1.6 Styling the Soil

Everything you can do with a note. This is the complete canonical specification for frontmatter metadata, design tokens, typography, visual directives, and layout architecture.

1. Frontmatter Metadata

Frontmatter is a YAML block placed at the very top of your Markdown file between two --- markers. In Standard Garden, frontmatter is not merely configuration—it is the direct manifestation of File over App.

---
title: "The Architecture of Quiet Thoughts"
description: "A reflection on the digital garden and the preservation of human craft."
permalink: "quiet-thoughts"
created: 2026-09-19
modified: 2026-09-19
visibility: public
publish: true
cover: "/images/woods.jpg"
lang: en
theme: forest
accent: "#d97736"
---

Your essay begins here.

Supported Frontmatter Properties

Property Type Default Description
title string Auto-extracted from first # H1 The published headline of the note.
description string Auto-extracted preview Summary used for OpenGraph social share cards and RSS entries.
permalink string Auto-slugified title Custom URL path segment (e.g. permalink: essay). Use permalink: / on your root note to replace the default profile.
created ISO Date (YYYY-MM-DD) Date of publication The date this note was originally conceived and penned.
modified ISO Date (YYYY-MM-DD) Date of last sync The date this note was last edited or revised.
visibility public | unlisted | private public Controls the reach of the note (see The Double Security Guardrail).
publish boolean | ISO Date false Sets immediate publication (true), unpublishes (false), or schedules release for a future date (YYYY-MM-DD).
domain domain string — Binds your custom domain when placed on your root note (permalink: /).
mycelium boolean true Set to false on a custom domain root to exclude your notes from the community directory and /daily bloom.
cover image path or URL First embedded photo Official cover visual used for rich previews, social cards, and reading headers.
lang string en Language code for typographical punctuation rules (en, fr, de, it, es).
theme string System default The visual theme applied to this note (e.g. forest, technical, exhibit, carnel).
accent CSS color Theme default Primary accent color for signals, links, and highlights.
foreground CSS color Theme default Text / ink color.
background CSS color Theme default Background / paper color.
font-header font-family string Theme default Typographic stack for titles and headings.
font-text font-family string Theme default Typographic stack for reading body prose.
optical-ratio number Theme default Modular typographic scale ratio.
font-density number Theme default Vertical baseline grid and line-height multiplier.
line-width CSS length Theme default Maximum reading measure for body paragraphs.
color-light-accent CSS color — Dedicated accent color for light mode.
color-light-foreground CSS color — Dedicated ink color for light mode.
color-light-background CSS color — Dedicated paper color for light mode.
color-dark-accent CSS color — Dedicated accent color for dark mode.
color-dark-foreground CSS color — Dedicated ink color for dark mode.
color-dark-background CSS color — Dedicated paper color for dark mode.
garden-brand boolean | string true Paid gardeners: set to false to hide headers and footers entirely, or supply an image URL / text to use your custom brand mark.
garden-favicon image URL — Custom icon replacing the default favicon set (root note only).
garden-url URL string — Stamped automatically by the Obsidian plugin upon successful publication.
styles array of URLs [] External stylesheets (e.g., Google Fonts) injected into the <head> of the page.
scripts array of URLs [] External script URLs injected safely into the <head>.

2. The Double Security Guardrail

Standard Garden prevents any unintended leak of personal reflections, journals, or incomplete drafts by enforcing a two-tier safety rule:

visibility: publish: Online Status Where Accessible
public true Live & Public Visible on your profile, discoverable, and searchable.
unlisted true Unlisted Accessible only to individuals with the direct link; hidden from feeds.
private Any Private Accessible only to you when logged in.
Any false or absent Draft (Offline) Exists solely in your local vault; not rendered online.
Any Future Date Scheduled Remains unlisted until the specified date arrives.

There is no complex web dashboard. In Standard Garden, your root note IS your homepage and dashboard.

To create a custom homepage, personal manifesto, or studio index:

  1. In your local Obsidian vault, create a note and set permalink: / in the frontmatter.
  2. Add your global garden parameters (domain:, mycelium: false, default theme:, font-header:, etc.).
  3. Mark it visibility: public and publish: true.

When published, this note supersedes the standard profile layout. Anyone visiting your root URL lands directly on your bespoke presentation.

---
title: "Francis Fontaine"
description: "Slow Web essays, woodcraft, and photography"
permalink: /
domain: "francisfontaine.com"
theme: carnel
mycelium: false
visibility: public
publish: true
---

# Welcome to the Atelier

This is my quiet corner of the web...

4. Visual & Editorial Directives

Place image links on consecutive lines with zero blank lines between them to generate an automatic, justified gallery row with equalized heights and authentic aspect ratios:

![Field study one](/images/study-1.jpg)
![Field study two](/images/study-2.jpg)

Full-Bleed Heroes (::hero)

Break an image out of the reading column into a full-width presentation:

<div class="hero">

![The mountain summit](/images/summit.jpg)

Callouts (Obsidian & Block Styles)

Standard Garden natively supports both GitHub/Obsidian blockquotes and ::callout blocks:

> [!NOTE]
> This is a standard callout note.

> [!TIP] Pro Tip
> Custom titled tip box.

> [!+ WARNING]
> Collapsible callout that starts expanded.

> [!- DANGER]
> Collapsible callout that starts collapsed.

5. Structural Layout Containers (::)

Divide your thoughts into modular columns, feature panels, and cards:

Columns

<div class="columns-2">
<div class="column">

Left column content with full **Markdown** support.

</div>
<div class="column">

Right column content.

</div>
</div>

Cards

<div class="grid-2">
<div class="sm:row card">

## First Principle
Ideas require space to mature.

</div>
<div class="sm:row card">

## Second Principle
Tools should respect human attention.

</div>
</div>

Every note receives an immutable short link derived from its unique nano_id:

https://stnd.gd/{nano_id}

This permanent link automatically redirects to the canonical address:

https://standard.garden/@{username}/{slug}

Short links remain permanently valid even if you modify the note’s title or URL slug in the future.

See Also

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