Dr Andus wrote:

- export column 1, 2, or 3 only;

Correction: any individual column can be selected for export, i.e., no. 4, 5 etc. (I only had 3 columns created in my tree, so I didn't spot that feature).

A 9 min. video case study on using Gingko for academic writing: "Using Gingko to Do the Single Method of Academic Writing"

http://youtu.be/FdX2ovE4qV0

Dr Andus wrote:

A 9 min. video case study on using Gingko for academic writing: "Using
Gingko to Do the Single Method of Academic Writing"

Excellent video -- thank you!

Lucas wrote:

Dr Andus wrote:
A 9 min. video case study on using Gingko for academic writing: "Using
>Gingko to Do the Single Method of Academic Writing"

Excellent video -- thank you!

You're welcome, but thank the creator ;) I forgot to add her URL. She's got some other tips and videos on there as well:

http://theblossomingfledglingresearcher.wordpress.com/2013/12/29/video-easier-writing-in-gingko-app-the-most-fluid-writing-environment-imaginable/

Most recently Gingko have added a hoist feature. If you select a card and then click on the "hide unselected cards" button, all the other cards get hidden. If the card has further cards attached to it on the right (i.e. it is a parent of a branch), then the whole branch from that point remains visible, and everything else will be hidden. This is something I've been missing in Outline 4D (which in some ways is similar to Gingko).

Thanks for drawing our attention to this new feature. It's very impressive. Makes me all the more anxious to see an (offline) Gingko app, frankly.

Gingko (shortly to become "the web app formerly known as Gingko") is a truly innovative concept - all the more brilliant because of its simplicity.

Gingko looks impressing. But I am reluctant to use an online-only application for my work. I did not find any mention of plans for an offline app.
Bill or Dr. Andus: Any news regarding an offline app?

MadaboutDana wrote:

Thanks for drawing our attention to this new feature. It's very
impressive. Makes me all the more anxious to see an (offline) Gingko
app, frankly.

I found one good use for the hoist feature already. Some of my earlier Gingko drafts got a bit messy to navigate, once I've got my notes, the outline, and the draft alongside one another. However, the new hoist feature allows you to effectively mimic a Scrivener-like system, if in the first column (top level hierarchy) you create a "draft" card (and branch) and a "research" card (and branch). Hiding one or the other than allows you to focus on one or the other. A very clean and neat solution.

Franz Grieser wrote:

Gingko looks impressing. But I am reluctant to use an online-only
application for my work. I did not find any mention of plans for an
offline app.
Bill or Dr. Andus: Any news regarding an offline app?

I was told that it's definitely on the road map and that there are many users requesting it (including me), and that they have already done some work on it. Off-line access also seems to be the developer's pet research area, so I'm hopeful that something will come of it.

Personally I'd be already happy with an offline Chrome app implementation, just like WorkFlowy's.

For now I do back up my Gingko trees regularly. It takes about 3 mouse clicks, and the text files are tiny, so it's a small footprint.

@Dr. Andus: Thanks for the information.

Loosing data is not my main concern. I do not want to depend on internet access for my tools to work. And I want to be able to continue using the tools even in case, the developers give up service.

Some cool new shortcuts in Gingko (well, at least new to me), to split a card while editing:

Split card down: Ctrl K
Split card right: Ctrl L

As it says. The first one moves the text after the cursor to a new card below, the second one to a new card into the next column on the right. The cards will continue to be hierarchically connected (parent-child and sibling relationship).

It looks like there are also shortcuts now for formatting (bold, italics, red text, block code, to-dos etc.).

Yes, it's turning into a very powerful and clever app (one of those things where you look at it and think: now that's so obvious, why didn't somebody think of that before?! Like all the best apps). I play with it regularly but, like Franz, am reluctant to do a lot of work in a system that is confined entirely to Somebody Else's Server...

You can create a not dissimilar effect (albeit without the clever, clever focus on specific lines of argumentation) using Scapple, Literature&Latte's 'other' app. Unfortunately that's not cross-platform either (well, it is between MacOS and Windows, but there isn't a mobile version yet).

This looks like a really nice app. I like the basic concept that you're working with individual cards, but that there is a hierarchy to them.

To further the flexibility of the card metaphor, I would like to be able to assign tags to cards, so that by clicking on a tag in card you would center that card and organize all similarly-tagged cards around it.

