Properties
An object's content is its text, picture or page. Properties are the structured facts about it: fields with a name and a type, such as Status: In progress, Due: Sep 27 or Source: [another Card].
Every Artifact has the same Properties box — Cards, Images, Links, Sketches, Tables and Sparks. What differs by type is only the built-in System rows: an Image knows its size and caption, a Link its URL and title, a Card its Concept.
Open the Properties box
- On the Canvas: hover the object and click its Properties button. On a Card it's the … right after the Concept in the header; on other objects it sits in the row of small buttons that appears on hover.
- In the Right Panel: open the object there (Open in Right Panel). Properties sit at the top, above the content. Click the Properties heading to fold or unfold the box.
The rows come in groups, each with a count and a fold arrow. Lino remembers which groups you left open.
| Group | Holds |
|---|---|
| Custom | Properties you added to this object |
| One group per Table | The columns of each Table this object is a row in, named after the Table (folded at first) |
| System | Built-in facts for this type of object |
An empty value shows Empty. Click a value to edit it. Read-only rows show a crossed-out pen.
System properties
Every type has these:
| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Hide from AI | Keeps Lino AI from reading the object. See Privacy. |
| Contributors | Who worked on it, including Lino AI (read-only) |
| Created / Updated | Timestamps (read-only) |
Each type adds its own rows on top — for example an Image's Caption, Description, Width and Height, or a Link's URL, Title and Description. The page for each type lists them: Images, Links, Tables, Sparks.
Card-only rows
| Row | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Auto Concept | Whether the Concept follows the first heading. See Concept Card. |
| Concept | "A unique name others can mention" |
| Aliases | "Other names that also find this Card" — only on a Concept Card |
| Variable | "Context disambiguator" — only on a Concept Card |
| Binding / Synced | Shown at the top when the Card is bound to a Markdown file. See Smart Sync. |
Add a property
- Under Custom, click + Property.
- Optionally type a name. If you don't, Lino uses the type's name (Text, Text 2, …).
- Under Type, click the type you want. The property is added, empty.
Custom properties belong to this one object. Adding Status to one Card doesn't add it to others — when many objects need the same fields, put them in a Table.
Property types
| Type | Holds |
|---|---|
| Text | Any text |
| Number | A number, shown as a number, a bar or a ring |
| Select | One option from a list you build |
| Multi-select | Several options |
| Status | One option, grouped as To-do / In progress / Complete. Starts with Not started, In progress and Done. |
| Date | A date, optionally with a time |
| Checkbox | On or off |
| URL, Email, Phone | A web address, email address or phone number |
| Formula | A computed value |
| Place | A location |
| Person | One or more people |
| Relation | References to other objects — see below |
For Select, Multi-select and Status, type in the picker (Select an option or create one) and choose Create to add a new option.
Change, duplicate or delete a property
Click the property's name to open its menu:
- Rename — edit the name at the top. Two properties on one object can't share a name.
- Edit property › — settings for the type:
- Date: Date format, Include time, Time format (12-hour / 24-hour).
- Number: Number format, Decimal places, Show as (Number / Bar / Ring).
- Select, Multi-select, Status: Options and Add option; Status also groups its options.
- Change type › — values are converted where possible.
- Duplicate property — adds a copy named "… copy".
- Delete property.
Properties that come from a Table are the Table's columns: change those in the Table.
Relation properties
A Relation property links this object to other objects — for example Sources → three Links, or Part of → a Concept Card.
- Add a property of type Relation and give it a name, e.g. Part of.
- Click its value and type
@(Type @ to pick). Choose Cards, Links, Images, Sketches, Tables or Sparks.
Each value is also a Connection on the Canvas, from this object to the one you picked, labeled with the property's name. The property owns those Connections:
- Adding or removing a value adds or removes the Connection. Renaming the property renames the label. Deleting the property, or changing its type, removes its Connections.
- On the Canvas you can't disconnect or relabel them. Their toolbar shows Open property instead of Disconnect, which takes you straight to the property.
See Embeds for how these Connections look and sort.
Dates and people
- A Date property shows a short date like
Sep 27. Click it, or hover and click Pick a date, to open the calendar. - A Person property shows people as chips. Click to open the picker (Search for people…); × removes someone.
Today the people you can pick are yourself and Lino AI. In a Card, the same date and person chips can be written inside the text — see References → Dates and people.
Related
- Working with objects — what every object has in common.
- Tables — when many objects need the same columns.
- To-dos & Tasks — dates and people inside a Card's to-do items.