diff --git a/controller/Notebooks.py b/controller/Notebooks.py
index 97e31c4..a07a62a 100644
--- a/controller/Notebooks.py
+++ b/controller/Notebooks.py
@@ -1,3 +1,4 @@
+import re
 import cherrypy
 from datetime import datetime
 from Expose import expose
@@ -29,6 +30,8 @@ class Access_error( Exception ):
 
 
 class Notebooks( object ):
+  WHITESPACE_PATTERN = re.compile( u"\s+" )
+
   """
   Controller for dealing with notebooks and their notes, corresponding to the "/notebooks" URL.
   """
@@ -161,9 +164,10 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
     notebook_id = Valid_id(),
     note_id = Valid_id(),
     revision = Valid_revision(),
+    summarize = Valid_bool(),
     user_id = Valid_id( none_okay = True ),
   )
-  def load_note( self, notebook_id, note_id, revision = None, user_id = None ):
+  def load_note( self, notebook_id, note_id, revision = None, summarize = False, user_id = None ):
     """
     Return the information on a particular note by its id.
 
@@ -173,6 +177,9 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
     @param note_id: id of note to return
     @type revision: unicode or NoneType
     @param revision: revision timestamp of the note (optional)
+    @type summarize: bool or NoneType
+    @param summarize: True to return a summary of the note's contents, False to return full text
+                      (optional, defaults to False)
     @type user_id: unicode or NoneType
     @param user_id: id of current logged-in user (if any), determined by @grab_user_id
     @rtype: json dict
@@ -196,7 +203,7 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
       if notebook and note.notebook_id == notebook.trash_id:
         if revision:
           return dict(
-            note = note,
+            note = summarize and self.summarize_note( note ) or note,
           )
 
         return dict(
@@ -207,7 +214,7 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
       raise Access_error()
 
     return dict(
-      note = note,
+      note = summarize and self.summarize_note( note ) or note,
     )
 
   @expose( view = Json )
@@ -216,9 +223,10 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
   @validate(
     notebook_id = Valid_id(),
     note_title = Valid_string( min = 1, max = 500 ),
+    summarize = Valid_bool(),
     user_id = Valid_id( none_okay = True ),
   )
-  def load_note_by_title( self, notebook_id, note_title, user_id ):
+  def load_note_by_title( self, notebook_id, note_title, summarize = False, user_id = None ):
     """
     Return the information on a particular note by its title.
 
@@ -226,6 +234,9 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
     @param notebook_id: id of notebook the note is in
     @type note_title: unicode
     @param note_title: title of the note to return
+    @type summarize: bool or NoneType
+    @param summarize: True to return a summary of the note's contents, False to return full text
+                      (optional, defaults to False)
     @type user_id: unicode or NoneType
     @param user_id: id of current logged-in user (if any), determined by @grab_user_id
     @rtype: json dict
@@ -244,9 +255,59 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
       note = self.__database.select_one( Note, notebook.sql_load_note_by_title( note_title ) )
 
     return dict(
-      note = note,
+      note = summarize and self.summarize_note( note ) or note,
     )
 
+  def summarize_note( self, note ):
+    """
+    Create a truncated note summary for the given note, and then return the note with its summary
+    set.
+
+    @type note: model.Note or NoneType
+    @param note: note to summarize, or None
+    @rtype: model.Note or NoneType
+    @return: note with its summary member set, or None if no note was provided
+    """
+    MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH = 40
+    word_count = 10
+
+    if note is None:
+      return None
+
+    if note.contents is None:
+      return note
+
+    # remove all HTML from the contents and also remove the title
+    summary = Html_nuker().nuke( note.contents ).strip()
+    if note.title and summary.startswith( note.title ):
+      summary = summary[ len( note.title ) : ]
+
+    # split the summary on whitespace
+    words = self.WHITESPACE_PATTERN.split( summary )
+
+    def first_words( words, word_count ):
+      return u" ".join( words[ : word_count ] )
+
+    # find a summary less than MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH and, if possible, truncated on a word boundary
+    truncated = False
+    summary = first_words( words, word_count )
+
+    while len( summary ) > MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH:
+      word_count -= 1
+      summary = first_words( words, word_count )
+
+      # if the first word is just ridiculously long, truncate it without finding a word boundary
+      if word_count == 1:
+        summary = summary[ : MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH ]
+        truncated = True
+        break
+
+    if truncated or word_count < len( words ):
+      summary += " ..."
+
+    note.summary = summary
+    return note
+
   @expose( view = Json )
   @strongly_expire
   @grab_user_id
@@ -607,8 +668,8 @@ class Notebooks( object ):
     """
     Search the notes within a particular notebook for the given search text. Note that the search
     is case-insensitive, and all HTML tags are ignored. Notes with title matches are generally
-    ranked higher than matches that are only in the note contents. The returned notes have their
-    normal contents replaced with summary contents with the search terms highlighted.
+    ranked higher than matches that are only in the note contents. The returned notes include
+    content summaries with the search terms highlighted.
 