Alternatively, it would be neat if cards could have multiple parents. But doing it via tags would probably be easier to implement.

steveylang wrote:

To further the flexibility of the card metaphor, I would like to be able
to assign tags to cards, so that by clicking on a tag in card you would
center that card and organize all similarly-tagged cards around it.

Alternatively, it would be neat if cards could have multiple parents.
But doing it via tags would probably be easier to implement.

Some users have suggested similar things on the Gingko forum. It points to a dilemma for the developers I think: whether to maintain Gingko primarily as an outliner and writing tool or to turn it into an Evernote competitor (basically a Zettelkasten type of index card notes database).

I'm in two minds about that. I love the current simplicity of Gingko and its focus on outlining and writing. But I'm also curious whether it could work as a notes database. But I wouldn't want to lose the former for the latter.

Your last point makes a lot of sense. I think implementing this via tags would be the best way while still preserving the basic concept (rather than loose cards, multiple parents, or other organizational changes.)

Dr Andus wrote:

steveylang wrote:
>To further the flexibility of the card metaphor, I would like to be
able
>to assign tags to cards, so that by clicking on a tag in card you would
>center that card and organize all similarly-tagged cards around it.
>
>Alternatively, it would be neat if cards could have multiple parents.
>But doing it via tags would probably be easier to implement.

Some users have suggested similar things on the Gingko forum. It points
to a dilemma for the developers I think: whether to maintain Gingko
primarily as an outliner and writing tool or to turn it into an Evernote
competitor (basically a Zettelkasten type of index card notes database).

I'm in two minds about that. I love the current simplicity of Gingko and
its focus on outlining and writing. But I'm also curious whether it
could work as a notes database. But I wouldn't want to lose the former
for the latter.

I wonder whether any of you regular users of Gingko have run into the bug I describe below. I copy the text as I submitted it to Support; I hope they get back to me soon:

"I've got a number of tasks (1 to 8), all with additional detail levels on the right.

The tasks show in the correct order, but when I navigate through them with up-down arrows, Gingko follows and irrelevant order. Similarly, when exporting to HTML, text or .docx (I haven't tried other exports), the content follows the wrong pattern rather than what i see on screen. I have tried re-sorting them manually, but I've failed.

How can I make sure that What I See Is What I Get?"

I should add that when I log out and log in again, the wrong order is displayed. If I then change the order, all looks well, until I try to navigate between the cards. It's as if the order is maintained in a buffer which fails to update.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

I should add that when I log out and log in again, the wrong order is
displayed. If I then change the order, all looks well, until I try to
navigate between the cards. It's as if the order is maintained in a
buffer which fails to update.

May I ask what browser you are using and on what OS? The only buffer problems I ever ran into were with Internet Explorer 11 on Win7, 64bit). In certain situations it reverted to earlier cached versions of Gingko trees, which got me panicked as I thought I lost the content, but then the online version did have the most up-to-date version (when checked via Firefox or Chrome).

But otherwise no, I've never encountered the problem you're describing.

Dr Andus wrote:

May I ask what browser you are using and on what OS?

I have Win7 and use Firefox. I also tried Chrome but the problem remained.

But otherwise no, I've never encountered the problem you're describing.

Adriano from Gingko confirmed the recent appearance of positioning bugs, and said they should be sorted out soon.

Alexander Deliyannis wrote:

Adriano from Gingko confirmed the recent appearance of positioning bugs,
and said they should be sorted out soon.

Update (in case someone else encounters the same): I found a way to by-pass the ordering bug: after each single change in order (only one item moved) I switch to another tree from My Gingko Trees. When I switch back, the new order is maintained. Apparently moving to another tree forces Gingko to save/commit the cached order. I did this several times and managed to get the full order as I wanted it. Not the most convenient of solutions but it worked.

Gingko has just launched a discussion forum, where you can ask for help, make suggestions for new features and share use cases:

http://community.gingkoapp.com/

I don't know how long it's been there but now Gingko has an ability to import formatted text as OPML from WorkFlowy. It only seems to be possible when you start a new document. Choose New > Import from WorkFlowy > paste in WorkFlowy OPML and > Import.

