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How To Interlink Related Database Pages Together in Notion Productivity App

Notion is an incredibly versatile productivity app that allows you to create a variety of content like notes, tasks, wikis, and databases. One of its most powerful features is the ability to connect related pages and databases together through links, relations and rollups. This interlinking allows you to build a knowledge base where everything is connected, making it easy to discover and reference information across your Notion workspace.

In this article, we’ll explore the various ways to interlink pages and databases in Notion.

Using Links and Backlinks

The simplest way to connect pages is by creating links. When you insert a link to another page, Notion automatically creates a backlink on the target page pointing back to the source page.

To insert a link, use one of these methods:

  • Type / to bring up the link command menu, then search for and select the target page
  • Paste a Notion page URL directly into the text
  • Type @ followed by the page name to link using an @-mention

Backlinks allow you to see all the pages that link to the current page. This helps you discover related content and create relationship graphs across your knowledge base.

Linking Databases

To reuse and sync database content across multiple locations, you can create linked databases.

A linked database shows a live view of an existing database that stays in sync. You can filter, sort and view the linked database separately without affecting the original.

To create a linked database:

  • Type /linked
  • Select the source database
  • Choose whether to show an existing view or create a new empty one

Using Relations Between Databases

The relation property allows you to link records from one database to another. This allows you to model complex relationships like one-to-many and many-to-many.

For example, you can link employees to the departments they belong to, link tasks to the projects they are part of, and so on.

To create a relation:

  • Open a database and click “+ Add property”
  • Select the “Relation” property type
  • Choose the related database to link to

Rollups for Aggregating Data

While relations link databases row-wise, rollups allow you to aggregate and summarize data column-wise.

For example, you can roll up task durations to summarize project timelines, roll up expenses across receipts to get totals, and more.

To create a rollup:

  • Add a “Rollup” property column in a database
  • Select the relation it should use
  • Pick a calculation like count, sum, average etc.

Best Practices

Here are some tips for effectively interlinking your Notion workspace:

  • Plan your database schema in advance – know what objects you need to model and their relationships
  • Use linked databases to reuse and sync content
  • Create relations to link complementary databases
  • Add rollups to summarize and report on related data
  • Document your schema in a wiki using diagrams and descriptions
  • Modularize using one database per object type
  • Normalize data to avoid duplication across databases

Example Schema

Here is an example schema to model bugs/issues in a software project using interlinked databases in Notion:

Notion Schema Example

  • The Issues database contains all bugs and feature requests
  • Projects contains the software projects issues relate to
  • Users stores the engineers working on the projects

Relation properties link Issues to Projects and assign Users. Rollup columns display project-level summary statistics.

This allows you to easily organize issues, uncover trends, and make data-driven decisions.

The same principles can be applied to model any complex domain using Notion’s flexible building blocks.

Additional Tips for Better Organization

Here are some additional tips to keep your Notion workspace better organized:

  • Use tables of contents on long pages
  • Add tags and categories to pages and databases
  • Create hierarchical page menus for navigation
  • Use colors consistently across related content
  • Give everything clear and consistent names
  • Keep your sidebar tidy by pruning unused pages

Conclusion

Interlinking pages and databases is a game-changer that takes Notion from a collection of notes to an integrated knowledge base.

Whether you’re modeling personal projects or complex business processes, relations, rollups and links allow you to capture the connections between ideas and data.

Start by planning a coherent information architecture, then progressively link up your content.

Before you know it, you’ll have a living digital brain where everything is frictionlessly connected!

So go ahead, link up your pages and untangle those tangled thoughts!

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