Im not sure if this should be a plugin idea or Feature Request- its an unusual idea that could perhaps solve the often requested link types.
It was inspired by some new user misconception on how links/backlinks work and AmberV’s post on how his ID schema allows for searching/finding a specific exchange (1 query, 2 results, each with the same link, 2-id combo) on this post
Bridge links:
Probably via some new command, ‘Create bridge link’:
autocomplete linking as usual, to page, headers or blocks - but a bridge would leave a link at the destination (specific header, block or top of page if no specific target is set).
In a sense, a sort of specific/direct backlinking straight into a page’s content
The link left at the target would send the user back straight to the block where a bridge was created from
That alone would just be a fancy alternative backlinking (one perhaps more futureproof, since it would be baked into the file contents itself), some quality of life way of not manualling adding specific block links on 2 notes…
But the main idea here is how the link would be called or treated- either a single name on both places or dynamically
- single name example: ((NoteA->NoteB)), ((uniqueID)), or a icon that on hover shows (from-to)
- dynamic: on Note A ((to Note B)), on Note B ((from ThisBlock Note A))
Regardless of the type it would be possible for said name to specify some quality or atribute to that linking- such as Parent-Child, Sibling… maybe open ended to stabilish any types of relations one would want, or even using common terms or tags (essentially tagging a link itself, not notes/blocks)
Interesting/Novel Possible Uses:
The moment we stabilish a name or schema for said links, the link itself would be pretty unique- wether its a longer code or markup combination like [[noteA^Block > LinkName > NoteB#header]] or unique ID… it would give us something unique to query or even link
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Linking to links: some command or markup that ideally would auto-complete. Like on Note-C, making a link to the bridge [[NoteA-NoteB]], allowing any notes to reference connections directly
- Clicking on such link would jump straight to the origin block (noteA), where the bridge was created, and from there the user could jump to NoteB and back-forth (or edit the bridge, say updating its relation type)
- Links to bridge-links could show as backlinks in both endpoints of a bridge (in essence linking once to 2 different notes)
- Simple queries: searching for a link type showing all bridges of that type, searching for bridge names directly, etc
- Advanced queries: searching for a notes title + parent would show all bridges that had that note as parent… perhaps schemas or regex for more options
Bonus: Graph Render
It would make a lot of sense for the graph being able to render such link types over the lines/links between nodes
Too cumbersome, not useful, opnions? Something about the idea of linking-pointing specifically to a exchange, a connection itself feels like a whole horizon untapped in our hyperlinked world, a whole other layer, altough im not sure how useful that would be or if only very niche… but since it would fit straight into link types, wich is a cornerstone of knowledge mapping and data science that is missing in Obsidian ive tried to imagine a implementation that would bring both, and hopefully in a way that would be easier to implement in Obsidian as is…
How exactly tough is beyond me. I imagine some wrapping ‘tag’ like <tag>[[link1]]LinkNameType[[link2]]</tag> could be possible, a way so that the plugin could find and replace/render that as a single link but would still be readable as 2 links and one term in between without the plugin.