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1 Diagramming software like Scapple, but with notes connectable to multiple parts of the map?
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Posted by digeratus
Nov 5, 2023 at 06:08 AM
So I love Scapple in many ways. And I’d want my stuff to be spread out free-form that way (as opposed to a tree-like mind map).
But for example let’s say I have a set of stuff that has to do with my favorite cars. And one of them is “Mustang.”
But I also have a separate map (or a separate part of the same map) where I take about various animals that lived in the Western US. One of them is the Mustang.
So in the car map, I’d want the Mustang note to indicate somehow that it was also a part of a different map, and for me to be able to simply use the Mustang note to click over to that other map.
And hopefully “Mustang” could be linked in two, three, or more maps.
But I want it to all stay visual.
Is there anything that can do this? I can only think of TheBrain, which sort of does it, but I don’t love its visual appearance. It’s too rigid and not free-form enough. Is there anything else?
Posted by Dellu
Nov 5, 2023 at 08:45 AM
Do you want the node Mustang in the cars map to point (link) to the Mustang node of the animals map?
If that is what you want, I believe Tinderbox can do it. You can simply put a link to the other map.
Posted by Paul Korm
Nov 5, 2023 at 09:16 AM
I often create these sorts of documents. Usually I see them called “concept maps”, but other terminology pops up. I can think of several applications that will do this for you, including:
1. Curio (where the developer calls them “idea graphs”). It’s a blank canvas where a variety of text, image, and graphical figures can be laid out. Figures can linked visually or even be multiple synced instances of the same figure. Link lines can be drawn to/from any of the figures on the canvas. The variety is stunning, and the app is a lot of fun to work with. See https:/zengobi.com. Unlike Tinderbox, but like Scapple, the link lines have no intelligence, they are merely graphical.
2. Obsidian, which costs nothing to acquire. Obsidian is a collection of markdown files, image, PDFs—any of which can be dragged onto a type of document called a “canvas”—or new notes or images can be added directly to a canvas. Link lines can be drawn to/from any of the figures on the canvas. Like Curio, the link lines are merely graphical.
3. Several mind-mapping apps can also be used for concept maps, including graphical elements—such as MindManager, MindNode, and others.
In all of these examples, including Tinderbox as mentioned by others, multiple maps can be created and figures or notes on different maps can link to figures or notes on other maps. I use them all; just because I can, really.
Posted by Rausch
Nov 5, 2023 at 01:59 PM
If it is a *separate* Scapple map then you can make a hyperlink to it from the main map to that map (though not to a specific note on that map - Scapple notes have no address). I do this all the time, not least as I keep some maps as Master Indexes of a set of others (e.g. within the same larger project). The instructions are in section 4.6 of the Scapple manual.
AFAIK though, there is no way to hyperlink *within* the same Scapple map, again because the individual notes have no address.
R.
digeratus wrote:
So I love Scapple in many ways. And I’d want my stuff to be spread out
>free-form that way (as opposed to a tree-like mind map).
>
>But for example let’s say I have a set of stuff that has to do with my
>favorite cars. And one of them is “Mustang.”
>
>But I also have a separate map (or a separate part of the same map)
>where I take about various animals that lived in the Western US. One of
>them is the Mustang.
>
>So in the car map, I’d want the Mustang note to indicate somehow that it
>was also a part of a different map, and for me to be able to simply use
>the Mustang note to click over to that other map.
>
>And hopefully “Mustang” could be linked in two, three, or more maps.
>
>But I want it to all stay visual.
>
>Is there anything that can do this? I can only think of TheBrain, which
>sort of does it, but I don’t love its visual appearance. It’s too rigid
>and not free-form enough. Is there anything else?
Posted by Amontillado
Nov 5, 2023 at 02:42 PM
Curio has a feature that might be interesting.
Every item in Curio (called figures in Curio-speak) has a number of attributes including a jump action.
If you right click on a text box (figure), mind map node, list entry, Kanban item, or just about anything else, you’ll get the option to create a linked idea space (canvas).
Curio will take text from the item you clicked to form the title for a new idea space. The item will sprout a link icon, a new idea space will appear, and it will have a back link.
Curio’s organizer, which is a list of the idea spaces to the left of the canvas, is like Tinderbox’s outline view. The canvas is like Tinderbox’s map, if I remember my Tinderbox lingo.
It’s pretty cool. I can have a Kanban list of broad topics, each of which is easily linked to a whole new canvas.
Curio’s greatest shortcoming for me is the way it handles external files. That works fine until you copy or sync your Curio project to a second computer. In my experience, that’s fragile.
Better to link to documents in DEVONthink databases. Those links survive syncing. While you’re at it, might as well put the Curio project (file) in a DEVONthink database. That way, sync DT and you’re done, no need to separately worry about getting the Curio file where it needs to go.