How to create internal Links in Documents like anchor in html?

[_Martin]

Hi,
I´m looking for a solution to link in Anytype a text-link to an other part in the same Object.
Currently I can only find a solution to link to other objects with /link to set a link to an other “external” object:

But this is not helpfull or working to connect parts in the same document!
This makes large documents very user-UN-friendly for use.
It usually means a lot of scrolling effort.
And I have to scroll a lot and often I over-scroll the desired element because of the massive quantity of content.
So without internal linking solution I lose a lot of time.
A possibility to set simple links would make the work on large documents extremely easier.

Bye the way: Why not split into several small objects???
The search function over several objects is currently “nicely said” almost unusable. But in a single document the search function is great and a lot more accurate.

Question

- Does anybody know a solution to link from text-A to text-B in same object?

Possible Solution

There is a solution in markdown. See html - Cross-reference (named anchor) in markdown - Stack Overflow

Would be great to get a solution like in markdown

<a name="pookie"></a> 

OR in ShortCode

{#pookie} 

And like in markdown

Take me to [pookie](#pookie)

to link to this anchor.

Maybe there is such a solution in Anytype. But unfortunately I can´t find it.

• tried to use Markdown-code directly
• tried to use /anchor
• have searched with google
• in Anytype Community

Do you have a solution for?

Would be great if you could share a working solution or a work-around for.

Best regards
Martin

[qualquertipo]

Another solution would be to implement the “everything is a block/object” approach. Then linking to a certain block within a “page” would be simply a matter of linking to another block/object.

Please see discussion here, as well as other posts that link to it:

Everything is a... Block?

Disclaimer: I’m posting this as a “Feature Request”, but it’s really a mix of things. Mods, feel free to move it! I don’t really expect the suggestions below to be considered at face value. They’re mostly a way for me to communicate my needs/confusion/thoughts as a new user. I love the idea of complex systems built using very simple parts. I’m glad Anytype takes this approach, by stating that “everything is an Object”. However, I’m wondering two things. “Problem” 1 First, the name “Objects”. …

[_Martin]

Hey @qualquertipo,
thank you for the link.
Have read your topic and I guess it could be a nice solution too, to make blocks linkable internally in pages. BUT I guess there is some discussion to do, if this blocks are liked from the devs.
Currently, your idea of blocks does not seem to be implemented or usable yet if I understood it right. (English is not my mothertongue)
And for me, it sounds in your topic as it would first require higher-level fundamental decisions, which then affect a lot areas and therefore require quite a lot of brain and code work.

Looking to the discussion in your topic, I guess that could use more time, then implement a simple internal link solution like in markdown this is allready usable.
But all in all, if blocks will come it would be very nice, those would also implemented a linkable solution from one to another ! Great idea but a lot of work I guess.

On the other hand, a simple LINKING-SOLUTION for Anytype - especially for ShortCode lovers - would be very easy to implement. The solution already exists in Markdown.

There the format is like this vor NO-CODE area.

{#linkAnchorName}

So maybe this implementation would be much more easy and streight forward also because there would be no Code-Effort for the markdown-export (BackupSolution).
This kind of {#pookie} formating in markdown is already implemented and working.

And looking to the UI (for TextFormation) This could be a separated step, only if this new linking-solution would used a lot from ShortCodeLovers…

So I guess the less workload for brain and code creates much smaller barrier to entry. So maybe it would be a lot faster to implement. IMHO

[qualquertipo]

You are completely right. Your suggestion is much more realistic.

I’m just a very strong advocate of the “everything is a block/object” approach, so whenever I see a topic that is related to (or a feature request or issue that could be solved by) that, I jump in to promote my cause

[_Martin]

See your POV @qualquertipo - thanks!

[isle9]

The best workaround for this currently is to use a TOC and headings, but that doesn’t help that much since the TOC is not on your screen the whole time.

[_Martin]

Hi @isle9,
Thank your for your idea ⟶ you are right!!

TOC is my current work-around in ANY document.
I use it in the top of each document.
So I can switch to the current or desired point in the document.