     @type notebook_id: unicode
     @param notebook_id: id of notebook to search
diff --git a/controller/test/Test_notebooks.py b/controller/test/Test_notebooks.py
index 568daa1..d7e3985 100644
--- a/controller/test/Test_notebooks.py
+++ b/controller/test/Test_notebooks.py
@@ -384,6 +384,24 @@ class Test_notebooks( Test_controller ):
     user = self.database.load( User, self.user.object_id )
     assert user.storage_bytes == 0
 
+  def test_load_note_with_summary( self ):
+    self.login()
+
+    result = self.http_post( "/notebooks/load_note/", dict(
+      notebook_id = self.notebook.object_id,
+      note_id = self.note.object_id,
+      summarize = True,
+    ), session_id = self.session_id )
+
+    note = result[ "note" ]
+
+    assert note.object_id == self.note.object_id
+    assert note.title == self.note.title
+    assert note.contents == self.note.contents
+    assert note.summary == u"blah"
+    user = self.database.load( User, self.user.object_id )
+    assert user.storage_bytes == 0
+
   def test_load_note_by_title( self ):
     self.login()
 
@@ -435,6 +453,64 @@ class Test_notebooks( Test_controller ):
     user = self.database.load( User, self.user.object_id )
     assert user.storage_bytes == 0
 
+  def test_load_note_by_title_with_summary( self ):
+    self.login()
+
+    result = self.http_post( "/notebooks/load_note_by_title/", dict(
+      notebook_id = self.notebook.object_id,
+      note_title = self.note.title,
+      summarize = True,
+    ), session_id = self.session_id )
+
+    note = result[ "note" ]
+
+    assert note.object_id == self.note.object_id
+    assert note.title == self.note.title
+    assert note.contents == self.note.contents
+    assert note.summary == u"blah"
+    user = self.database.load( User, self.user.object_id )
+    assert user.storage_bytes == 0
+
+  def test_summarize_note( self ):
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( self.note )
+
+    assert note.summary == u"blah"
+
+  def test_summarize_note_truncated_at_word_boundary( self ):
+    self.note.contents = u"<h3>the title</h3>" + u"foo bar baz quux " * 10
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( self.note )
+
+    assert note.summary == u"foo bar baz quux foo bar baz quux foo ..."
+
+  def test_summarize_note_truncated_at_character_boundary( self ):
+    self.note.contents = u"<h3>the title</h3>" + u"foobarbazquux" * 10
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( self.note )
+
+    assert note.summary == u"foobarbazquuxfoobarbazquuxfoobarbazquuxf ..."
+
+  def test_summarize_note_with_short_words( self ):
+    self.note.contents = u"<h3>the title</h3>" + u"a b c d e f g h i j k l"
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( self.note )
+
+    assert note.summary == u"a b c d e f g h i j ..."
+
+  def test_summarize_note_without_title( self ):
+    self.note.contents = "foo bar baz quux"
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( self.note )
+
+    assert note.summary == u"foo bar baz quux"
+
+  def test_summarize_note_without_contents( self ):
+    self.note.contents = None
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( self.note )
+
+    assert note.summary == None
+
+  def test_summarize_note_none( self ):
+    note = cherrypy.root.notebooks.summarize_note( None )
+
+    assert note == None
+
   def test_lookup_note_id( self ):
     self.login()
 
diff --git a/model/Note.py b/model/Note.py
index 26789ca..bf76576 100644
--- a/model/Note.py
+++ b/model/Note.py
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
   TITLE_PATTERN = re.compile( u"<h3>(.*?)</h3>", flags = re.IGNORECASE )
 
   def __init__( self, object_id, revision = None, title = None, contents = None, notebook_id = None,
-                startup = None, deleted_from_id = None, rank = None, creation = None ):
+                startup = None, deleted_from_id = None, rank = None, creation = None, summary = None ):
     """
     Create a new note with the given id and contents.
 
