Zettelkasten

Posts tagged “hyperlink”

Backlinking Is Not Very Useful -- Often Even Harmful

Disclaimer: I talked with Christian about what backlinks are. I don’t mean it as a technical concept like software and web developers would use the term. To me, a backlink is a link that allows you to go to files that refer to the very note you are looking at. Practically, it does not matter how the backlink is generated, by hand or presented to you by your software. Automatic backlinks are not only automatic when there is software that is showing them for you. If you create a backlink apparatus by habit it is still automatic. The automatization software would then be in your head.

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No, Luhmann Was Not About Folgezettel

I follow a principle that Ido Portal put nicely into words: Principles are higher than techniques. Principles produce techniques in an instant.
—Ido Portal During my journey of developing the Zettelkasten Method, I recall two phases: I collected features. These are the techniques you can use to develop a complex system of concepts, statements, arguments and models that make something we call a Zettelkasten, a second brain, which is more than just a second memory.

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Why You Should Set Links Manually and Not Rely on Search Alone

In the age of lightning fast full-text search, what are links in the archive of your notes good for? In short, search queries are deterministic means to get to Zettel notes: they produce the same results every time. Links are hand-picked references. The idea that makes you create a link is unique, and so is the resulting link. It’s much more personal and thus better suited to help you think.

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