Links are such a vital part of connecting information and ideas on the web that we often take them for granted. It’s only when they’re missing or they don’t work as expected that we take notice. Today’s release brings Workflowy closer to present standards for modern note taking applications, with our own unique touch of course.
We’re pleased to announce that our latest version of links is now available for all users. External links have been available for quite a while, what we’re adding today is
- The ability to view all references of internal links
- The ability to create new items from an inline link
- The ability to create links inline by typing [[
Great, what does that mean?
Let’s briefly go over how internal links work in Workflowy after this update.
- You can create internal links – links from one part of your Workflowy to another part
- You can create internal links using the keyboard shortcut [[
- You can view all the references of a linked item – where you’re linking to that item
- You can link to an item that doesn’t exist yet – this process creates the item at the same time
What can I use this for?
Link to a related item
One of the main uses for links is simply to connect two different pieces of information.
Say you’re writing a todo list, and you want to remember to check out some links you have in your Websites to check out section. You can create a link to that section from your todo list and when you get to that item, simply click the link and start checking out those websites.
This makes the process faster and keeps you focused, no need to dig around for the list with the links.
Keep track of references
This is great for when you’re doing research and need to keep track of how different pieces of information are related to each other.
Say you’re researching some topic and taking notes. You can create an item for each source of information you use, like a digital bibliography card. Then, when you’re taking notes, you can link to that reference and continue working.
Next when you want to review all the places where you referenced a source, you just open the resource and you’ll see a ‘Backlinks’ section at the bottom that displays all the places where that item is referenced.
Create placeholders for the future
When you’re in the zone and capturing your brilliant ideas, the last thing you want to do is get distracted.
Say you just came up with a brilliant idea that’s going to revolutionize the world. You start trying to capture your idea but then you remember something important. Maybe you just thought of how to raise a lot of money to fund your idea.
Instead of stopping your flow, navigating to a different section of your Workflowy, creating a new bullet and capturing your idea there – you can simply create a link to that idea and return to it later.
This way you don’t get distracted from what you’re currently working on and there’s no risk that you’ll forget about the other thing.
And that’s just the start
There are many more ways to take advantage of links and backlinks. Here are some ideas to get those creative juices flowing.
- Personal CRM – Create a bullet for each person where you keep important details like their preferences, birthdate, contact details etc. Then when you meet with them or talk to them, create a link to their personal bullet. The references section then becomes a running log of all your interactions.
- Topic vaults – Create bullets for topics you’re interested in. Then whenever something you read, watch or listen to is related to one of those topics, just create a link to it. Over time you can review the reference section of your vault and see everything you’ve consumed related to each topic.
- Task tracker – Say you keep a running log of all your activities. You can easily group related tasks by linking them to one central project. Then you can review the reference section of the project to see all the related items together.
Special thanks to the Workflowy user group for these use-cases.
How do I create links?
You can create links using the bullet menu or the inline method. Note that only the inline method allows you to create an item and link to it at the same time.
The inline method
- Type double brackets [[
- Start typing the name of the item you want to link to. A search widget will pop up with suggestions.
- Use the arrow keys to navigate to the correct item and hit ENTER
- If the item you want to link does not exist, navigate to the ‘New x in‘ options at the bottom
- Choose to either create the new in the last used location or choose a new location
Using the bullet menu
- Open the bullet menu of the item you want to link to
- Click ‘Copy internal link‘ – You’ll see a green confirmation message
- Paste the link anywhere you want
Let us know what you think of the update and how you’re using it/planning to use it in the comments below!
Song referenced in the title 🎶