Publishing a page

Publishing copies one note to the web as a read-only page with its own link. It's the one feature built to put your words where anyone can read them, so Canto shows exactly what goes before anything is sent, and nothing leaves your Mac until you press Publish note.

Before you publish#

Publishing uses your LonelyDuck account, the same one you can make on lonelyduck.io for free. The first time, the publish sheet offers Sign in to publish (LonelyDuck account)…: your browser opens, you approve the code Canto shows, and this Mac is linked. You can also link it in Settings › Connections › Publishing › LonelyDuck account › Link account…. Verify your email address first if LonelyDuck asks.

Publish a note#

In the note's header, choose Share › Publish to the web… (or ⌘K's Publish note to the web…). The sheet says it plainly: "This copies a snapshot of this note to the public web. It will leave your private vault and be readable by anyone with the link. You can unpublish anytime."

Then it lists:

• In it: the note's text, how many images, how many sources, and, on the new page design, a Markdown copy.
• Left out: internal metadata, attachment files, links to your private notes, chats and local files.
• Check: anything you may want to fix first.

Name on the page is optional. Type a name and the page shows "By …" under the title; leave it empty to publish without one. Canto remembers it for your next page.

Publish note sends the snapshot to shared.lonelyduck.io and gives you its link, with Copy and Open. By publishing you agree to the Publishing terms. The link is unlisted: the page isn't indexed by search engines, so people find it only if you share it.

What the page shows#

A published note is a page made for reading on the web:

• the note, with an outline that follows where you are,
• the source behind each citation in the margin (a sheet on a phone),
• for a research note, the evidence ledger with filters,
• charts, figures and smart tables, drawn as they are in the note (a what-if calculator shows its starting values),
• Copy link, a Markdown copy of the page, and Copy for AI,
• a link preview drawn from the note,
• your palette, in the reader's light or dark appearance, with a switch.

The page names only what the web can see. Citations to your own notes and other private sources are left out or renumbered, links to your notes become plain text, and only public web sources are listed.

Update or take down a page#

A page is a snapshot: your edits show on it only after you update it. Open Share on the note again (it now reads Published · v… — Manage…) to see the link, its version and how many views it has, then:

• Update published version replaces the page with the note as it is now.
• Unpublish… asks first, then the link stops working for everyone at once and the copy on the web is deleted. The note stays in your vault.

Settings › Connections › Publishing › Published pages lists every page you published, how many are live, and how many of your plan's pages you've used, each with Copy link and Unpublish….

How many pages#

LonelyDuck counts the pages; the sheet shows your count before you publish ("2 of 3 pages published on Free"). When you're at the limit, unpublish one to free a place, or see More with Pro. Publishing has no free tries.

Pages you published before Canto 1.0 stay up and stay editable even if you have more than 3; only new pages count against the limit.

Your own domain#

With Pro, your pages can answer on a name you own, such as notes.example.com. Link your LonelyDuck account first, then in Settings › Connections › Custom domain:

1. Type the domain (such as notes.example.com) and press Add. Canto shows the DNS records to add at your domain's DNS provider, each with Copy. For a domain without a subdomain, use the A or AAAA records it shows instead of the CNAME.
2. Press Check now. The status reads Waiting for DNS until the records are found (DNS can take an hour to reach everyone), then Live. Not working means the records are wrong or missing.
3. Remove… stops your pages answering on the domain within a minute. They stay up on shared.lonelyduck.io.

What leaves your Mac#

Only a note you publish, to shared.lonelyduck.io, when you press Publish note or Update published version. Nothing is sent before. To turn publishing off altogether, switch off Publishing in Settings › Memory & privacy › What leaves this Mac; pages you already published stay up until you take them down. See What leaves this Mac.

To share a note privately instead, export it: see Import and export.