Thread by @MarcKoenig_

𐃏 100 ROAM TIPS 𐃏

Just published a 25-min @RoamResearch intro course on YT.🔥

To celebrate this act of masochism, I'll be posting the tips in tweet format here too! Bit-by-bit as I get time.

here's the mini-course I wish I could give myself when I started.

#RoamGames @Conaw

1. KEEP UP WITH CHANGES

@RoamResearch is a living tool w one of the fastest iteration cycles I've seen.

By the time you read this, these tips might have changed!

(Here's a blog post with these tips + any future changes: bit.ly/3u1fC9A)

2. SET UP

1. Sign up (free for 31 days)
roamresearch.com/#/signup
2. You get 3 graphs (separate "Roams" you can play with - not connected to each other)
3. Set up 1 then begin typing in your daily note!

EZ PZ. Roam runs directly in your browser (you must use Chrome, sorry), OR...

3. SET UP - DESKTOP APP

There's a "Progressive Web App" (basically a dedicated Chrome window you can launch from your toolbar).

This is great to avoid distractions while you work.

4. USE THE DAILY NOTE

Roam's wonderful because the structure emerges organically from your interests.

I neglected the daily note for months because it felt too wishy-washy and freeform. But it's the perfect staging ground for bottom-up emergent thinking.

5. MAKE SOME BULLETS

The bullet or ("block") is the primary unit in Roam.

Write a bullet. Then hit ENTER. You got a new bullet! Click enter. Write bullet. Hit tab. You've got an indented bullet! Woo!

Indentation is how you structure stuff in Roam. That way you can...

6. COLLAPSE & EXPAND BULLETS

Why look at everything at once?

You CLICK to hide sub-bullets ("children" to the "parent" bullet).

Do this all the time! Hide things and reduce your information overwhelm!

HOT-KEY:

Use hold CMD+UP🔼 or CMD+DOWN🔽 on the parent bullet. SPEEDY!

7. Don't Like Bullets? Use Document View or Numbered Bullets

Right 🖱 + View As to change bullets OR WHOLE PAGES into doc view (no bullets) or numbered lists.

Dov view simplifies formatting if you copy+paste into another app!

(P.S. Call 'em "blocks" not bullets for accuracy!)

8.MULTI-LINES, 1 BLOCK

Hold SHIFT+ENTER.

Now you're on a new line WITHOUT creating a new block!

Great for sub-thoughts you -still want to see- even if you collapse the block (hiding sub-bullets).

(It's also the best way to tag items subtly! More on that later...)

9. DRAG BLOCKS AROUND

What if you realize a new bullet is in the wrong spot, or actually just a sub-topic of an earlier thought, not really a standalone one?

Just drag it around!

Roam enables FREE-STYLE THINKING.

You can even drag a bullet into being a sub-bullet. NEAT!

10. SYNC CHANGES BUTTON

Roam auto-syncs changes as you make amendments, but if you're ever concerned that things aren't syncing, you can check the upper-right corner of the screen.

If things are green, you're good to go. Hover for more details!

Keep scrolling for the rest of the tips (if they've been posted) 👇

If not -- BREAK: Will add more tips 10 at a time in this thread until I get to 💯

You can check out the rest of the tips here in video format in the meantime!

11. MAKE TO-DO LISTS

I love getting things done in Roam.

To turn a block into a todo item, type CMD+ENTER when you're on that bullet.

(OR 🖱right click + MAKE TODO)

You should see a checkbox appear!

(p.s. type {{[[TODO]]}} out to get this if you like pain.)

12. MARK TODOs as DONE

Click a checkbox!

OR type CMD+ENTER again. 🥳

It will transform to DONE ✅ (or {{[[DONE]]}} for masochists)

CMD+ENTER one a DONE ✅ to return it to a plain block.

(You can cycle states - bullet->TODO->done->bullet - by hitting CMD+ENTER repeatedly!)

13. Use DATES to Organize Thoughts

Type /today + ENTER to tag today's date.

/tomorrow + ENTER to tag tomorrow!

Use DATES to sort in Roam:
WHEN did I learn something? WHEN do I have to act?

(spoilers: tag 'tomorrow' and it will show up in tomorrow's daily note!' 😇 )

14. Use TIME STAMPING to Track Your Day

Want to note when something happened?

Type /current time + ENTER.

You'll get an exact time stamp for your current time.

I use this in my daily note to track and "commit" to what I'm working on at any given moment.

15. ZOOM IN & OUT on BLOCKS

To focus on just 1 bullet (+ its children), select the line then type CMD + . (period)

To zoom back type CMD + , (comma)

This is great because you have a full page to elaborate on any interesting block.

