Tana team clarification: There is now ability to set an alias on a node from another node that is referencing it. This idea is an expansion of that.
Explain the problem as you see it
Sometimes you want to link to a node but the context requires you to write it in a different way. Perhaps in a different language or because some languages have complicated declension rules which means that words look different depending on the grammatical context they're in. Or maybe you just like to use a shorthand for the concept instead of typing out the whole name every time.
In short, an alias would just be a different representation of the exact same node. This would allow us to write more naturally inside Tana whilst preserving important links.
Why is this a problem for you?
Because I'm bilingual and think and work in multiple languages. I don't want to be restricted to just one representation of a concept in my mind, across my whole knowledge graph.
Suggest a solution
Whenever I select a word/phrase and hit the @ (or another special button) to make a connection, I get to search for a node and then link to that node. This would automatically interpret that it as an alias of the node I linked to. Going forward Tana would add that word to a field called Alias of the selected node. This could be treated as a new semantic function, like the ones we already have.
7 Comments
Similar idea: https://ideas.tana.inc/posts/19-flexible-inline-reference-aliases
I feel that it could be accomplished maybe. by creating new field "Aliases" gathering aliases created on the go while working with other stuff in Tana.
I think it should copy Obsidian's way of doing aliases:
A use case for me is referencing the solutions we sell. They have abbreviations, but also full names of course. E.g. ERP and Enterprise Resource Management should be pointing to the same node. I also have software solutions that have 3 different aliases. They should all point to the same node. You can also use this for #person. Say you have John Doe. I'd like to be able to refer to him as John, John Doe, John D., and The bold guy. All pointing to the same node. Taking it to the next level is when the alias does not have to be unique. So John could be referencing John Doe, OR John Johnson (you select the correct one in the search results). All this is available in Obsidian.
An example use case for an alias is in the names of organisations. For example, the "Information Technology Professionals New Zealand" is also known as "ITPNZ", "IT Professionals NZ", or "ITP NZ". This would also apply to people's names.
I would like to see this implemented similarly to the description of a node. An additional piece of information about the node that could be added using the context-sensitive menu (right-click with a mouse).
This is EXTREAMLY crucial for knowledge management or information management. The Notion has no way to do it, then I discard Notion into trash can, but the Obsidian has the best way to solve the problem so far. Not only for the language learning but for the academic terms or interpretations this function is in the core place for a note-taking application.
i see this is recently released but i am not sure where to find this ability for nodes as of yet. any pointers?
I think Tana developers do not treat alias as the core function to users who using Tana as a knowledge management tool. So I am still cannot switch myself to use Tana as my main knowledge management tool from Obsidian. For now, Obsidian is still irreplaceable, in many mayor part, still the best tool better than Notion and all other competitors.
Also important for basic abbreviations or acronyms as long as they add/reference to the same node