On Saturday, February 8, 2020 at 11:41:38 PM UTC-5, andyjim wrote:
>
> Speaking for myself, with my use case, where the system is for thoughts, I
> want as little clutter and distraction as possible, which is the main
> reason I’ve never even used markdown. When I’m thinking and writing my
> thoughts, I don’t want to have to think about anything at all but writing
> nouns and verbs; not formatting code or anything else. I don’t know how
> many of my silly breed are thus afflicted, but I know some are. I’m having
> to work at accepting that I probably have to learn some markdown, but I
> won’t be messing with it until after I’m done writing my nouns and verbs.
>
That's why I put in that every item would be optional. You could omit them
all, and the system will create values for them. OTOH, if you care about,
say, the title, you could still type one in easily. So I think my
suggestion covers you here,
> Likewise when I make a gathering of a cluster of zettels to work with, I
> just want to see the text ("Just the text, ma'am"). Don’t want to see meta
> data or any other sort of informational or system stuff. Just the text,
> please, so I can focus on the meat. I’ll be thinking and writing further
> notes then as well, so keep the dogs quiet and tell that silly parrot to
> just shut up.
>
Once the system knows what the various data items are, no problem in just
displaying and editing the text.
> Ok well, enough drama. But this strongly felt need of mine is one reason
> I suggested (in my zettel template file attached to another post) a
> sub-divided zettel instead of a monolithic zettel. Let the system be able
> to address each sub-element independently. Bind the elements together by
> adding one more digit to the zettel’s UID and let that extra digit
> differentiate the individual elements. Now, let the system permit
> displaying only the body element, and now I have my distraction free
> thinking/writing environment. If all the link stuff is in one sub-zettel
> then the system need only look at that sub-element and not have to scan
> everything else to find what it’s looking for. Distraction free environment
> for the system as well. The links blocks from all the zettels are all the
> system needs to form the entire zettel web. Neat and clean, hopefully
> easier on the programmer (speaking as a non-programmer).
>
If you want to type something like a link to another zettel, and expect the
system to know it's a link, you are going to have to mark it in some way.
The system won't be able to read your mind about it. You could mark a link
line by line - one way is the method I suggested - or you could collect
them all in a block, as you are visualizing here. But you will still have
to delineate that block in some way. So there will have to be some marking
syntax to internalize somehow. The alternative is to add links after the
zettel is in the system, using some kind of data entry boxes. That's
certainly possible, but I would like to be able to type them in if I want
to, and to be able to export them in some readable way if export becomes
necessary.
I think we're basically compatible on this, even if we still need to get
the concepts worked out a little better.
> If the body (including title) comprises a separate element, then we can
> easily export only the body (if that’s what we want to do), free of all the
> system stuff. Or, if we wanted to export some but not all the specialized
> blocks. We can do whatever we want with ease.
>
[snip]
All of which brings me to another reason I’m suggesting this, and you are
> free to tell me I’m crazy. This is a jealously guarded secret so don’t tell
> a soul:
>
> If the zettel is modular, then a user can design his own zettels and his
> own system…
>
> Suppose the user wants a GTD system, specialized for his own use case. Now
> I realize the zettelkasten system can be used as is for a GTD, a PIM or
> most anything else. But, a GTD system would probably benefit from
> specialized templates for GTD. Likewise a PIM would better suit with
> specialized templates (fields for data, etc). You yourself designed a
> specialized ‘zettel’ for your URL management system. If this system has
> the capability to allow the user to ‘roll his own’ for specialized
> purposes, then I think we’ve got something pretty special. Heck you or I
> might want to redesign the zettel for our own use case. It looks already as
> if we have slightly different preferences in some ways each to suit his own
> use case. I’d like to be able to see first lines only, but you may have
> little or no interest in such a feature. But if my custom modified zettel
> template allows the first line to be a separate zet (cute name for a
> sub-element?), then I can have my wish, and you can have yours. Too, we
> could combine multiple systems in one: Notes, GTD, PIM, URL manager,
> project manager, … all in one integrated system
