Block References

[exist2018 (Manoj Nayak)]

ok, this is a silly query as Tinderbox I suppose doesn’t have blocks.

But just checking.’

If a particular note is rather long, and once wants to point back to only a certain paragraph. Is there some way around rather than copy-pasting the text?

[eastgate]

A text link can have a destination anchor at an arbitrary span, which is occasionally useful for linking into a specific place in a large note.

Tinderbox doesn’t need blocks: a Tinderbox note is a block. If you find yourself wanting to address part of a “rather long” note, consider breaking that note into smaller and more focused chunks. You can always store the individual chunks in a container, and select them all if you want to review the continuous text.

[mwra (Mark Anderson)]

‘Block references’ is terminology not encountered in Tinderbox use so I assume it a concept as used in some other app. So it has no defined meaning here. However, …

@exist2018

If a particular note is rather long, and once wants to point back to only a certain paragraph.

Two approaches:

• If you have to^† have much text in one note, look at linking to target $Text. But…
• Tinderbox design favours small notes as these are inherently addressable. Consider whether the long note is a requirement or just habit of work style, especially habits acquired using other apps.

Generally, I’ve found splitting long notes into shorter ones a more fruitful approach, as it makes me think about the purpose of the note other than as a place to dump some text (and link(s)).

[exist2018 (Manoj Nayak)]

@mwra

‘Block references’ is terminology not encountered in Tinderbox use so I assume it a concept as used in some other app

Absolutely, I am using so many note taking apps now as a single one, is not dove-tailing into my workflows.

Thanks again for being so patient here

[mwra (Mark Anderson)]

Thanks for that kind note. It can feel harsh to point up such differences, but the point is not critique but bridging assumptions about vocabulary/terminology.

As Tinderbox’s own architect has noted above, Tinderbox’s concept is to put information in addressable blocks … i.e. notes.

Also addressability goes back to the very early days of hypertext thinking: look up Doug Engelbart and ‘purple numbers’.

A reflection on current ‘innovations’ in PKM, is most of it isn’t new and presses heavily on insight as reflected in a UI, rather than the more value thing - the underlying insight. My joy from using Tinderbox and other such tools is the insight my human brain gets from using the tools. The tools are the means to the end, not then end in itself. I think the latter nuance is all too easily overlooked. Sometimes it is good, meaningful and positive to have a human in the knowledge process/loop. AI only assists us, not replaces us.