Introducing Emacs Org-Mode in 2023

Org-Mode

Things You Can Do With Org-Mode

Organize code into sections you can fold
Use AI
Write HTML emails
Manage contacts
Create custom calenders
Simplify Latex
Use org-tables with excelish functionality directly in emacs
Keep and search notes
Access notes from your phone
Use timestamps to remind you on your phone
Query your notes like a database
Export to notecards for quizzing software
Export to HTML
Export to PDF
Simplify Latex
Edit Google Docs with CSS
Manage multiple files in one document
Track your time
And more …

You can look at this screenshot to get an idea of what org-mode configuration headings look like:

An image of the headings for the org-mode section of the Emacs Poseidon text editor.

Here’s some code:

Open Org


(use-package org

`:commands` Directive

You can list commands that load the code when called.


:commands (org-mode Org-Agenda/body Org-Editor/body Org-Central/body org-agenda Org-Table/body org-capture-goto-target  mu4e launch-mu4e mu4e-compose-new mu4e-compose-reply Mu4e-mail/mu4e Mu4e-mail/launch-mu4e Mu4e-mail/mu4e-compose-new Mu4e-mail/mu4e-compose-reply)

`:init` Directive

Your custom themes need font faces.


:init 
(require 'org-faces)

`:mode` Directive

You can launch org-mode when you open org documents.


:mode ("\\.org\\'" . org-mode)

`:config` Directive


:config

Default Notes

You can set directories where org can store and search files.


(setq org-default-notes-file org-notes-p)

Shorten Export Process


(setq org-export-html-postamble nil)

Set Leading Stars And Superscripts

You can make your org buffer look better.


(setq org-hide-leading-stars t)
(setq org-use-sub-superscripts '{})

Org Show Levels Functions

You can change the level of visible headings and content.



(defun org-show-two-levels ()
  (interactive)
  (org-content 2))

(defun org-show-three-levels ()
  (interactive)
  (org-content 3))

Org Add Pretty Symbols And Ellipsis

You can make your org buffer look even better.


(defun org-add-pretty-symbols ()
  "make some word or string show as pretty Unicode symbols"
  (setq prettify-symbols-alist
        '(
          ("lambda" . 955) ;
          ("->" . 8594)    ;
          ("=>" . 8658)    ;
          )))

Ellipsis

Customize what you see at the end of the heading line.



(setq org-ellipsis "...")

Fontify Heading Line


(setq org-fontify-whole-heading-line t)

Org Bullets

Make your headings look better with the org-bullets package.


(use-package org-bullets
:after org
);end org-bullets

Toggle the Literal Or Descriptive Display of Links

You can make org links look more like links when you want to.


(defun org-toggle-link-display ()
  "Toggle the literal or descriptive display of links."
  (interactive)
  (if org-descriptive-links
      (progn (org-remove-from-invisibility-spec '(org-link))
         (org-restart-font-lock)
         (setq org-descriptive-links nil))
    (progn (add-to-invisibility-spec '(org-link))
       (org-restart-font-lock)
       (setq org-descriptive-links t))))

Function Set Default Company Backends

You can set the default backends for company-mode.


(defun poseidon-org-mode-hook ()
"company hook for org-mode"
(set (make-local-variable 'company-backends)
         '((company-yasnippet company-ispell company-dabbrev))))

Org Mode Hook

You can set a hook to turn off auto-indenting, toggle on prettify symbols, toggle off eldoc (buffer reminders), and turn the bullets on.



(add-hook 'org-mode-hook (lambda ()
(electric-indent-local-mode -1)
;(global-prettify-symbols-mode 1)
(org-add-pretty-symbols)
(eldoc-mode -1)
(poseidon-org-mode-hook)
(org-bullets-mode 1)
))

Start Non-indented, Folded, With Images off

Start Emacs with folding and without indentation.


(setq org-startup-indented nil)           ;; Indent according to section
(setq org-startup-with-inline-images nil) ;; Display images in-buffer by default
(setq org-startup-folded t) ;; open org files folded
(setq org-indent-mode nil)

Org Tempo


(require 'org-tempo)

Insert Four Spaces

You can program the key C-i to insert 4 spaces, to free up the tab key.


