Linking two notes possible?

[orrenm]

Just when I thought I had a pretty good handle on how to use Storyist, I find I want to do something that I think should be possible...but I don't know how.

 

Here's what I want to do: I have written a Notebook Entry (lets call it "Planet research"), and there is a word within this notebook entry I want to link to another note (let's call it "Alien Description."). The end result should operate like a web page, where there is a hyperlinked word within Planet Research that if I mouse over it and click, it will open Alien Description. But I can't figure out how to make that happen.

 

If I have a URL, I can selected it and choose "Make Link" from the context menu, but not for a non-URL.

 

I looked up Bookmarks in the manual, thinking it might allow me to do this, but bookmarks appear to just let me quickly navigate from the project items to a spot in text, not from one spot in text to another spot in another text document.

 

Am I asking to do something that Storyist can't do, or have I overlooked something obvious?

 

Thanks,

Orren

[marguerite]

The fastest way to do what you want to do is to type (for example) "See [[Alien Description]]." in the first note (the quote marks are not part of the stuff you actually type. The double brackets are).

 

If the note exists, Storyist links to it. If not, Storyist creates it.

Best,

M

[Steve E]

M is right, of course. But...

 

You can always drag the Note from the Project View into the other Note. It will appear as a blue link named for the Note. But you wanted to use a specific word for the Note. Simple: [[Alien Description|Zippy]]. The upright slash (i.e., "|") separates the Note name from the word you want to use as the link.

 

I thought this was in the User's Manual.

- Thoth

[orrenm]

Thanks M and Thoth! That did the trick!

 

I thought this was in the User's Manual.

 

Interesting you mention the manual. I'm afraid that it's rather hard to navigate, and was of little use in this case.

 

First of all, I couldn't find any section in the table of contents called "Notebook Entries" which is what I was looking for. There also is no index. So I did a search in Preview for "notebook" and found a few places where the word notebook appeared, but it gave me no real information. On p.5, there is this entry:

 

Using a simple Wiki syntax, you can quickly create links to any item in your project, and even create the items themselves. And when you do, Storyist maintains your links for you. If you change the title of a notebook entry, the titles of any links to it update automatically. If you move a plot point to a new section, plot point links in your Section Sheets adjust accordingly.

 

However, I have no idea what "a simple Wiki syntax" is. So from that, I took the fact that you can do what I wanted to do...but that didn't tell me how. (M did above, thanks!)

 

The drag and drop suggestion was fantastic, BTW! But if it's in the manual, I never found it myself when I did a search for the word Notebook.

 

Orren

[marguerite]

M is right, of course. But...

 

You can always drag the Note from the Project View into the other Note. It will appear as a blue link named for the Note. But you wanted to use a specific word for the Note. Simple: [[Alien Description|Zippy]]. The upright slash (i.e., "|") separates the Note name from the word you want to use as the link.

 

I thought this was in the User's Manual.

- Thoth

I didn't know that (either the drag and drop tip or the rename one). Thanks!

 

I agree with Orren that "a simple Wiki syntax" is not very informative for those of us without a clue as to what "Wiki syntax" entails. Details on how to link with [[double brackets|alternate name]] would be a useful addendum to the user manual. Also, the Wiki links work only with notebook entries. (There is an open feature request to link by typing [[character:Voldemort]], say, but the programming is apparently quite complex.)

best,

M

[Steve E]

I agree that the User's Guide is hard to navigate. If you're still interested, the Wiki syntax is explained in the Storyist 2 User's Guide on pages 33-34, currently, under the heading "Creating an External Link". Also, if you check the "Getting Started Guide" (available in Storyist Help) and check its Notebook Note called "About Wiki Links", you will find a full description.

 

I know. Nobody ever reads the manual.

- Thoth.

[orrenm]

I know. Nobody ever reads the manual.

 

I write them. You can't expect me to read them, too!

 

(FWIW, I wrote sections for the manual for Apple Logic Pro. Apple has some of the strictest manual guidelines I've ever encountered.)

 

I think the writing itself in the Storyist manual is quite good. But I'd suggest it needs to take as many user search variations as possible into account. This is something I learned from Apple Logic Pro. This doesn't mean repeating information. But for example, if the Wiki Syntax is explained on page 33-34, then on page 5 where Wiki Syntax is mentioned, there should have been a reference to p33-34. There should be a section called "About notebook entries" or the like that includes much information on notebook entries, with page references to information elsewhere. Etc.

 

I would also suggest the manual could use a complete index. I know, this is hard to do—or expensive. At Cengage, we hire out to indexers who generally charge some $5/page. But in the end I think it's worth it once a manual gets past 10-15 pages or so.

 

But all this is academic; I'm glad I can do what I want to do!

 

Orren

[Steve E]

I think part of the problem with the Guide is that it is still being treated as a work in progress. For example, there is a version of the Guide (not the one currently on the Storyist Web site) where the Wiki syntax is explained on page 38. How can you build an index if things are still moving around? (There is software for this. Nisus, for example, allows you to "refresh" your index on the fly.) Fortunately there is still the Search feature. But as you (Orren) pointed out, it is not always successful in finding what you want.

 

Steve? And index for the Guide?

- Thoth.

[Steve]

I would also suggest the manual could use a complete index. I know, this is hard to do—or expensive.

 

You can always use search to find what you're looking for. For example:

• Type "wiki syntax" into the search field in the Storyist Help menu. The first topic is "Working with Links," which describes how to create a Wiki link and includes a reference to "Editing a Link" in the See Also section.
  
• Type "site:storyist.com wiki syntax" into the search field in your browser. The second hit is the "Working with Text" chapter that contains the "Working with Links" section.
  
• Open the PDF version of the User's Guide and type "wiki links" in the search field. You'll get a number of hits, one of which is in the "Working with Links" section.
  

 

-Steve