It's like EVERY BULLET IS A PAGE! 🤯

16. ZOOM IN & OUT on BLOCKS
(pt 2 - addt'l hotkeys)

Other ways to focus a block if you don't like commas and periods:

- Simply double-click 🖱️ the block's bullet
- Right click 🖱️ then select "Focus on Block"
- ctrl + o (the letter O, not zero) when a block is selected

17. Go BACK or FORWARD One Page FAST

Type CMD + LEFT ARROW ◀️ to go back one page, or CMD + RIGHT ARROW ▶️ to jump forward again. 🔥

(You may need to hit "Esc" to unselect any selected blocks first!)

ALTERNATIVELY, click the back or forward arrows in your browser. 💤

18. Return HOME to Your Daily Note

Click DAILY NOTES in the upper left you'll be back to today's Daily Note, which is basically your "Home Page."

If you're feeling cheeky, type CTRL + SHIFT + D.

You just jumped back home without any mouse shenanigans. Look at you!

19. Make A New Page FAST

Highlight any word you've written. Type [ (left bracket) twice.

Boom! Congrats, this text is now a New Page™️! (Signified by the double-brackets)

If that page existed already, this creates a link the pre-existing page. Neat!

20. Pages are Concept Bundles

Bullets = "a thought."
Sub-bullets = "a line of thought."
Pages = "a concept bundle."

a.k.a. thoughts converging!

LINK to a page when you mention that page's idea...

...or add bullets directly on the page!

21. Find Out Every Time You've Ever Thought About Something

Look at the bottom of your new page.

You'll find the Linked References. ("backlinks")

These tell you every. single. time. you've linked this page.

This means any time we tag a page or concept it's tracked. DOPE!!!

22. Remember Every Meeting & Coffee ☕️

Add any work meetings, project calls, or coffees you grab with people in your Daily Note.

Then, link ANYTHING mentioned and ANYONE present.

This meeting's now linked to them (& vice versa)!

BEST lightweight CRM+meeting notes tool.

23. Easy Backlinks, Any Time

Past Linked References, click " ▶ Unlinked References."

This shows EVERY mention that isn't yet linked!

Click "Link" on any individual reference. "Link All" will tag 100% of them.

You can find anytime you've mentioned an idea this way!

24. Sort Mentions Instantly

Click 🌪 ⏚ 'Filter this page' in your linked references.

Then click any term to filter refs by THAT new term PLUS the current one!

(If you shift-click instead, you can HIDE refs 👍)

Use this to find linked "TODOS" for a topic (or hide DONEs)!

25. Sort Content On-Page

Click 🌪 ⏚ 'Filter this page' in upper-right of page.

Click to filter the page itself by block references. :)

Filter out those DONEs! Show only bullets linked to "My Notes"! Show only bullet linked to "In Progress"! Limitless possibilities!

26. Check Out Your Beautiful Backlink Palace

Go to left toolbar + click 🤸🏿 GRAPH OVERVIEW

This is a visualization of every time a page "talks" to another!

One day this might be useful (e.g. generate graph based on page you're currently in) but for now, it's mostly NEAT!

27. Track Your Favorite Pages + Ideas

Click the ✩ icon in the upper-right corner of any page.

This adds it to the left bar as a Favorite!

This is a "bookmarks" bar for pages you're really into right now.

(tap that ★ again to remove a bookmark)

28. Change a Page Name FAST

Edit the title at the top of a page!

Change once to edit EVERY backlink EVERYWHERE. NEAT!

e.g. changes:

-"Apple" to "Apple (Company)"
"Marc" to "Marc Koenig,"
- "Bugrers" to "Burgers"

(Note: you can't change Daily Notes page names 🙅🏼‍♂️)

29. Work in Multiple Pages at Once

Right-click any page link to click Open in Sidebar.

(This works on individual bullets too!)

This is like a "tab" you can work in, copy items from, etc.

Changes in Sidebar happen everywhere, even if the page is open in your main window!

30. Open into Sidebar FAST

To avoid right-clicking shenanigans, hold SHIFT key then Click on any link or bullet.

It will open directly in the Sidebar. Love it

31. Expand, Collapse, Move & Close Sidebar Items

You can move open Sidebar items around by dragging them like bullets.

You can also collapse them to hide them, like bullets.

Click the X to close a Sidebar item you grow weary of.

32. Use the Search Bar to Find Pages or Bullets!

The search bar at the top of the screen can search for either pages or individual blocks you've made.

Type CMD + U to open it FAST, or if you're feeling leisurely, just click on it and start typing!

33. CREATE Pages Using the Search Bar

If you search and don't see a page, the search bar can create it!

