Feature request: Links to tags

[terraling 4]

It doesn't seem possible (correct me if I'm wrong) and I would like to be able to add a link within a note to a tag, so that if I click (or double-click) on it, it will change the current selection to that tag.

You can have links to notes, but not tags as far as I can tell.

I have quite a few tags, and for my active projects I have an index page (which I can quickly pull up via a saved search) which contains some basic information about that project and links to key notes. I want to be able to filter against the tag for that project more-or-less directly without having to hunt through my long list of nested tags in the tag selector.

My index page for that project is already tagged with that desired tag, and an alternative would be to be able to drag a tag from the tag list of a note into the search box so that that then became the active filter.

It's just a speedier way of selecting tags than the current option when you have quite a lengthy nested tag structure.

Thanks!

[jefito 5,589]

Links can only point to notes. If you want to quickly switch tags, about the best you can do is embed a "tag:<tag name" string in a note, copy it to the clipboard, and paste it into the search control, either as a separate (new) search or as a refinement on the current search. Or just type it in by hand; you don't need to type the whole tag name, you can always use '*' at the end of what you've types to wildcard. Or if you have a small number of tags that you like to use for this purpose, a saved search is probably best. I rarely use the tag tree for navigation, even though I have a relatively small number of tags (~120).

[May 268]

I would also like to use links to tags. All the workarounds suggested by jefito take a lot more time and effort to use compared clicking on a link. I tried them and it's not worth it to copy and paste a search term because it takes pretty much the same amount of time to navigate to the tag manually.

[BurgersNFries 2,407]

Or...use a text expander type app:

IMO, saved searches are only helpful if you have a complex search (several tags and several keywords) and/or you are not proficient at keyboarding. Since I use accurate tags, titles, keywords & notebooks, most of the notes I'm looking for can be quickly found w/o using a saved search. I do have a few searches I run daily or multiple times a day. They are not complex, but since I use them often, I suppose they could be candidates for saved searches. However, using a saved search requires me t o scroll to the bottom of the left pane & click the desired search. A more efficient method that I use is to use something like Autohotkey or ActiveWords (I use both) in conjunction with EN's global hot keys. I changed the "global find in Evernote" key to F5. So I press the F5, which sets the search to all notebooks, clears the tags & search parameters & puts your cursor in the search box.

I prefer to call the "to do" lists I have in EN as "accomplishment journals". The titles are consistent, IE YYYYMMDD - Accomplishment Journal. I have "acc" set up in Active Words to substitute the text:

intitle:"accomplishment journal"

So when I need to find them, I press F5, type acc & terminate with F12 (my Active Words hot key) It's a whole lot faster than scrolling down to the saved searches & clicking the appropriate one.

[May 268]

@BNF I actually use the same method on the iPad for some of my most used tags, but there are too many tags to replace links to tags with this approach

[jefito 5,589]

I think that using a "link" would be contrary to what we normally mean when we use that term. A link is usually a reference to a specific, unique piece of content (on the web, on your hard drive, etc.). Linking to a tag feels weird because tags, while they are indeed unique' are actually used by many notes. So I'd prefer a different mechanism, to make the scenario easier to navigate. Not sure what that would be, but a right-click "Search using tag" option might be OK).

[May 268]

I agree but it depends on which tags you'd link to.

If you don't use tags to organize notes from specific projects then I can see why you wouldn't find linking to a specific tag very useful. You don't need this because you use evernote differently.

However both in OP and my cases it'd be useful...

Here is an example of how I would use links to tags:

In evernote I use a specific tag for notes related to a specific project I'm working on.

In omnifocus I have a list of all my actions and projects. It'd be nice to click on a link to a tag and switch from omnifocus to evernote and see a list of all notes for a particular project instead of a single note.

Again as OP mentioned it'd be just a speedier way to navigate. It's far from essential feature

but it'd be a useful for some people, it'd be very handy for me, that's all

[terraling 4]

Jeff, I don't mind/care if it is called something else than a "link" if you are uncomfortable with calling it that, I'd just like the functionality.

Right now I am using the copying and pasting the "tag:tag name" into the search box method, and elegant it ain't.

It would really help my way of working to be able to navigate the tags more rapidly.

For me, dragging and dropping one of the existing tags of a note into the search box to refine the search to just that tag would be great, but that might not work for other people where the current note doesn't already contain the tag they want to isolate.

So here is a more generic alternative that I think could make quite an enhancement to search:

the ability to drag and drop selected text within a note directly into the search box to search on that term.

It is not quite what I'm after, but I could include tag:tag name within the body of my note and drag that into the search box for the desired result, but there are probably all sorts of use cases where that would mark an improvement over copying and pasting.

[May 268]

Forget drag and drop thing.

Even a better idea - add links to saved searches. This way it works on all clients instead of just desktop and also works across different applications and speeds up workflow in all cases...

[jefito 5,589]

Even a better idea - add links to saved searches. This way it works on all clients instead of just desktop and also works across different applications and speeds up workflow in all cases...

How does that work? Are you recommending an addition to the search grammar?

[May 268]

Similar to note links - you click on a link and it takes you to evernote saved search. Would be a bit geeky but pretty awesome in terms of flexibility.

[jefito 5,589]

Um, note links do not take you to saved search. They take you to the note that the link references.

