On the right sidebar are a few icons: ![[ui-right-sidebar.png]] ## [[Backlinks]] The first icon, the Backlinks section, shows all the notes that link *to* the current note, whether explicitly (linked mentions) or implicitly (unlinked mentions). ### Linked mentions A linked mention is when you type a note in this format: `[[Project X]]`. When you later create the note [[Project X]] and open it, you'd then be able to see in the Linked mentions section all the notes where you explicitly linked to the Project X note. > [!tip] Creating a link doesn't create the note > Simply creating a link by using the `[[brackets]]` does not create the note. The note will only be created when you open that note. ### Unlinked mentions Unlike *linked* mentions, *unlinked* mentions are when you type the name of the note, but don't necessarily add the brackets (`[[ ]]`) to turn it into a link. Unlinked mentions are useful because: - you don't have to use a link every single time you use the note name; Obsidian will track that for you. - you may not think you'll want to turn something into a note later. If there are any unlinked mentions, you'll also be able to click on the LINK button to turn those into links. So why should you use links at all? Well, links are useful because you can click on them to go to another note. They're a great way to navigate your notes and create connections between them. ## Outgoing links This section shows all the links that the current note contains. They're a great way to see at a glance whether there are any related notes that you may want to open. ![[ui-outgoing-links.png]] The links shown in the Outgoing links section also appear with an icon of a chain (to signify that the note they link to already exists) or an icon of a file with a plus sign (to signify that the file has not been created yet). You can click on one of these links to create the note if it doesn't exist, and then open it. ## [[Tags]] The next icon is tags. Tagging is a way to kind of organize your data. Tags are created in this format: `#inbox` They are always preceded by a `#` and followed with a word. That word could be anything, but here are some common ways that people use tags: - to set categories (ex: `#people, #meeting, #task`) - to set status (ex: `#inbox, #processing, #done, #todo`) - to set contexts (ex: `#work, #computer, #errands, #elisa`) However, how you use them (or how you don't use them) is up to you! Clicking on a tag in the tag pane also opens up in the search pane all the notes that have that tag. ### [[Outline]] The last icon on the right sidebar shows the Outline pane. The Outline pane displays all headings within the current note-- that is, all lines that use the [[obsidian-playbook/Using Obsidian/02 Making Notes in Obsidian/Markdown#Headings|Markdown format for headings]], which is `# This is a heading`.