Bear should show a slight visual variation (grey/transparency/lighter interaction color) for links to notes that have not been created yet. Currently all links (created or uncreated) show as visually identical, making it very hard to keep track of created notes (especially in longer/more complex research docs) at a glance.
This feels like a no-brainer, low-lift addition that would have a large workflow impact and bring the linking feature more in line with established best practices (e.g. Obsidian).
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As the OP indicated, having a visual differentiation between created and uncreated links would seem to be an essential part of offering back linking. Without it, it undermines trust in the system since it is an important differentiator and ultimately a point of friction if you always have to “double check” to see if the linked document has been created or not. Does anyone know if there has been any feedback from the developers as to whether this is on their radar or not?
Just curious, why it is “important differentiatior and a point of friction”? = why do you need to know whether your link leads to real note or not? If you click it, new note will be created (if not created yet). What is the exact scenario where you need to know it before clicking the link? If you need the note for checking its backlinks, you will anyway have to go there (thus clicking the link, thus creating it = backlinks work now)
Hi @daneb1 , in answer to your question, sometimes when I am writing in a note I will insert a backlink to an uncreated note because I may not yet be sure (a) if I actually want to create the note that the link will refer to or (b) if I just want to have the text without the backlink at all.
By having the link itself signal if the note is created or not, I can defer this decision to another time and just keep writing without breaking my flow because the differentiation of the link gives me the confidence that I won’t lose track of which links will need to be revisited and which ones won’t. Without the differentiating link, I would either have to stop my writing and make a decision on what to do with the link or I could create the link but then I have to worry about keeping track of which links point to actual notes and which ones do not. Either of these options would be a point of friction because they would break the flow of my writing.