Improve Note Linking

[floerian1994 48]

Right now it's a multistep-process to manually link two notes with each other. Coping the note link, inserting it in the other on and if necessary copy the link of the other note to link back at the initial note.

With nearly 5,000 notes in Evernote it get's more and more important to build networks, otherwise a huge amount of notes never gets looked at.

Maybe at the bottom of each note (where the 'context' section is) you could place a little search bar to enter other note (titles) to connect them with each other.
This way it would be more easier to jump between related notes and manually add such connections instead of relying on the 'context' feature.

[gazumped 11,652]

Not sure about changing the UI to any degree,  but having a way to create links (and if necessary new  notes) easily by [[bracketing]] words and some way to maintain and/or check for and repair broken links would be good... 

[Jay_G 14]

+10000. I have MANY notes which I want to link to each other, which is currently very cumbersome. (I'm using mainly the Windows app.) I've listed some ideas below.

a: Like another user already mentioned: it would be good to have a "linked notes" section, perhaps at the bottom of a note. I realise this is a completely new feature.

b: Improve the current functionality (control-K). From within my notes, I currently add links a lot. Currently I have to search for the related note, then right-click that note -> "copy note link". Go back to my previous note, then paste the note (control-V). Selecting the note, and doing control-c, control-v doesn't even work (it only copies the note title, not the link). It would already be HUGE improvement if this process could be improved.

For my job I use Confluence (wiki-tool by Atlassian), where there is a simple short-cut (Control-K) to insert a hyperlink. Currently in evernote, you have a VERY basic dialog associated with that short-cut to insert a hyperlink there (you can't even specify the link text). It would be good to have more options there. It could be a 'tabbed' dialog:

1. web link (current functionality, but with a 'link text' text-box added)
2. Recent notes (The 'Note History' is already stored, could simply be the last 10 notes opened)
3. Search note -> The user has a search window, and after a search, he can pick the note he wants to insert
   • I realise this would be the most difficult option to implement, so I would already be happy with option 1 & 2

c: It would be nice if the link text (green text) would be updated if the note title is changed as well. I realise this is not always the desired behaviour, so it would have to become a setting which the user can enable/disable per link (and also the standard behaviour in the settings). Right now, if you right-click -> edit, you can only edit the link address. It would be nice to have another text box there with the "link text", and maybe a checkbox: "auto-change link text to note title".This is lower priority, but would be nice to have.
 

 

[quietbyday 2]

On 10/31/2016 at 6:02 AM, Jay_G said:

b: Improve the current functionality (control-K). From within my notes, I currently add links a lot. Currently I have to search for the related note, then right-click that note -> "copy note link". Go back to my previous note, then paste the note (control-V). Selecting the note, and doing control-c, control-v doesn't even work (it only copies the note title, not the link). It would already be HUGE improvement if this process could be improved.

For my job I use Confluence (wiki-tool by Atlassian), where there is a simple short-cut (Control-K) to insert a hyperlink. Currently in evernote, you have a VERY basic dialog associated with that short-cut to insert a hyperlink there (you can't even specify the link text). It would be good to have more options there. It could be a 'tabbed' dialog:

1. web link (current functionality, but with a 'link text' text-box added)
2. Recent notes (The 'Note History' is already stored, could simply be the last 10 notes opened)
3. Search note -> The user has a search window, and after a search, he can pick the note he wants to insert
   • I realise this would be the most difficult option to implement, so I would already be happy with option 1 & 2

Yes, PLEASE! Basically just make the 'Insert link' dialog an auto-complete field that draws on existing note titles and inserts the corresponding note link.

[J-V 4]

On 10/31/2016 at 11:02 AM, Jay_G said:

a: Like another user already mentioned: it would be good to have a "linked notes" section, perhaps at the bottom of a note. I realise this is a completely new feature.

b: Improve the current functionality (control-K). From within my notes, I currently add links a lot. Currently I have to search for the related note, then right-click that note -> "copy note link". Go back to my previous note, then paste the note (control-V). Selecting the note, and doing control-c, control-v doesn't even work (it only copies the note title, not the link). It would already be HUGE improvement if this process could be improved.

For my job I use Confluence (wiki-tool by Atlassian), where there is a simple short-cut (Control-K) to insert a hyperlink. Currently in evernote, you have a VERY basic dialog associated with that short-cut to insert a hyperlink there (you can't even specify the link text). It would be good to have more options there. It could be a 'tabbed' dialog:

1. web link (current functionality, but with a 'link text' text-box added)
2. Recent notes (The 'Note History' is already stored, could simply be the last 10 notes opened)
3. Search note -> The user has a search window, and after a search, he can pick the note he wants to insert
   • I realise this would be the most difficult option to implement, so I would already be happy with option 1 & 2

c: It would be nice if the link text (green text) would be updated if the note title is changed as well. I realise this is not always the desired behaviour, so it would have to become a setting which the user can enable/disable per link (and also the standard behaviour in the settings). Right now, if you right-click -> edit, you can only edit the link address. It would be nice to have another text box there with the "link text", and maybe a checkbox: "auto-change link text to note title".This is lower priority, but would be nice to have.
 

 

As a confluence user I strongly agree with A and B. 

I often work with a Project Master Note from where I link to other notes. What I'd like to see is a "Create and Link note from here."

I.E.:

1. Select text. 
2. Right click. 
3. Hyperlink.
4. Create and link new note here. 

[Willem Van Zyl 16]

On 8/25/2016 at 3:42 PM, gazumped said:

Not sure about changing the UI to any degree,  but having a way to create links (and if necessary new  notes) easily by [[bracketing]] words and some way to maintain and/or check for and repair broken links would be good... 

 

I like the bracketing idea, but I think there should also be the option to highlight some text, open the contextual menu, select "Link to Note...", and then search for a note to link the text to.

