Adding a new blog post, emacs and org-mode
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posts/text-editors/emacs-and-org-mode.rst
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posts/text-editors/emacs-and-org-mode.rst
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.. title: Emacs and Org-mode
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.. date: 2020-08-22
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.. slug: emacs-and-org-mode
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.. updated: 2020-08-22
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.. status: published
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.. tags: emacs, org-mode, configuration,
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.. category: text-editors
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.. authors: Elia el Lazkani
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.. description: I ditched VSCode and moved back to Emacs... You heard me !
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.. type: text
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I have recently found out, late I know, that the *VSCode* distribution of the so called *Code - OSS* is exactly that; a distribution.
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Let me make it clear, the *VSCode* binaries you download from **Microsoft** has an upstream the **GitHub repository*** named `VSCode <https://github.com/Microsoft/vscode>`_ but in fact is not exactly the same code.
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**Microsoft** has already added a few gifts for you, including *telemetry*, not cool huh ?!
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Well, they tell you this in the documentation, urrrmmm `somewhere <https://github.com/microsoft/vscode/wiki/Differences-between-the-repository-and-Visual-Studio-Code>`_.
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At the same time, I was giving *Jupyter Notebook* a try. I worked on my previous post in it before writing down the final result as a blog post.
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But at the back of my mind, there was always `Org-mode <https://orgmode.org/>`_.
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Putting one and one together, you've guessed it. I have moved to *Emacs*... again... for the umm I can't remember time.
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But this time, it is different ! I hope...
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.. TEASER_END
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Back story
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==========
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I was using *Jupyter Notebooks* as a way to write down notes. Organize things.
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I had a work around the *output* and was able to clean it.
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But let's face it, it might work but it is designed more towards other goals.
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I want to write notes and the best way to work with notes is to keep in the text, literally.
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I found a *VSCode* extension that can handle *Org-mode* in some capacity (I haven't tested it) so I decided to switch to *Emacs* and keep the extention as a backup.
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Emacs Distribution of Doom
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==========================
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Haha ! Very funny, I know. I went with `Doom <https://github.com/hlissner/emacs-doom-themes>`_.
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Why? You may ask. I don't really have a good answer for you except the following.
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* I didn't want to start from scratch, I wanted something with batteries included.
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* At the same time, I've tried *Doom* before and I like how it does things.
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It is logical to me while at the same time very configurable.
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* I was able to get up and running very quickly. Granted, my needs are few.
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* I got *Python* and *Golang* auto-completion and *evil* mode. I'm good to go !
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Now let's dig down to my main focus here. Sure I switched editors but it was for a reason; **Org-mode**.
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Org-mode Configuration
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======================
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I will be talking about two different configuartion options here.
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I am new to emacs so I will try to explain everything.
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The two options are related to the difference between a *vanilla* configuration and *Doom*'s version of the configuration.
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The differences are minor but they are worth talking about.
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New Org File
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------------
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If you've used *Org-mode* before and created *org files*, you already know that you need to set a few values at the top of the file. These include the *title*, *author*, *description* and a different other values to change setting and/or behavior.
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It is a bit of a manual labor to write these few lines at the beginning of every file. I wanted to automate that. So I got inspiration from `shakthimaan <https://gitlab.com/shakthimaan/operation-blue-moon>`_.
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I used his method to create a small ``define-skeleton`` for a header.
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It looks something like this.
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.. code:: lisp
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(define-skeleton generate-new-header-org
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"Prompt for title, description and tags"
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nil
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'(setq title (skeleton-read "Title: "))
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'(setq author (skeleton-read "Author: "))
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'(setq description (skeleton-read "Description: "))
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'(setq tags (skeleton-read "tags: "))
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"#+TITLE: " title \n
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"#+AUTHOR: " author \n
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"#+DESCRIPTION: " description \n
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"#+TAGS: " tags \n
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)
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You can use this later with ``M-x`` + ``genrate-new-header-org``.
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.. note::
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``M-x`` is the **Meta** key and **x** combination.
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Your **Meta** key can differ between the **Alt** on *Linux* and **Command** on *Mac OS X*.
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``M-x`` will open a prompt for you to write in. Write the name you gave the skeleton, in this case it is ``generate-new-header-org`` and then hit the *Return*.
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New Task
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--------
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`shakthimaan <https://gitlab.com/shakthimaan/operation-blue-moon>`_ already created something for this. It looks like the following.
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.. code:: lisp
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;; Create a new skeleton to generate a new =Task=
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(define-skeleton insert-org-entry
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"Prompt for task, estimate and category"
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nil
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'(setq task (skeleton-read "Task: "))
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'(setq estimate (skeleton-read "Estimate: "))
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'(setq owner (skeleton-read "Owner: "))
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'(setq category (skeleton-read "Category: "))
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'(setq timestamp (format-time-string "%s"))
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"** " task \n
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":PROPERTIES:" \n
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":ESTIMATED: " estimate \n
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":ACTUAL:" \n
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":OWNER: " owner \n
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":ID: " category "." timestamp \n
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":TASKID: " category "." timestamp \n
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":END:")
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This can also be used like the one above with ``M-x`` + ``insert-org-entry``.
