Help linking to .md files in other directories

I’m not sure if I should post here, a different thread, or start a new thread. If this is the wrong place, please move it or let me know and I will. :slight_smile:

For writing, I currently use nvUltra (still in beta) and MultiMarkdown Composer. Currently, the transclusion syntax is {{…/folder/file.md}}.

I’m less concerned with the syntax itself (happy with square brackets or curly braces…or something new). But it seems that the current syntax does not allow me to link to .md files in other directories (nvUltra and MC do).

Am I doing something wrong (there are spaces in the folder names so perhaps I need to add %20)?

I keep my zettelkasten in the root directory, and then have:
…/08 Reference/definitions/
…/08 Reference/wordstudies/

I would love to transclude various definition or wordstudy files into my zettelkasten notes as I write.

I’m probably doing something wrong, but…. :man_shrugging:

Thank for any insight!

I’m not sure I fully follow.

If you’re linking to files outside your vault, you should be able to use the syntax [some descriptive text](file:///absolute/file/path). And yes, you’d need URL-encoding (e.g., %20 instead of spaces.)

But if your ZK is in the root directory of your vault, and those folders you mention are in the vault too, you should just need [[internal links].

Thanks, @ryanjamurphy! I’ll try that now.

Apologies if I was unclear: My zettelkasten is in the root directory of my hard drive, and I made it a vault, but all other directories in the root of my hard drive are outside that vault.

When I saw this, it gave me hope that something related that I thought was impossible, might be possible.

If you have lots of images within your attachments folder and already linked to many times throughout vault, is it possible to do something that would allow you to move them outside of the vault while maintaining all the links and functionality that you previously had?

Thanks. I can move this question to a separate help request, but figured it was similar enough for the time being.

OK, that doesn’t seem to be working. Also, now that I look at the results, I do not want a hypertext link to that file so that when I click on the link, the file opens in some other app.

I want to type the transclusion syntax so that the contents of that file appear in my Obsidian zettelkasten note.

Here’s how it works in nvUltra: I type the transclusion syntax (double curly braces):

{{…/08 Reference/definitions/audience.md}}

and in the preview of that file, I actually see the contents of that file:

audience noun au·​di·​ence | ˈȯ-dē-ən(t)s , ˈä-
Definition of audience. 1a : a group of listeners or spectators The concert attracted a large audience. b : a reading, viewing, or listening public The film is intended for a young audience. 2 : a group of ardent admirers or devotees has developed an enthusiastic audience for his ideas 3a : a formal hearing or interview an audience with the pope b : an opportunity of being heard 4 : the act or state of hearing Give me audience and heed what I say.

this allows me to research words and their meaning and nuance.

i create a file /defintions/audience.md

then reference it in any note in my zettelkasten and i get the text. i can also write more in-depth research and write that up in a paper:

/wordstudies/audience vs filter.md

and using transclusion, i can suck in my thoughts and writing into any zettelkasten note or new research paper for my team or manager or company or personal project.

@I-d-as I think that’s a separate feature request!

My zettelkasten is in the root directory of my hard drive, and I made it a vault, but all other directories in the root of my hard drive are outside that vault.
[…]
I want to type the transclusion syntax so that the contents of that file appear in my Obsidian zettelkasten note.

@sylvaticus Now I understand. I don’t think you can transclude external .md files at the moment, sorry. Would be a good fit for Feature requests!

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Thank you! I’ll make the request.

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Is it now possible to do this — to transclude a file from outside the vault in a note?