Forum Posts Feed
ConnectedText vs. Scrivener
< Next Topic | Back to topic list | Previous Topic >
Pages: ‹ First < 3 4 5 6 7 8 >
Posted by JBfrom
Mar 20, 2012 at 10:46 PM
It’s very simple to prove the superiority of wiki to tree for bodies of longform text.
Just count the number of entities to be considered when writing and placing an article.
First, remember that longform text richly interconnects in all directions.
So with a tree, you have to pick one “path” and remember where each piece goes in relation to that path. This leaves you potentially considering the contents of several other articles while attempting to write a new one. This is because the topic is defined not solely by the title, but by the title’s place within the hierarchy, the other related titles, and the content included under those titles.
With a wiki, each item stands on its own, pathless, defined solely by its topic heading. Much simpler.
I think this is a major reason why I stalled out on writing cyborganize.org on Wordpress. Geometrically increasing complexity and frustration due to poor info design. Ironic, eh? Or just stupid.
Oh well, I am more proud of my occasional moments of lucid thought, than ashamed of the long valleys of non-sentience between.
Posted by Cassius
Mar 20, 2012 at 11:41 PM
I haven’t been following this topic closely, so someone may already have suggested this:
Remembering and entering markup language is a pain, so why not use a macro program that allows one to enter markups using keyboard combinations or right-click menu items.
Better yet would be for wiki developers to not only include these macros, but also to hide the markups and indicate them by coloring the marked text, etc.
Posted by JBfrom
Mar 21, 2012 at 12:00 AM
It seems like CT is based on markup language so you can edit that directly if you NEED to but most of the time you can use menus and buttons and shortcuts. Which is of course ideal.
And very different than all the other wiki solutions I’ve tried, which are what turned me off to wikis in the first place and made me go for wordpress.
Posted by Lucas
Mar 22, 2012 at 04:11 AM
Alexander Deliyannis wrote:
>
>Didn’t the use
>of a blog like Wordpress also have to do with the chronological organisation of texts?
>
>
>Can Connected Text offer such a perspective of its material?
One option is the “Last Changes…” window (from the “Tools” menu) which gives a chronological listing of topics by date modified. There are various other possibilities hinted at in the Welcome topic “Using $DATE, $CREATED and $MODIFIED in full text search”. (Also relevant is the Welcome topic “Simple History”.)
Lucas
Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Mar 22, 2012 at 08:07 AM
JB, what are the other main features you found in Connected Text that are not available in other wikis and discouraged you from using them?
JBfrom wrote:
>And very different than all the other wiki solutions I’ve tried, which are
>what turned me off to wikis in the first place and made me go for wordpress.