diff --git a/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim b/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim
index 0157d35..73edac6 100644
--- a/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim
+++ b/nvim/.config/nvim/maps.vim
@@ -199,23 +199,18 @@ nnoremap <localleader>l :WikiFzfToc<cr>
 " overwrites some default mappings I don't use, or that interfere with my own
 " mappings TODO: currently this just assigns bogus shortcuts, since the plugin grumbles
 " when setting to an empty string
-let g:wiki_mappings_global = {
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-journal)' : '<leader>===',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-code-run)' : '<leader>====',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-graph-in)' : '<leader>====',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-graph-out)' : '<leader>=====',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-link-toggle)' : '<leader>=======',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-page-toc)' : '<leader>=========',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-page-toc-local)' : '<leader>=============',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-export)' : '<leader>==============',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-list-uniq)' : '<leader>===============',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-list-uniq-local)' : '<leader>================',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-tag-list)' : '<leader>=================',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-tag-reload)' : '<leader>==================',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-tag-search)' : '<leader>=====================',
-      \ '<plug>(wiki-link-toggle-operator)' : '<leader>======================',
+
+let g:wiki_mappings_local = {
+      \ '<plug>(wiki-link-next)' : '<tab>',
+      \ '<plug>(wiki-link-prev)' : '<s-tab>',
+      \ '<plug>(wiki-link-return)' : '<bs>',
+      \ 'v_<plug>(wiki-link-toggle-visual)' : '<cr>',
+      \ '<plug>(wiki-graph-find-backlinks)' : '<leader>wb',
+      \ '<plug>(wiki-graph-in)' : '<leader>wg',
+      \ '<plug>(wiki-graph-out)' : '<leader>wG',
       \}
-au Filetype markdown,pandoc nnoremap gf :ZettelOpenAtCursor<cr>
+" additional zettelkasten mapping
+au Filetype markdown,pandoc nnoremap <cr> :ZettelOpenAtCursor<cr>
 
 " Mostly dealing with Prose writing from here on out
 " Format current Paragraph (esp useful in prose writing)
diff --git a/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/wiki.vim b/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/wiki.vim
index 5093a21..af9228f 100644
--- a/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/wiki.vim
+++ b/nvim/.config/nvim/plugin/wiki.vim
@@ -7,7 +7,8 @@ endif
 " filetypes to automatically enable the plugin for, seems to take file endings
 " rather than vim ft
 let g:wiki_filetypes = ['md', 'mkd', 'markdown', 'wiki']
-let g:wiki_mappings_use_defaults = 'all'
+let g:wiki_mappings_use_defaults = 'global'
+let g:wiki_list_todos = ['[ ]', '[x]']
 
 " wiki automatic link creation
 " add .md to the end of links by default
@@ -16,31 +17,7 @@ let g:wiki_link_extension = '.md'
 " not in wiki format [[link|descr]]
 let g:wiki_link_target_type = 'md'
 
-" Creates a Zettelkasten compatible unique datestamp
-function s:Getdatestamp()
-  if !exists("*strftime")
-    :echoerr "Date Stamp creation needs strftime available on system!"
-  endif
-  return strftime("%y%m%d%H%M")
-endfunction
-
-command! Datestamp :echom s:Getdatestamp()
-
-" Appends Zettelkasten timestamp to beginning of links
-function! PrependDatestamp(text) abort
-  " lowercase and replace spaces with dashes (-) to make links uniform
-  let l:text=substitute(tolower(a:text), '\s\+', '-', 'g')
-  " prepend datestamp
-  let l:text=substitute(l:text, '^', s:Getdatestamp() . ' '. '\0', 'g')
-  return l:text
-endfunction
-
-" sets wiki.vim to automatically apply datestamp function to links
-let g:wiki_map_link_target = "PrependDatestamp"
-
-let g:wiki_list_todos = ['[ ]', '[x]']
-
-" set file opening schemes
+" change file opening scheme of external wiki links
 function! WikiFileOpen(...) abort dict
   " use xdg-open for now -- can still customize if need be, see
   " :help wiki-config  -> g:wiki_file_open for an example
@@ -48,3 +25,69 @@ function! WikiFileOpen(...) abort dict
   return 1
 endfunction
 let g:wiki_file_open = 'WikiFileOpen'
+
+" Zettelkasten functionality
+
+" Creates a Zettelkasten compatible unique datestamp
+function s:Getdatestamp()
+  if !exists("*strftime")
+    :echoerr "Date Stamp creation needs strftime available on system!"
+  endif
+  return strftime("%y%m%d%H%M")
+endfunction
+command! Datestamp :echom s:Getdatestamp()
+
+" Appends Zettelkasten timestamp to beginning of links
+function! ZettelLink(text) abort
+  " lowercase and replace spaces with dashes (-) to make links uniform
+  let l:text=substitute(tolower(a:text), '\s\+', '-', 'g')
+  " prepend datestamp
+  let l:text=substitute(l:text, '^', s:Getdatestamp() . ' '. '\0', 'g')
+  return l:text
+endfunction
+" sets wiki.vim to automatically apply datestamp function to created links
+let g:wiki_map_link_create = "ZettelLink"
+
+" Returns the full path to the Zettel owning the anchor id passed in
+function! s:GetZettelPath(anchor) abort
+  " match first 10-digit-beggining file ending with .md
+  "  e.g. 1906061330 My example-Zettel.md
+  let l:tomatch='/' . trim(a:anchor) . ' .*\.md'
+  let l:notes=split(globpath(g:wiki_root, '**'), '\n')
+
+  let l:match=match(l:notes, l:tomatch)
+  if l:match == -1
+    return ""
+  else
+    return fnameescape(l:notes[l:match])
+  endif
+endfunction
+command! -nargs=1 ZettelOpen execute ":e " . s:GetZettelPath(<q-args>)
+
+" Returns only the anchor id in a file name
+" - returns empty string if nothing was found
+function! s:ExtractAnchor(file) abort
+  return trim(matchstr(a:file, '[:/]\d\{10,14} '), ' \t\r:/')
+endfunction
+
+" Uses the Zettel Anchor ID instead of the whole link structure to traverse
+" the whole Wiki directory from its root and opens first fitting Zettel
+function! ZettelOpenAtCursor(...) abort
+  let l:link = wiki#link#get_at_cursor()
+  try
+    let l:zettel = s:GetZettelPath( s:ExtractAnchor(l:link.url) )
+
+    " fall back to normal link opening otherwise
+    if l:zettel ==? ""
+      call call(l:link.open, a:000, l:link)
+    else
+      execute ":e " . l:zettel
+      " call call(l:link.open, a:000, l:link)
+    endif
+  catch /E716:/
+    call wiki#link#toggle(l:link)
+  catch /E37:/
+    echoerr 'E37: Can''t open link before you''ve saved the current buffer.'
+  endtry
+endfunction
+command! ZettelOpenAtCursor :call ZettelOpenAtCursor()