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Scapple
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Posted by Dr Andus
Aug 17, 2013 at 09:47 PM
shatteredmindofbob wrote:
>I’ve thought before that I’d like a mindmapping app I can just throw
>down nodes and connect them later and this seems to do that but
>then…there doesn’t seem to much else you can do with your data beyond
>make connections that are purely graphical (besides bring it into
>Scrivener.)
For more complex concept mapping there is always VUE or CmapTools. However, I think there is a niche in the market for a simple, focused concept mapper without too many distractions (a minimalist app), and Scapple might just fill that gap.
We have a couple of other threads on this forum on infinite whiteboards. Scapple also fits that category (so it competes a bit with OneNote’s similar function or Story Turbo).
One important contribution of Scapple seems to be the export (TXT, RTF, OPML). I tried the text export and it actually produced a decent output (though I only tried it on a relatively simple concept map, not quite sure what a complex one would look like). But theoretically one could export from Scapple as OPML into another outliner and then reorder the notes there (on the way to a more formal outline).
Posted by Dr Andus
Oct 8, 2013 at 11:18 PM
So, what’s the verdict on Scapple for Windows? I see that it has gone on sale now. Has anyone persisted with the beta?
http://www.literatureandlatte.com/scapple.php
Posted by MadaboutDana
Oct 9, 2013 at 07:57 PM
Yes, I’ve been playing with the beta for Windows for a while. It’s lovely. Very simple, pretty quick. Like a kind of combination of outliner and mindmapping tool. It’s rapidly becoming my favourite drafting tool (taking over from TreeSheets), because of its enormous flexibility. Unlike mindmappers, the whole thing is text-focused, so each node is effectively a note - a much more effective approach for writers, I feel.
Yes, I’ve CRIMPed - just bought the final version.
Now if it just had the fantastic “fruit-machine” feature of Gingko… (can’t wait for the Gingko app to appear!).
Posted by MadaboutDana
Oct 9, 2013 at 08:23 PM
Having played with Scapple a bit since buying it, I can confirm it’s a truly gorgeous writing tool. It’s intelligently written - it’s got a bundle of little features that are optimised for fast drafting. Rich text, different borders and backgrounds, simple styles, easy creation of linked notes, easily editable defaults - the whole thing is very easy to use, but also very flexible. It’s also got a nice search/replace function. It shows or hides page guides, if you’re thinking of printing out or exporting your Scapple “map” to paper or PDF.
It has one other nice feature, which it calls stacking. This actually means producing a little list of notes one below the other (by pressing Ctrl+Enter; there are keyboard shortcuts for everything, so despite its graphical look, it’s highly keyboard-oriented). This is very convenient for producing mini chapters or essays in the middle of a mindmapped document. It also has Bring to front/Send to back options, plus full control of alignment. Oh, and you can isolate searches to selected notes only.
As I say - a very intelligent piece of programming. Thoroughly recommended!
Posted by MadaboutDana
Oct 9, 2013 at 08:50 PM
Oh, and I’ve just discovered Scapple can also export OPML files (including a separate note field, which OmniOutliner among others can interpret accurately).
Other export options include: image, PDF, rich text, plain text, plain text list (haven’t tried that one, but I suspect it means delimited text file).
Dang! This is purty darn cool!