---
id: 2026-05-20T12:23:54-0400
title: 2026-05-20 12:23:54
tags: []
daily: "[[2026-05-20]]"
---
# 2026-05-20 12:23:54

## Footnotes as Sidenotes for Obsidian

I've recently switched to using
`Editor > Display > Readable Line Length`
and have been enjoying the change,
however I'm left with a lot of real estate in the viewport.

An unrelated problem,
I really don't love using the reading view and find it difficult to recommend
because it puts `[^n]` style footnotes at the bottom of the page.
I use footnotes liberally to include extra context
and information that interests me
while still maintaining a strong central narrative
which only includes what is strictly necessary to understand the subject.

My favorite way to present such asides
is in the margin, right next to the reference.[^1]
While the [[obsidian]] core plugin Footnotes View
can almost emulate the desired appearance,
the text is redundant when in the editing view.

[^1]: See [My hobby: running deranged surveys --- LessWrong](https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/fQz6afpcZhdMdYzgE/my-hobby-running-deranged-surveys).

No existing community plugin implements the desired behavior.
Cornell Marginalia is close,
but it uses new syntax rather than footnotes
and is bloated, buggy, and not fully translated.
Eventually I should take a crack at it.

### Resources

* [Sidenotes In Web Design · Gwern.net](https://gwern.net/sidenote)
* [Implementing Pure CSS Sidenotes for a Blog • Hey!👏Lyle!](https://heylyle.com/en/posts/only-css-sidenotes/)
* [What HTML element for semantic sidenotes? --- Stack Overflow](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/57272564/what-html-element-for-semantic-sidenotes)