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ZotLit

Use a different template for different notes

Add a profile, give it a look of its own, set the conditions that select it, and check that ZotLit picks it for an item.

A profile decides a literature note's name, folder, properties, and body. Add one when books, papers, or a single collection need a look of their own.

Add a profile

Open the Profiles page

In Obsidian, open Settings > ZotLit > Literature note profiles. In the header of the Other profiles list, select Add profile.

Name it and choose its folder

Enter the Name. A name is enough to create the profile. To keep its notes in a folder of their own, also enter the Literature note folder. Leave the folder empty to use the Default profile's folder. The dialog reads Start from a copy of the current Default template. The literature note folder is optional: leave it empty to use the Default folder. Existing notes keep their folders. Select Add profile to create the profile.

ZotLit writes zotlit-profile.<slug>.md into the folder named by Template folder and opens the document in the Template Workbench View. The name you typed is the label you see in lists. The profile's actual identity is a separate ID inside the document, so renaming the file changes nothing. See Profiles for what the document carries.

Edit the note source and its properties

Select Note and edit the note source: the text every note from this profile begins with. Select Properties and set the YAML properties ZotLit writes at the top of each note.

The preview beside the editor renders your edits against a Zotero item. Choose another item at any time to check a different case.

Set the conditions that select it

Select Match. The tab reads Select the items that use this profile automatically.

Select Add condition for the first condition, then pick what it tests: Item type, Collection, Tag, or Library. A profile matches when All of the following holds, or when Any of the following does. Switch between the two above the conditions.

The complete condition language, including the expression form, is in Profile Match.

Check the conditions against an item

Select Choose item to check and choose an item. The tab reports Matches selected item or Does not match selected item for that item.

The profile's row on the settings page then carries Automatic while ZotLit can evaluate the conditions.

Create a note from the profile

Run ZotLit: Open literature note quick switcher and select an item the profile matches. ZotLit creates the note from the profile and reports the match. The note records the profile in its zotlit-profile property.

Existing notes keep the profile that made them. To move one note to this profile, run ZotLit: Switch literature note profile from the note.

When two profiles match

Two profiles can match the same item, and ZotLit does not choose for you when they do. The picker opens and reports More than one profile matches: …. Select a profile for this operation.. Its search box reads Choose from matching profiles…, and every candidate that matches the item carries Matches this item.

Pick the profile you meant to use, or dismiss the picker to cancel the note. Narrowing the conditions on the Match tab is the durable fix.

When you pick a profile by hand

A profile you choose for the current operation wins over Profile Match, whatever the conditions say. Profiles holds the order ZotLit tries when it selects one.

Your choice covers that one operation. The note records the profile that made it, and later updates read that record instead of the conditions.

Share the profile as one file

A profile is a single document, so you can move it to another vault as one file, with the partials it calls travelling inside it. The Profile document reference describes the document that travels and every key inside it.

Share the profile

On the profile's row, open More actions and select Share…. The share dialog collects the document and the partials it appears to call.

Choose what the file carries

Under Partials, clear any partial you do not want to send; the ones the profile appears to call are already selected. Include match conditions carries the Profile Match to the receiving vault, and Include my folders adds your note folders to the file.

Copy it or save it

Select Copy to clipboard to put the file on the clipboard, or Save Markdown file… to write it into a folder you choose. Both produce the same single document.

Import it in the receiving vault

Run ZotLit: Import profile…, or select the import button in the header of the Other profiles list. ZotLit then asks where the file is: Read from clipboard or Choose file….

Read what the import dialog reports

The dialog previews the partials it will unpack into the template folder, the citation style, and the incoming Profile Match written out in words. Import match conditions imports the Match with the profile, so it selects notes in this vault too; turn it off to keep the profile for manual selection only. When the shared profile carries no Match, the dialog reads Not auto-selected and hides the toggle. Select Import profile to write the profile.

See also

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