Type a word or phrase. If it doesn't exist as a page, press ENTER to make it. (or click "New Page:" option in search bar)

34. Open Items into Sidebar - from Search Bar

If you want to cut out the middle man, open a page you've searched for directly into the Sidebar.

Hold SHIFT and then hit enter on the selected item. NEAT!

(similar to shift+clicking links or bullets to get them into sidebar!)

35. Move Content Around FAST with Sidebar

You can pull items from main window INTO sidebar & vice-versa.

e.g. Open a single bullet like Daily Task List in sidebar. Then grab tasks from wherever to pull into that bullet!

Death to copy-pasting! Long live dragging content!

36. Open & Close Sidebars FAST

You can use mouse to close or open the sidebars if you're an ancient dinosaur.

OR you can...

- Type CMD + \ (back slash) to toggle left sidebar (Favorites)
- Type CMD + / (forward slash) to toggle RIGHT sidebar

37. Move Around FAST with Your Keyboard

- 🔼 & 🔽 to jump from line to line
- CMD + ▶️ or ◀️ to jump to start or end of line
- CMD+Backspace to full whole line
- ALT + ▶️ or ◀️ to jump forward or back a word
- Hold SHIFT while doing any of above to quickly highlight text

38. Move Blocks Around with Keyboard Power

Use Shift+ CMD + 🔼 or 🔽 to move a block one spot up or down the page!

(Similar to collapsing+expanding with CMD + 🔼 or 🔽 )

Hit TAB before doing this to move it into around into the nearest sub-bullets.

39. Make Your Page Easy on the Eyes: Formatting

Let's make our pages pretty! Select text, then:

- Highlight: CMD+h - or: ^^text^^
- Bold: CMD+b - or: **text**
- Italicize: CMD+i - or: __text__
- Strikethrough: CMD+y - or: ~~text~~

40. Make Your Page Easy on the Eyes: Header Styles

Select block, then:

- ALT+CMD+1: Header 1 (or put # + an empty space at line start)
- ALT+CMD+2: H2 (## + space)
- ALT+CMD+3: H3 (### + space)
- ALT+CMD+0 to remove headers (or "backspace" at line start)

41. Make Your Page Easy on the Eyes: Quote Boxes

Add a > sign as the first character of a block to turn it into a quote block!

Great for knowing visually whether it's your own thoughts or someone else's.

42. Make Your Page Easy on the Eyes: Line Breaks

To create a line break, just type --- (three dashes) as the only object in your block.

43. Add Images and Files to Your Page

Type '/upload' then hitting ENTER.

This uploads files or images directly into Roam!

(Note: These images are secured only by the complexity of the URL for now so be thoughtful)

For external images, use: 

44. Adjust Image Sizes

If you drag the lower right corner of an image to adjust the image size down, or back up to the image's original size.

Especially useful for if you ever want to put images in the cells of a table (talk more about tables later...)

45. Rename Internal Links (Aliases) + Link Externally

To link externally, type CMD+K, or type:

[Text Here](URL Here)

To create an alias (link to internal page with any text), replace URL above with a [[Page Link]]. This helps make backlinks more readable!

Interlude tweet reminder:

ROAM IS NOT ABOUT BEING FANCY. Enjoy yourself!

Roam is not Inbox Zero-able. It's beauty from imperfection.

Have fun!

(In that spirit...)

46. Make New Bullets and Indent Like a Madman

There's no penalty for making new bullets. You can always collapse them. Be prolific.

Every bullet can be a "sub-page" - zoom into them! Tend to them! Let them grow and multiply!

47. Make New Pages With Reckless Abandon

Link every person, book, tool, anything! Don't even add info. Be prolific!

Don't worry about dud pages.

In Roam, unused pages fade away. They don't ruin any folders or hierarchy.

Worst-case: you can delete, combine, rename, remix!

48. Make a To-Read or To-Watch System

Make a page or system of tags dedicated to fun stuff you want to do.

[[To-visit]], [[to-hike]], [[to-watch]]

Make a wishlist! [[Wishlist (Your Name)]]

Make a Bookmarks page, a Best Tweets, a "Resonance Calendar"... start collecting!

49. Make a TODO or Weekly Review Page

By default, the TODO Page just grabs all your checkboxes.

Take the next step and segment by priority or create Weekly/Daily review systems!

I tag categories "Today," "Upcoming," and "Later", then move items into Weekly or Daily Plans.

50. Create Project Pages

Working on something big? Add it to the Favorite sidebar, and tag [[NAME/My Projects]] in your top bullet. This will let you filter and query for project-specific items later!

Iterate on sections you like to use and we'll make `em a template later!