But to use it somewhere else is not helpful because if the document is huge, also the TOC is huge as you see below :

And such a huge TOC in any other part of a document, maybe in few part would be overkill…
Would be great to have some TOC-sidebar maybe. So it could slide-in when it is helpfull…

But even this currently not included feature (of a visible/invisible TOC always set in the viewport) would NOT come close to direct links and their helpful and highly flexible capabilities.

Feature-Request?

But from your two feedbacks, I think that this feature really does not exist in Anytype.

• Does anyone know if this «Direct-Link-Inside-Text/Document»-Solution has already been submitted as a feature request?
• Or if a solution has already been thought of?
• Or perhaps transferred to the implementation phase?

YES: ⟶ If the Feature-Request is submitted, I can set a link to those.
NO: ⟶ If no Feature-Request is submitted, I can submit one.

So @isle9: Thanks for your idea and the conclusion that there is currently no built-in solution in Anytype for this.

[isle9]

After reading your last reply and then again your initial post, it’s clear that you should definitely be splitting documents that large into more smaller ones. So the main paint point for you seems to be the search function. What exactly do you find unusable when it comes to the current search function?

A TOC or an outline as a widget in the sidebar wold also indeed be a lot better than your current approach, especially if you, for instance, split that one document into three or four. You could easily fit the entire TOC in the sidebar then. I’ve mentioned the outline as a widget idea here .

What @qualquertipo has mentioned is probably the best long-term solution for linking blocks. You could easily link blocks if they were object themselves. You can like their linked post if you would love this to be implemented.
Another solution is embedding or transclusion. Usually features like that also allow you to just link to the block or object itself instead of embedding/transcluding it. Here’s a link to one of the feature requests that mentions linking to objects + transclusion.

[_Martin]

Hey @isle9,
Yes you are right. My biggest lack in Anytype is currently the for me unussable search-solution in the Favorites-Dashboard for mac os, windows and android.

But YES, if this search would work like the «in-document»-textSearch I would love to break all my BIIIGGG documents apart. This was my approach all-time to be honest. First in evernote, then in trello, then in notion and first few month also in Anytype.

My BIG Problem in Search (Favorite-Desktop)

I love Anytype and use it as note-App but also sometimes as thought-stream-record (in Android) with speach-to-text note-app.

Sometimes I can not rember for some ideas in detail but I remeber for some particular words in it.
In the Text-search in the documents/objects this is no problem to find my idea (as Example) about to use more more swisstransfer as File-Trans-App. But I can NOT remember if I wrote

• swisstransfer,
• Swisstransfer,
• https://swisstransfer.com.
• Swiss-Transfer
• and so on and on…

As Example I included the text https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/ba655d95-5lf8d-4568e1-93gg9c-f21101ad97c5
in 3 Files.
But because I do not remember the exact frase I would search about
-“Swiss” or
-“swiss”
or maybe regexLike
-“Swiss*” or
-“swiss*”

BUT
No matter what I try, the result is always the same

THERE are no objects in Favorites tab

BUT There are a lot of documents in Favorite View and most of them are huge. At least in 3 of them I have Copy-Paste the original text above.

THEN THE PAIN WAS BEGINNING IN THE PAST

So in past ⟶ next I head to go trough a LOTs and lots of documents and in each of them I had to do the same search again and again until I found the Idea…

Maybe I’m wrong and I can search parts of words also within the Favorite-Desk-search?

Would be pleased if I overlooked this fundamental issue. But I searched for in Google, Anytype Documentation and also in Community.
Would be great if I could activate something like Regex-Search for Favorite-Desk-Search or some other more deep search solution.

If you have some information about, I would be extremly happy to get a link or a hint about.
Then I could splitt all my files like in Trello and Notion back in the past. I would LOVE IT!

Without a better equipped Favorite-Dashboard-Search I have to go BIG

If that doesn’t work out, I have a little longer (until this lack of a usable search) to work with the huge documents.
So if the search in Favorite-Dashboard-Search have to match 1:1 I can not use it to re-find some not exactly to remember Word-Parts or different words who could (but not sure) be in the description of the desired idea/text/brainstream/GetThingsDone/…

Looking forward to get a new dore open with your help @isle9 :
Hope to a great search-solution or a usable work around for Dashboard-Search to find Documents with part-word or regex-search possibilities.