@@ -32,12 +32,15 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
     @param rank: indicates numeric ordering of this note in relation to other startup notes
     @type creation: datetime or NoneType
     @param creation: creation timestamp of the object (optional, defaults to None)
+    @type summary: unicode or NoneType
+    @param summary: textual summary of the note's contents (optional, defaults to None)
     @rtype: Note
     @return: newly constructed note
     """
     Persistent.__init__( self, object_id, revision )
     self.__title = title
     self.__contents = contents
+    self.__summary = summary
     self.__notebook_id = notebook_id
     self.__startup = startup or False
     self.__deleted_from_id = deleted_from_id
@@ -45,7 +48,7 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
     self.__creation = creation
 
   @staticmethod
-  def create( object_id, contents = None, notebook_id = None, startup = None, rank = None, creation = None ):
+  def create( object_id, contents = None, notebook_id = None, startup = None, rank = None, creation = None, summary = None ):
     """
     Convenience constructor for creating a new note.
 
@@ -61,10 +64,12 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
     @param rank: indicates numeric ordering of this note in relation to other startup notes
     @type creation: datetime or NoneType
     @param creation: creation timestamp of the object (optional, defaults to None)
+    @type summary: unicode or NoneType
+    @param summary: textual summary of the note's contents (optional, defaults to None)
     @rtype: Note
     @return: newly constructed note
     """
-    note = Note( object_id, notebook_id = notebook_id, startup = startup, rank = rank, creation = creation )
+    note = Note( object_id, notebook_id = notebook_id, startup = startup, rank = rank, creation = creation, summary = summary )
     note.contents = contents
 
     return note
@@ -86,6 +91,9 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
     else:
       self.__title = None
 
+  def __set_summary( self, summary ):
+    self.__summary = summary
+
   def __set_notebook_id( self, notebook_id ):
     self.__notebook_id = notebook_id
     self.update_revision()
@@ -141,6 +149,7 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
     d = Persistent.to_dict( self )
     d.update( dict(
       contents = self.__contents,
+      summary = self.__summary,
       title = self.__title,
       deleted_from_id = self.__deleted_from_id,
       creation = self.__creation,
@@ -150,6 +159,7 @@ class Note( Persistent ):
 
   title = property( lambda self: self.__title )
   contents = property( lambda self: self.__contents, __set_contents )
+  summary = property( lambda self: self.__summary, __set_summary )
   notebook_id = property( lambda self: self.__notebook_id, __set_notebook_id )
   startup = property( lambda self: self.__startup, __set_startup )
   deleted_from_id = property( lambda self: self.__deleted_from_id, __set_deleted_from_id )
diff --git a/model/Notebook.py b/model/Notebook.py
index 9a95afe..86cae87 100644
--- a/model/Notebook.py
+++ b/model/Notebook.py
@@ -161,9 +161,10 @@ class Notebook( Persistent ):
 
     return \
       """
-      select id, revision, title, headline( drop_html_tags( contents ), query ), notebook_id, startup, deleted_from_id from (
+      select id, revision, title, contents, notebook_id, startup, deleted_from_id, rank, null,
+             headline( drop_html_tags( contents ), query ) as summary from (
         select
-         id, revision, title, contents, notebook_id, startup, deleted_from_id, query, rank_cd( search, query ) as rank
+         id, revision, title, contents, notebook_id, startup, deleted_from_id, rank_cd( search, query ) as rank, null, query
         from
           note_current, to_tsquery( 'default', %s ) query
         where
diff --git a/model/test/Test_note.py b/model/test/Test_note.py
index 2226084..d0920de 100644
--- a/model/test/Test_note.py
+++ b/model/test/Test_note.py
@@ -8,18 +8,20 @@ class Test_note( object ):
     self.object_id = u"17"
     self.title = u"title goes here"
     self.contents = u"<h3>%s</h3>blah" % self.title
+    self.summary = None
     self.notebook_id = u"18"
     self.startup = False
     self.rank = 17.5
     self.creation = datetime.now()
     self.delta = timedelta( seconds = 1 )
 
