Glossary

This page explains the main Obsidian and Olivier’s Theme terms used throughout the documentation.
Once you are familiar with them, the other pages will use only these short, consistent names.

Views and modes

• Reading mode
  Obsidian’s view for reading a note without editing it.
  Syntax markers are hidden and the page is laid out like a well‑set document, optimised for calm, sustained attention.

• Writing / Editing mode
  The general term for editing a note.
  In this guide, “Writing mode” and “Editing mode” are treated as synonyms: you can use either word depending on whether you think of the note as prose you are writing or as Markdown you are editing.

• Live Preview
  Obsidian’s editing mode that shows most formatting (headings, emphasis, lists, links) as they will appear in Reading mode, while still allowing you to edit the underlying Markdown.
  Many users experience Live Preview as “writing” in a document; others see it as “editing” source text with a friendlier presentation.

• Source mode
  Obsidian’s editing mode that shows the raw Markdown text, with all syntax visible.
  Users who have a programming or technical background often think of Source mode as classic “code editing”.

• Pane
  A rectangular area of the Obsidian window that can contain a note, a search, a canvas, or another view.
  The window can be split into several panes side by side.

• Tab
  A tab is a document or view inside a pane, with its title shown at the top.
  A single pane can contain several tabs; Olivier’s Theme can highlight the current tab more clearly.

Interface elements

• Sidebar (or side panel)
  The vertical panels on the left and right of the window that can host the file explorer, search results, Properties, etc.
  The spacing of items in sidebars can be adjusted in the General settings.

• Status bar
  The horizontal bar at the bottom of the Obsidian window that shows information such as word count, sync status, or plugin icons.
  Olivier’s Theme lets you adjust the padding between the status bar and the edges of the window.

• Title bar breadcrumb
  The small trail of text at the very top of the window that can show the vault name, the current note and some plugin views.
  You can hide this breadcrumb to gain vertical space and simplify the top of the window.

• Properties
  Obsidian’s metadata panel that shows per‑note properties (frontmatter).
  It can appear as a section at the top of a note, or in a dedicated sidebar view; Olivier’s Theme lets you adjust the width of the property labels.

• Canvas
  Obsidian’s infinite canvas view, where you arrange notes and cards spatially.
  The theme can hide the default dot pattern to create a quieter, more “paper‑like” background.

• Embed (or transclusion)
  When the content of one note is displayed inside another note.
  Obsidian usually shows the embedded note’s title; Olivier’s Theme can hide these titles if you prefer a cleaner page.

Theme concepts

• Style Settings
  The Obsidian community plugin that exposes the configuration panels for Olivier’s Theme.
  All the theme options described in this guide live under Settings → Appearance → Style Settings → Olivier’s Theme.

• GENERAL settings
  The group of options that control the global interface (UI text size, list spacing, status bar, breadcrumbs, canvas background), typography (headings scale, vertical rhythm, lists), and Kanban appearance.

• LIGHT / DARK MODE colors
  The sets of options that define the color palettes, accents, text colors, backgrounds, highlights and Properties pills in Light and Dark mode.
  Light and Dark mode can share a coordinated palette or be tuned independently.

• Reading mode settings
  The options that control the typographic feel of Reading mode: body text size, line height, line length, table text size, table style, Bases header visibility, image style and maximum image height.

• Writing / Editing mode settings
  The options that control the editor: typeface, body size, line height, line length, table text size and image behaviour while editing.
  The documentation uses “Writing mode” and “Editing mode” interchangeably here, because they both describe the same underlying editor view.

• cssclass / cssclasses
  Special class names that you add to a note (usually in the frontmatter) to enable additional layouts or styles for that note only.
  Olivier’s Theme uses cssclasses for Bases layouts, image sizing, reading‑text size, “terminal” or “typewriter” writing environments, and various niceties.

Kanban‑related terms

• Kanban board
  A board made of columns (lanes) and cards, typically managed by the Kanban plugin or Board View.
  Olivier’s Theme lets you set a specific font, card text size and lane width for these boards.

• Lane
  A column in a Kanban board.
  The “width of the lanes” setting controls how wide each column appears.

• Card
  An individual item in a Kanban lane.
  The “Size of the cards text” setting adjusts the text size inside these cards.