Drafts - Action Bar
When users are editing, they can see an additional row of commands displayed above the on-screen keyboard (iOS), or below the editor (macOS), providing quick access to actions from select action groups.
The action bar contains buttons to access commonly used actions directly in the editor quickly. Typically, you use this for actions that manipulate text in the editor, move the cursor, apply Markdown formatting, but you can include any action (like Add to Obsidian).
To make an action group available in the action bar, simply enable “Action Bar” visibility in the action group configuration of the group.
The Action groups article contains details on configuring groups, and configuring actions discussing controlling the appearance of the action in the action bar.
On the iPad, a compact version of the action bar is also available as a menu in the iPad’s keyboard shortcut bar.
Tap the arrow for a menu of actions and common commands. Use the “Select” sub-menu to change the active group.
To the left of the keyboard row is a keyboard selection icon that shows the currently selected action group. Tapping it opens a menu, with quick access to action groups. On iOS, it also contains command buttons at the bottom to access features like find and replace, and arrange mode (these are in the toolbar on macOS).
To the right on iOS, you can tap a downward arrow to dismiss the keyboard, or long-press for a menu that allows you to browse and run any action from action bar enabled groups without loading them in the bar.
Also, on iOS, you can quickly switch the active action group in the action bar by swiping up or down on the keyboard row itself.
In the middle are the actions for the selected action group—simply tap one to run the action. If more actions are available than fit, you can scroll the row side to side. My Obsidian action group fits nicely with only 6 actions.
If you do not use the action bar, you can remove it. On iOS, set the “Hide Action Bar” option in Editor Settings; on Mac, use Hide Action Bar in the View menu.
To avoid being a distraction, the Action bar does not use color by default, but if you prefer, you can enable the display of color, and the icon will display the tint color associated with their action—just as in the action list. To enable:
- iOS: Turn on “Use Color” in the Action Bar section of the
Aaeditor settings view. - Mac: Toggle “Use Color” in the Action Bar’s group selection drop-down menu.
Obsidian Action Group
See my Obsidian action group that I use for creating Obsidian notes with Drafts. I load that group in my Action List and Action Bar.