Modular Diary

A modular daily journal for Obsidian, built around a visual timeline. Time blocks, text, habits, todos, and daily quotes live in a Markdown timeline code block.

The plugin ID is modular-diary. The GitHub repository is IvyYang1999/modular-diary. The timeline code fence and note format have not changed.

Install

Add IvyYang1999/modular-diary in BRAT, or place the 0.2.0 release's manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css in .obsidian/plugins/modular-diary/. Requires Obsidian 1.8.7 or later.

The older 0.1.0 release belongs to the oneday plugin ID; do not mix its files with 0.2.0.

Migrating from 0.1.0 (oneday)

Changing the plugin ID is not an in-place update. Back up .obsidian/plugins/oneday/ and .obsidian/community-plugins.json outside the synced vault first. The old data.json may contain your model API key; keep the backup private.

1. Install the new release in .obsidian/plugins/modular-diary/ without overwriting the old directory.
2. Disable the old plugin in Obsidian. With both plugins stopped, copy the old data.json into the new plugin directory if you want to retain settings, then enable Modular Diary. Do not enable both at once: both register the timeline code block.
3. Check a real daily note, plugin settings, and any custom hotkeys. The command is now modular-diary:insert-timeline-block; old oneday: hotkey assignments do not automatically follow it.
4. If you used BRAT, remove the old repository from BRAT tracking and add IvyYang1999/modular-diary after the new release is available. Removing BRAT tracking alone does not uninstall the old plugin.
5. Update custom CSS snippets that target .oneday-* classes or --oneday-* variables to .modular-diary-* and --modular-diary-*. Keep the old installation until the new one is verified; only then decide whether to remove it.

The Markdown timeline blocks and their contents do not need migration. See release notes for the complete impact list.

Independent Checklist modules

Open Add module (+) → Add Checklist in a diary block to create a standalone list. Each Checklist has its own name, items, completion count and layout slot. Use its six-dot grip to move it, drag its edges to resize, or right-click its blank area to hide it. Hidden lists keep their data and can be restored from Add module.

Add Checklist from template copies a template into a new module. Later template edits do not change that copy. Items and checkbox states are stored in the diary block's checklist: headers; placement is stored in layout:. Saving the block as a new-day layout keeps the list items and resets their checks. Existing Markdown checklists and the legacy daily-copy commands keep their current behavior; historical notes are not converted automatically.

Note-body Todos and the current time

In Settings → Todo rules, set the note-body section heading to adopt the Markdown checkboxes under that heading. The default is empty (off). The Todo component reads, checks, renames and deletes those original lines; deeper headings supply their groups. A plain new Todo with no category, duration or other attributes joins that section. Rich Todos keep using the timeline block, preserving notes, difficulty, priority, attachments and subtodos.

Drag an adopted Todo's content onto the timeline to plan one hour using the currently selected category; resize the plan afterwards. Its source order stays in the note, and its edit form changes only the title. Source-mode writes are undoable editor transactions; reading-mode writes use the Vault and refuse while another source view of the same file is open. Equal or moved lines that cannot be identified safely are left untouched.

Today's timeline also shows a current-time line inside its configured range. It moves every 30 seconds without remounting the block or interrupting drafts; other days have no current-time marker.