# Introducing File Title Updater [wenlzhang/obsidian-file-title-updater: An Obsidian plugin that synchronizes titles between filename, frontmatter, and first heading in your notes.](https://github.com/wenlzhang/obsidian-file-title-updater) [](https://github.com/wenlzhang/obsidian-file-title-updater/releases)  An [Obsidian](https://obsidian.md) plugin that synchronizes titles between filename, frontmatter, and first heading in your notes. ## Features This plugin helps maintain consistency between the three places where a note's title can appear: 1. The filename 2. The `title` field in the frontmatter 3. The first level 1 heading (`#`) in the note The plugin provides four commands: - **Sync titles using default source**: Uses the default source (configurable in settings) to update all other title locations - **Sync titles using filename as source**: Uses the filename to update frontmatter title and first heading - **Sync titles using frontmatter as source**: Uses the frontmatter title to update filename and first heading - **Sync titles using first heading as source**: Uses the first level 1 heading to update filename and frontmatter title ### Smart Behavior The plugin includes several intelligent features: - **Customizable sync targets**: Choose which title locations to sync (all three, or any pair of two) - **Detects already synchronized titles**: If all titles that should be synced are already the same, the plugin will notify you and skip unnecessary updates - **Proper spacing**: Ensures exactly one empty line between frontmatter and the first heading - **Handles edge cases**: Properly creates first headings when none exist and provides helpful error messages - **Handles illegal characters**: Automatically sanitizes titles when updating filenames to remove or replace characters that aren't allowed in filenames ### Illegal Character Handling When syncing titles from frontmatter or headings to filenames, some characters aren't allowed in filenames. The plugin provides several options for handling these characters: - **Remove illegal characters**: Simply removes any characters that aren't allowed in filenames - **Replace with space**: Replaces illegal characters with spaces - **Replace with dash (-)**: Replaces illegal characters with dashes - **Replace with underscore (_)**: Replaces illegal characters with underscores - **Custom replacement**: Specify your own character to replace illegal characters with You can also choose whether to update all titles with the sanitized version or keep the original title in the frontmatter and heading while only sanitizing the filename. ## Why use this plugin? Having the same title in multiple places provides redundancy and makes your notes more accessible: - Consistent filenames make it easier to find notes in your file system - Frontmatter titles enable better metadata management and can be used with plugins like Dataview - First-level headings provide visual context when reading the note You can now choose which of these title locations matter most to your workflow and selectively sync between them. ## Usage 1. Open a note in Obsidian 2. Use one of the commands from the command palette (Ctrl/Cmd + P) 3. The plugin will update all title locations based on your selected source ### Special Cases - If all titles are already synchronized, you'll see a notification: "All titles are already synchronized" - When creating a first heading in a note that doesn't have one, the heading will be placed after the frontmatter with exactly one empty line - If you try to sync from a source that doesn't exist (e.g., a non-existent frontmatter title), you'll receive a helpful error message - When syncing from frontmatter or heading to filename, illegal characters will be handled according to your settings ## Configuration In the plugin settings, you can configure: - **Default title source**: Choose which source (filename, frontmatter, or heading) should be used as the default when syncing titles ## Installation ### From Obsidian Community Plugins 1. Open Obsidian Settings 2. Go to Community Plugins and disable Safe Mode 3. Click Browse and search for "File Title Updater" 4. Install and enable the plugin ### Manual Installation 1. Download the latest release from the [releases page](https://github.com/wenlzhang/obsidian-file-title-updater/releases) 2. Extract the zip file to your Obsidian vault's `.obsidian/plugins` folder 3. Enable the plugin in Obsidian's settings ## Supporting If you find this plugin useful, please consider [[Support Us]].