I have a lot of interrelated content that I could connect in this way, and if we had this linking ability the Contextual Suggestions might become even smarter because of it?

[JustinJ 5]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:38 PM, PinkElephant said:

There is something mentioned in release notes to enable creating a link between 2 notes by dragging one on top of the other.

Have not seen it in action, but I think it will be a nice extension to the current linking function.

Unfortunately that’s still a very limiting approach - far behind obsidian.
 

No back links and that workflow only works on desktop app. I’d love to see the double bracket approach for making links with the pop up menu of potentials narrowed down as you type and the addition of auto backlinks. 

[alteraf 7]

I would also just like to add here that a functionality similar to that of Google Docs would be great (see attached image). In that case, if you add a link (ctrl-k) you can just start typing and it searches other google drive documents as well as the web. This would be great for Evernote: search existing notes (based on titles and tags?) and the web. 

Of course, different users have different needs, but I think that the reactions here show that an improved implementation of linking notes in Evernote would be very welcome. The current method sooms to be too cumbersome for most users, and for me it distracts from my actual work while taking notes.

 

[Dave Hiersekorn 2]

On the general topic of links, it would be really helpful if we could...

1. Select a snippet of text.
2. Use a keyboard or menu command to create a NEW note with (1) the selected text as the title; and (2) hyperlinked back to the original note.

Use Case: Suppose I have a note that compiles my conversations with my supervisor. I have a conversation where he asks me to do three things – Project A, B and C. I could type my notes from the original conversation in the "Supervisor" note, then quickly create separate, linked notes for each of the projects.

» For bonus points, automatically create a link BACK to the original note and place that in the Context section.

[floerian1994 48]

11 hours ago, Willem Van Zyl said:

I think there should also be the option to highlight some text, open the contextual menu, select "Link to Note...", and then search for a note to link the text to.

That's sound like a great solution. This way there's no need for a UI change if it's in the context menu!

And maybe add a small bar underneath the text-formation things at the top which says which notes link to this one or have a section in the Contextual Suggestions where notes are shown who link to the current one.

[ChiragC 18]

On 9/1/2016 at 3:45 PM, Willem Van Zyl said:

if we had this linking ability the Contextual Suggestions might become even smarter because of it?

@Willem Van Zyl, I think this is an awesome idea and you should make a separate feature request for it! Wow!

[codeweasle 1]

I just created a new feature request that included some of these ideas. I now see your suggestion and will delete my idea.

I love the highlight some text, right click and search for a note to link to method. I would also like to see an Add New Note option that would create the new note and notelink.

That would seem to solve all my problems.

[Justin M Zielke 1]

I know there is a way to link a word to a website, but if there is a way to link characters to a note/notebook, please let me know. Say one were to write a book and take related but unnecessary notes simultaneously. The outline could have a link to " Chapter 1: Notes" which consists of writing and "Chapter 1: Notes" consists of your additional notes for that chapter. I don't know if this would benefit anyone else, but it would speed up a lot of processes for me and would organize notes within notebooks much easier especially on the mobile version. 

Cheers,

J

[GKruger 1]

I would dearly love to see a feature that'll allow me to:

- select a piece of text in my note

- right click

- select option: "Create and Link Note"

- EN then creates a new note, having at title the text that was selected, together with a link back to the parent note, so that I can traverse forwards and backwards through linked notes

Thanks!

[everajl 2]

25 minutes ago, JustinJ said:

It’s just unfortunate the linking workflow is archaic even with the minor suggested tweak to the desktop methodology.
 

It would be so nice to have back links. Also have the links update automatically when the note titles change.

 

i hope they invest some time and update this linking paradigm as it’s a really powerful feature.
 

I would love to stay in Evernote and not spend the time switching to a whole new system.

I agree. They’ve made a ton of progress but you need to both catch-up AND stay ahead. Rich linking is nearly a commodity now so if they were wise they should at least be working on the backend to support this before it is even more mainstream.

Side thought: how is linking this bad and they claim to have a Teams product? This could never replace a Wiki style knowledge base as-is without better linking. 

[Pere 27]

On 11/6/2017 at 2:59 PM, alteraf said:

I would also just like to add here that a functionality similar to that of Google Docs would be great (see attached image). In that case, if you add a link (ctrl-k) you can just start typing and it searches other google drive documents as well as the web. This would be great for Evernote: search existing notes (based on titles and tags?) and the web. 

Of course, different users have different needs, but I think that the reactions here show that an improved implementation of linking notes in Evernote would be very welcome. The current method sooms to be too cumbersome for most users, and for me it distracts from my actual work while taking notes.

 

I have been waiting for this feature for a long time. It doesn't come. It would make life so easier.

If the performance is a problem, maybe this function could search only the note titles, as the current "Switch To" dialog, which I use all the time.

This function, combined with backlinks, would stop all my Obsidian temptations!

Transitioning to Obsidian is not possible, because, among other reasons, Obsidian devs say that the app is designed for 20k notes maximum, and I have almost 20k Evernote notes. Currently, Evernote is fast (on desktop, not on mobile) with so many notes and Obsidian would not be fast at all with such a volume. This is already a feat, because one year ago Evernote was slow as hell. Now it works very well (congrats). But, having said that, even if I cannot switch to other fancy note taking apps, because Evernote has great features I cannot live without, we should try to improve note linking. This Ctrl-K dialog with seach would improve Evernote a lot. Then, backlinks would be incredible. I hope you are working on that Evernote devs!

 

 

[HEH 14]

Agreed. Any steps to keep flow smooth would be helpful. There are several features that require multiple / unnecessary steps (i.e. the 2nd popup we get when clipping emails - I just posted this suggestion as well.)

I like this idea to have the ability to search and link, either via the context area (or elsewhere) or via brackets! Upvoted. 