(defun insert-four()
(interactive)
(insert (make-string 4 ?\s))
);end insert four spaces

Pulse (flash light)

Flash lights when you move through text with M-e, M-a, C-}, and C-{.



(defun jib/pulse-area (&rest _)
"Pulse +-5 chars of point."
(pulse-momentary-highlight-region (- (point) 5) (+ 5 (point))))

(defun pulse-area (&rest _)
"Pulse +-5 chars of point."
(pulse-momentary-highlight-region (- (point) 5) (+ 5 (point))))


(dolist (command '(org-forward-sentence org-backward-sentence))
(advice-add command :after #'jib/pulse-area));doesn't work with pulse-area

Org Clock Sound


(setq org-clock-sound org-clock-p)

Org Emphasis

You can highlight selected words in different colours.


(require 'org-habit nil t)

(defun org-add-my-extra-fonts ()
  "Add alert and overdue fonts."
  (add-to-list 'org-font-lock-extra-keywords '("\\(!\\)\\([^\n\r\t]+\\)\\(!\\)" (1 '(face org-habit-alert-face invisible t)) (2 'org-habit-alert-face t) (3 '(face org-habit-alert-face invisible t))) t)
  (add-to-list 'org-font-lock-extra-keywords '("\\(%\\)\\([^\n\r\t]+\\)\\(%\\)" (1 '(face org-habit-overdue-face invisible t)) (2 'org-habit-overdue-face t) (3 '(face org-habit-overdue-face invisible t))) t)
)
(setq extraFonts 0)
(defun toggleExtraFont ()
(interactive)
(cond 
((equal extraFonts 0) 
(progn
(add-hook 'org-font-lock-set-keywords-hook #'org-add-my-extra-fonts)
(setq extraFonts 1)
));
((equal extraFonts 1) 
(progn
(remove-hook 'org-font-lock-set-keywords-hook #'org-add-my-extra-fonts)
(setq extraFonts 0)
));
));end toggleExtraFont

Package Show Emphasis Markers


(use-package org-appear
:ensure t
:hook (org-mode . org-appear-mode)
)

Org Babel Do Languages

You can get syntax highlighting and mode functionality in code-blocks.


;org-babel languages support
(org-babel-do-load-languages
 'org-babel-load-languages
 '((R . t)
   (ditaa . t)
;  (dot . t)
   (emacs-lisp . t)
   (gnuplot . t)
;  (haskell . nil)
   (latex . t)
   (ledger . t)          
;  (ocaml . nil)
;  (html . t)
   (js . t)
   (python . t)
   (php . t)
   (css . t)
   (shell . t)
;  (sh . t) ; get ob-sh
   (sql . nil)
;  (sqlite . t)
));end org-babel-do-load-languages
 
(setq org-babel-R-command org-babel-R-command-p)

(setq org-confirm-babel-evaluate nil)

Org Babel Tangle Block

You can run or export the code in a code block, org will print the results into your document if you want it to.


(defun org-babel-tangle-block()
  (interactive)
  (let ((current-prefix-arg '(4)))
     (call-interactively 'org-babel-tangle)
))

Org Babel Tangle Files Same as Block

You can run or export the code all similar blocks in a file.



(defun org-babel-tangle-files-same-as-block()
  (interactive)
  (let ((current-prefix-arg '(16)))
     (call-interactively 'org-babel-tangle)
))

Here are some file types you manage and export from an org file.

HTML
CSS
SCSS
JavaScript
Hugo
Emacs
Notes
Invoices
Contracts
Scripts
Text
Books
And anything else

Add Modes Inside SRC Blocks


(add-to-list 'org-src-lang-modes '(
("html" . web)
("scss" . scss)
("js" . js)
))

CSS Set Default HTML Export Styling

When you export your files to HTML, you can use some other default styling.


