ConnectedText; any case studies?

Posted by Dr Andus
Mar 21, 2012 at 02:34 AM

Daly de Gagne wrote:
>Dr Andus, thanks for the reference to Manfred’s description of how he’s used CT.
>I
>have no doubt, based on the reports of people such as Manfred, that CT is a phenomenal
>product, and that I could make really good use of it. Unfortunately, I cannot get my
>brain around how to use it. While I think part of my problem has to do with how the
>instructions for use are presented, I have come to realize that a major stumbling
>block is my inability to figure out how to begin using it. And that is not something
>unique to me and CT, but to any wiki program I have tried, and some other programs as
>well.

Daly,
I can completely empathise with you because I had the same problem. Over the past 6 years I’d downloaded it several times and then gave up in frustration because I didn’t even know where to begin and I similarly couldn’t understand the instructions. Eventually it was Steve’s blog post earlier in this thread that led to the breakthrough for me.

Now that I understand a little bit about it, I think the source of this problem is also CT’s main strength. Basically it is such a versatile and flexible piece of software that it allows you - but also requires you - to invent your very own version of it. So it’s a catch 22: in order to understand the software, you need to invent a use for it, but you can’t invent a use for it, unless you know how it works at least a little. It’s almost a zen-like problem and requires some form of sudden enlightenment when both things happen at the same time (at least for a non-programmer type like me :). For me the zen situation was provided by the fact that I had some specific data-analysis and writing-related problems for which wikis seemed perfect, and then came Steve’s post, and I just suddenly realised how I might just be able to figure out how to use it.

Then came the next phase, which meant actually starting the work in CT, without spending too much time reading the Help file. And I’m progressing step-by-step, looking up the Help file or the CT forum or actually asking for help as and when I need it. And so learning about CT has been incremental and totally in parallel with inventing my own version of it (i.e. my own desktop layout, arrangement of tools, creating logical relationships between documents (topics) and categories etc.). So I recommend 1) finding a problem you need to solve (a writing or organisational problem), 2) get stuck into CT, and 3) learn about the features as you go along and ask for help when needed.