[Stefano Bonnini 3]

It would be great to be able to quickly create a link between two notes.

I have been create, on Windows, a macro to do that, but I hope Evernote team will implent it inside product.

[JustinP8 2]

Many wiki systems do this with a bracketed syntax [Some Link|http://linktonote]

[gazumped 11,652]

2 hours ago, Jay_G said:

+10000

.. just the one click in the top-left box will be sufficient for the moment;  the more clicks the more likely Evernote is to have a closer look at this...

[Jay_G 14]

1 hour ago, gazumped said:

.. just the one click in the top-left box will be sufficient for the moment;  the more clicks the more likely Evernote is to have a closer look at this...

Was already done. Just wanted to emphasize it's an important feature for me, which probably wouldn't take that much effort to improve upon.
Side note: after a lot of searching/browsing somebody pointed to a hidden "short-cut" to get the link to your current note: alt + N + L

[GustavoT 1]

This would be great with and "@..." feature like Quip.

[DTLow 5,736]

1 hour ago, Justin M Zielke said:

I know there is a way to link a word to a website, but if there is a way to link characters to a note/notebook, please let me know.

You're hijacking someone's request post.

My solution would be to create separate notes which are linked.  The link and navigation keys let me go back and forth

[DTLow 5,736]

3 hours ago, quietbyday said:

Yes, PLEASE! Basically just make the 'Insert link' dialog an auto-complete field that draws on existing note titles and inserts the corresponding note link.

An interesting feature I use on my Mac is to simply drag a note title into another note.  It creates the link.
I understand it also works in Windows

[gazumped 11,652]

Well geewhillikins.  Must have missed the memo on that one.  Can confirm it does work very well in Windows.  And that's why I still hang around this neighborhood - there's always something new to learn...  Thanks!

[Robert David 10]

I have a project under early development designed to do the linking between notes very easily.

There is a video demo of the early version here:

 

 

[jefito 5,589]

18 hours ago, Robert David said:

 

I have a project under early development designed to do the linking between notes very easily.

There is a video demo of the early version here:

 

Does this have anything to do with Evernote?

[Robert David 10]

1 hour ago, jefito said:

Does this have anything to do with Evernote?

Potentially. At this stage it's just an experiment, it could go many different ways. I'm a long time power user of Evernote, and always looking for improvements.

[pkdawg 4]

I'd like smart links where tag words are recognized and can be hyperlinked between notes, plus let it recognize proper nouns like name, company names, and even titles of other notes. So if you have note with a word that happens to be a tag word it would be a hyperlink in the text of the note to other noted with that tag. Also it should would automatically add that tag to the notes tag area and recommend other tags like unrecognized names or titles. 

[Rocket J. Squirrel 43]

I just participated in an Evernote panel here in Chicago, and at one point or another, each panelist emphasized that we save notes FOR A REASON.  That reason is--inevitably--because how each new note LINKS to something we already know (e.g. another previously saved note).  We wouldn't save any notes without there being a tie-in, or link, to something we already know or think about. 

So yes, these links are...everything.  And the linking feature being discussed here is available in Crusoe.

I invite anyone interested in linking their notes to download Crusoe for the iPad (iPhone version coming soon).  Crusoe is a mobile Evernote app for the iPad and it allows you, at the tap of a finger, to create two-way links between your notes.  And as you build these "trains of thought" you follow links forward and back down different pathways.

Check out the website here:  http://crusoe.co/

Download here: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/crusoe/id1020912650?mt=8

FYI, check out the attached image to see what your links look like in Crusoe.

You can also watch a quick video if you scroll halfway down the page here.

[gazumped 11,652]

47 minutes ago, Rocket J. Squirrel said:

each panelist emphasized that we save notes FOR A REASON.  That reason is--inevitably--because how each new note LINKS to something we already know (e.g. another previously saved note).  We wouldn't save any notes without there being a tie-in, or link, to something we already know or think about.

My brain must be wired differently or something - I mainly save notes as individual nuggets of data:  a letter from my bank / a photograph of the town where I was born / a clipping about AI / a new app release (nice ad above,  by the way..).

At some later time I'll use the search feature to unearth the information I saved.  Looking back on my childhood turns up the picture.  Checking my statement connects to the letter.  Writing a post or an explanation brings up various options including several items on AI that I saved.

Don't get me wrong I do use note links,  and it's a pain to set one up still - I used to be heavily into MediaWiki and writing some explanations meant that mentioning [internet access] or [Note Links] in square brackets would automatically add a link to a page with that title,  or create a new red link to indicate it was not yet written.  It was / is easy to flesh out a paragraph or two on any subject with more explanations or background on any concept.  Something similar in Evernote would change the way I write notes and give me trees of information rather than a huge flat database with tags and titles.  I would love to have the wiki feature.

But that's a creative thing.  When I'm collating information for my item on AI I might find something about that home town (serendipity is real) - and fitting that item into its own structure would distract me from the task I started out with.  I just need to file the information,  confident that I can find it later.

Just sayin'

 

[gazumped 11,652]

Hmmn.  In fact a bit of not-joined-up searching in my database popped these two out -

- And I see Crusoe is Apple Only which puts a sizeable dent in it for me. 

 

[CalS 5,280]

18 minutes ago, gazumped said:

- And I see Crusoe is Apple Only which puts a sizeable dent in it for me. 

Also see it doesn't show Rocket J Squirrel as CEO either.  

[gazumped 11,652]

Nah - some guy called Doug Johnson seems to be the guiding light there... 

[Rocket J. Squirrel 43]

gazumped,

You make an excellent point!  There are many notes I save that I don't want to remember: documents from my insurance claim, tax receipts.  Those are nuggets of data.  There is no reason to link notes like that.  But most of the notes I save are excerpts from articles and books--stuff I do want to remember.  And by "remember," I mean I want to remember why I thought it was worth saving.  

