Rescan for new links?

[DeckOfManyThings]

Putting in info, I am running into a lot of Chicken/Egg problems when it comes to smart links to other data.

I put in a character entry that mentions another character that I have not made yet. I then go in and make that new character, but the first one doesn't link to the new one.

This happens over and over as I add information.

Is there a way to make Realm Works just look at all the text fields so far and create links? Going back and rescanning old text fields that may have links created. I thought maybe "rebuild index" would do it, but alas, it does not.

[Silveras]

On the topic, there is a menu button (crossed hammer and wrench)... one option (near the bottom of the list) is to "rescan for links"

You can also trigger re-scanning by making a minor change (hit spacebar, for example, then backspace) in a particular field. That field/snippet will re-scan its content.

I don't know of any single command (yet) to make all topics re-scan completely.

[Zaphod Beebledoc]

What would be nice is for the target topic to be scanned for any potential links.

[Precisi]

When I'm making new content, a trick I use is I create the links as I go. So for example, if I'm writing up a plot idea:

Frank and Bob are going to run into a new time traveler, The Doctor, and he's going to take him on a wacky adventure in his Tardis.

As I'm writing up the new stuff, I highlight "The Doctor", right-click, and "Create new custom link". This will let me make the new topic on the fly so that I already have my links in place as I go.

Usually as I'm building my content, I have a pretty good idea of the structure in my head already, so this method works really well for me.

[Zaphod Beebledoc]

Originally Posted by Precisi

As I'm writing up the new stuff, I highlight "The Doctor", right-click, and "Create new custom link". This will let me make the new topic on the fly so that I already have my links in place as I go.

That's a really good idea!

[AEIOU]

Presci's method works really well and it's what I did by accident. The only caveat is that you can very quickly create a LOT of linked content, but likely none of it will be complete and most of it will actually just be empty shells that you'll need to go back and fill eventually.

This method was very helpful for me to populate a lot of different categories early on which made me stop and think through what should go in each.

[lfseeney]

I also have found that if you break a link by deleting it does not auto find it when re-entered, but the manual linking on the right hand side fixed it.

I think I also just re-edited a section when I added a bunch that did not show links and it found it then but have to go slow and see what really happened.

Precisi I did that as well, helps with the thought process for me.

Thinking of making a few PDF work sheets to have when away from the computer so that I can add things from paper easier by setting up the format to help it go into RW quickly.

Maybe this weekend as tonight I have a date with ESO.

[Precisi]

Originally Posted by Zaphod Beebledoc

That's a really good idea!

Glad to help

[Precisi]

Originally Posted by lfseeney

Maybe this weekend as tonight I have a date with ESO.

Hehehe, as do I...

[rob]

Here's another really useful trick...

Let's say you're entering text into the topic for Fred. You type some text referring to his buddy Barny. Before you save, press <ctrl+Q>. The "Q" is for "Quick Create". This will display a dialog allowing you to create a new topic by only specifying its category and name. Once you're done, you return back to Fred and can resume entering more content. When you then save, Barney already exists and all the links are detected and setup for you.

This technique is much faster and easier than any other method for creating a topic that you can link to. It also ensures you don't break your creative "flow" when brainstorming, which the other approaches all tend to do.

Hope this helps!