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Notes Editor

Click into Notes in the right panel and start typing: everything saves as you go, as plain Markdown in the node's own file.

Where: Space Studio › Right panel › Notes · Keys: [/], [[, [Ctrl+K] with text selected, [Ctrl+B], [Ctrl+I], [Ctrl+U]

Writing notes in a node1:20 · plays from YouTube
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What it is

Every node has a page behind it, and the notes editor is where you write it, from one line to a full document with headings, lists and pictures. Notes are saved as plain Markdown in your project folder, an open format almost any software can read, so they last. There's nothing to "save": your notes are written as you type, so if your computer crashes you pick up where you left off.

How to use it

The toolbar

Across the top of the notes:

  • Text style: Paragraph, Heading 1, Heading 2 or Heading 3.
  • Bold [Ctrl+B], Italic [Ctrl+I], Underline [Ctrl+U], Strikethrough [Ctrl+Shift+S] and Inline code [Ctrl+E].
  • Bullet list [Ctrl+Shift+8] and Numbered list [Ctrl+Shift+7].
  • Align left, Align center and Align right.
  • Link: turn the selected text into a link.
  • M↓ (Switch to Markdown source): see the note as raw Markdown and edit it directly. Click again (Switch to Rich text) to go back.

Select some text and a small formatting bar appears beside it too. [Ctrl+Alt+1] to [Ctrl+Alt+3] make headings.

The slash menu

Type [/] on an empty line for a menu of everything you can add: headings, lists, quotes, tables, code and more. Keep typing to narrow it down. Under Media:

  • Image inserts a picture from your computer. You can also paste one, or drag one in from a folder.
  • Video inserts a video from your computer (mp4, webm, ogg, mov or m4v), which plays where it sits.

Pictures and videos are copied into your project, so moving or deleting the original leaves your note as it was.

Linking to other nodes

  • Type [[, or @, and a list of your nodes appears. Keep typing to narrow it, [↑] [↓] to choose, [Enter] to pick, [Esc] to close.
  • Type a link out in full, [[Node name]] or [[Node name|other words]], and it becomes a link as soon as you close the brackets.
  • Select some words and press [Ctrl+K] to make them a link: paste a web address, or type a node's name and pick it.

A [[link]] records which node you mean, nothing more. Clicking it doesn't open or select that node: find it with search [Ctrl+K] or in the Left Panel. It doesn't draw a connector either, so you can mention a node in passing without cluttering the graph. Connectors are yours to draw deliberately, see Connectors.

Type [[ round a web address, [[https://…]], and Filamental makes a link node for that page, named from the page's own title, and links to it.

Right-click

Right-click in the notes for Undo, Cut, Copy, Paste and Select All, and to add a word the spell-checker doesn't know to your dictionary.

Tips

  • [Ctrl+K] with no text selected opens search instead. See Top Bar.
  • While you're typing in a note, [Ctrl+Z] undoes your typing, not the last change to the graph. See Undo and Redo.
  • Notes keep a web address just as you pasted it.
  • A link to a node that isn't in the project quietly stops being a link, and the words stay.
  • Pages in the Publisher use their own editor, with more for a reader: covers, Pexels pictures and videos from a link. See Writing Pages and Inserting Media.
  • A node opened in a pop-out window is locked here until you close it. See Right Panel.

How this helps you

  • Use notes for the reasoning behind a node, the part a title can't hold. A bare title is a wasted node.
  • Use [[links]] to name another node in passing without changing the shape of the graph.
  • Use the Markdown source when you'd rather paste or tidy raw text.

Related

Still stuck? Email [email protected].