That paragraph about AI you saved is something you want to remember.  If I had seen the same paragraph I probably wouldn't have saved it.  But you saved it because it speaks to a lot of stuff you already know.  The research says we forget about 90% of what we read 30 days after having read it (unless we keep the synapse in our minds from breaking by using that text again).  If you have, say, 2,000 notes, you won't be able to put your hands on that paragraph again once you forget it.  You might search evernote for "AI" and get 300 articles, and you'll see it again if you go through them all.  

But that paragraph you clipped either confirmed something you already knew, it contracted something you already knew, it added to something you already knew, took a new direction from...you get the idea.  If you linked that paragraph to two or three other notes you'll be sure to see it again if you think of any one of those other notes (and of course vice versa).

Sorry about the Apple limitation!  Pipeline is iPhone and then web-based version.

[Rocket J. Squirrel 43]

Quote

 I just need to file the information,  confident that I can find it later.

But once you forget about that file, how can you find it?  To search for something you first must be aware that it exists.  We lose that awareness when we forget.  You need some kind of system of reminders to put it in front of you at the right time and place.

You can go to your AI notebook and read through everythiing in the notebook, but most people don't have time for that.  And even if you do that, you might see the article when you are thinking about something entirely unrelated to the reason you saved that particular AI note in the first place.  So without that context, it fails to register when you see it again.  So even if you read through the entire notebook, you'll be seeing most notes out of context.  I have this experience every time I come across a note and think "why the hell did I save this?"  I've lost the link, the context.

We save information like a paragraph from an article because it might be useful later on (or right now).  But merely saving it and putting it in a file (or multiple files w tags and notebooks) is no different than photocopying everything and putting it in my steelcase filing cabinet.  Once I forget about these pieces of paper, I'm never going to see them again.  (I had an opportunity to present this to the CIA and I pointed out that they had the documents needed to track down Bin Laden from the get go...the problem was that it was merely stored in a file).

[gazumped 11,652]

Still on a slightly different page,  I think.  I'm collecting information like a Magpie (smart,  and aquisitive) and I 'tag' each snippet with real tags or titles as it goes into my database.  I wouldn't search for 'AI' alone (just did - 2,862!) - it would be in connection with cars,  or another topic which would bring the total way down.  I add keywords and tags until I get to the main meat of my research or history.  That will still throw up a few wild cards - usually interesting ones and sometimes connections I hadn't previously made;  but generally things seem to work pretty well.  As I said:  I think the difference is between acquiring information that is on topic but not immediately relevant to my current task,  and creating something on a specific issue which requires that I check into the background.

I'm sure you'll get around to Windows and Android sometime - maybe I'll use links more then. 

[Rocket J. Squirrel 43]

Before Evernote came out I actually started working on my own Evernote.  I started building a web clipper, but I barely got started when Evernote came out and I was happy to not have to build my own.  For years I used Evernote just the way you describe.  I thought tagging / notebooks  were more than just categories of information, but they aren't.  They are no different than manila folders in filing cabinets.  Now, filing cabinets work, don't get me wrong.  But as my tag list grew I realized I had to memorize my tags if I wanted access to those notes (and those short tags were like codewords...tough to remember what I meant by them all as time went on).  Most of my tags had five or fewer notes attached, and there was no way I could keep track of all those tags.  I cut the list way down so that most of my tags had 20 or more notes, but then i was having to look at too many notes.

My mind doesn't put information into categories.  You and I start talking and my mind will just start serving things up, seemingly without my even thinking about it.  So I wondered if there would be a way to make my mobile device work like that.  That is, when I think of X, show me three other notes that I think are completely relevant to X, without my having to remember tags or notes or anything else to put my hands on those other three notes.  That was my motivation going in: have my notes serve themselves up the way my mind would serve them up if I had perfect recall (IOW, I want notes to serve themselves up based on how I actually think rather than by some latent semantic indexing algorithm).  And I want notes to serve themselves up independent of whether I remember those notes.

[Urbano Freitas 9]

Hi everyone,

I also agree this should be improved.

In my perspective could be in 2 ways:

1. Right-click in where we want to create note link, and should appear a contextual box, where we could make a search by title, tag, etc. and should give a set of results and we can just choose the note we want to link;
2. Use a initiator string, like [Link] and the contextual box should appear.

 

 

[rocku 0]

在 Thursday, August 25, 2016 在 PM6點46分, floerian1994說:

Right now it's a multistep-process to manually link two notes with each other. Coping the note link, inserting it in the other on and if necessary copy the link of the other note to link back at the initial note.

With nearly 5,000 notes in Evernote it get's more and more important to build networks, otherwise a huge amount of notes never gets looked at.

Maybe at the bottom of each note (where the 'context' section is) you could place a little search bar to enter other note (titles) to connect them with each other.
This way it would be more easier to jump between related notes and manually add such connections instead of relying on the 'context' feature.

good idea!

[DTLow 5,736]

fwiw  On my Mac I can just drag a note into another note. The link is created
Saves the copy-link step

[Rocket J. Squirrel 43]

DTLow & rocku,

If you get a chance, and if you have an iPad, please give Crusoe a try.  We built specifically to create links between Evernote notes.  But unlike the hyperlinks you create in Evernote, our links are two-way and graphical.  So you can browse your notes from link to link.  You can read about and download Crusoe here: http://crusoe.co/what-is-crusoe/

[gazumped 11,652]

HI.  Has anyone tried selecting text and using Ctrl+K (Command+K) to insert a URL?  You get a link to the URL behind the text you highlighted.

Also dragging and dropping one note into another,  or pasting the note link there,  shows the note title as a link.