It seems to work quite well. It converts WorkFlowy's vertical hierarchy into Gingko's horizontal hierarchy. Outline items are turned into level 1 headings, and inline notes are turned into card text. Basic formatting (bold, italics) seems to be preserved, and URLs also remain fuctional.

This opens up the possibility for some integrated workflows with WorkFlowy. The key would be to remember to keep WorkFlowy items short (as they will be turned into Level 1 headings), put detail into the inline notes, and keep the hierarchy relatively shallow, otherwise a lot of horizontal scrolling will be involved.

While it says "OPML from WorkFlowy," I imagine that other software's OPML exports (such as Bonsai) could also be made to work, by using an external text editor first to change the inline note code to the OPML standard implemented by WorkFlowy.

More new features I just came across:

1) support for tags introduced using the #tag format. Personally I haven't felt the need for this one but now that it exists, it opens up some new possibilities. Neat implementation: you can filter cards by clicking on a tag (and narrow the filtering further by clicking on other tags), and then toggle the filter off by clicking on a tag again (i.e. mouse-click or tap-controlled, rather than having to type anything). More here: http://community.gingkoapp.com/t/new-tag-feature-broken-headings-bug/91

2) press F to view a single card in full screen mode (view mode). This creates a slideshow-like facility, if you use the arrows to navigate to next slide etc. Gingko lends itself to be used as a quick outliner for a PowerPoint presentation (1 card = 1 PPT slide), and this full screen mode extends that capability. More here: http://community.gingkoapp.com/t/full-screen-mode-for-viewing-a-single-card/94

3) when you delete a card, there is a 'fading out ghost' (for the lack of a better word) effect, to remind users that there is a Trash feature where you can recover deleted cards from.

Neat implementation: you can filter cards by
clicking on a tag (and narrow the filtering further by clicking on other
tags), and then toggle the filter off by clicking on a tag again (i.e.
mouse-click or tap-controlled, rather than having to type anything).

2) press F to view a single card in full screen mode (view mode).

Thanks for the tip, Dr Andus! Both of these features are excellent additions and well implemented. The tags is very similar to workflowy which is good. Very few programs are as quick at filtering, Time for me to start playing with Gingko again...

The amazing Gingko appears to have some competition - from germ.io

It appears to be a task management app based on a concept identical to that of Gingko. But still no offline apps, as far as I can tell...

MadaboutDana wrote:

It appears to be a task management app based on a concept identical to
that of Gingko.

Thanks for the heads-up. What makes you say it's an identical concept? From looking at the screenshots on their website and the Youtube video, it looks like they enforce a mind-map style hierarchy (?), starting with one central node, while there is no such restriction in Gingko.

Having said that, the ability to view the card hierarchy as a hierarchical mind map is kind of nice. Even Gingko might be able to implement that, if it could automatically insert one top-level card node in front of the level (column) 1 hierarchy nodes.

They do seem to target different markets though. Gingko is primarily a writing tool, while Germ.io is targeting the task and project management market.

As a writer, I prefer the simplicity of Gingko (while Germ.io's interface is still fairly clean and minimal when compared to many of the more garish online project management tools, I'd find the added bells and whistles and colours distracting).

Dr Andus wrote:

From looking at the screenshots on their website and the Youtube video,
it looks like they enforce a mind-map style hierarchy (?), starting with
one central node, while there is no such restriction in Gingko.

Having said that, the ability to view the card hierarchy as a
hierarchical mind map is kind of nice. Even Gingko might be able to
implement that, if it could automatically insert one top-level card node
in front of the level (column) 1 hierarchy nodes.

Perhaps I'm missing something about Gingko - if so please let me know -- but to me it seems like Gingko does force a hierarchical organization. That's what makes it impossible for me to use for writing. Basically one card in the leftmost column can be associated with multiple cards in the middle column, but each card in the middle column can have one and only one parent in the left column. Because of that I feel like I might as well use an MS Word outline. For early thought gathering and snippet organization, it's too hard for me to stick to such a strict heirarchy. As an example, in fiction writing, how does one know at the very beginning of the process that a particular scene will be in Act I or Act III? Gingko makes you decide that before you even put pen to paper.

I'm glad others get something out of it, and in writing this I'm hoping someone will explain how I'm wrong and it really does what I want. Your post suggesting that it does not force a strict heirarchy gave me some hope. :)