-    self.note = Note.create( self.object_id, self.contents, self.notebook_id, self.startup, self.rank, self.creation )
+    self.note = Note.create( self.object_id, self.contents, self.notebook_id, self.startup, self.rank, self.creation, self.summary )
 
   def test_create( self ):
     assert self.note.object_id == self.object_id
     assert datetime.now( tz = utc ) - self.note.revision < self.delta
     assert self.note.contents == self.contents
+    assert self.note.summary == None
     assert self.note.title == self.title
     assert self.note.notebook_id == self.notebook_id
     assert self.note.startup == self.startup
@@ -36,6 +38,7 @@ class Test_note( object ):
 
     assert self.note.revision > previous_revision
     assert self.note.contents == new_contents
+    assert self.note.summary == None
     assert self.note.title == new_title
     assert self.note.notebook_id == self.notebook_id
     assert self.note.startup == self.startup
@@ -53,6 +56,7 @@ class Test_note( object ):
     # html should be stripped out of the title
     assert self.note.revision > previous_revision
     assert self.note.contents == new_contents
+    assert self.note.summary == None
     assert self.note.title == new_title
     assert self.note.notebook_id == self.notebook_id
     assert self.note.startup == self.startup
@@ -70,6 +74,7 @@ class Test_note( object ):
     # should only use the first title
     assert self.note.revision > previous_revision
     assert self.note.contents == new_contents
+    assert self.note.summary == None
     assert self.note.title == new_title
     assert self.note.notebook_id == self.notebook_id
     assert self.note.startup == self.startup
@@ -77,6 +82,22 @@ class Test_note( object ):
     assert self.note.rank == self.rank
     assert self.note.creation == self.creation
 
+  def test_set_summary( self ):
+    summary = u"summary goes here..."
+    original_revision = self.note.revision
+
+    self.note.summary = summary
+
+    assert self.note.revision == original_revision
+    assert self.note.contents == self.contents
+    assert self.note.summary == summary
+    assert self.note.title == self.title
+    assert self.note.notebook_id == self.notebook_id
+    assert self.note.startup == self.startup
+    assert self.note.deleted_from_id == None
+    assert self.note.rank == self.rank
+    assert self.note.creation == self.creation
+
   def test_set_notebook_id( self ):
     previous_revision = self.note.revision
     self.note.notebook_id = u"54"
@@ -111,6 +132,7 @@ class Test_note( object ):
     assert d.get( "object_id" ) == self.note.object_id
     assert datetime.now( tz = utc ) - d.get( "revision" ) < self.delta
     assert d.get( "contents" ) == self.contents
+    assert d.get( "summary" ) == self.summary
     assert d.get( "title" ) == self.title
     assert d.get( "deleted_from_id" ) == None
     assert d.get( "creation" ) == self.note.creation
@@ -121,6 +143,7 @@ class Test_note_blank( Test_note ):
     self.object_id = u"17"
     self.title = None
     self.contents = None
+    self.summary = None
     self.notebook_id = None
     self.startup = False
     self.rank = None
@@ -133,6 +156,7 @@ class Test_note_blank( Test_note ):
     assert self.note.object_id == self.object_id
     assert datetime.now( tz = utc ) - self.note.revision < self.delta
     assert self.note.contents == None
+    assert self.note.summary == None
     assert self.note.title == None
     assert self.note.notebook_id == None
     assert self.note.startup == False
diff --git a/static/js/Editor.js b/static/js/Editor.js
index a6b3d1c..2d29719 100644
--- a/static/js/Editor.js
+++ b/static/js/Editor.js
@@ -383,8 +383,7 @@ Editor.prototype.start_link = function () {
     } else {
       this.link_started = null;
       this.exec_command( "createLink", "/notebooks/" + this.notebook_id + "?note_id=new" );
-      var link = this.find_link_at_cursor();
-      signal( this, "resolve_link", link_title( link ), link );
+      return this.find_link_at_cursor();
     }
   } else if ( this.document.selection ) { // browsers such as IE
     var range = this.document.selection.createRange();
@@ -400,8 +399,7 @@ Editor.prototype.start_link = function () {
     } else {
       this.link_started = null;
       this.exec_command( "createLink", "/notebooks/" + this.notebook_id + "?note_id=new" );
-      var link = this.find_link_at_cursor();
-      signal( this, "resolve_link", link_title( link ), link );
+      return this.find_link_at_cursor();
     }
   }
 }
@@ -430,7 +428,6 @@ Editor.prototype.end_link = function () {
     range.pasteHTML( "" );
   }
 
