Just thought I would share this, as it may not be entirely obvious to everyone. To be honest, am a little embarrassed that I didn’t really discover this until now. Full disclosure: this came about after feeding the DT manual and this forum into NotebookLM, so credit to it for walking me through the options.
I was looking for an efficient way to link documents. I am not especially interested in Hookmark, although I acknowledge it does do exactly this.
Solution: Settings → Data → Custom Metadata. Hit the + button at the bottom and add a new field. Select type to Rich Text. Name it something like “Related Docs”.
Going forward, after right-clicking any document and selecting “Copy Item Link”, you can then paste it in the Related Docs field in the Inspector. The best part is that you can paste multiple doc links. Even better: click the link and it opens. Command+click and the link opens in a separate tab in the same window. This workflow moves away from the creation of a separate annotation file that just holds, for instance, links to related documents (as useful as that can be in some instances, of course).
As I say, thought I would share on the off-chance it could be helpful to someone.
Why not use a simple tag to link documents
I don’t see the benefit of adding links to the custom metadata field
edit; got it - links specific to the document
For example, I add tag “Related Docs” to Document 1,
and assign the same tag to other documents
The tag appears in the left column tag list; I can also add it to Favourites
I take the point. I actually do this if I have, say, >15 documents that will all play a role in a particular project. But my thinking right now is that this scratches a particular itch in those instances where I want to be reminded of the existence of one or two other documents.
I like both methods.
I consider them analogous to serial or parallel connections.
Tags as used by @DTLow in this case are parallel i.e. all things are connected to the tag. Open the tag, see all the related docs, no hierarchy derived from tag; all are related to THIS.
Using custom metadata as outlined by @chatoyer would be serial i.e. After this doc, I could look at this doc that links from it and maybe derives from it or extends it somehow. A temporal or content hierarchy: THIS then THAT.
Add it to the long list of why Devonthink totally rules.
No hierarchy is a concern for me
I use Table-of-Conents docs that list the related docs under subheadings (other tags)
These are auto generated/refreshed daily for active projects by an applescript
i.e. the tag provides no hierarchy just a categorization. You have to add hierarchy with your TOC method. Whereas the serial model implies a consequence or order by nature of what links-to and what links-from.
So when you ask:
the benefit is in providing some hierarchy or sequential form if that is what is needed by the user. That’s why one might not use a simple tag to link documents.
I’ve actually used similar method to link documents and my notes to those via a custom attribute called “Source”; there, I’d link the original document.
it was before I have started using annotation files (these are linked by default).
Glad, you have found a method which works for you!
And all this just underscores (1) how we all approach such things on a more individual level (even if in agreement) and (2) how our applications let people work in ways that make sense to them.
My script to remove (some) attachments from e-mails imported into DTP places the DTP4 link of the original e-mail in the URL standard metadata field for similar reasons.
I can easily open the e-mail any attachment came from, and I can see incoming links to e-mails of any attachments I’ve extracted, so I don’t lose that relevance/connection within the e-mail and can easily open those otherwise removed attachments.
Sean
PS DTP4 is phenomenally adaptable, but in such a beautifully structured way.
This discussion has been really helpful (thanks all!) and opened my awareness to the use of the custom metadata for linking things (started using it right away), as well as a window into how some use tagging, which I have been using historically. I echo that the power of DEVONthink is in its ability to support so many different use cases and approaches.