I don't understand the connection with saved search -- saved search is just a list of, uh, saved searches that you can access for commonly used searches. If you had one specific for that tag already, then why wouldn't you just use it? Or are you talking about embedding a search filter (saved or otherwise) in a note as a sort of shortcut?

[May 268]

Yes, I know note links don't take us to saved searches. Saved searches can't be linked to, the idea is to make it possible. I mean links to certain saved searches. Not a list of all saved searches.

[terraling 4]

Ermm, as this topic seems to have drifted away from its original intent, can I restate that I would like a way to be able to select tags from a note more quickly than having to navigate to them through the tag organiser.

This could be achieved by making the search box an area that things can be dropped onto, whether it is tags from the tag list on a note, or whether it is selected text from a note, or anything else that logically might be dropped onto the search box.

[May 268]

You could do this with links to certain saved searches

Add link to a saved search for a certain tag in a note and click on it. It'd be better because it'd work across all platforms and across different apps contrary to your drag and drop request which would work only in evernote itself and only on desktop

[jefito 5,589]

Ermm, as this topic seems to have drifted away from its original intent, can I restate that I would like a way to be able to select tags from a note more quickly than having to navigate to them through the tag organiser.

Drift happens. *shrug*

No way that I know of at this time to do anything but to type into the search control. I tend to do this rather than to troll through the tag tree. I often use tag wildcards to make it quicker.

This could be achieved by making the search box an area that things can be dropped onto, whether it is tags from the tag list on a note, or whether it is selected text from a note, or anything else that logically might be dropped onto the search box.

Sure, but you'd probably want to distinguish between text dropped into the search box (you're looking for text matches) vs. text you drop in looking for tag matches. Not sure how to do that, maybe some Ctrl-key modifier when you drop?

[cgcullen 3]

+1 for link to saved searches and links to tags

[sklavit 0]

I think that using a "link" would be contrary to what we normally mean when we use that term. A link is usually a reference to a specific, unique piece of content (on the web, on your hard drive, etc.). Linking to a tag feels weird because tags, while they are indeed unique' are actually used by many notes. So I'd prefer a different mechanism, to make the scenario easier to navigate. Not sure what that would be, but a right-click "Search using tag" option might be OK).

 

Link to a tag is a link to a unique piece of content, which can be automatically generated.

For example, if you have a ricept of some soup with carrot, and you want to see all dishes with carrot, you may jut click on carrot and see such a list.

[jefito 5,589]

 

I think that using a "link" would be contrary to what we normally mean when we use that term. A link is usually a reference to a specific, unique piece of content (on the web, on your hard drive, etc.). Linking to a tag feels weird because tags, while they are indeed unique' are actually used by many notes. So I'd prefer a different mechanism, to make the scenario easier to navigate. Not sure what that would be, but a right-click "Search using tag" option might be OK).

 

Link to a tag is a link to a unique piece of content, which can be automatically generated.

For example, if you have a ricept of some soup with carrot, and you want to see all dishes with carrot, you may jut click on carrot and see such a list.

 

I think that what might be useful for that scenario is the ability to highlight some text, right-click on it and have a menu item "Search for selected text" appear. Select that, and the search occurs. Or have a special piece of content (in Windows that would be akin to a shortcut) that holds an Evernote  search string; click on it and the search is performed.

[Clevernote 1]

I would also like to be able to link to tags and saved searches from out of my notes. Like others, this is the reason I joined the forum. The way I organise my projects via tags, this would be a killer addition. As May says, you could hit two birds with one stone if you implemented a way to select text and turn it into a "search this" link. I don't think it's a particularly geeky addition, rather quite a natural one. The table of contents button was a feature everyone applauded, I feel this would be much the same.

 

Anyways, keep up the good work! 

[renan.oliveira0 0]

+10.000 for link to saved searches and links to tags

 

This will change way of all users uses on gadgets!!!

[davidwilkinson007 2]

 

 +1 for link to saved searches and links to tags 

 

[JohnDM 122]

+1 links to saved searches

 

The obvious example of this would be to have a "Daily Task" note you run every day

 

===============

 

[ ] make Coffee

 

[ ]    Run Saved Search  Most Important Tasks  - @ MIT    <-- link to a search that does this: Seach  -tag:@SomedayMaybe tag:"@ MIT" todo:false

[DutchPete 247]

Guys, you can keep on insisting about tags to links, but the fact is that it is NOT possible. No point in talking a square into a round hole.

Somebody asked for this as a feature request, which is fine, but it is not sure if & when that would be implemented.

And as for links to Saved Searches: you can put a shortcut (not a link) to an SS in the left column.

[cmaryon 5]

What I think is missing from the above discussion is that you may not remember all the names of all your tags, and your current note may not be tagged for a topic that you want to link it to.  For instance I have a desire to be able to have "see also" content - it's not part of this group, but it might be parallel.  The last thing I want to do is tag everything for everything, but I may want to record that a tag (and the content grouped under that tag) is obliquely relevant.  So while being able to click on a phrase in a note and search it would be kind of groovy - personally I wouldn't use it enough to make copy&paste too longwinded for that - and being able to click on a note's tag and get all the content on that tag would also be v useful, neither of these meet the need I have.

 

I would like to be able to insert into a note a link to a tag the way I can insert a link to a note.  When I click on that link I would like to see all the content associated with that tag, just as I would if I clicked on the tag in the navigation panel.  I appreciate one of the previous posters doesn't like the use of the word "link" for a connector to search results, but I think we all know what we mean.