Overview

here’s how i started using emacs-org-mode for notetaking

I mainly use Neovim, but i felt the need for something else for my note-taking/todo setup which doesn’t mess up with my coding setup and also better since org-mode was originated from emacs

emacs-floating-window

At first i thought of installing a emacs distribution for this since i didn’t want to manage another editor since i already had Neovim but after trying out doom-emacs i felt like that was very huge and i don’t need most of the stuff, for my use case

so then i started making my own config

after installing emacs i was greeted with this thing

bare-emacs

And after tinkering for a long time, i currently have 268 lines on my config, which i know is long, but it has everything i need,

Emacs Setup

Here’s an overview of how my config works

Base Setup

these are some of the basic setup like, disabling the useless buttons and setting up some options and setting up font and setting up line numbers

;;; BASIC SETTINGS ------------------------------------------------------------
(setq inhibit-startup-message t)       ; Disable startup screen
;; (setq visible-bell t)                  ; Visual feedback instead of beeping
(setq use-dialog-box nil)              ; Disable GUI dialogs
(setq confirm-kill-emacs #'y-or-n-p)   ; Confirm before exiting
(setq default-directory "~/notes/org/") ; Default working directory
(setq confirm-nonexistent-file-or-buffer nil)

;;; UI CONFIGURATION ----------------------------------------------------------
(set-fringe-mode 0)                    ; Remove fringe areas
(set-face-attribute 'default nil :height 110) ; Base font size
(add-to-list 'default-frame-alist '(internal-border-width . 20)) ; Window border

;; Window scrolling behavior
(setq scroll-conservatively 101
      scroll-margin 9
      scroll-step 1
      scroll-preserve-screen-position 1)

;; Disable UI elements
(scroll-bar-mode -1)
(tool-bar-mode -1)
(menu-bar-mode -1)

;;for pdf
(setq org-file-apps
      '(("\\.pdf\\'" . "zathura %s")))


;;; LINE NUMBERS --------------------------------------------------------------
(column-number-mode)
(setq display-line-numbers-type 'relative)
(global-display-line-numbers-mode t)
(setq display-line-numbers-width-start t
      display-line-numbers-width 3)

;; Disable line numbers for specific modes
(dolist (mode '(term-mode-hook
                shell-mode-hook
                eshell-mode-hook))
  (add-hook mode (lambda () (display-line-numbers-mode 0))))

Package-management

(require 'package)
(setq package-archives '(("melpa" . "https://melpa.org/packages/")
                         ("org"   . "https://orgmode.org/elpa/")
                         ("gnu"   . "https://elpa.gnu.org/packages/")))
(package-initialize)
(unless package-archive-contents (package-refresh-contents))

;; Bootstrap use-package
(unless (package-installed-p 'use-package)
  (package-install 'use-package))
(require 'use-package)
(setq use-package-always-ensure t)

Themes

I am currently using gruv-box theme, with bg setup to pure-black, black feels more readable for me,

(use-package doom-themes
  :config
  ;; (load-theme 'doom-tokyo-night t))
  (load-theme 'doom-gruvbox t))
  (set-face-background 'default "#000000")
  (set-face-background 'fringe "#000000")
  (set-face-background 'mode-line "#000000")
  (set-face-background 'mode-line-inactive "#000000")
  (set-face-background 'line-number "#000000")
  (set-face-background 'line-number-current-line "#000000")

Completion & Search

(use-package vertico
  :init (vertico-mode)
  :config (setq enable-recursive-minibuffers t))

(use-package orderless
  :custom
  (completion-styles '(orderless basic))
  (completion-category-defaults nil))

(use-package marginalia
  :init (marginalia-mode))

(use-package consult
  :init
  (setq consult-project-root-function #'vc-root-dir))

(use-package embark
  :bind (("C-." . embark-act))
  :init
  (setq prefix-help-command #'embark-prefix-help-command))

(use-package which-key
  :init (which-key-mode)
  :diminish which-key-mode
  :config (setq which-key-idle-delay 1))

Evil-mode Setup

since i am using neovim as my default editor i can’t like with how bindings work on vim,evil-mode integrates it into emacs

(use-package evil
  :init
  (setq evil-want-integration t
        evil-want-keybinding nil
        evil-want-C-u-scroll nil)
  :config (evil-mode 1))

(use-package evil-collection
  :after evil
  :config
  (evil-collection-init)
  (define-key evil-normal-state-map (kbd "gc") 'comment-line)
  (evil-define-key 'visual 'global "p" "\"_dP"))

Keybindings

bindings for editing window panes and org-mode/org-agenda/org-schedule bindings

(use-package general
  :config
  ;; Leader key setup
  (general-create-definer my/leader-keys
    :keymaps '(normal insert visual emacs)
    :prefix "SPC"
    :global-prefix "C-SPC")

  ;; Global keybindings
  (my/leader-keys
    "b"  '(:ignore t :which-key "Buffers")
    "bb" '(switch-to-buffer :which-key "Switch Buffer")
    "w"  '(:ignore t :which-key "Windows")
    "wv" '(split-window-right :which-key "Split Window right")
    "ws" '(split-window-below :which-key "Split Window below")
    "wc" '(delete-window :which-key "Close window")
    "ww" '(other-window :which-key "Change window")
    "wh" '(windmove-left :which-key "")
    "wl" '(windmove-right :which-key "")
    "wj" '(windmove-down :which-key "")
    "wk" '(windmove-up :which-key "")
    