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Doom specific configuration
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---------------------------
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Whatever defined so far should work if you just add it to your configuration but if you use *Doom* it would a nice touch to integrate it with the workflow.
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In ``~/.doom.d/config.el``, wrap the previous definitions with ``(after! org)``.
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It's a nice touch to add these skeletons after *Org-mode* has loaded.
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.. code:: lisp
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(after! org
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;; Create a skeleton to generate header org
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(define-skeleton generate-new-header-org
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"Prompt for title, description and tags"
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nil
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'(setq title (skeleton-read "Title: "))
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'(setq author (skeleton-read "Author: "))
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'(setq description (skeleton-read "Description: "))
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'(setq tags (skeleton-read "tags: "))
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"#+TITLE: " title \n
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"#+AUTHOR: " author \n
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"#+DESCRIPTION: " description \n
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"#+TAGS: " tags \n)
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;; Create a new skeleton to generate a new =Task=
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(define-skeleton insert-org-entry
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"Prompt for task, estimate and category"
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nil
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'(setq task (skeleton-read "Task: "))
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'(setq estimate (skeleton-read "Estimate: "))
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'(setq owner (skeleton-read "Owner: "))
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'(setq category (skeleton-read "Category: "))
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'(setq timestamp (format-time-string "%s"))
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"** " task \n
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":PROPERTIES:" \n
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":ESTIMATED: " estimate \n
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":ACTUAL:" \n
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":OWNER: " owner \n
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":ID: " category "." timestamp \n
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":TASKID: " category "." timestamp \n
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":END:")
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)
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.. warning::
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If you modify any file in ``~/.doom.d/``, do not forget to run ``doom sync`` and ``doom doctor`` to update and check your configuration respectively.
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Final touches
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-------------
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I wanted to add it to the menu system that comes with *Doom* so I included the following in my ``(after! ...)`` block.
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.. code:: lisp
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;; Add keybindings with the leader menu for everything above
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(map! :map org-mode-map
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(:leader
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(:prefix ("m", "+<localleader>")
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:n :desc "Generate New Header Org" "G" 'generate-new-header-org
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:n :desc "New Task Entry" "N" 'insert-org-entry
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))
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)
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Making the final configuration look like the following.
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.. code:: lisp
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(after! org
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;; Create a skeleton to generate header org
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(define-skeleton generate-new-header-org
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"Prompt for title, description and tags"
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nil
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'(setq title (skeleton-read "Title: "))
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'(setq author (skeleton-read "Author: "))
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'(setq description (skeleton-read "Description: "))
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'(setq tags (skeleton-read "tags: "))
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"#+TITLE: " title \n
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"#+AUTHOR: " author \n
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"#+DESCRIPTION: " description \n
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"#+TAGS: " tags \n)
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;; Create a new skeleton to generate a new =Task=
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(define-skeleton insert-org-entry
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"Prompt for task, estimate and category"
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nil
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'(setq task (skeleton-read "Task: "))
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'(setq estimate (skeleton-read "Estimate: "))
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'(setq owner (skeleton-read "Owner: "))
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'(setq category (skeleton-read "Category: "))
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'(setq timestamp (format-time-string "%s"))
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"** " task \n
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":PROPERTIES:" \n
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":ESTIMATED: " estimate \n
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":ACTUAL:" \n
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":OWNER: " owner \n
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":ID: " category "." timestamp \n
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":TASKID: " category "." timestamp \n
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":END:")
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(map! :map org-mode-map
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(:leader
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(:prefix ("m", "+<localleader>")
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:n :desc "Generate New Header Org" "G" 'generate-new-header-org
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:n :desc "New Task Entry" "N" 'insert-org-entry
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)))
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)
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What do I do now ?
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==================
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You might be asking yourself at this point, what does this all mean ?
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What do I do with this ? Where do I go ?
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Well here's the thing. You find yourself wanting to create a new *org file*.
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You do so in emacs and follow it with ``M-x`` + ``generate-new-header-org`` (or ``SPC m G`` in **Doom**). *Emacs* will ask you a few questions in the bottom left corner and once you answer then, your header should be all set.
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You can follow that with ``M-x`` + ``insert-org-entry`` (or ``SPC m N``) to generate a task. This will also ask you for input in the bottom left corner.
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Conclusion
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==========
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This should help me pick up the usage of *Org-mode* faster. It is also a good idea if you've already configured your *Emacs* to read all your *org file* for a wider **agenda** view.
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