-  signal( this, "resolve_link", link_title( link ), link );
   return link;
 }
 
@@ -562,6 +559,48 @@ Editor.prototype.shutdown = function( event ) {
   } } );
 }
 
+Editor.prototype.summarize = function () {
+  var summary = strip( scrapeText( this.document.body ) );
+
+  // remove the title from the scraped summary text
+  if ( summary.indexOf( this.title ) == 0 )
+    summary = summary.substr( this.title.length );
+
+  if ( summary.length == 0 )
+    return null;
+
+  var MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH = 40;
+  var word_count = 10;
+
+  // split the summary on whitespace
+  var words = summary.split( /\s+/ );
+
+  function first_words( words, word_count ) {
+    return words.slice( 0, word_count ).join( " " );
+  }
+
+  var truncated = false;
+  summary = first_words( words, word_count );
+
+  // find a summary less than MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH and, if possible, truncated on a word boundary
+  while ( summary.length > MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH ) {
+    word_count -= 1;
+    summary = first_words( words, word_count );
+
+    // if the first word is just ridiculously long, truncate it without finding a word boundary
+    if ( word_count == 1 ) {
+      summary = summary.substr( 0, MAX_SUMMARY_LENGTH );
+      truncated = true;
+      break;
+    }
+  }
+
+  if ( truncated ||  word_count < words.length )
+    summary += " ...";
+
+  return summary;
+}
+
 // convenience function for parsing a link that has an href URL containing a query string
 function parse_query( link ) {
   if ( !link || !link.href )
diff --git a/static/js/Wiki.js b/static/js/Wiki.js
index 773454e..7f42481 100644
--- a/static/js/Wiki.js
+++ b/static/js/Wiki.js
@@ -490,22 +490,43 @@ Wiki.prototype.resolve_link = function ( note_title, link, callback ) {
   }
 
   var self = this;
+  if ( callback ) {
+    this.invoker.invoke(
+      "/notebooks/load_note_by_title", "GET", {
+        "notebook_id": this.notebook_id,
+        "note_title": note_title,
+        "summarize": true
+      },
+      function ( result ) {
+        if ( result && result.note ) {
+          link.href = "/notebooks/" + self.notebook_id + "?note_id=" + result.note.object_id;
+        } else {
+          link.href = "/notebooks/" + self.notebook_id + "?" + queryString(
+            [ "title", "note_id" ],
+            [ note_title, "null" ]
+          );
+        }
+
+        callback( ( result && result.note ) ? result.note.summary : null );
+      }
+    );
+    return;
+  }
+
   this.invoker.invoke(
-    "/notebooks/" + ( callback ? "load_note_by_title" : "lookup_note_id" ), "GET", {
+    "/notebooks/lookup_note_id", "GET", {
       "notebook_id": this.notebook_id,
       "note_title": note_title
     },
     function ( result ) {
-      if ( result && ( result.note || result.note_id ) ) {
-        link.href = "/notebooks/" + self.notebook_id + "?note_id=" + ( result.note ? result.note.object_id : result.note_id );
+      if ( result && result.note_id ) {
+        link.href = "/notebooks/" + self.notebook_id + "?note_id=" + result.note_id;
       } else {
         link.href = "/notebooks/" + self.notebook_id + "?" + queryString(
           [ "title", "note_id" ],
           [ note_title, "null" ]
         );
       }
-      if ( callback )
-        callback( ( result && result.note ) ? result.note.contents : null );
     }
   );
 }
@@ -596,7 +617,6 @@ Wiki.prototype.create_editor = function ( id, note_text, deleted_from_id, revisi
   }
 
