Hi all, new to org-roam here. I want to add links to already existing org file (preferably to some headers in this file) where I used to take notes, ideas and todos for some topic, but org-roam does not want to recognize the file and count backlinks from it. New files created by org-roam work fine. How do I link already existing org file to org-roam?
Existing ones should work fine. Are they located in org-roam-directory?
No they are not. They are in a folder dedicated to the project I am working on, various data and notes from which are in the org file. My initial intention is to migrate to org-roam but integrate the existing structure I used for various projects. However I am open to suggestions on note taking/project organization.
I do not have a strong suggestion for others. For the backlinks to work, the files need to be in org-roam-directory.
For what’s worth, I will be happy to share what I do personally below. Please take it as an idea and experience from others; I am not saying it is a good practice (it just works for me, but I am constantly tinkering with my structure and workflow).
If I illustrate what I do, here is a diagram. “Evergreen” is my org-roam-directory. I tend to place facts, data, bib files outside (mostly).
My projects are also outside, so are todo and journals.
From this Slack thread
With the notes, I separate fleeting notes directory from evergreen directory. Evergreen is Org-roam directly. Initially, my notes go into fleeting notes (I just create a new note there). Occasionally (very relaxed, no strict schedule, no reminder) I review fleeting notes, and try to make some of them worth moving to evergreen. I also occasionally review all of the evergreen notes. If not great, I put them back to fleeting notes. I have not been able to do a good job about this note-refining cycle yet, but this is the idea I am following at the moment.
One last thing. About “resources” directory for fleeting notes and evergreen notes. I put data, code snippets, images, bibliography (.bib file), and other “supporting” files into a resource directory outside of fleeting and evergreen notes, or only directly in the body of fleeting notes. As both directories are in the same relative distance from the resource director(ies), moving a note from fleeting to evergreen visa versa will retain the link to the resources.
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About migration, I do not have experience (I came back to Emacs from zero Org footprint), so I can only speak from what I have observed in this forum and Slack.
If you would like to “migrate” your existing Org notes, the experience of folks in this community seems to lean towards an “one-by-one” approach rather than “move everything first”.
I guess others can share their experiences of migrating from existing org files.
Thanks, appreciate the comprehensive reply. So how exactly do you link your outside resources and fleeting notes? Just regular, non-roam, org links?
I am also trying to do it “one-by-one”, but thought I could link to things outside of org-roam folder and the linked files will become the part of the roam.
For me, links from an Org-roam note into notes outside are just regular links, so no backlinks for them. The idea is, if notes are good “abstraction” of the data and facts, I shouldn’t lose them — but I can delve into them by way of forward links (normal links). I can also easily do full-text search (ripgrep, or rg within Emacs, or OS). In addition, the names of all my notes/files (usually) have dates as prefix (like yyyymmdd, etc.) so also easy to find stuff I collected around the same time.
Hmm, “part of roam”: if you mean backlinks visible for those notes outside, no, not part of roam.
Just as a context, I do not have many numerical data, as I’m not a scientist working with experiments, etc.
I am just a corporate employee; most of my work stuff is Microsoft Office suite. So I kinda have a hybrid of Emacs stuff and Office stuff (more or less separated). Many of my “data” are PowerPoint presentations, images, my other notes, clips from websites, URL, etc.