[gerscha 1]

Use TheBrain (www.thebrain.com). There you can link every thought with another. The biggest Brain has over 300.000 thoughts and it still works fine and fast. In the coming new Version 9 is an intern browser where you can see the linked Evernote note and, and, and...

[DTLow 5,736]

On 2017-08-07 at 2:45 AM, J-V said:

I often work with a Project Master Note from where I link to other notes. What I'd like to see is a "Create and Link note from here”

I work on a Mac, and do something similar via scripting 

I avoid these types of ‘child links’ because they get out of date.  My process is to link the notes with a tag (Project-xxxxx) and retrieve the notes via search

[Drexler Mathias 17]

We have this CMD-J feature for very quickly do a search in evernote (or switch). If the CMD-K (insert Link) would be organized similarly, it would be perfect. Think of: During typing you pres CMD-K and get a list including recently visited webpages and search vor evernote notes - so just insert the link... Should be possible easily in Desktop Versions and makeable in mobile versions.

[4tal 0]

Yeap!

Kind of a "Links sub search" in each note - if you find another note from that search and press enter it adds a reference to current note on that note you just clicked.

 

Example:

If i want to connect my vectors note to linear algebra, machine learning and so on:

I just need to find this 2 notes on my Vectors note "Links sub search" and press enter twice...

 

[TK0047 422]

I would love a better way to connect notes. I like @Alteraf 's idea. I definitely would like to find and link a note while I am working in the note.

My ideal feature request would be a visual interface you can "spread" your notes like paper onto a canvas and see a bigger picture among your notes and drag/link as  you would like. It can help you generate new ideas or make connections that you did not have before.

MohioMap comes close to this for sure. It gives a nice, flowing visual of all your notes and your cloud storage. 

I am going to give Crusoe a try as suggested before here which seems like a good app.

[naturale 17]

 

I think so . I mean that in the way a note can connect to the related note . Because  when a note became too long I often break it into two note , and in that case it is good idea that there is a link between that two. 

[DTLow 5,736]

9 minutes ago, naturale said:

I mean that in the way a note can connect to the related note . Because  when a note became too long I often break it into two note , and in that case it is good idea that there is a link between that two. 

Note:  there is a note link feature

The screenshots are from my Mac

[jefito 5,589]

3 hours ago, naturale said:

 

I think so . I mean that in the way a note can connect to the related note . Because  when a note became too long I often break it into two note , and in that case it is good idea that there is a link between that two. 

You might also be interested in a Table of Contents note: https://blog.evernote.com/blog/2015/01/15/create-table-contents-evernote/

[naturale 17]

On 3/16/2018 at 9:42 PM, DTLow said:

Note:  there is a note link feature

The screenshots are from my Mac

 

Thanks you for the information . It is help me manage my note better . Thanks 

 

[MacherTVPeter 2]

+1 Linking notes is a multiple step procedure. In combination with the fact, that I can only open one instance of Evernote, this is a very cumbersome process right now.

[PK_C 0]

I link up notes a lot and really wish I could copy and paste links using the mobile app

[CalS 5,280]

On 6/5/2018 at 1:12 AM, MacherTV_Peter said:

+1 Linking notes is a multiple step procedure. In combination with the fact, that I can only open one instance of Evernote, this is a very cumbersome process right now.

I tend to open the target note in its own window, makes it a bit easier.  Double monitor set up helps as well.

[chandubhai 3]

I have a similar idea related to not linking improvement. That is related to finding all instances to internal links used across all notes of an account.

More elaborately in this feature request post.

Pls join this idea too,

 

[DTLow 5,736]

3 minutes ago, Dave Hiersekorn said:

On the general topic of links, it would be really helpful if we could...

1. Select a snippet of text.
2. Use a keyboard or menu command to create a NEW note with (1) the selected text as the title; and (2) hyperlinked back to the original note.

I suggest you post this as a separate request.  It's got my vote.

I'm currently using a script on my Mac.  I often create task notes from meeting minutes.

[nick.yang 3]

After discussing for so many years, why are there no anchor point functions?

Do you want to force everyone away?

[DTLow 5,736]

4 minutes ago, nick.yang said:

After discussing for so many years, why are there no anchor point functions?

Do you want to force everyone away?

Anchor point functions is a different discussion.
I posted a link below.
You're welcome to add your vote to the request.

My view is the Evernote editor/format is not suited for anchor point functions.
I use a different editor/format, and store the file as a note attachment.

 

 

[umina 0]

Linking does not even work in the current version IF THE NOTE is not synced yet.

Syncing is a slow process, especialy when you try to jump in with both feet and convert from something else.  The upload limit has killed me 3 times.  That is before I could make Evernote useful I had to give up for a month.   year later I tried again.  Same thing.  A year later I tried again.  Now I'm working on try 4.  Its gone better (I think you moved the upload limit).

Anyway I tried linking a couple of notes in a new notebook and could not make it work.  As usual I made a test case and believe the problem is that copying of an internal notes link simply does not work - unless the source note is synced.  An unsynced note can receive a note just fine of course.  I also find the page limits for OCR and file size are a real pain.  Scansnap can make and OCR these files, but it looks like they can't be used.  I have not had time to verify with the usual debug procedure.

If linking relies on the source note being synchronized YOU MUST have a way to FORCE LINK a specific note when other stuff is synchronizing,  (or it should just be automatic).  Since I first tried evernote my internet bandwidth is at least 4 times what it was.  No getting 20 Mb up and 140 Mb Down.  Evernote is still the major networking headach and bottleneck to productivity.  I'm going to comtinue my 4th attempt a bit longer, but this time its audios amigos.

[DTLow 5,736]

5 hours ago, umina said:

Linking does not even work in the current version IF THE NOTE is not synced yet.

This might be device/platform specific.
Syncing is not a requirement on Mac and IOS

[gazumped 11,652]

4 hours ago, umina said:

Linking does not even work in the current version IF THE NOTE is not synced yet.