   connect( editor, "load_editor", this, "load_editor" );
-  connect( editor, "resolve_link", this, "resolve_link" );
   connect( editor, "hide_clicked", function ( event ) { self.hide_editor( event, editor ) } );
   connect( editor, "submit_form", function ( url, form ) {
     self.invoker.invoke( url, "POST", null, null, form );
@@ -857,11 +877,18 @@ Wiki.prototype.toggle_link_button = function ( event ) {
   if ( this.focused_editor && this.focused_editor.read_write ) {
     this.focused_editor.focus();
     if ( this.toggle_image_button( "createLink" ) )
-      this.focused_editor.start_link();
+      link = this.focused_editor.start_link();
     else
       link = this.focused_editor.end_link();
 
-    this.display_link_pulldown( this.focused_editor, link );
+    if ( link ) {
+      var self = this;
+      this.resolve_link( link_title( link ), link, function ( summary ) {
+        self.display_link_pulldown( self.focused_editor, link );
+      } );
+    } else {
+      this.display_link_pulldown( this.focused_editor );
+    }
   }
 
   event.stop();
@@ -1124,23 +1151,23 @@ Wiki.prototype.display_search_results = function ( result ) {
     if ( !note.title ) continue;
 
     if ( note.contents.length == 0 ) {
-      var preview = "empty note";
+      var summary = "empty note";
     } else {
-      var preview = note.contents;
+      var summary = note.summary;
 
-      // if the preview appears not to end with a complete sentence, add "..."
-      if ( !/[?!.]\s*$/.test( preview ) )
-        preview = preview + " <b>...</b>";
+      // if the summary appears not to end with a complete sentence, add "..."
+      if ( !/[?!.]\s*$/.test( summary ) )
+        summary = summary + " <b>...</b>";
     }
 
-    var preview_span = createDOM( "span" );
-    preview_span.innerHTML = preview;
+    var summary_span = createDOM( "span" );
+    summary_span.innerHTML = summary;
 
     appendChildNodes( list,
       createDOM( "p", {},
         createDOM( "a", { "href": "/notebooks/" + this.notebook_id + "?note_id=" + note.object_id }, note.title ),
         createDOM( "br" ),
-        preview_span
+        summary_span
       )
     );
   }
@@ -1756,7 +1783,7 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
   this.invoker = invoker;
   this.editor = editor;
   this.title_field = createDOM( "input", { "class": "text_field", "size": "30", "maxlength": "256" } );
-  this.note_preview = createDOM( "span", {} );
+  this.note_summary = createDOM( "span", {} );
   this.previous_title = "";
 
   var self = this;
@@ -1768,12 +1795,12 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
 
   appendChildNodes( this.div, createDOM( "span", { "class": "field_label" }, "links to: " ) );
   appendChildNodes( this.div, this.title_field );
-  appendChildNodes( this.div, this.note_preview );
+  appendChildNodes( this.div, this.note_summary );
 
   // links with targets are considered links to external sites
   if ( link.target ) {
     this.title_field.value = link.href;
-    replaceChildNodes( this.note_preview, "web link" );
+    replaceChildNodes( this.note_summary, "web link" );
     return;
   }
 
@@ -1785,20 +1812,21 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
   if ( ( id == undefined || id == "new" || id == "null" ) && title.length > 0 ) {
     if ( title == "all notes" ) {
       this.title_field.value = title;
-      this.display_preview( title, "list of all notes in this notebook" );
+      this.display_summary( title, "list of all notes in this notebook" );
       return;
     }
 
     if ( title == "search results" ) {
       this.title_field.value = title;
-      this.display_preview( title, "current search results" );
+      this.display_summary( title, "current search results" );
       return;
     }
 
     this.invoker.invoke(
       "/notebooks/load_note_by_title", "GET", {
         "notebook_id": this.notebook_id,
-        "note_title": title
+        "note_title": title,
+        "summarize": true
       },
       function ( result ) {
         // if the user has already started typing something, don't overwrite it
@@ -1806,10 +1834,10 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
           return;
         if ( result.note ) {
           self.title_field.value = result.note.title;
-          self.display_preview( result.note.title, result.note.contents );
+          self.display_summary( result.note.title, result.note.summary );
         } else {
           self.title_field.value = title;
-          replaceChildNodes( self.note_preview, "empty note" );
+          replaceChildNodes( self.note_summary, "empty note" );
         }
       }
     );
@@ -1817,20 +1845,21 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
   }
 
