Troubleshooting

Troubleshooting

Installation Issues

Plugin won’t appear after installation

Solution:

1. Verify all three files are present: main.js, manifest.json, styles.css
2. Check folder name is exactly lighthouse (lowercase)
3. Restart Obsidian completely
4. Disable Restricted Mode in Settings → Community Plugins

Plugin won’t enable

Solution:

1. Open Developer Console (Cmd/Ctrl+Shift+I)
2. Look for error messages
3. Verify Obsidian version is 1.0.0 or later
4. Try reinstalling the plugin
5. Report issues on GitHub

Word Count Issues

Counts seem incorrect

Solutions:

• Verify content/source folder designations are correct
• Check that folders are relative to project root
• Refresh by switching files or reopening the Stats Panel
• Verify markdown files have .md extension

Counts don’t update

Solutions:

• Wait 200ms after stopping typing (debounce delay)
• Check that the file is in a content folder
• Verify the file is part of the active project
• Try closing and reopening the Stats Panel

Session/Today counts reset unexpectedly

Solutions:

• Session counts reset when Obsidian restarts (expected behavior)
• Today counts persist across restarts and reset at midnight
• If today counts aren’t resetting at midnight, check your system date/time

Project Issues

Can’t see project files in stats

Solutions:

• Verify the project is set as active
• Check folder paths are correct relative to project root
• Ensure folders are designated as content folders
• Try editing the project and re-saving

Project disappeared after restart

Note: This issue was fixed in version 1.0.4.

If you’re on an older version:

• Upgrade to 1.0.4 or later to prevent this issue
• Your project data should persist correctly after upgrading

If still experiencing issues on 1.0.4+:

• Check if .obsidian/plugins/lighthouse/data.json exists
• Verify file permissions allow reading/writing
• Check if vault syncing is interfering with the file
• Report on GitHub with version info

Performance Issues

Obsidian feels slow with Lighthouse

Solutions:

• This shouldn’t happen; word counting is heavily optimized
• Check if you have extremely large files (>100k words)
• Try disabling other plugins to isolate the issue
• Report on GitHub with vault size info

Getting Help

If you can’t resolve an issue:

1. Check existing GitHub Issues
2. Open a new issue with:
   • Obsidian version
   • Lighthouse version
   • Steps to reproduce
   • Error messages from console
3. Join discussions on GitHub

More troubleshooting tips coming soon.