Add fast Note Links

[Ivo Mota 1]

Hello, I would like to have an option to add internal links or note links more quickly. Currently, I know I can use the shortcut opt + cmd + K (MacOS), but then a modal window appears where I can type, but I can't navigate with the keyboard.

I would like to have an easier way to do it, similar to apps like Obsidian, where I can simply use [[ and it starts suggesting note titles as I type.

The other solution is to keep it as it is but allow keyboard navigation to the note title, and when pressing Enter, apply the link note without having to click the confirm button.

[Mike P 2,809]

1 hour ago, Ivo Mota said:

but I can't navigate with the keyboard

I find (admittedly on Windows) that I can navigate with the keyboard. My workflow is:

• alt+ctrl+k to open modal window
• type in search term
• use tab to move through the suggested notes
• select one with the space bar
• press enter to accept 

I think the (non-intuitive) use of the space bar is the difference.

[Boot17 1,494]

1 hour ago, Mike P said:

I think the (non-intuitive) use of the space bar is the difference.

Yeah - this exactly -- and having to use the tab key vs the arrow key to select subsequent notes.

The same steps you outlined work on Mac too.

In other dialogs (like the "Move note too...", or Edit tags) you can also arrow down from the text box and it highlights the notebook/tag and then you just press enter. You can use the arrow keys to move up and down through the notebooks/tags. A blue check mark also appears next to the notebook (for the "Move note too...").

The 'Select a note' dialog is not consistent with other select dialogs in having to use the Tab key vs the arrow keys.

[Ivo Mota 1]

1 hour ago, Mike P said:

I find (admittedly on Windows) that I can navigate with the keyboard. My workflow is:

• alt+ctrl+k to open modal window
• type in search term
• use tab to move through the suggested notes
• select one with the space bar
• press enter to accept 

I think the (non-intuitive) use of the space bar is the difference.

This is too many "clicks" to simple select a note.
And yes, using tab to navigate up and down and using space to select is not intuitive.
Also, you use space to select mas is not applied, you need to click enter to apply you selection.

On Obsidian for example (and many other apps) you just

• type [[
• write first letters
• select the note with arrow keys (up /down) from the presented list
• press enter

Done

So simple.

[Boot17 1,494]

Typing [[ and selecting a note is definitely more simple. Nobody is arguing that it isn't, but you also didn't know how to do it currently with just the keyboard and were given information by fellow users about how to do it that way...

You can send suggestions to Evernote via feedback@evernote.com

Also [[ has been mentioned/posted already in many threads for linking to notes: https://www.google.com/search?q=site%3Adiscussion.evernote.com+"[["

[gazumped 11,819]

Just for completeness,  though it may not be relevant here,  it is possible to link notes by dragging and dropping one on top of the other.  I tend to keep an intended 'parent' note open in its own window,  and select and drop notes into it from the main app.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,990]

@Mike P, thanks for the spacebar and Enter tip!

@Ivo Mota, WRT Obsidian, it is Markdown-based overall, isn't it? That's a very different approach from Evernote. Evernote does have some keyboard shortcuts for formatting, though, such as turning *<space> into the start of a bulleted list. [[ for a link would be similar enough that it would seem to be compatible with Evernote's overall approach. But of course some people complain about the existing KB shortcuts, because they want to use *<space> for something else. I absolutely guarantee you that if EN would introduce [[ for a note link, we will hear from people in these forums that they use that for something in their workflow, and Evernote has become completely unusable for them. Not saying it shouldn't be done, but EN users are a diverse and sometimes prickly bunch.

[Mike P 2,809]

56 minutes ago, Dave-in-Decatur said:

Evernote does have some keyboard shortcuts for formatting, though, such as turning *<space> into the start of a bulleted list. [[ for a link would be similar enough that it would seem to be compatible with Evernote's overall approach.

Although not documented in the "Auto formatting" list the markdown shortcut for a weblink works in EN. 

[text](www.google.com)

However, if you try to add an internal link as either a web link or an app link you do not get the expected results.  Perhaps this method could be adapted to work for internal links.

[Dave-in-Decatur 3,990]

2 hours ago, Mike P said:

Although not documented in the "Auto formatting" list the markdown shortcut for a weblink works in EN. 

[text](www.google.com)

However, if you try to add an internal link as either a web link or an app link you do not get the expected results.  Perhaps this method could be adapted to work for internal links.

Thanks for this. When I try to paste a copied Evernote Web link into the Evernote Windows app between [ ] I just get the formatted note link. When I manually type an app link then type the closing ], the URL turns green and underlined, and when opened takes me to the note. Hmm. Handy for regular Web links, pretty pointless for Evernote links, but yeah, maybe they could adapt it. Only, if you type [[ then the start of the note title, and still have to choose from a popup list, I don't see how that's faster or simpler than Ctrl+Alt+K.