Formatting & blocks

φ gives you the everyday formatting you'd expect — headings, lists, quotes, code, links — plus a set of richer blocks built for manuscripts and poetry. Reach for inline formatting from the bubble toolbar or the Format menu, and insert blocks from the slash menu (type /).

Inline formatting

Select text and apply:

• Bold — ⌘B
• Italic — ⌘I
• Underline — ⌘U
• Strikethrough — from the toolbar or Format menu
• Inline code — for short snippets within a sentence

These also live in the Format menu, and many have keyboard shortcuts there.

Type your way out of bold or italic

When you turn on bold or italic and keep typing, you don't have to reach back for the toolbar to stop. Finish the word, then press the space bar a second time — the first space stays part of the formatted word, and the next one drops the formatting so the following word is plain text.

Headings and paragraphs

Three heading levels structure a document:

• Heading 1 — ⌘⌥1
• Heading 2 — ⌘⌥2
• Heading 3 — ⌘⌥3
• Body text (plain paragraph) — ⌘⌥0

You can also type /heading 1, /heading 2, or /heading 3. Headings feed the document outline and the Table of contents block.

Lists

• Bullet list — ⌘⇧8, or /bullet list
• Numbered list — ⌘⇧7, or /ordered list
• Task list — /task list. A checklist with three states: todo, doing, done.

Quotes and dividers

• Blockquote — ⌘⇧9, or /quote. For a quoted passage set off from the surrounding text.
• Divider — /divider. A horizontal rule to separate sections.

Code blocks

For multi-line code, insert a code block with /code block. It's syntax-highlighted, and you can set the language so the highlighting matches. (For a few words of code inside a sentence, use inline code instead.)

Links

• Add a link — select text and use the link button in the bubble toolbar (⌘⇧K from the Format menu), then enter the URL.
• Auto-detect — paste or type a web address and φ recognizes it as a link.
• Edit or remove — select a linked word and open the link control again. To edit, type a new URL; to remove the link, clear the field and confirm.

Links open in your default browser. To follow a link from inside the editor, hold ⌘ and click (in reading mode a plain click follows it).

Tables

Insert a starter table with /table — a 3×3 grid with a header row that you can edit and grow from there.

Richer blocks

Beyond standard prose, φ ships blocks built for books, essays, and poetry. Insert them from the slash menu. Some are manuscript tools that appear in writing and book documents but are hidden on the minimal journal / morning-pages page — if you don't see one, check the kind of document you're in.

Block	What it's for	Insert with
Callout	An info / tip / warning / danger box for asides and notes.	/callout
Verse	A poem or verse block that keeps your hard line breaks and indentation, so poetry holds its shape.	/verse
Scene break	A centered divider between scenes in fiction — asterism, stars, fleuron, or a blank gap.	/scene break
Epigraph	An opening quotation with an attribution line, for the start of a chapter or book.	/epigraph
Pull-quote	A large, prominent excerpt pulled out for emphasis.	/pull-quote
Drop cap	A decorative oversized first letter.	/drop cap
Image	A picture with an editable caption, alignment, and drag-to-resize width. The file is copied into your vault's assets/.	/image
Table of contents	A live, clickable outline of this document's headings. It regenerates as you edit.	/table of contents
Bibliography	An auto-generated reference list of the sources cited in the document.	/bibliography

You can also drop or paste an image straight onto the page to insert it without a caption.

Inline elements

A few elements sit inside a line rather than as their own block:

Element	What it's for	Insert with
Footnote	A numbered note. The marker is a small superscript; on export the notes are collected at the end (or as native footnotes in Word).	/footnote
Citation	An inline author–year reference pointing to a source in the document's library. Edit the source once and every citation updates.	/citation
Date chip	A date (optionally with a time) that links the document to a calendar day.	/date or /date & time
@-mention	A reference to a character by name.	Type @
Wiki link	A [[Note title]] cross-link to another note in your vault.	Type [[

For more on these elements and how they behave, see the related guides: Footnotes & citations, Annotations, and Links & the graph.