 

4 hours ago, DTLow said:

This might be device/platform specific.

In the Windows universe it's certainly true that until you sync a note it doesn't have a UID to link from or to.  However my desktop client is set up to sync automatically once a note has some content.  Syncing can take a little while (seconds) depending on whether you are creating lots of new notes,  how busy your device connection might be with other traffic,  and how big a PDF you just added as a  attachment.  In my normal operations syncing has never (yet) been an impediment when linking notes...

 

[CalS 5,280]

 

On 4/30/2019 at 10:30 AM, umina said:

Syncing is a slow process, especialy when you try to jump in with both feet and convert from something else.  The upload limit has killed me 3 times.

Well, the first sync of a massive note load will take a while but you should be fine after that.  As a premium member that 30 GB of data if you got stopped 3 times.  A lot of stuff.

IAC, similar to @gazumped I simply click the sync icon when I have a new note I want to link in another note.  Never takes more than a couple seconds, in a steady state world anyway.  Ditto if it is an email I just sent to EN so that I can get to my local DB.  Not earth shattering stuff.  I would recommend doing whatever linking you are doing after you complete the first sync.

[M-J T 5]

I usually split the information on a topic in multiple notes. I then simply link the detailed information to a master note giving an overview of all the information on that topic. I also organise topics in a hierarchy similar to folders.

If I navigate through this information with the current link feature, I can go down very easily in the linked notes. But I cannot go up. Of course I could use the "Go back" button if I am coming from a note. But this is missing the point. There can be multiple "Up" linked notes, and I want to be able to access all of them easily, not only the one I came from.

The way around I have now, is to make at the top of the note an "Up links" section where I list the "Up" notes I want to be able to access easily from this point. This double linking is extremely painful, considering that Evernote has all the information to give this information automatically very easily.

A very easy feature to implement in Evernote would be to give the option to show all the notes linking to a specific note. This would save me a lot of time in the organisation of my data in Evernote. Most of my notes include many links to other notes. If I cannot find the master note linking all of them, it is much more difficult to find the information I am looking for. I don't think it would be difficult to implement, and it is not such an exotic feature that is user specific.

NB: Crusoe might be interesting, but I cannot test this Mac specific app. Also, we should not need a third party app to have such a basic feature.

[DTLow 5,736]

29 minutes ago, M-J T said:

A very easy feature to implement in Evernote would be to give the option to show all the notes linking to a specific note.

There's a feature request posted at https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/118809-option-to-find-all-references-to-internal-link-of-the-note/

You can indicate your support using the vote button at the top left corner of the discussion

>>The way around I have now, is to make at the top of the note an "Up links" section where I list the "Up" notes I want to be able to access easily from this point. 

I do something similar: repeat a Table of Contents at the top of each note, with the current note highlighted.  At the very least, a link to the master note

 

[M-J T 5]

3 hours ago, DTLow said:

There's a feature request posted at https://discussion.evernote.com/topic/118809-option-to-find-all-references-to-internal-link-of-the-note/

You can indicate your support using the vote button at the top left corner of the discussion

Thank you for the link. I have added my vote and commented on it. But as it is written, it is a request for a search function.

That request has a low visibility, with very specific use described. So it is probably still better to accumulate the votes here and gather different ways to improve the notes linking.

I don't want to search to find the up links: I need to have a simple navigation tool between connected notes. This would bring Evernote to the next level of organisation.

[Billbert 6]

At least make it possible to copy the link to a note while within that note, rather than having to highlight it in the notes list, right click and selecting "Copy Internal Link."  It's so cumbersome, requiring multiple steps.  I agree that there should be options to edit the text of an existing hyperlink without changing the hyperlink.

[Pere 27]

On 11/6/2017 at 2:59 PM, alteraf said:

I would also just like to add here that a functionality similar to that of Google Docs would be great (see attached image). In that case, if you add a link (ctrl-k) you can just start typing and it searches other google drive documents as well as the web. This would be great for Evernote: search existing notes (based on titles and tags?) and the web. 

Of course, different users have different needs, but I think that the reactions here show that an improved implementation of linking notes in Evernote would be very welcome. The current method sooms to be too cumbersome for most users, and for me it distracts from my actual work while taking notes.

 

Certainly, this approach would make me much more productive using Evernote. Now, I create less links than I should, because it is a multi-step process. Interlinking more notes, would make me more productive and would help in finding information.

Ctr-K should open a dialog like the current one, but that searches for note titles when writing a text, thus allowing to link other notes by title.

[JustinJ 5]

Yes please add this!!

[JustinJ 5]

The lack of This is the main reason I’m considering switching platforms. Note linking is so cumbersome here compared to Obsidian. Please add this!!

[PinkElephant 8,071]

There is something mentioned in release notes to enable creating a link between 2 notes by dragging one on top of the other.

Have not seen it in action, but I think it will be a nice extension to the current linking function.

[everajl 2]

On 7/8/2021 at 3:38 PM, PinkElephant said:

There is something mentioned in release notes to enable creating a link between 2 notes by dragging one on top of the other.

Have not seen it in action, but I think it will be a nice extension to the current linking function.

Which release notes? Can you link? 

[Dr. Bull 19]

2 hours ago, everajl said:

Which release notes? Can you link? 

In Evernote 10.18.3 under the help menu select release notes, then select 'coming soon'.  Then you will see the following:

Coming Soon 📣

- Tag your notes quicker! Drag a tag from the sidebar directly into a note to apply it to that note.

- Need to link to one note from another? Drag it from the note list into the editor and Evernote will automatically create a link for you.

- We're working on a new web page for non-Evernote users to make it easier for them to see their assigned tasks and mark them as complete.