   // if this link has an actual destination note id set, then see if that note is already open. if
-  // so, display its title and a preview of its contents
+  // so, display its title and a summary of its contents
   var iframe = getElement( "note_" + id );
   if ( iframe ) {
     this.title_field.value = iframe.editor.title;
-    this.display_preview( iframe.editor.title, iframe.editor.document );
+    this.display_summary( iframe.editor.title, iframe.editor.summarize() );
     return;
   }
 
-  // otherwise, load the destination note from the server, displaying its title and a preview of
+  // otherwise, load the destination note from the server, displaying its title and a summary of
   // its contents
   this.invoker.invoke(
     "/notebooks/load_note", "GET", {
       "notebook_id": this.notebook_id,
-      "note_id": id
+      "note_id": id,
+      "summarize": true
     },
     function ( result ) {
       // if the user has already started typing something, don't overwrite it
@@ -1838,10 +1867,10 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
         return;
       if ( result.note ) {
         self.title_field.value = result.note.title;
-        self.display_preview( result.note.title, result.note.contents );
+        self.display_summary( result.note.title, result.note.summary );
       } else {
         self.title_field.value = title;
-        replaceChildNodes( self.note_preview, "empty note" );
+        replaceChildNodes( self.note_summary, "empty note" );
       }
     }
   );
@@ -1850,33 +1879,13 @@ function Link_pulldown( wiki, notebook_id, invoker, editor, link ) {
 Link_pulldown.prototype = new function () { this.prototype = Pulldown.prototype; };
 Link_pulldown.prototype.constructor = Link_pulldown;
 
-Link_pulldown.prototype.display_preview = function ( title, contents ) {
-  if ( !contents ) {
-    replaceChildNodes( this.note_preview, "empty note" );
-    return;
-  }
-
-  // if contents is a DOM node, just scrape its text
-  if ( contents.nodeType ) {
-    contents = strip( scrapeText( contents ) );
-  // otherwise, assume contents is a string, so put it into a DOM node and then scrape its contents
-  } else {
-    var contents_node = createDOM( "span", {} );
-    contents_node.innerHTML = contents;
-    contents = strip( scrapeText( contents_node ) );
-  }
-
-  // remove the title from the scraped contents text
-  if ( contents.indexOf( title ) == 0 )
-    contents = contents.substr( title.length );
-
-  if ( contents.length == 0 ) {
-    replaceChildNodes( this.note_preview, "empty note" );
-  } else {
-    var max_preview_length = 40;
-    var preview = contents.substr( 0, max_preview_length ) + ( ( contents.length > max_preview_length ) ? "..." : "" );
-    replaceChildNodes( this.note_preview, preview );
-  }
+Link_pulldown.prototype.display_summary = function ( title, summary ) {
+  if ( !summary )
+    replaceChildNodes( this.note_summary, "empty note" );
+  else if ( summary.length == 0 )
+    replaceChildNodes( this.note_summary, "empty note" );
+  else
+    replaceChildNodes( this.note_summary, summary );
 }
 
 Link_pulldown.prototype.title_field_clicked = function ( event ) {
@@ -1892,13 +1901,13 @@ Link_pulldown.prototype.title_field_changed = function ( event ) {
   if ( this.title_field.value == this.previous_title )
     return;
 
-  replaceChildNodes( this.note_preview, "" );
+  replaceChildNodes( this.note_summary, "" );
   var title = strip( this.title_field.value );
   this.previous_title = title;
 
   var self = this;
-  this.wiki.resolve_link( title, this.link, function ( contents ) {
-    self.display_preview( title, contents );
+  this.wiki.resolve_link( title, this.link, function ( summary ) {
+    self.display_summary( title, summary );
   } );
 }