    ;; Org-specific
    "o"  '(:ignore t :which-key "Org mode")
    "oo" '(find-file :which-key "Find file")
    "oa" '(org-agenda :which-key "Org Agenda")
    "oc" '(org-capture :which-key "Org Capture")
    "ol" '(org-store-link :which-key "Org Store Link")
    ;; "on" '(consult-notes :which-key "Find file")
    "ot" `(,(lambda () (interactive) (find-file "~/notes/org/tasks.org")) :which-key "Tasks")
    "oe" `(,(lambda () (interactive) (find-file "~/.config/emacs/init.el")) :which-key "Emacs config")
    "of" '(org-open-at-point :which-key "Open Link/File")

    "/"  '(consult-line :whichkey "search in file")

  ;; Task management keybindings
    "s"  '(:ignore t :which-key "Set")
    "ss" '(org-schedule :which-key "Schedule")
    "sd" '(org-deadline :which-key "Deadline")
    )

  ;; Org-mode navigation
  (general-define-key
   :keymaps 'org-mode-map
   :states '(normal visual)
   "C-j"  'org-metadown
   "C-k"  'org-metaup
   "C-S-j" 'org-move-subtree-down
   "C-S-k" 'org-move-subtree-up
   "C-h"  'org-do-promote
   "C-l"  'org-do-demote
   "C-S-h" 'org-promote-subtree
   "C-S-l" 'org-demote-subtree))

Org-Mode Setup

(defun my/org-mode-setup ()
  (org-indent-mode)
  (visual-line-mode 1))

(use-package org
  :hook (org-mode . my/org-mode-setup)
  :config
  ;; Visual settings
  (setq org-ellipsis " ▾"
        org-hide-leading-stars t
        org-hide-emphasis-markers nil
        org-link-descriptive nil)

  ;; Task management
  (setq org-todo-keywords '((sequence "TODO" "|" "DONE"))
        org-log-done 'time
        org-agenda-files '("~/notes/org/tasks.org")
        org-archive-location "~/notes/org/archive.org::")

  ;; Capture templates
  (setq org-capture-templates
        '(("t" "General Task" entry (file+headline "~/notes/org/tasks.org" "Inbox")
           "* TODO %?\n  %U\n  %i\n  %a")))

  ;; Auto-saving
  (add-hook 'org-mode-hook
            (lambda ()
              (add-hook 'focus-out-hook 'org-save-all-org-buffers nil 'local))))


(defun my/org-smart-return ()
  "Continue checkbox or list, but exit on empty checkbox."
  (interactive)
  (if (org-at-item-checkbox-p)
      (let ((current-line (thing-at-point 'line t)))
        (if (string-match "^[[:space:]]*- \\[ \\]\\s-*$" current-line)
            (delete-region (line-beginning-position) (line-end-position)) ;; Remove empty checkbox
          (org-insert-todo-heading nil))) ;; Otherwise, create a new checkbox
    (org-return)))

(with-eval-after-load 'org
  (setq org-list-allow-alphabetical t
        org-adapt-indentation nil)
  (define-key org-mode-map (kbd "RET") 'my/org-smart-return))


;; Inline images setup
(setq org-startup-with-inline-images t)
(add-hook 'org-mode-hook 'org-display-inline-images)

Notifications

Notifications hasn’t worked for me yet that’s why it’s commented out

;;; NOTIFICATIONS ------------------------------------------------------------
;; (use-package alert
;;   :config (setq alert-default-style 'libnotify))

;; (use-package org-alert
;;   :config
;;   (setq org-alert-interval 1200
;;         org-alert-notification-title "Org Reminder"
;;         org-alert-advance-notice-time nil)
;;   (org-alert-enable))

Dashboard

just for cool ui greeting!


;;; DASHBOARD -----------------------------------------------------------------
(use-package dashboard
  :init
  (setq dashboard-startup-banner ""
        dashboard-center-content t
        dashboard-set-heading-icons t
        dashboard-set-file-icons t
        dashboard-items '((agenda . 7)
                          (recents . 5)
                          (bookmarks . 5))
        dashboard-footer-messages '(""))
  :config (dashboard-setup-startup-hook))

Other Custom functions

;;; CUSTOM FUNCTIONS ----------------------------------------------------------
(defun consult-notes ()
  "Open notes directory"
  (interactive)
  (find-file "~/notes/org/tasks.org"))

;;; AUTO-GENERATED CUSTOM VARIABLES -------------------------------------------
(custom-set-variables
 ;; custom-set-variables was added by Custom.
 '(package-selected-packages
   '(undo-tree which-key visual-fill-column vertico orderless marginalia general evil-collection embark-consult doom-themes doom-modeline dashboard)))

(custom-set-faces
 ;; custom-set-faces was added by Custom.
 )

(provide 'init)
;;; init.el ends here

DWM setup

so to easily edit my todo and schedule stuff i have binded emacs to Alt+Shift+N, to make this open in a floating window which remembers it’s state i had to add the scratchpad patch to dwm,

static const char scratchpadname[] = "scratchpad";
static const char *scratchpadcmd[] = {"emacs", "--name", scratchpadname,
                                      "-g",    "120x45", NULL};

static const Rule rules[] = {
    {"Emacs", NULL, scratchpadname, 0, 1, -1},
};

static const Key keys[] = {
    { MODKEY,                     XK_n,          togglescratch,   {.v = scratchpadcmd } },
};

Final Result