FAQ

Is there a way to do X in Tana? Does tana support Y? In our FAQ you'll find answers to our most frequently asked questions.

FAQs

How to set up a calendar/default day tag in a shared workspace

Right click on the home node and choose "Set up day tag for this workspace".

How do I create external links?

You can create links to external websites by pasting a URL on top of normal text, or on its own. If you would like to change the text, you can shift+click on the link and edit, as shown in the video below.

When you paste a URL into Tana, it creates a node with a special URL type, with a system field for URL. Edit the field to edit the link, and edit the node to edit the text displayed.

How do I alias an inline reference?

We do not currently have a way to reference an inline reference by a different name. However, if you select the inline reference with your cursor, you can use cmd/ctrl+k > set alias if you would like to convert it into an * or + to save space in the node.

How to import from Obsidian/Logseq/other tools?

Currently we support Workflowy and Roam as native import formats. Check out the video about Tana Intermediate Format to see an early version of community-supported importers for Logseq and Obsidian, and how you could contribute to build an importer for your favorite format.

How to use Zotero with Tana - Cortex Futura

Lukas has been exploring note-taking for 15 years and has taught the techniques he used during his PhD to thousands of students, from undergrads to professors. He now uses Tana to run a small IT department as well as his content production for CortexFutura. See his free course on Tana Fundamentals here, or join his Tana Tips mailing list. You can reach him on Twitter or in our Slack community.

How can I paste into Tana and generate rich data structures

How can I create use scripts that extract data from APIs and send it to Tana

How do I merge nodes, fields or tags?

You can merge nodes, fields or tags in Tana by putting the references below each other, selecting them, and choosing merge nodes. Below is an example of two tags, two fields, and two nodes below each other. Note that you should not have a node with a tag, or a field, but the actual tag, or the field definition - you can find both in the @-mentions menu.

A few other things that can be worth knowing if you need to rework a setup in tana:

The Set command lets you apply field values to any number of nodes in one go.

Search nodes can be converted to plain lists via the command line. This will simply detach the search expression, and leave the results as see them – and the list can now be manually edited.

The “Bring referenced node here” command lets you change the ownership of nodes to the current context.

Any real-world examples on what you do with extended supertags?

In our internal workspace, we have a base #todo tag which only contains Assignee, Due date and Status.

We then have #design task, #dev task and so on, which extend #todo – so they get those base fields – but add new, specific fields such as Github PR , Spec and Related feature.

It is also convenient to be able to add a new field to #todo, and know that any extension of #todo will get the same field.

Most of the time, we use the derived tags, but this setup lets us query for any #todo assigned to a certain person or with a certain status. Even if you don’t see #todo in your #design task tag, it’ll be there, and #design task is considered a #todo by the search expressions.

So when you have many tags that will share the same baseline of properties, the Extend feature comes handy. A lot like inheritance in object-oriented programming.

We use a lot of extended tags internally in the tana workspace:

#todo is extended by #dev task, #design task, #bug, etc.

#meeting is extended by #onboarding session, #followup, #investor meeting, #interview, etc.

#person is extended by #candidate, #alphauser, #investor, #employee, etc.

#user observation is extended by #wtf moment, #aha moment, etc.

And we regularly rework this, as our needs evolve.

How does one use the Set view definition command

There is a command called Set view definition. It can set the Group, Sort and Display settings of a node view.

There is no good UX for this at the moment. However, if you really want to control this, we recommend the following:

Mock up a node that will have sample child nodes representing the data you'll be applying this command on

Then, create the exact view settings you want with Group, Sort and Display.

Go Cmd/Ctrl+K > Debug Node on the parent node and look at Views for node:

Clone the fields over to the command node so it looks like this: