`/math` command should autofocus LaTeX editor

[neon64]

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe.

I use Anytype to take notes, often with lots of embedded maths. With this in mind, Inline LaTeX Addition is probably my #1 request, but aside from that, I think there could be some workflow improvements to the current block LaTeX support.

After typing “/math” and pressing enter:

A new math block is created, as I’d expect, however in order to start editing said math block, I need to grab my mouse and manually click on the math block.

In addition, once I’m done editing the math block, I need to manually click somewhere outside the math block to exit. As far as I’m away there isn’t e.g.: a keyboard shortcut to exit the block (for example, repeatedly pressing the “down” or “up” arrows when at the bottom or top of the math block editor doesn’t get me anywhere - I am permanently stuck inside the block until I use my mouse to click outside.

Describe the solution you’d like

I would expect after typing “/math” and hitting enter, the editor would jump straight to this. (with a blinking cursor ready to go in the “editor” section)

In addition, it would be nice if I could get out of that math block using e.g.: up/down arrow keys (currently am stuck until I use the mouse).

Finally, if I’m outside of the math block, e.g. cursor is underneath the math block here:

… and I hit the “up” arrow, then it selects the math block, which makes sense. But it would be nice to have some keyboard shortcut which I could press (e.g.: “enter” key while the block is selected), which will allow me to enter edit mode again, without having to click on the math block with the mouse.

Describe alternatives you’ve considered

I hate to jump on the “clone all Notion features” bandwagon, but I just tried this out in Notion, and it handles this “keyboard-driven” workflow pretty-much how I’d expect (except it forces me to use “shift+enter” to add a new line, which I’m not a fan of).

I’ve considered just using my mouse more, but it’s like an order of magnitude slower when e.g.: taking live lecture notes.

Thanks very much for all the work you’ve put into Anytype thus far! Despite some minor workflow impediments such as this issue, I’ve been using it for a lot of my note-taking these days.

[sambouwer]

@neon64 thanks for your detailed feature request! I very much agree with your request as this can be applied to other kinds of blocks (bookmark, relations).

Could you check whether your request is similar to this one so I can merge that post into yours?

Cursor jumps inside LaTeX code block upon creation

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Whenever I create a LaTeX block (through /late and pressing Enter), I always expect it to automatically hop into the formula box and allow me to type in formulas on the fly (as with other apps like Notion). I’m always frustrated by that split second I start typing, followed by the realization that I have to click the box first before starting to type again. Describe the solution you’d like I just want the cursor to automatically g…

Secondly, if you agree, I think it would make sense to generalize your request to list all blocks that would benefit from directly opening into “block content edit mode” after creating the block. Do you agree?

[neon64]

Hi @sambouwer ,

my apologies, I didn’t see that feature request when trying to search.

I believe my post is similar to the feature request you’ve linked.

To answer your second question, I can’t foresee any harm in generalizing my request to all blocks that would benefit from directly opening into “block content edit mode” - seems sensible to me!

[sambouwer]

I’ve created a new topic for the generic request and merged your request into it. Please let me know if you prefer to keep your original topic open, but I’d prefer to close it in favor of a more generic topic .