[Mike P 2,624]

3 hours ago, Dr. Bull said:

Need to link to one note from another? Drag it from the note list into the editor and Evernote will automatically create a link for you.

The functionality already exists but it inserts a web style link rather than an app link so is of limited usefulness. Hopefully this will be corrected before they tell us it has been completed.

[JustinJ 5]

It’s just unfortunate the linking workflow is archaic even with the minor suggested tweak to the desktop methodology.
 

It would be so nice to have back links. Also have the links update automatically when the note titles change.

 

i hope they invest some time and update this linking paradigm as it’s a really powerful feature.
 

I would love to stay in Evernote and not spend the time switching to a whole new system.

[MohanMathew 3]

Nice idea. +1

[abdc 1]

Six years after OP posted, Evernote release notes now mention:

"Need to link to one note from another? Drag it from the note list into the editor and Evernote will automatically create a link for you."

Waiting to see how they will implement this, and will it include backlinks and automatic link updates.

 

[agsteele 2,942]

The problem with adding to a six year old post is that the issue was with different software and much water has passed under the bridge. But thanks for finding a relevant thread rather than starting something new.

The good news is that with EN v10.25 desktop app running under Windows you can drag and drop from the note list into a different note. This creates a0 link to the dragged note. It works with a standard note in the application as well as with a blank note popped out into its own window.

I doubt it includes backlinks but it does appear to happily follow moves of the original note. Not surprising since the note has a unique ID which is what is linked to. The link text does not change if the original note title is amended. But the link still works.

Where the biggest issue seems to be, for me, is that the link created is an external link so following it opens the note in the web browser rather than the desktop application.

So this function seems, to me, be a work in progress.

[PinkElephant 8,071]

Nobody told about backlinks and other stuff some users may be dreaming of.

Take EN by their word: It is about creating a unidirectional link to another note by dragging a note on top of another.

That is it - run some tests, be happy when it works, keep on dreaming. If you want to do more than dreaming, send feedback to EN or issue a support ticket.

[laurelei 1]

Adding another voice here - This is a simple feature that would make a huge difference to me.

I'd like to be able to add an internal link to another note the same way I add a web link - select the text that I want to be a link, click the link icon in the editor toolbar, and search for a note by name rather than paste in a URL. Then I'd click the note name from the search results and an internal link would be created for my highlighted text.

I think these mapping/linking tools are particularly useful for users like me who have used Evernote for many years and have hundreds or thousands of notes to wade through. I'd hope Evernote would favor features needed by their long-time users, but seeing as this note in 6 years old, I'm not so sure.

[gazumped 11,652]

23 hours ago, laurelei said:

select the text that I want to be a link, click the link icon in the editor toolbar, and search for a note by name rather than paste in a URL

Hi.  You understood that Evernote allow you to drag one note onto another to create links between them?  No typing,  no clicking,  just drag.  If you prefer something other than the note title as a link,  it should be possible to edit it as required.

[Pere 27]

In my case, drag and drop creates a link to the web version of the note, instead of an internal link, which is a mess. I'm using Evernote Desktop for Windows, the last version. 

[Mike P 2,624]

3 minutes ago, Pere said:

In my case, drag and drop creates a link to the web version of the note, instead of an internal link, which is a mess. I'm using Evernote Desktop for Windows, the last version. 

See my post here:

 

[The Jakes 1]

23 hours ago, gazumped said:

Hi.  You understood that Evernote allow you to drag one note onto another to create links between them?  No typing,  no clicking,  just drag.  If you prefer something other than the note title as a link,  it should be possible to edit it as required.

I also stan this feature request. Specifically, being able to quickly search for the note to link to in the link dialog without needing to move to the mouse. Highlight text, CTRL/CMD-K, tab, tab, type in search term, select and hit enter. Like others have posted before, this workflow has been implemented in several other apps (Confluence, Google Docs) and users love it.

The 'drag to link' functionality is fine, but requires that you leave your current note to find the note to link to and somehow keep it in view while you go back so you can drag it on.

[Mike P 2,624]

19 hours ago, The Jakes said:

The 'drag to link' functionality is fine, but requires that you leave your current note to find the note to link to and somehow keep it in view while you go back so you can drag it on.

If you open the current note in a separate window you can leave it open, go to the main app to find the note you want to link to and then drag it into the still open current note. (On Windows anyway)

You can also do the whole operation of finding the note to link to using the keyboard shortcuts. Specifically using alt-ctrl-F to open search, arrow keys to highlight the required note, alt-ctrl-L to copy the link address of the found note and finally ctrl-V to paste the link back in the current note.

[John U 1]

On 8/25/2016 at 8:42 AM, gazumped said:

Not sure about changing the UI to any degree,  but having a way to create links (and if necessary new  notes) easily by [[bracketing]] words and some way to maintain and/or check for and repair broken links would be good... 

I would love this wiki like feature - now to find this feature request and up vote it....

[rs4 2]

On 1/13/2022 at 12:47 AM, John U said:

I would love this wiki like feature - now to find this feature request and up vote it....

Me too. This is the only thing that I expect from EN.

[fragefrank 23]

Good: with todays update, one can drag & drop links from the side panel into the editor. 

Improvement: allows drag and drop from the search result list into the current note in the editor. Currently, if you click on an item of the search results, it always takes you to that note. If the note could be dragged and dropper into the currently open note would be a huge step. 

 

 

[PinkElephant 8,071]

There is an easy way to enable this: Open the first note (the one you want to paste into) in a new window.

You can now select from a search list, doing multiple selects if you want, and drag them to the open note window. Drop them, and the links are inserted. You can repeat this process as often as you want, for example building an individual link list from several searches.

