org-mode Basics

The bare minimum you need to be effective

beppu

3 minute read

Org-mode is an Emacs mode for authoring hierarchical documents. It’s most commonly used for note taking and managing TODO lists. The basics are quite simple, and the default keybindings are quite ergonomic and intuitive.

Basic Keybindings

Let’s get started by opening a new file named index.org. Any file that ends in .org will be opened in org-mode by default.

Try using these keybindngs as I describe them.

M-RET - Meta-Return creates a new list item. You can type text on this line, and you can add additional content underneath the item as well.

M-RIGHT - Indent an item.

M-LEFT - Dedent an item. With these 3 commands, you can construct a hierarchical list.

M-UP - Move an item up.

M-DOWN - Move an item down.

TAB - Cycle the visibility of an item. If an item has sub-items, TAB will collapse and expand them.

C-c . - Add a timestamp. This is handy for when you’re keeping a journal.

S-RIGHT - Cycle TODO state.

S-LEFT - Cycle TODO state in reverse. The default TODO states are TODO, DONE and nothing.

These are the most important keybindings, and they will take you far.

Linking to Other Files

The reason I like to start with a file called index.org is because I use that as entry point for other .org files. This can make org-mode feel like a personal wiki. I link to other files using the file:$path notation. Here is what my index.org looks like:

#+TITLE Index
* file:log.org - personal log
* file:clojure.org - notes on Clojure
* file:people.org - a list of people I find interesting
* Projects
** file:timer.org - timer implemented in Clojure
** file:konfederation.org - generalized authentication
** file:blog.org - my personal blog
** file:archiver.org - self-hosted archive.is alternative

If you were to put that in an org document, those file: links would be clickable. You can also hit RET while your cursor is on the link to open that file. Regular URLs are clickable too. Emacs will open the link in your web browser in that case.

Embedding Source Code

If you’re a programmer, you’ll love org-mode’s ability to embed source code. If nothing else, it makes programming notes look really good, because it’s syntax highlighted correctly inside your org document.

#+BEGIN_SRC clojurescript
(-> (fn-that-returns-a-promise)
    (.then (fn [r] (return-another-promise)))
    (.then (fn [r] (return-another-promise)))
    (.catch (fn [e] (handle-your-exceptions))))
#+END

There are advanced org-mode users who use this to do a form of literate programming, but I have not tried doing that yet.

There are many things I haven’t tried yet in org-mode. For the curious, there is a very thorough manual that you can read at:

http://orgmode.org/

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