(setq roboto-Gray-HTML "
<meta http-equiv='X-UA-Compatible'content='IE=edge,chrome=1'>
<meta content='width=device-width,initial-scale=1, maximum-scale=1, user-scalable=no'name='viewport'>
<style>
html{
touch-action:manipulation;
-webkit-text-size-adjust:100%
}
body{
padding:0;
margin:0;
background:#f2f6fa;
color:#3c495a;
font-weight:normal;
font-size:15px;
font-family:'San Francisco','Roboto','Arial',sans-serif
}
h2,h3,h4,h5,h6{
font-family:'Trebuchet MS',Verdana,sans-serif;
color:#586b82;
padding:0;
margin:20px 0 10px 0;
font-size:1.1em}
h2{
margin:30px 0 10px 0;
font-size:1.2em}
a{
color:#3fa7ba;
text-decoration:none}
p{
margin:20px 0;
text-align:left}
ul,ol{
margin:0;
text-align:left}
ul>li>code{
color:#586b82
}
pre{
white-space:pre-wrap}
#content{
width:96%;
max-width:1000px;
margin:2% auto 6% auto;
background:white;
border-radius:2px;
border-right:1px solid #e2e9f0;
border-bottom:2px solid #e2e9f0;
padding:0 115px 150px 115px;
box-sizing:border-box}
#postamble{display:none}
h1.title{
background-color:#343C44;
color:#fff;
margin:0 -115px;
padding:60px 0;
font-weight:normal;
font-size:2em;
border-top-left-radius:2px;
border-top-right-radius:2px;
text-align:center;}
@media (max-width:1050px){
#content{
padding:0 70px 100px 70px;}
h1.title{margin:0 -70px;}
}
img{
max-width:100%;}
@media (max-width:800px){
#content{
width:100%;
margin-top:0;
margin-bottom:0;
padding:0 4% 60px 4%}
h1.title{
margin:0 -5%;
padding:40px 5%}}
pre,.verse{
box-shadow:none;
background-color:#f9fbfd;
border:1px solid #e2e9f0;
color:#586b82;
padding:10px;
font-family:monospace;
overflow:auto;margin:6px 0}
#table-of-contents{
margin-bottom:50px;
margin-top:50px}
#table-of-contents h2{
margin-bottom:5px}
#text-table-of-contents ul{
padding-left:15px}
#text-table-of-contents>ul{padding-left:0}
#text-table-of-contents li{list-style-type:none}
#text-table-of-contents a{color:#7c8ca1;font-size:0.95em;text-decoration:none}
table{border-color:#586b82;font-size:0.95em}
table thead{color:#586b82}
table tbody tr:nth-child(even){background:#f9f9f9}
table tbody tr:hover{background:#586b82!important;color:white}
table .left{text-align:left}
table .right{text-align:right}
.todo{font-family:inherit;color:inherit}
.done{color:inherit}
.tag{background:initial}
.tag>span{
background-color:#eee;
font-family:monospace;
padding-left:7px;
padding-right:7px;
border-radius:2px;
float:right;
margin-left:5px}
#text-table-of-contents .tag>span{float:none;margin-left:0}
.timestamp{color:#7c8ca1}
@media print{@page{margin-bottom:3cm;margin-top:3cm;margin-left:2cm;margin-right:2cm;font-size:10px}
#content{border:none}}
</style>")

Initialize the Code Above


(setq org-html-head roboto-Gray-HTML)

OX HTML

Enable HTML exports from within org export.


(require 'ox-html)

Additional Export Configuration


(setq org-export-allow-bind-keywords t)

Export With Smart Quotes

You can convert hyphens to dashes and straight quotes to curly quotes on export.


(setq org-export-with-smart-quotes t)

Include Default HTML Styling on Export


(setf org-html-head-include-default-style nil)

Include Scripts in HTML Export


(setq org-html-head-include-scripts nil)

Set HTML Export Doctype


(setf org-html-doctype "html5")

Auto Configuration of Tables on Export


(setq org-html-table-default-attributes
      '(:border "0" :cellspacing "0" :cellpadding "6" :rules "none" :frame "none"))

Add a Viewport Meta Tag to Export


(setf my-head-extra
      (concat
"<meta name=\"viewport\" content=\"width=device-width, initial-scale=1, interactive-widget=resizes-visual\">\n"
))

Set Some Syntax Highlighting for Org-src Blocks


(setq org-src-fontify-natively t)

Ensure Tab Buttons Works Normally in SRC Blocks


(setq org-src-tab-acts-natively t)

Don’t Change Indentation in Org-src Blocks


(setq org-src-preserve-indentation t)

Set an Archive Directory


(setq org-archive-location org-archive-p)

Add New File When Refile

You can create a new document for some content in your document and put it there.


