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Templates

Templates allow you to bind dynamic text outputs to your forms. Forms that have templates binded to them are subject to be used to create new notes or to insert them. If you use either the command to create a new note from a form or the insert form command, after the form is submitted its template will be processed using the form's values to generate the final text. After the form template is processed, if you have the templater plugin installed, the final text will be processed by templater. See the Templater Support section for more information.

Template Syntax

A template consists of plain text mixed with variables and commands:

  • Variables: Wrapped in double curly braces {{ }}, they are replaced with form field values
  • Commands: Special instructions wrapped in {{# #}} that control template behavior

Variables

Variables are placeholders that get replaced with form field values. The variable name must match a field name from your form:

Hello {{name}}! Your favorite color is {{color}}.

Basic Variable Syntax

  • Variable Declaration:

plaintext {{ variableName }}

Example:

plaintext {{ name }}

Note that spaces around the variable name are ignored, allowing for flexibility in formatting.

This is a {{variableName}}. And this is also a valid {{ variableName }}

Variable with Transformations

  • Transformation Syntax: You can apply transformations to a variable by using a pipe | followed by the transformation name.

markdown {{ variableName | transformation }}

Example:

plaintext {{ name | trim }}

Supported Transformations

The following transformations can be applied to variables:

  1. upper: Converts the variable's value to uppercase.

  2. Usage:

    plaintext {{ name | upper }}

  3. lower: Converts the variable's value to lowercase.

  4. Usage:

    plaintext {{ name | lower }}

  5. trim: Removes whitespace from both ends of the variable's value.

  6. Usage:

    plaintext {{ name | trim }}

  7. stringify: Converts the variable's value to a JSON string.

  8. Usage:

    plaintext {{ name | stringify }}

  9. capitalize: Uppercases the first character of the variable's value and leaves the rest untouched.

  10. Usage:

    plaintext {{ name | capitalize }}

  11. Input john doe produces John doe; input jOHN doe produces JOHN doe. To force a clean Title-style start (first letter uppercased, rest lowercased), use the capitalized getter on ResultValue together with lower — e.g. result.getValue('name').lower.capitalized — since templates accept only one transformation per variable.

Example Templates

Here are some examples of how to use the new template syntax:

  • Single Variable:

plaintext Hello, {{ name }}!

  • Variable with Transformation:

plaintext Hello, {{ name | upper }}!

  • Multiple Variables with Transformations:

plaintext Hello, {{ name | trim }}! You are {{ age }} years old.

Notes

  • If an invalid transformation is specified, it will be silently ignored, and the variable will be processed without transformation.
  • Spaces around the transformation operator (|) are ignored, allowing for flexibility in formatting:

plaintext {{ name | trim }} or {{ name|trim }} are both valid.

Available Commands

Frontmatter Command

The frontmatter command controls which form fields appear in the YAML frontmatter section of your note. It outputs raw YAML, so you need to wrap it in --- delimiters for valid frontmatter:

---
{# frontmatter pick: title, tags #}
---

Options:

  • pick: Only include these specific fields in the frontmatter
  • omit: Exclude these fields from the frontmatter

You can combine both options:

---
{# frontmatter pick: title, tags, date omit: draft #}
---

If no options are specified, all form fields will be included in the frontmatter:

---
{# frontmatter #}
---

Templater Support

If you have the Templater plugin installed, Modal Form will also process any templater syntax in your form templates. This means you can combine both the form template variables and templater syntax in your templates.

For example:

Hello {{NAME}},
Today is <% tp.date.now() %> and you are using form templates!

The form will first replace {{NAME}} with the value from your form, and then Templater will process its own syntax (like <% tp.date.now() %>) afterwards.

Note: This feature is only available if you have the Templater plugin installed and enabled in your vault.

!!! tip You can also use the Builder API to define forms directly inside your Templater templates, making them fully self-contained. See Self-contained forms in Templater templates for examples.

Template Commands

You can create dedicated Obsidian commands for your templates, making them easily accessible through the command palette. This is useful for frequently used templates that you want to access quickly without navigating through menus.

When editing a form's template, you'll see two command options:

  1. Create command to insert template: Creates a command that inserts the template content into the current note
  2. Create command to create note from template: Creates a command that creates a new note using the template

These commands will be registered with Obsidian when:

  • The plugin starts up
  • Settings are changed (e.g., after saving a form with template commands)

How to Create Template Commands

  1. Edit a form and go to the Template tab
  2. Create or edit your template
  3. Check one or both of the command options:
  4. "Create command to insert template"
  5. "Create command to create note from template"
  6. Click "Save template"

Using Template Commands

Once created, you can access your template commands through Obsidian's command palette (Ctrl+P or Cmd+P):

  • Commands for inserting templates will appear as: "Modal Forms: Insert template: [Form Name]"
  • Commands for creating notes will appear as: "Modal Forms: Create note from template: [Form Name]"

When you execute these commands:

  • For insert commands: The form will open, and after submission, the template will be inserted at the cursor position
  • For create note commands: The form will open, followed by a dialog to name the note and select a location

Example

Here's a complete template example that combines variables and frontmatter:

---
{# frontmatter pick: title, tags #}
---

# {{title}}

Dear {{name}},

Thank you for your {{type}} submission about {{topic}}.

Best regards,
{{signature}}