Internal LInks would be still a nice and easy to realize feature (IMHO)

But even if you would give me a huge gift with a find-solution in Dashboard over all the documents a internal linking solution would anyway be a big advantage. This would open more possibilities to represent things from the “real” world in Anytype. For example HTML pages → buttons with click target, something like very simple mindmaps, …
Of course with the idea from @qualquertipo with linkable blocks also this would be fine. BUT I think therfore I will take a LOT of time and EFFORT from DEVs…

[isle9]

I’ll respond in more detail later, but I’m pretty sure that the search in the dashboard only searches trough the object titles.

Just to make sure, have you tried using the dedicated search function at the top of the screen?

[_Martin]

The printScreens above (all the test-search-queries) I have choose the search-icon (magnifier-glas) in desktop-app.

In the past I tried both. So most of the time with the search-field in the top-center for search for objects. When I use this Main-Search-Field in top center of Anytype Desktop-App (I guess your «the dedicated search function» …

… and the first Icon (Magnifyer Glas) in Android

The search results are extremely dependent on where the text you are looking for is in a word. And so the search-result is hardly predictable/forseeable.

I can not figure out, how exactly this search is looking in objects and part of them and how they are exactly searchable with this MainSearchFunction.

Maybe only titles but I´m quite sure this is searching mutch deeper but not realy exaclty or forseeable. It seams as this is also searching in text but then only with exact-matching to the simple-text-query.

I can not figure out some regex-functionality. And when I use the full-text from search-text «https://www.swisstransfer.com/d/ba655d95-5lf8d-4568e1-93gg9c-f21101ad97c5»
there are a LOT to mutch matches in the find-list. Seams to be like it would also list matches with only https or other parts of the search-text…

On the otherhand with the ENDING hash:«**f21101ad97c5**» the List is exatly and accurate.

But when I search something in the middle of a word the result is a FULL-FAIL.

Result 0 matches instead there should be a list with 4 files/documents/objects…

So as I wrote at the beginning. The current search-solution is not usable for my approach to find some text maybe in the middle of a word. Maybe only 3-4 letters to have to possibility to sarch for different writings maybe wrong written or with UpperCase or First-letter-upper-case, or CamelCaseWritting …

So I would have to search manually as in the past, each file individually to find all of the matches and perhaps my serched ONE document is the 5th of 8 in the list. And all of them has the search-query in it. But when the text is in the middle of a word, I have no chance to find this 5 of 8 documents in the list.

And when I would splitt the BIG-Documents in a few sub-documents and better handable smaler linked documents, the list would have maybe 3-5 times of matches. But also 3-5 time more matches that would be missing because of the search of a part of a word…

So the current search is not forseeable, accurate or alterable/influenceable e.G. with regex or as in the text-search in the document itself. In the document I can find without problems a part of the word…

But maybe the main-search is exendable, drillable or on an other way work-aroundable.

Would be great if you could share your knowlegde, your hack or workaround. Would be a HUGE simplyfication when I could use the search-field like in notion or trello and so could use a more easy to work splitted-document-approach as in the past with notion/trello/evernote.

[isle9]

The search function definitely searches inside the object themselves, but I have no idea how exactly it works. Regex is also probably not implemented at all, if I had to guess. I’ve also started noticing recently that it fails me sometimes, but I have no idea why. Since I still don’t have that much text inside Anytype, it’s been working fine for me. I would also love if the search function is improved since that is one of the main ways that I search trough my vault.

You can read trough some of these posts to familiarize yourself more with how search works and what can be improved:

Some findings and thoughts about search function

Part 1. These days I created many text links, and it occurred to me that whether these URLs can be searched out through the search bar. I tried some cases and the answer is no. Findings: The the text link is restricted to some formats, like “https://", "ftp://” or “abc://test”. The url of the text link can not be search out. If write down a url as plain text, it can be search out, but the results are not perfectly matched. 3.1 “https://xxxyyy.com”, doesn’t work 3.2 “xxxyyy.com”, works 3.3…

Full document search and with context shown in the search field

Is your feature request related to a problem? Please describe. Many times we need to search information that is not at Title of object. If the search result can show result from content. This will help us a lot to find the information. Describe the solution you’d like Search result show result from content, too. Describe alternatives you’ve considered None [image] Additional context This is the idea for showing the results. Separate the result into 2 sections. One is result from Title.…