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Memory map

The memory map visualises every memory in your account and how memories connect — to the people tagged in them, to the places they happened, to common tags, to linked notes. It's a way to see your life-moment record as a graph rather than a chronological list, surfacing clusters (groups of memories that share people, themes, or locations) that the timeline view can miss.

Pan, zoom, click — the underlying interaction model is the same as every other map in the module.

What the graph contains​

Node typeWhat it represents
Memory nodeOne memory (square with photo background)
Person nodeA person tagged in at least one memory
Tag nodeA tag used on multiple memories
Location nodeA place referenced by multiple memories
Note nodeA note linked to a memory

Edges:

  • Memory–person: the person was tagged in the memory.
  • Memory–tag: the memory carries the tag.
  • Memory–location: the memory happened at the place.
  • Memory–note: a note is associated with the memory.
  • Memory–memory: same date / nearby / shared people (inferred edges, dashed).

Why graph it​

A chronological timeline tells you "what happened when". A map tells you:

  • Who appears across many memories — people who matter, the relationships that recur.
  • Which themes cluster — wedding memories, travel memories, work milestones — visible as natural groupings.
  • Which locations matter most — the cities, restaurants, family homes that come up.
  • Where the gaps are — isolated nodes can mean memories not yet tagged with people or tags.

Filters​

The filter panel lets you narrow the graph:

FilterUse
Date range"Show me memories from 2024 only"
Tagged person"Show me memories with my mother"
Tag"Show me 'travel' memories"
Location"Show me memories at home vs away"
Show / hide node typesToggle people, tags, locations, notes

Combining filters lets you ask precise questions: "memories tagged 'family' that include my brother, in the last 3 years".

Tag clustering​

A useful mode: turn on cluster by tag. The simulation then groups same-tagged memories visually — your wedding memories drift toward one cluster, work milestones toward another. The visualisation immediately shows the themes of your life-record.

Person clustering​

Alternative mode: cluster by tagged person. Memories involving the same person attract toward each other. Combined with multi-person tagging, this reveals "group" memories — friends-trip clusters, family-gathering clusters.

Performance​

Memory maps scale well for typical use:

  • Up to 200 memories renders smoothly.
  • 200–500 is fine with date-range filtering.
  • 500+ consider filtering by tag or person.

The full life-history map ("everything I've ever logged") becomes a hairball past a few hundred entries — filtering is the cure.

Worked example​

You've logged 95 memories over 3 years. Open the memory map:

  • 95 memory nodes.
  • 32 person nodes (the people tagged across memories).
  • ~70 edges from memories to people.
  • 14 tag nodes.

Without filtering, the graph is busy but readable. Turn on cluster by tag — clusters emerge:

  • A "family" cluster of 28 memories around your immediate family.
  • A "travel" cluster of 22 memories.
  • A "wedding" cluster of 4 memories (your wedding + 3 you attended).
  • A "work" cluster of 8 milestones.
  • A scattered set of 33 standalone memories not tagged enough to cluster.

You notice the scattered set — opportunity to tag them better.

Interactivity per node​

Click any node:

  • Memory node → opens the memory.
  • Person node → opens that person's profile.
  • Tag node → filters the graph to that tag.
  • Location node → filters to that location, optionally opens the map of that location's events / notes / memories.

Right-click any node:

  • Hide node from the graph.
  • Pin node in place.
  • Focus (recentre simulation on this node).

Multi-graph navigation​

From the memory map you can jump to:

  • A person's people map — "see all this person's connections".
  • A note's note map — "what else is this note linked to".
  • An event's event map — "what surrounded this event".

The graphs cross-reference each other.

Export​

PNG, SVG, JSON — same as other maps. SVG is the best for printing a "map of my life" page; JSON is for users who want to process the graph in another tool.

Privacy​

The memory map is yours alone:

  • Per-account graph, private.
  • Connections to other entities (people, notes) are visible only because you tagged them in your memories.
  • Exports are local; no cloud rendering.

What this map is not​

  • Not a real geographic map. Locations are nodes, not lat/long pins on a world map. For the geographic view of your memories, the memories timeline has its own map view ("memories by place").
  • Not auto-clustering by content. The clustering uses your tags and people-tags, not AI inference of theme.
  • Not retroactive. A new memory you log appears in the graph on next render. The graph doesn't suggest "this memory should connect to that one".

Frequently asked​

My memory map is empty. Add a few memories with at least one tag or one person-tag each. Without associations, the graph is just disconnected dots.

Why are some memory–memory edges dashed? Inferred edges (same date, same location, common people) are dashed to distinguish them from explicit associations you typed in. The inferences are heuristics — useful for discovery, not authoritative.

Can I share my memory map with a partner? Snapshot export (PNG) yes. Interactive sharing isn't a feature — each partner's data-sharing matrix governs what they see of your individual memories; rendering a shared graph would require complex cross-account computation.

How do I clean up a noisy map? Use the filter panel: hide low-importance memories, hide some node types (e.g. hide tag nodes for a person-only view), or filter to a date range.

Last updated: 2026-05-11 Author: Ahsan Mahmood