Add Bidirectional Links

[deobald]

Structuring notes as a graph has always been a favourite system of folks who choose to keep their notes in a wiki (or even just straight-up vanilla HTML). However, it seems that Roam Research has really convinced people that a directed graph (aka "one-way links") is a bad idea.

I'm inclined to agree. I think a lot of us wind up using multiple tools (wikis, mind maps, phone note apps, text files, paper) to do the work of one tool because this graph model is missing in most of our document-oriented tools like a paper notepad or Google Keep. Most note / outliner / journal tools make the mistake of organizing notes like Windows 3.1: instead of the completely insane metaphor of folders inside of folders inside of folders inside of folders we have the perhaps even more insane metaphor of sub-lists inside of sub-lists inside of sub-lists.

Hierarchies are bad. Or, at least, they're a bad default tool of organization.

Flat is better than nested.

Bidirectional links between notes turn your "list" of notes into a flat graph. ❤️

[blackqueentech]

@deobald What would this look like from a UI perspective? Would it be that when you link to a note , there is a linked reference to the source at that note?

For example, if you're on note A and there is a link to note B, when you click it to go to note B, on note B there is a link to note A at the top? I think a better description of what this could look like will help with designing a solution.

[deobald]

Hi @blackqueentech

Would it be that when you link to a note , there is a linked reference to the source at that note?

Yes, that's roughly how this usually works. There are variations, but a simple collection of backlinks (as a list) is usually how it's done.

on note B there is a link to note A at the top?

Generally, backlinks sit in a backlinks / references section at the bottom of any given page/note. If they're placed at the top, a page which is "popular" in the graph will fill up with a long list of backlinks before its actual content. Here's a screenshot of how Roam Research does it:

There's nothing special about this... and certainly nothing fancy. I'd suggest that Press go about backlinks in roughly the same way. Keep it simple.

In some software they're hidden from view entirely, but I'd recommend against that because it reduces the backlinks to a form of hidden metadata and discourages the user from walking their own graph of notes, which is a large part of why people find them useful.

[blackqueentech]

An example of an implementation is very helpful in understanding this. Thanks for clarifying @deobald.