Org Mode Features: What I Actually Use

· The Org Mode features I actually reach for, and how I use them.

#emacs

1. Cycling (Folding)

View this section in org-mode.

My absolute top-used feature is global and local cycling and it's not even close. Being able to hit S-TAB and collapse all headings when opening a file or needing to see a file's headings is an under appreciated trait.

1.1. Local Cycling

When focused on a heading, you can press TAB (org-cycle) to cycle that subtree among the states folded, children, and subtree.

,-> FOLDED -> CHILDREN -> SUBTREE --.
'-----------------------------------'

1.2. Global Cycling

If you're looking to cycle more than one subtree or heading at a time, you can press S-TAB or C-u TAB to cycle the entire buffer among the states overview, contents, and show all.

,-> OVERVIEW -> CONTENTS -> SHOW ALL --.
'--------------------------------------'

1.3. Default Views

If you need to set a default view for a certain file, you can run C-u C-u TAB to set the org-set-startup-visibility. Alternatively, just put the following at the top of the buffer:

#+STARTUP: overview
#+STARTUP: content
#+STARTUP: showall
#+STARTUP: show2levels
#+STARTUP: show3levels
#+STARTUP: show4levels
#+STARTUP: show5levels
#+STARTUP: showeverything

2. TODO Lists

View this section in org-mode.

Next up on in this post are TODO Lists. Being able to combine note taking and reminders was the primary reason I switched to org-mode in the first place.

TODO lists are more than just the Markdown equivalent of - [ ] Task. Instead, you can utilize org-mode's native functionality to dynamically create TODO items, have fast access to TODO states, log progress on tasks, clocking work time, prioritization, breaking down tasks into subtasks, and even using checkbox formatting as well.

2.1. Prioritizing Tasks

One of my favorite ways to separate my tasks are to assign priorities. You can do this by placing a priority cookie into the headline of a TODO item.

*** TODO [#A] My Task
*** TODO [#C] My Other Task

You can quickly shift priorities with S-UP and S-DOWN, as well as set the allowed priorities for a buffer with the following syntax:

#+PRIORITIES: A C B
#+PRIORITIES: 1 10 5

2.2. Deadlines

Plans can be set per task by settings special keywords with a date. You can set a DEADLINE to note when the task will appear in the agenda or set the SCHEDULED variable to note when you plan to start working on the task.

* TODO My Task
DEADLINE: <2004-02-29 Sun>

* My Other Task
SCHEDULED: <2004-12-25 Sat>

As a side note, I use Beorg on iOS to sync and edit my org-mode files on the go. Within this app, I use the SCHEDULED variable by default and rely heavily on that variable to alert me of tasks with iOS native notifications.

3. Time Stamping

View this section in org-mode.

Another great feature are the dates and times functionalities within org-mode. Timestamps follow this format in org-mode:

* An active timestamp
<2006-11-01 Wed 19:15>

* An inactive timestamp
[2006-11-01 Wed 19:15>

* Repeated timestamps
<2006-11-01 Wed 19:15 +1m>

* Time range
<2006-11-02 Thu 10:00-12:00>

* Date range
<2004-08-23 Mon>--<2004-08-26 Thu>

In addition to the deadlines mentioned above, you can insert timestamps into any marker within the buffer with C-c . for an active timestamp and C-c ! for an inactive timestamp. You can read more on creating timestamps to figure out the different options available when creating timestamps.

4. Tags

View this section in org-mode.

Next up are Tags, which provide a way to document contexts within and across buffers and files.

You can assign tags directly to headlines or at the file level and can contain letters, numbers, underscores, and the @ symbol.

,
* Pick fruits off the trees      :work:
** Start with the orange grove   :orange:tree:
*** TODO Pick bananas last       :banana:

4.1. Filtering and Searching by Tag

You can search for tags with C-c \ or open the org-agenda with M-x org-agenda m and search for a tag of your choosing.

5. Tables

View this section in org-mode.

One of the most inconvenient parts of writing in Markdown was dealing with tables. In org-mode, Tables are a breeze due to Emacs's built-in table editor and formatter.

5.1. Built-In Table Editor

With the built-in table editor, press C-c | to convert the active region to a table or create an empty table.

When focused on a table, press TAB to re-align the table. There are more commands available to re-align, traverse, and edit cells and regions within tables in Emacs.

