====== Preferences ======

You can open the "Preferences" dialog using the "//Edit//->//Preferences//" menu item.
There are several tabs within the preferences dialog.

==== General ====

**Date format** is the format which is used when you insert the current date using ''<ctrl>D'' or the "//Edit//->//Insert Date and Time//" menu item. The format used is documented in the [[man:3:strftime|strftime(3)]] man page.

The **Browser** is the command used to open external links like ''http://'' urls, the **File browser** is the command used to open files on the local system and the **Email client** is the command used to open ''mailto:'' uris and anything else that looks like an email address. The browser and email client commands should contain a ''%u'' which will be erplaced with the url. The file browser command can either contain a ''%f'' to open files or a ''%d'' to open the directory of the files in question.

Note that the integration of "open with" items in the context menu for external files does not use the file manager directly. Also when a default application is set for a certain file type that application is executed directly. Only when there is no default application the file manager is called when you try to open a file.

For users who use the Rox file manager: you can symlink the "''SendTo''" directory used by Rox in "''~/.local/share/zim/''" and the "SendTo..." menu will show up in the context menu below or instead of the usual "Open with" items.

==== Editing ====

The **Follow new link** setting means that when you create a new link using ''<ctrl>L'' the page you link to is immediately opened. If this is turned off ''<ctrl>L'' only turns the selected word into a link but does not open the page, you need to click or press ''<Enter>'' on the link to follow it.

**Use CamelCase** and **Use utf8 entities** are settings to toggle the [[autoformat]] behavior.

The **Backspace un-indents** option makes the ''<backspace>'' key behave similar to ''<shift><tab>'' in bullet lists.

The **Use auto-select** option turns autoselection on. This means that for example when you press ''<ctrl>B'' in the middle of a word, the whole word is made bold.

==== Plugins ====

The plugins tab allows you to turn plugins on or off. You need to restart zim for these settings to take effect.

For a description of the standard plugins have a look [[plugins|here]].


===== Config file =====
//Warning: this is probably subject to change in future releases//

You can also edit the config file manually. There are some settings that are not shown in the preferences dialog. You need to close **zim** before you can edit the config file. The config file can be found under ''~/.config/zim/''.

Keys that one might change include:

=== default_root (undefined) ===
This option can set a directory to use as repository root when none was given at the command line. If set you can call ''zim'' without arguments.

=== default_home (Home) ===
Default home page. This is used for the "home" button and keybinding.

=== hist_max (20) ===
Maximum number of items on any of the history stacks.

=== undo_max (50) ===
Maximum number of steps in the undo stack.

