Plotra DocsLinks and backlinks
Link a scene to its characters and places once, and find everything about them from then on. Wiki-links, embeds, backlinks, unlinked mentions and the graph.
Links are what turn a folder of documents into a vault. Link a scene to the characters in it, and each character's page can tell you every scene they appear in. You stop searching your own draft for where someone was last seen.
Links are part of every project; no module needs to be on. Making one needs edit access to the note you are writing in.
Making a link
Type [[ in the editor. A list of notes appears; keep typing to narrow it, and press Enter. Link to note in the block menu (/) does the same.
| You type | You get |
|---|---|
[[Mira Vale | A link to the note called Mira Vale |
[[Mira Vale#Backstory | A link to the "Backstory" heading inside that note, shown as "Mira Vale › Backstory" |
[[Mira Vale|the archivist | A link to Mira Vale that reads "the archivist" |
[[Mira Vale#Backstory|her past | A link to that heading that reads "her past" |
You pick the note from the list, so there is no need to type the closing brackets. The parts after # and | can be typed before you choose.
A link goes to a note, or to a heading in a note. There are no links to a single paragraph.
The link picker
- It searches names and aliases. A note found by an alias is marked "alias". Aliases are set in the Properties panel; see The vault and the binder.
- Exact matches come first, then names that start with what you typed, then names with a word that starts with it, then names that contain it. Up to 12 notes are shown, each with the folder it is in.
- Every kind of note can be linked except a folder.
- If no note has exactly that name, the last entry is Create "…". It makes a new note with that name, without opening it, and links to it.
- After
#, the list changes to Headings in the note: its headings of levels 1 to 3, and in a script its scene and act headings. Up to 30 are shown; keep typing to narrow them. - With a shared world, a second group, From and the world's title, offers up to six of its pages.
Opening and previewing
| Do this | And |
|---|---|
| Hover over a link | A preview card opens after a moment. |
| Click | The note opens in the current tab. A heading link scrolls to that heading. |
⌘-click | It opens in a new tab. |
⌘⌥-click | It opens to the side. |
The preview shows the note's name and kind, its synopsis, and the start of its text: about 700 characters. For a heading link it starts below that heading. A preview is kept for 30 seconds, so text written in the last half-minute may be missing from it.
Embeds
Put an exclamation mark in front, ![[Note, or choose Embed note in the block menu, and the note's content is shown inside the page you are writing. The embed is a live, read-only view: change the original and the embed changes too.
- An embed is a block of its own, with the note's name at the top and an Open button. Open takes the same
⌘and⌘⌥clicks as a link. - A long note scrolls inside the embed, which is at most 480 pixels tall.
- An embed always shows the whole note.
![[Note#Headingadds the heading to the label, and Open goes to it. - Embeds can nest: an embedded note can show its own embeds. A third level reads "Embedded too deeply to show here."
- Pages of a shared world can be linked but not embedded.
- An embed counts as a link. The embedded note lists the page under Backlinks as "embedded".
Backlinks
The Links tab of the inspector shows, for the note that is open, three lists. Open it with ⌘⇧B or "Show backlinks" in the command palette. Each list has a count and can be folded.
Backlinks
Every note that links to this one, once each, with the sentence or paragraph around each link so you can see why. Three other things count as a link here:
- an embed, shown as "embedded";
- a property that points at this note, shown as "as property" and the property's key, such as "pov". A scene whose POV is this character is a backlink;
- a citation of a research note. See Research and sources.
Notes in the trash are left out. An empty list reads "Nothing links here yet. Type [[ in another note."
Outgoing links
Every note this one links to, once each. Links through properties and embeds are included.
Unlinked mentions
Places where this note's name, or one of its aliases, appears as plain text without a link. This is how you find the three scenes where you wrote a character's name before you gave them a page.
Each mention shows the words around it. Link opens that note and turns the mention into a link. If the text was an alias or differs from the note's name, the link keeps reading as you wrote it.
- A mention is a whole word or phrase, in any capitalisation. "Mira" doesn't match "Miranda".
- Names and aliases shorter than two characters are ignored.
- Link is greyed out for a note you can't edit.
- If the text changed after the list was made, you are told "That mention has changed. Try again in a moment."
- The list holds up to 100 mentions, from up to 200 notes.
In all three lists, click a note to open it in the current tab, or ⌘-click for a new tab.
How fresh the lists are
The list of links is rebuilt from the text a few seconds after you stop typing. The Links tab then refreshes every ten seconds while the window is visible. A new link takes a moment to show up as a backlink. A note keeps up to 500 links in the index.
Renaming, trash and broken links
A link points at the note itself, not at its name.
| What happens | What the link does |
|---|---|
| The note is renamed | Every link to it shows the new name at once. A link with its own text, [[Mira Vale|the archivist, keeps that text. |
| The note is moved | Nothing changes. |
| The note is moved to the trash | The link is struck through and can't be clicked, and an embed of it reads "You don't have access to this note." Restore the note and both work again. |
| The note is deleted for good, or you can't open it | The link reads Restricted note with a lock. An embed reads "You don't have access to this note." |
| A heading is renamed or removed | The link still shows the old heading and opens the note without scrolling. Headings are matched by their text, so make the link again. |
Because links follow the note, there is no "broken links" report to work through. Use the graph's orphans to find notes that nothing links to.
The graph
The graph view (⌘G) draws every note as a dot and every link as a line. "Open local graph of current note" in the command palette draws only the note you are in and what surrounds it. Filters, groups, orphans and the local graph are covered on World views.
Shared worlds
A project can use another project in the same workspace as its world: a book and its sequel, or a series, a show and a game, can share one set of characters and places.
Setting it up
In Project settings, the General tab, choose the project under Shared world bible. "None: this project keeps its own world" is the default. Changing it needs someone who manages the project. See Project settings.
- Only other projects of the same workspace that you can open are offered.
- It goes one level deep. A project that itself uses a shared world can't be chosen, and a world's own world is not followed.
- A project can't be its own world.
What you get
- In the Codex, a switch at the top between This project and the world's title. The world's characters, locations and world entries are listed with their properties and canon status. They are read-only here: edit them in their own project.
- In the link picker, the world's pages under From and the world's title, once you have typed something.
- In the text, a link to a shared page has a small planet beside it. Hovering shows its name and the world it is from. Click it to open the page in the Codex;
⌘-click opens the Codex to the side.
Only characters, locations and world entries are shared. Scenes, notes, research and the world's releases stay in their own project.
Limits
- Access follows the world project. Someone who can open your project but not the world sees those links as Restricted note, and gets no world switch in the Codex.
- No backlinks or graph. Links into the shared world don't appear in the Links tab of either project, or in the graph.
- No embeds and no hover preview for shared pages.
- The spoiler horizon doesn't apply to shared pages: the Codex shows all of them, whatever release you are looking at.
- If the shared world is set back to None, existing links to its pages read Restricted note. Choosing the same world again brings them back.