(setq org-refile-use-outline-path 'file)

Refile Target to Level 1


(setq org-refile-targets '((org-agenda-files :level . 1)))

Set Info Saved When Archive


(setq org-archive-save-context-info '(time file olpath category todo itags ltags itags))

Archive Every Section Marked ‘DONE’ From Agenda Files Directory



(defun org-archive-done-tasks ()
  (interactive)
  (org-map-entries
   (lambda ()
     (org-archive-subtree)
     (setq org-map-continue-from (org-element-property :begin (org-element-at-point))))
   "/DONE" 'file))

Archive Any Timestamps Passed

You can remove expired time-stamps


(defun org-archive-passed-timestamps ()
  (interactive)
  (org-map-entries
   (lambda ()
     (org-archive-subtree 16)
     (setq org-map-continue-from (org-element-property :begin (org-element-at-point))))
   "/DONE" 'file))

Require the Clock And Set to Persisteant



(require 'org-clock)
(setq org-clock-persist 'history)

Set Export Timestamp Format

You can change the format of your time stamps.



(setq org-export-date-timestamp-format "%d %b  %Y ")

Remove Key Bindings From Org-mode

Remove key bindings you’re using elsewhere.



(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "M-S-<right>") nil)
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "M-S-<down>") nil)
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "M-S-<left>") nil)
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "M-S-<up>") nil)
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "C-i") nil) ; remove old binding
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "C-i") 'insert-four) ; remove old binding
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "C-<up>") nil) ; remove old binding
(define-key org-mode-map (kbd "C-<down>") nil) ; remove old binding

`:bind` Directive

You can set the tab key to cycle through folding levels.



:bind
("<tab>" . org-cycle)

Close Org-Mode



);end-use package org-mode end-org-mode

Introducing Emacs Org-Mode in 2023

Org-Mode

Things You Can Do With Org-Mode

Open Org

:commands Directive

:init Directive

:mode Directive

:config Directive

Default Notes

Shorten Export Process

Set Leading Stars And Superscripts

Org Show Levels Functions

Org Add Pretty Symbols And Ellipsis

Ellipsis

Fontify Heading Line

Org Bullets

Toggle the Literal Or Descriptive Display of Links

Function Set Default Company Backends

Org Mode Hook

Start Non-indented, Folded, With Images off

Org Tempo

Insert Four Spaces

Pulse (flash light)

Org Clock Sound

Org Emphasis

Package Show Emphasis Markers

Org Babel Do Languages

Org Babel Tangle Block

Org Babel Tangle Files Same as Block

Add Modes Inside SRC Blocks

CSS Set Default HTML Export Styling

Initialize the Code Above

OX HTML

Additional Export Configuration

Export With Smart Quotes

Include Default HTML Styling on Export

Include Scripts in HTML Export

Set HTML Export Doctype

Auto Configuration of Tables on Export

Add a Viewport Meta Tag to Export

Set Some Syntax Highlighting for Org-src Blocks

Ensure Tab Buttons Works Normally in SRC Blocks

Don’t Change Indentation in Org-src Blocks

Set an Archive Directory

Add New File When Refile

Refile Target to Level 1

Set Info Saved When Archive

Archive Every Section Marked ‘DONE’ From Agenda Files Directory

Archive Any Timestamps Passed

Require the Clock And Set to Persisteant

Set Export Timestamp Format

Remove Key Bindings From Org-mode

:bind Directive

Close Org-Mode

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`:commands` Directive

`:init` Directive

`:mode` Directive

`:config` Directive

`:bind` Directive