[fragefrank 23]

Yes. But all that 'extra attention' just to bypass Evernote's continuing inconsistencies and inflexibilities always breaks the workflow. It should be EASY to do things like that, from which ever context you are currently working in, so you can think about the work I'm doing, not having to think about strategies do deal with Evernote to enable a simple thing like linking to a note. 

Why not at least allow drag and drop from the search result panel ? (If not implementing the nowadays common inline linking option via typing [[ ]] )
 

 

[gazumped 11,652]

Looks like Evernote will never get a break - when they introduce requested features,  they'll just get "why didn't you do it differently"...

I just tried dragging a link from a side list in the all notes display onto the random note that was open onscreen,  and got a perfect link immediately. 

Same works if I open a new note in a new window and drag/ drop one or more notes from a search result.

Don't see that having to open a note in a separate window is a major interruption to your flow...  but there's always Feature Requests or feedback to ask for enhancements.

[PinkElephant 8,071]

3 hours ago, fragefrank said:

Yes. But all that 'extra attention' just to bypass Evernote's continuing inconsistencies and inflexibilities always breaks the workflow. It should be EASY to do things like that, from which ever context you are currently working in, so you can think about the work I'm doing, not having to think about strategies do deal with Evernote to enable a simple thing like linking to a note. 

Why not at least allow drag and drop from the search result panel ? (If not implementing the nowadays common inline linking option via typing [[ ]] )

To me it seems you expect EN to build the system EXACTLY as YOU want it.

No, they build the system for 200 million users, and YOU can decide to use it, or to drop it.

All forum users except those few having a "Staff badge are not employees - just other users trying to help.

If you want to argue, go ahead, send feedback to EN or issue a support ticket.

For ME the solution with the receiving note in an extra window is picture perfect, because it allows me to draw notes from all lists, searches, filters, etc. without having to touch or reopen the receiving note even a single time after opening it. And because I am happy with the new feature as it is, gave my best comment and like some personal efficiency, I am now out of this thread.

[fragefrank 23]

I did not mean to offend anyone. Nor do I want to argue.
I'm trying to give feedback. 

This forum post is a 'general feature request'. I agree with the original post that 'Note linking' in Evernote should be improved. And wanted to give my voice to it: if drag-and-drop is now available, enable it not only from the side list, but also (especially in my case!) from the search list. 

I'm assuming that also Evernote developers reads this. Thus explaining why your solution doesn't work for me well yet.
Great if it works well for you! 

( I can not decide to use or drop EN, I'm locked-in unfortunately ... )

 

 

 

 

[Mike P 2,624]

5 hours ago, fragefrank said:

Improvement: allows drag and drop from the search result list into the current note in the editor. Currently, if you click on an item of the search results, it always takes you to that note. If the note could be dragged and dropper into the currently open note would be a huge step. 

For me the trick is simply to click on the note and drag it. Don't click and release because, as you say, it will obviously change the focus to that note.

This is also the problem when selecting multiple notes to drag. In this case you will inevitably loose the focus from the taarget note. i've described a workaround here:

 

[Mike P 2,624]

6 hours ago, fragefrank said:

Good: with todays update, one can drag & drop links from the side panel into the editor. 

Thanks, that isn't documented. So to clarify you can copy shortcuts that are notes (ie not tags, searches etc) from the shortcut list into a new note and create a link in the new note.

[PinkElephant 8,071]

You can open a note in a new window, and then drag from all lists, including multiple selections into that open window.

You get the same notes list as with pasting for a TOC, with he note titles serving as list items, and the links behind it.

It is just more flexible and natural to select the notes and simply drag them over - instead of selecting copy link and insert it. In effect it is not different, but IMHO a nice workflow element.

[fragefrank 23]

1 hour ago, Mike P said:

For me the trick is simply to click on the note and drag it. Don't click and release because, as you say, it will obviously change the focus to that note.

On my side, that doesn't work for notes in the search list. By that I mean the results you see in the white box that pops up when you enter something in the search field at the left top. The moment I click on an item in that list - even if to drag it without releasing - it switches the currently active note to that item. 

What would be super helpful is what you describe: if you drag it into an open note, it inserts a link to itself in that note. 

 

59 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

You can open a note in a new window, and then drag from all lists, including multiple selections into that open window.

On my side, you can't drag and drop from this search list into an open window.

 

[PinkElephant 8,071]

This is no search result, these are search proposals dynamically based on your current typing. Once you click on one, you select it, and this makes it the active note. There is no search list created, because EN believes you found what you were looking for.

A search result list is what you get after entering your search term (maybe adding some filters) and hit enter.

Then the search results list shows under the filters area. You can freely select, drag & drop from this list.

[fragefrank 23]

5 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

This is no search result, these are search proposals dynamically based on your current typing. Once you click on one, you select it, and this makes it the active note. There is no search list created, because EN believes you found what you were looking for.

Then my feature request is: create links by drag and drop from the search proposals. Usually, they contain the note I'm looking for, and this would be a straight forward way of linking notes without having todo any extra steps. 

[PinkElephant 8,071]

This is not possible - the search proposals are just that, a proposal. It needs to be clicked to activate it, and this makes it the active note.

This is how it works, and usually you want exactly that: Open it quickly and easily to use the content. Taking this away just to make it „linkable“ means negating the main use case just to enable a far less relevant use case.

My personal opinion - you can send your request to EN through feedback or a support ticket.

[fragefrank 23]

35 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

This is not possible - the search proposals are just that, a proposal. It needs to be clicked to activate it, and this makes it the active note.

I'm not understanding what the difficulty in this thread is. Evernote can make this possible, and I'm suggesting that they should do that.

36 minutes ago, PinkElephant said:

My personal opinion - you can send your request to EN through feedback or a support ticket.

I've described the feature as a request in this threat, which is under 'general feature requests' and about improving note linking.

It sounds to me that you find this inappropriate. Is that so ? Could you help me understand why ?