Concepts (and all Rems) have one standard name in your knowledge base. But in real life, the same thing is often called by several names. To help you model real life better, RemNote offers aliases, or alternate names for Rems.

For example, you might use aliases when you're dealing with:

Aliases are particularly useful when creating Rem References, since they allow you to make the Rem Reference show appropriate text in the context of the referencing Rem.

Aliases are a Pro feature; Free users can create up to 4 aliases to try it out before upgrading.

If you are not already familiar with Rem References, we advise reviewing those first.

Any Rem can be given Aliases to use instead of the full text when referencing it elsewhere in your notes. There are two ways to do so.

The first method simply changes the text of an existing Rem Reference without changing where it links to.

To do so, find a Rem Reference and right-click on it. Then click Edit Reference Text (Add Alias). You will be prompted to fill in whatever text you wish for the reference.

For example, we could use LDL-C instead of Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol.

As you can see, this method doesn't just change the name of the Rem in that Reference, it also adds a special child Rem with the Aliases PowerUp under the original Rem. This allows you to track all the different aliases for the Rem.

You can also create one or more Aliases directly under a Rem so that you can use them in future references. Doing so requires using the Alias Power Up. You can read more about Power Ups in RemNote here.

To activate it, simply type / then Alias, you will see the option for the Power Up, which is marked with an upwards arrow in a circle. Click on it.

This will add the Aliases child Rem to your Rem, and prompt you to fill in an Alias below. Feel free to add as many as you like. Any Rems added under the Alias power-up will be created as aliases.

For example, you can reference Heart Attack along with Myocardial Infarction:

You can also switch between Aliases for a given Rem Reference.

To do so, right-click on a reference and return to the Edit Reference Text option. You can create a new Alias as we saw before, or choose an existing one from among those already made.

Full titles of drugs, conditions, laws, theorems, institutions, and more can all be long-winded to type or take up space and focus in your notes.

Creating aliases as abbreviations or acronyms for complex terms will streamline your notes and make Referencing them easier and more intuitive.

Sometimes you will want or need to take notes in different languages or registers. You can add aliases with translations or synonyms that enable you to reference the same term without switching language or registering in the middle of a sentence.

This can also be helpful when learning languages. For example, adding the English version as an alias to new vocabulary, to help you find it when writing up new notes.

When building your notes, flow and accuracy can be important. Adding aliases to a term you reference frequently with different modifiers, such as plurals, conjugations, or prefixes and suffixes, can help integrate references without interfering with their legibility.

Complex subjects like chemistry often have multiple names for a substance or molecule depending on the context it is used, ranging from complex and careful chemical equations to scientific names and even layperson names.