Automagically keeping track of related tiddlers

[Diego Mesa]

Hello,

I am trying to think of a good way to capture the idea of "Related" Tiddlers. Right now in [[Topic 1]] I manually type in:

''Related:''

* [[Topic 2]]
* [[Topic 3]]

But I also have to copy/paste/edit this in the tiddlers of topics 2 and 3. Later on, if I have a new topic, [[Topic 4]], I'd have to go back and change everything. I think some system that automatically displays this in Tiddler footers/tabs would be ddesireable, though Im not sure how to handle circular references, etc.

Are there currently any standard solutions to address this?

[PMario]

Hi,
There is no simple solution for this.

IMO using tags is the closest way here, for topics that belong together.

-m

[Mark S.]

If by "related" you mean tiddlers that link to each other, you can use the backlinks filter operator to generate a footer containing links to tiddlers that link to the current tiddler.

[coda coder]

You could try tiddlymap -- though I imagine it goes much further than you're asking for.

http://tiddlymap.org/

[RichardWilliamSmith]

You could give each Topic tiddler a tag to say it's a topic and then a field that lists the related tiddlers. Transclude that field as a list if you want it to appear in the body of the tiddlers. You can add a tiddler to the view template if you want to do that automatically (for all the tiddlers with the topic tag)

You can then bring all those fields together in on place that lets you edit all the 'related' fields. That way, when you add a new topic you'll have a central place to update everything.

[Diego Mesa]

Thank you all for your recommendations. I will think about this more!

I was also considering having a "Relationships" Tiddler where I would just list relationships like this:

* Topic8, Topic9, Topic1

* Topic1, Topic3, Topic5

* Topic5, Topic7

And then (somehow), having a footer, or info-tab that, for Topic1 for example says:

This tiddler is related to: [[Topic8]], [[Topic9]], [[Topic3]], [[Topic5]]

I will think more about this topic. 

[TonyM]

Diego,

Faced with similar needs to you I usually make full use of Tags, However are you aware of the following?

• If you link to [[another tiddler]] within the text the other tiddler can see this under the info toolbar button > Reference
• This can be listed using filters
• If you transclude {{another tiddler}} in your text you can search for its use using advanced search > Standard > {{another tiddler}}
• I think you can automate this with a Search operator in a filter
• Or the {{Transcluded tiddler}} could have a link to itself  [[Open|Transcluded tiddler]] So that when transcluded you can click and "open"
• If you use the excise editor toolbar button you can excise a block of text and put it in another tiddler tagged with the current one and choose to link or transclude the new tiddler.
• Building content using the new hear is a great way to structure your tiddlers. start at the top on the [[subjectname]] tiddler as soon as the new tiddler is created eg Topic 1, Topic 2, Topic 3 it will be tagged [[subjectname]] thus linking all topics as siblings.
• And of course you can Add any tiddler as a tag
• Insert any tiddler name into the body text using the editor toolbar with the link symbol, including a lookup function - just start typing the name.
• You may even choose to use some footnote plugin to annotate your related tiddlers

Further, If you want to keep the related tiddlers out of the text try using a macro like this to create a linked (by name) tiddler.

\define tiddlernotes() [[Tiddler Notes|$(currentTiddler)$-Notes]]

Use macro as <<tiddlernotes>>

or

\define relatedtiddler() [[related Tiddler Notes|$(currentTiddler)$-related]]

use macro as <<relatedtiddler>>

• You can then use the tiddlername-related tiddler to place as many related tiddler info you want.
  
• The Above macro(s) can be in a tiddler tagged $:/tags/Macro to make it a "global" macro
• You can also place <<relatedtiddler>> in a tiddler tagged $:/tags/ViewTemplate to make it appear below every tiddler
• note: rename the tiddlername-note or tiddlername-related tiddlers if you rename the original tiddler.

The future

Consider using fields and list-ops to build, capture and locate information on different relationships between tiddlers.

Regards

Tony

[Ramu Rajasekharan]

Here's what I do.

I've a tag for all my notes, and I've created a $:/_ui/ViewTemplate/related-links tiddler and tagged it with $:/tags/ViewTemplate.
Inside the tiddler, I've a <$list filter="[all[current]tag[notes]] "> list so that it shows up only on my notes tiddlers. This way you could have a footer.

And there I list all the tiddlers that link to that particular tiddler and this shows up in all my notes tiddlers.

I'm planning to add a textbox and button which would help me add tiddlers to the list field of the current tiddler but I've never gotten time to do it yet.
I'd prefer a list field over linking because it'd work despite renaming tiddlers.