Bases CMS

Bases CMS for Obsidian

A plugin for Obsidian inspired by Dynamic Views and Multi-Properties that provides CMS-like functionality to bases. Transform your Obsidian bases into a powerful content management system with card-based views, bulk operations, and smart content management features.

Made for Vault CMS

Part of the Vault CMS project.

Features

• Card-Based CMS View: Display your base entries as cards with thumbnails, snippets, and property information in a grid layout optimized for content management.
• Bulk Operations Toolbar: Select multiple items and perform batch operations including publish/draft status management, tag management, property setting/removal, and deletion.
• Smart Deletion: Automatically delete parent folders when deleting files with specific names (like index.md), and optionally remove unique attachments that are only used by deleted notes.
• Quick Edit: Execute Obsidian commands directly from card titles without opening files first. Configure a command and icon to appear on each card for fast access to your most-used actions.
• Customizable Toolbar: Show or hide individual toolbar buttons (select all, clear, publish, draft, tags, set, remove, delete) to match your workflow.
• Draft Status Management: Toggle publish/draft status for multiple files at once, with visual indicators on cards.
• Tag Management: Add or remove tags from multiple files simultaneously through an intuitive modal interface.
• Property Management: Set or remove properties across multiple files with bulk operations.
• Confirmation Dialogs: Optional confirmation dialogs for bulk operations and deletions to prevent accidental changes.
• Icon Customization: Choose between home icon or blocks icon for the CMS view in the Bases view selector.

Installation

Bases CMS is not yet available in the Community plugins section. Install using BRAT or manually:

BRAT

1. Download the Beta Reviewers Auto-update Tester (BRAT) plugin from the Obsidian community plugins directory and enable it.

2. In the BRAT plugin settings, select Add beta plugin.

3. Paste the following: https://github.com/davidvkimball/obsidian-bases-cms and select Add plugin.

Manual

1. Download the latest release from the Releases page and navigate to your Obsidian vault's .obsidian/plugins/ directory.

2. Create a new folder called bases-cms and ensure manifest.json, main.js, and styles.css are in there.

3. In Obsidian, go to Settings > Community plugins (enable it if you haven't already) and then enable "Bases CMS."

Usage

1. Set Up a Base: Ensure you have the Bases core plugin enabled and have created at least one base in your vault.
2. Open CMS View: In your base, select "CMS" from the view selector to switch to the card-based CMS view.
3. Select Items: Click on selection circles to select individual cards, or Shift + Click anywhere on a card to toggle its selection. Selected items are highlighted, and a bulk operations toolbar appears at the top.
4. Bulk Operations: Use the toolbar buttons to:
   • Select all: Select all visible cards
   • Clear: Deselect all cards
   • Publish: Remove draft status from selected items
   • Draft: Add draft status to selected items
   • Tags: Open a modal to add or remove tags from selected items
   • Set: Set a property value across selected items
   • Remove: Remove a property from selected items
   • Delete: Delete selected items (with optional confirmation and smart deletion)
5. Quick Edit: Enable quick edit in settings and configure a command. A clickable icon will appear on each card title, allowing you to execute the command without opening the file.
6. Customize Settings: In Settings > Bases CMS, configure:
   • Confirm bulk operations: Toggle confirmation dialogs for bulk operations
   • Toolbar buttons: Show or hide individual toolbar buttons
   • Delete parent folder for specific file name: Enable smart folder deletion (e.g., delete parent folder when deleting index.md)
   • Folder deletion file name: Specify the file name that triggers parent folder deletion (default: index)
   • Delete associated unique attachments: Automatically delete attachments only used by deleted notes
   • Confirm deletions: Toggle confirmation dialogs before deleting files
   • Use home icon for CMS view: Switch between home and blocks icon
   • Enable quick edit: Show quick edit icon on card titles
   • Quick edit command: Select the command to execute when clicking the quick edit icon
   • Quick edit icon: Choose the icon to display for quick edit

Quick Edit Feature

The Quick Edit feature allows you to execute Obsidian commands directly from card titles without opening the file first. When enabled, a configurable icon appears on card titles that launches a selected command when clicked.

For Plugin Authors: Adding Quick Edit Support

If your plugin has commands that operate on files, you can make them work seamlessly with the Quick Edit feature by exposing a helper method that doesn't require the file to be open.

Pattern

Expose a method on your plugin instance that takes only the file path:

// In your plugin's main.ts
export default class YourPlugin extends Plugin {
  // ... your existing code ...
  
  /**
   * Execute your command by file path (for programmatic use from Bases CMS)
   * This allows the command to work without opening the file first
   */
  async yourCommandByPath(filePath: string): Promise<void> {
    const file = this.app.vault.getAbstractFileByPath(filePath);
    if (!(file instanceof TFile)) {
      new Notice(`File not found: ${filePath}`);
      return;
    }
    
    // Your command logic here - you have access to:
    // - this.app (Obsidian app instance)
    // - this.settings (your plugin settings)
    // - file (the TFile object)
    // - this.app.metadataCache.getFileCache(file) (file metadata)
    
    // Example: Open a modal, modify the file, etc.
    // You don't need the file to be open in an editor!
  }
}

Example: Astro Composer

Astro Composer implements this pattern for its "Rename current content" command:

// In astro-composer/src/main.ts
async renameContentByPath(filePath: string): Promise<void> {
  await renameContentByPathFunction(this.app, filePath, this.settings, this);
}

This allows the rename modal to appear directly over the Bases view without opening the file first.

Naming Convention

Bases CMS automatically detects helper methods using a naming convention:

• Command ID format: plugin-id:command-id (for example astro-composer:rename-content)
• Method name pattern: Convert the command ID part to camelCase and append ByPath
  • rename-content → renameContentByPath
  • update-title → updateTitleByPath
  • edit-metadata → editMetadataByPath

If your command ID doesn't include a plugin prefix (for example, just rename-content), Bases CMS will attempt to find the plugin through the command registry, but using the plugin-id:command-id format is recommended for best compatibility.

Automatic Detection

Bases CMS automatically detects and calls helper methods without requiring any hardcoded support. Simply:

1. Expose the helper method on your plugin instance following the naming convention above
2. Use the plugin-id:command-id format for your command IDs (recommended)
3. That's it! Bases CMS will automatically find and call your helper method when the quick edit icon is clicked

Fallback Behavior

If a command doesn't have a helper method:

• Bases CMS will attempt to execute the command without opening the file
• If that fails, it will open the file in an editor and then execute the command
• This ensures compatibility with all commands, but may not provide the seamless experience

Benefits

• Better UX: Commands can execute without switching away from the Bases view
• Faster workflow: No need to open files just to run a command
• Modal support: Commands that show modals can appear directly over the card view

Example

• Base with multiple blog posts displayed as cards
• Select multiple cards using the selection interface
• Use the bulk toolbar to set all selected items to "draft" status
• Use quick edit icon on a card title to rename the post without opening it
• Delete a post with index.md filename, automatically deleting its parent folder and unique attachments

Notes

• Requires the Bases core plugin to be enabled.
• The CMS view integrates seamlessly with Bases views and respects base queries and filters.
• Bulk operations preserve file metadata and handle edge cases like missing properties gracefully.
• Smart deletion features help maintain a clean vault structure when working with folder-based content.

Contributing

Submit issues or pull requests on the GitHub repository. Contributions to enhance features, improve documentation, or fix bugs are welcome!

License

MIT License