and navigate at the end of it and hit Enter to create a new block/bullet. I have quite large/long blocks, some with links that span 2 lines and just to eye-ball where the end of that block is tires one’s eyes.

I would suggest that just like with last bullet of a page, where a “plus” sign would appear when the mouse hovers that area, so should happen when the mouse gets between two bullets/blocks. Entering Edit Mode just to press Enter for a new Block is just soo friction-inducing it makes me cringe sometimes.

Example: my daily journal has many blocks and sub-blocks and, when I open Logseq, it automatically populates the daily journal page, so I need to go there and fill stuff, add blocks, etc. It is very often that I want to add more blocks within a certain section just to keep everything tidy but I can only enter Edit Mode on the Block above to be able to press Enter and get a new bullet.

Click here for the blog post and very useful suggestions.

Days of the Week in Local Language

A question I often see, is users asking if it is possible to change the day of the week in to the local language as opposed to English when the relevant date format is selected:

Unfortunately, it seems that this is not possible but the devs are aware of the issue and demand for this. If this is of interest, be sure to comment here.

What do You Appreciate about Logseq?

Aries post a comment: "The thing I didn't realize I'd appreciate most about Logseq is the journal. Instead of creating folders and files and trying to build a hierarchy and inevitably having to re-do it and break all your links, Logseq tells you to just start writing stuff and it'll handle organizing them.

You can still do things like create hierarchies, but you don't need to ask "what folder does this file go in?" because you can always change it later.

It's also much more reflective of how I think. When I have a thought, I don't think "oh, I'll just context switch to this topic for a bit while I fill out these notes". I have the thought, then I'm onto something else. I can just throw that thought into Logseq's journal, add some tags, and it'll organize it into a page automagically"

What does Logseq add to the table for you?

Alex's Home View

Alex shared his home view for July 2023 with us. I love seeing the layout people adopt and will shamefully say that I pinch a few things here and there from them. Thanks for sharing Alex.

Search Certain Formatted Contents in a Page

OP raises the question: "I use like highlights ^^ and bold ** in a page. Is there a way to collect all the highlighted and bolded parts and show them up in other places (like another block or a page)?"

Seems that you can create a query to find blocks that contain text formatted with any of those formatting options. Thanks, PSPStreet51. 

Logseq Kanban / Swim Lanes

OP provides us with a thought-provoking idea that Logseq can act like a Kanban Board / give us swim lanes.

I esteem the Kanban philosophy. I bought two books and read countless posts to learn about WIP limits and at-a-glace visual overheads. It’s got a lot going for it, but the swim lane aspect is the least of it.

Take out-of-the-box Logseq. It’s got custom queries, which we can arrange as desired on our Journal pages. What you do is define queries around task statuses and/or conditions. These represent your swim lanes. Has it dawned on you what this means? Just as Dorothy realized she had the power to go home all along, you’ve also always had all you needed to do Kanban in Logseq.

Yes, query results are arranged vertically instead of horizontally. I hope that’s a pivot your mind can make because, if it can, whenever you appropriately bump the state of your tasks they’re relocated to the right swim lane. Provided you’re being reasonable with your WIP limits, you can still see everything important on one screen. And, if your lists are overloaded, that’s nothing horizontal swim lanes would’ve overcome either.

Swim lanes are overrated. Enjoy Kanban, but it should have more to do with process than horizontal vs. vertical. Since all of Logseq is vertically oriented you might as well be consistent and go with the flow.

I’ve been doing Kanban in Logseq since the beginning. All you have to do is define the right queries.

Logseq Relevant Metrics

OP asks: "Since we talk a lot of performance, I was wondering what metrics/ indicators we should use to gauge the size of our notes (maybe not in bits), the performance of our base... And knowing what are the culprits for bad performance or what are the best practices to keep my base healthy and workable.

In other words, what are the limitations? Should we keep theme and plugins to the minimum? Today, I created dozens of flashcards to be synched with Anki. Everything on a single page and it worked just fine. Am I the only one trying to avoid a horror story?"

Mixed responses were provided so worth checking out the post in full.  

Database Version Approaching?

A recent PR on Github suggests that the DB version of Logseq is getting closer and closer.

Will be interesting to see when this gets merged and how much internal testing will be done before it is released into the wild.  Watch this space for developments.

Logseq Plugins / Themes

• Logseq Flow Nord v0.9.19 released This update includes the following changes: fix pdf toolbar background, improve link text color, fix CodeMirror background in nightly build Logseq, fix custom theme h1.title, fix custom theme code selection, improve README
• Logseq Anki Sync v5.0.0 Released. Whats New?: feat: audio support, enhance(dev): switch to vite, fix: issue with image occlusion becoming invalid on resize, fix: swift card rendering
• Days got a new feature, it now displays Scheduled and Deadline as a special date in the calendar. You can configure your own colors for scheduled and deadlines.

• Another Embed updates: You can now toggle the displaying of embedded blocks' breadcrumbs with one command (setting shortcut supported). You can now toggle the displaying of block properties with one command (setting shortcut supported). You can now adjust table columns' width by just dragging the headers. Both markdown tables and query tables are supported (v2 tables are not).

Until Next Time

I hope you found this blog post helpful. If you have any comments or questions, please let me know.

Thanks again for reading.