Writing, embeds and attachments

Everything you add to a note is plain Markdown in its file. This page covers the quick ways to add things, and what each one writes.

Slash commands

Type / at the start of a line (or after a space) and a menu of blocks opens under the caret — or above it, near the bottom of the note. Keep typing to filter it; arrow keys move, Enter inserts, Esc closes.

The menu always fits inside the note: it scrolls when there are more commands than room.

Embedding a link

Insert → Embed a link (or /embed) takes the link you already have. You don’t need to hunt for an “embed URL”:

• Maps — a Google Maps link (a place, a search, directions, or a maps.app.goo.gl share link) shows that place on a map. An Apple Maps share link (maps.apple/p/… or maps.apple.com/…) shows the same place too, and so does an OpenStreetMap link. A dropped pin opens at street level.
• Video and music — YouTube, Vimeo, Loom, Dailymotion, TikTok, Twitch, Spotify and SoundCloud links play in the note, at their player’s own shape.
• Work — Google Docs, Sheets, Slides and Drive files, Figma, Miro, Canva, CodePen and CodeSandbox links show their live preview (to anyone the file is shared with — a private Google Doc asks the reader to sign in).
• Any other page is shown in place when the site allows it. Many sites refuse to be shown inside another one; for those, Papyra adds a link card instead (the page’s title, summary and picture) and tells you so.

Short links are followed and pages are checked by your server, through the same guarded fetcher as link previews: public addresses only, nothing on your network.

Click an embed to select it. Its toolbar aligns it, moves it a block up or down, removes it, and edits its caption (and, for a map or video, its link). Drag its edge to resize it. The toolbar always stays in view: above or below the embed, or inside it near the bottom of a long note. Rest the pointer on any embed and a preview of its page appears beside it (the video’s own page, the place in Maps); click the preview to open the page. A link card works the same way: a click selects it rather than following it, and its preview (or Ctrl/⌘-click) opens it. Make a card narrower and it tidies itself: a shorter summary and a smaller picture, then just the title. Size, alignment and caption are saved with it:

![[iframe:https://www.google.com/maps?q=Nikkawahama+Beach&output=embed|640x400]] <!-- align:right -->
![[card:https://example.com/post|Example post|480]] <!-- align:left --> <!-- caption:Worth a read -->

Moving things around

Press on a picture, an attachment, a document, a link card or an embed and drag it up or down. A line shows where it will land, and the note scrolls when you drag near its top or bottom. Esc cancels, and Ctrl+Z undoes the move. Videos, recordings and a map you’re using move by the small grip beside their top-left corner (the grip also works on a phone). Text isn’t moved this way. From the keyboard, select the item and use Move up / Move down in its toolbar.

Pictures

Drop, paste or upload a picture and it appears straight away — the upload shows its progress over the picture itself, and the picture never blinks out while the stored copy loads. A picture from a link shows a soft loading frame until it arrives, and a small card with Retry if it can’t.

Size and alignment are part of the file:

![[beach.jpg|640]] <!-- align:center --> <!-- caption:The beach at dusk -->
![A gif|240](https://media.example.com/party.gif) <!-- align:right -->

Documents

A PDF, a spreadsheet, a slide deck, an archive — any file that isn’t a picture or a recording — sits in the note like it does on your desktop: its icon and its name. Click it once and its toolbar appears beside it: what it is and how big, then Preview (PDFs open in your browser’s viewer; text, CSV and code files as text), Rename, Download, Replace or move it. Double-click to open it — a file the browser can’t show (a Word or Excel file) opens in a new tab, where your browser downloads it.

Rename changes only the name shown in the note — the file keeps its stored name, and the name you chose is its alias in the Markdown:

![[q3-report-411e00.pdf|Q3 report]]

A new upload is shown under the name it had on your computer.