Shimmering Focus includes a dedicated writing mode designed for long-form prose: essays, fiction, research papers, and any note where readability over long sessions matters more than information density. Writing mode activates a serif font, justified text, adjustable line height, and deep integration with the Longform plugin. It coexists with all other theme features — vim mode, UI minimalism, and Style Settings customizations remain fully active.Documentation Index
Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://mintlify.com/chrisgrieser/shimmering-focus/llms.txt
Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
Activating Writing Mode
Writing mode activates in two ways:Via the cssclasses frontmatter property
Add The note’s editor and reading view will immediately switch to writing mode typography and layout.
writing to the cssclasses property in any note’s frontmatter:Via the Longform plugin
Any note that is part of a Longform project — whether a scene file or a compiled manuscript — automatically receives writing mode styling. No frontmatter is required.
A standalone
longform-plugin.css snippet is available in the theme’s snippets/ directory. It includes the Longform sidebar and editor styling without requiring the full Shimmering Focus theme.Typography Settings
Writing mode uses a separate set of font and layout variables that are configured independently from the main theme typography:| Setting | Style Settings ID | Default | Range |
|---|---|---|---|
| Main font | longform-font-text-theme | "Garamond", "Times New Roman", serif | Any font family string |
| Font size | longform-font-size | 1.2rem | 0.7rem – 2rem |
| Line height | longform-base-line-height | 1 | 0.8 – 1.5 |
| Letter spacing | longform-letter-spacing | 0px | -0.5px – 0.5px |
Text Alignment and Layout
By default, writing mode uses justified text with automatic hyphenation for a polished, book-like appearance. Two layout toggles let you adjust this:Left-aligned text
Enable Left-aligned text (
longform-left-aligned) to switch from justified to left-aligned text. Headings, code blocks, frontmatter, and table cells are always left-aligned regardless of this setting.First-line indent
Enable First-line indent & no spacing between paragraphs (
longform-text-indent) to indent the first line of each paragraph and remove the vertical gap between paragraphs in reading mode — the classic novel typesetting style.Task Items
To-do items inside writing mode notes can feel out of place alongside narrative prose. Enable Tasks: Use gray instead of normal text color (longform-tasks-different) to render task lines and their associated list content in a muted gray, visually separating them from the main text.
Status Bar Word Count
Two settings control word count display in the status bar for writing workflows:| Setting | Style Settings ID | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Show word count only when writing | wordcount-only-when-writing | Off | Hides the word count status bar item unless a writing or Longform note is active |
| Hide Longform word count | hide-longform-status-bar | Off | Hides the word count contributed by the Longform plugin specifically |
The Show word count only when writing setting works with both the Word Count core plugin and the Better Word Count community plugin.
Longform Plugin Sidebar
When the Longform plugin is installed, its sidebar panel receives dedicated styling:- The project picker uses a compact, bordered style that integrates with the theme’s sidebar colors.
- Scene list items display with tighter padding, no border radius, and alternating row colors for readability.
- Indented scenes (nested within a project) are indented using a consistent
1.75emindent size per level. - The selected scene is highlighted in the accent color.
- Scenes marked with
{-}(Pandoc’s notation for sections excluded from the table of contents) appear in a faint color to indicate their excluded status.