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MOC View

Map of Content (MOC) view renders your hierarchy as an interactive collapsible tree with clickable wiki links. Perfect for exploring your knowledge structure at a glance.

MOC Content Hierarchy​

Use bullet list structures in your notes as a hierarchy source instead of frontmatter properties.

What is MOC Content Hierarchy?​

Traditionally, Nexus Properties reads relationships from frontmatter properties (Parent, Children, Related). MOC Content mode provides an alternative: parse bullet lists with wiki links directly from your note's markdown body.

This is ideal for:

  • Existing MOC files: Notes that already organize knowledge via nested bullet lists
  • Quick hierarchy authoring: Build hierarchies visually in markdown without editing frontmatter
  • Top-down organization: Start with a high-level overview file and nest topics underneath

Example MOC File​

# My Hobbies

- [[Reading]]
    - [[Fiction]]
        - [[Mystery Novels]]
        - [[Science Fiction]]
    - [[Non-Fiction]]
        - [[History Books]]
- [[Sports]]
    - [[Running]]
    - [[Swimming]]

When viewing this file with MOC Content mode enabled:

  • Children view shows: Reading, Sports
  • All Children view shows all 7 descendant notes recursively

Enabling MOC Content Mode​

Step 1: Enable MOC Content Reading

Settings → General → Enable MOC content reading (default: enabled)

This allows the plugin to detect and parse MOC structures in your notes.

Step 2: Switch Hierarchy Source

Two ways to switch:

  1. Quick Toggle Button: When viewing a file with valid MOC content (3+ links, 2+ levels), a button appears next to the view toggle. Click to switch between "Properties" and "MOC Content".

  2. Settings: Settings → General → Hierarchy Source → Choose "MOC Content"

Valid MOC Detection​

The plugin automatically detects valid MOC content when:

  • The file contains 3 or more wiki links in bullet lists
  • At least one bullet has nested children (2+ levels of indentation)

Files that don't meet these criteria won't show the hierarchy source toggle button.

Supported Bullet Format​

- [[Note 1]]
    - [[Child 1]]
- [[Note 2]]
	- [[Child with tab indent]]
    - [[Child with space indent]]

The parser handles both tabs and spaces for indentation. Each bullet line must contain at least one wiki link; the first link becomes the node identity.

Frontmatter Safety​

The MOC parser skips frontmatter entirely. Wiki links in your YAML properties are not parsed as hierarchy:

---
parent: "[[Some Parent]]"  # NOT parsed as MOC hierarchy
related: ["[[Related 1]]", "[[Related 2]]"]  # NOT parsed
---

# My Note

- [[Actual Child 1]]  # Parsed as MOC hierarchy
- [[Actual Child 2]]  # Parsed as MOC hierarchy

Bases View Behavior​

When MOC Content mode is active:

ViewBehavior
ChildrenDirect children only (level 0 descendants from bullet list)
All ChildrenAll descendants recursively
ParentHidden (not applicable)
RelatedHidden (not applicable)
All ParentsHidden (not applicable)
All RelatedHidden (not applicable)

Graph View Behavior​

When MOC Content mode is active:

  • Related view: Hidden
  • Start from Current File: Hidden
  • Only hierarchical views (showing parent-child relationships) are available

Statistics Display​

The header statistics adapt to MOC Content mode:

  • Only Children and All Children counts are shown
  • Parent and Related statistics are hidden

Switching Between Modes​

You can freely switch between "Properties" and "MOC Content" modes:

  • The plugin remembers your preference per session
  • Each mode shows the same file's hierarchy differently
  • No data is modified when switching—it's purely a display mode

Limitations​

  • Read-only: MOC Content mode only reads hierarchies; creating nodes still uses frontmatter properties
  • Single file scope: The hierarchy is parsed from the current file only
  • First link wins: If a bullet has multiple wiki links, only the first is used as the node identity
  • No bidirectional sync: Unlike frontmatter properties, MOC content doesn't trigger bidirectional updates

Opening MOC View​

The view switcher cycles through three modes: Graph → Bases → MOC

  • Toggle button: Click "Switch to MOC" in the view header
  • Command: "Toggle View Mode (Graph/Bases/MOC)"

Tree Structure​

MOC displays notes in a hierarchical outline format:

- [[Current Note]]
    - [[Child 1]]
        - [[Grandchild 1]]
        - [[Grandchild 2]]
    - [[Child 2]]

Each level is indented to show parent-child relationships clearly. Items with children have a collapse/expand chevron.

Root Mode Toggle​

Switch between two root modes using the toggle button in the toolbar:

Current (Default)​

Tree starts from the active file as root, showing only its descendants.

- [[Active File]] ← root
    - [[Child 1]]
    - [[Child 2]]

Top Parent​

Traverses upward to find the topmost ancestor, then renders the full tree with your current file highlighted.

- [[Topmost Ancestor]] ← root (traversed upward)
    - [[Intermediate Parent]]
        - [[Active File]] ← highlighted
            - [[Child 1]]
            - [[Child 2]]

This uses the same traversal algorithm as the Graph view, respecting the Prioritize Parent setting for notes with multiple parents.

Click​

Click any note to open it in the current pane.

Ctrl+Click (Cmd+Click on Mac)​

Open note in a new tab.

Expand/Collapse​

  • Chevron: Click to toggle individual branches
  • Expand All: Show all nested children
  • Collapse All: Hide all children

Display Properties​

Show frontmatter properties next to each note in the tree. Configure in Settings → Bases → Display properties.

Enter a comma-separated list of property names (e.g., status, priority, tags). Properties containing wiki links are rendered as clickable links.

- [[Project A]]                    [Active] [High]
    - [[Task 1]]                   [Done]
    - [[Task 2]]                   [In Progress]

The properties appear to the right of each note name and scroll horizontally if they overflow.

Visual Indicators​

  • Current file: Highlighted with accent background color (in Top Parent mode)
  • Depth styling: Root items are larger/bolder, deeper items are smaller/muted
  • Vertical lines: Connect parent to children visually
  • Property badges: Frontmatter values shown as compact badges

Cycle Detection​

The view handles circular relationships gracefully. If a note appears in its own ancestry chain, it won't cause infinite loops.

Next Steps​