For example, refer to the following table. This table uses the TBLFM variable to define functions that will apply to the cells within the table. When I press C-c C-c, the table cells updated to their resulting values.

NN2N3N4sqrt(n)sqrt[4](N)
111111
248161.41421361.1892071
3927811.73205081.3160740

5.2. Spreadsheet

If you spend a lot of time in spreadsheets, you'll appreciate the Emacs Calc package, which Emacs uses to implement spreadsheet-like capabilities within org-mode tables.

Read through the spreadsheet documentation to learn more about field references (@ROW$COLUMN), range references ($1..$3), coordinates, formulas, and more.

For example, refer to the following table. Here is a table that computes the Taylor series of degree n at location x for a couple of functions. You can clear the values out of the Result column for each row, press C-c C-c, and watch as the table re-calculates the results for each.

FuncnxResult
exp(x)1x1 + x
exp(x)2x1 + x + x2 / 2
exp(x)3x1 + x + x2 / 2 + x3 / 6
x2+sqrt(x)2x=0x*(0.5 / 0) + x2 (2 - 0.25 / 0) / 2
x2+sqrt(x)2x=12 + 2.5 x - 2.5 + 0.875 (x - 1)2
tan(x)3xx pi / 180 + 5.72e-8 x3 pi3

Alternatively, you can also refer to the following table. This table will update to different values based on the TBLFM I select when I'm pressing C-c C-c. The results are [1,2] when focused on the first line and [2,4] when focused on the second line.

xy
12
24

6. Source Code Blocks

View this section in org-mode.

6.1. Introduction to Source Code Blocks

If you run a technical blog, write code frequently, or like to take notes with source code examples, you will appreciate the source code functionality of org-mode.

With this feature, org-mode can manage the source code you define with features such as editing, formatting, extracting, exporting, and publishing. Additionally, you can compile and execute source code dynamically within the org-mode file or buffer.

A full source code block uses the following structure:

#+NAME: <name>
#+BEGIN_SRC <language> <switches> <header arguments>
  <body>
#+END_SRC

You can also use inline blocks:

src_<language>[<header arguments>]{<body>}

6.2. Editing Source Code Blocks

When focused on a code block, press C-c' to edit the code block in a special editor. Press C-x C-x to save the buffer and C-c ' again to close the buffer.

6.3. Syntax Highlighting and Formatting

Emacs provides syntax highlighting by default within org-mode's source code blocks. Org-mode will copy the text to a temporary buffer, highlight it using the major mode relevant to the language (e.g., CC Mode), and then return the resulting highlighted text.

6.4. Buffer Evaluation

By default, org-mode will only evaluate Emacs Lisp code blocks. You will need to enable other languages in order to evaluate code blocks written in languages other than elisp.

When focused on a code block, you can execute the block with C-c C-c. The results of the evaluation will appear below the code block in a RESULTS block.

For example, here is a code block in elisp that I have written and evaluated with org-mode inside this blog post. I will press C-c C-c and you will see the results below the code block.

(defun greet-me ()
  (message "Hello, world!"))

(greet-me)
#+RESULTS:
: Hello, world!

7. Exporting and Publishing

View this section in org-mode.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the native exporting and publishing functionality within Emacs and org-mode.

7.1. Built-In Publishing

This functionality allows you to translate Org to the following formats (additional formats may be available via external packages):

  • ascii (ASCII format)
  • beamer (LaTeX Beamer format)
  • html (HTML format)
  • icalendar (iCalendar format)
  • latex (LaTeX format)
  • md (Markdown format)
  • odt (OpenDocument Text format)
  • org (Org format)
  • texinfo (Texinfo format)

  • man (Man page format)

    You can export with C-c C-h and then select your preferred destination format. For example, an export from org to HTML as a file would use C-c C-e h h.

7.2. External Publishing Tools

If the native functionality isn't useful enough for you, there are a myriad of external tools, including blogs and wikis, that work with org-mode.

8. Agenda

View this section in org-mode.

Last, but not least, are Agenda Views. With agenda views, you can easily view your agenda of TODO items, scheduled items, projects, etc. across your collection of org-mode files.

Org-mode will extract all of this information from your org files (org-agenda-files) and display it within the agenda buffer.

You can open the agenda with M-x org-agenda. Once inside the buffer, you can use shortcuts in the Agenda Dispatcher to quickly view calendars, TODOs, create items, filter items, and more.

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