Hello All,

the maker of 'Writer's Blocks' has created a 'smaller' version of his program, called 'WB Essentials'.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask if someone could post some experiences with WB v4.

http://www.writersblocks.com/wbessenceproduct.htm


Thank you.

pereh wrote:

Hello All,
the maker of 'Writer's Blocks' has created a 'smaller' version of his
program, called 'WB Essentials'.
I would like to take this opportunity to ask if someone could post some
experiences with WB v4.
http://www.writersblocks.com/wbessenceproduct.htm

If you search the forum, you'll find some old discussion on WB. I've just downloaded the Essentials. It looks like the main difference with the full version is that it does not offer the visualisation of the full draft and the synchronisation of changes, right?

In some ways it does look like an offline version of Gingko. The difference seems to be that in Gingko you can see all index card text at full size, while in WB it looks like each card is set to the same size, so if there is more text, you'll only see the top bit of it, which would make it more difficult to work with the document as a whole.

I have a little experience with WB. I liked the idea of the program, but it was always a bit quirky and not very user friendly, in my opinion. If these blocks intrigue you, you should check out Super Note Card:

http://www.mindola.com/supernotecard/

SNC has not been updated in a few years, so it may be moribund, but it is cheaper, and I think it is better designed -- although it is a Java application, which may not appeal to everyone.

Of course, Scrivener can do a lot of what either program can do and a lot more.

Steve Z.

Stephen Zeoli wrote:

Of course, Scrivener can do a lot of what either program can do and a
lot more.

That's true, but as an index card solution I've found Scrivener (for Windows) rather limited. For one, the index cards don't offer a lot of space for text, they are only meant for summaries. And you can't shuffle the cards around as easily as in Gingko, Writer's Block, or Story Turbo.

I guess the question is what exactly one wants to do with the index cards.

in WB it looks like each card is set to the same size,
so if there is more text, you'll only see the top bit of it, which would
make it more difficult to work with the document as a whole.

I tried it a long time ago, and after fiddling with it decided I couldn't change it enough to be useful for me.
I never did figure out what method of use it was designed for.

I don't remember much, but the above poster saying each card only shows a little text jogs my memory.
I think the "main" window where you enter text was also very small. A sentence or two.
I want to write several paragraphs as one "block" and see all of that as I write it .

Is anybody aware of a web version of something like WB?

I like the idea of writer's blocks and SuperNoteCard but I find myself doing a lot of writing via ipad or even iphone and then synthesizing when I'm back at my computer, so I need something that's everywhere I am. I'd prefer not to copy between multiple programs if I can help it.

dan7000 wrote:

Is anybody aware of a web version of something like WB?

I like the idea of writer's blocks and SuperNoteCard but I find myself
doing a lot of writing via ipad or even iphone and then synthesizing
when I'm back at my computer, so I need something that's everywhere I
am. I'd prefer not to copy between multiple programs if I can help it.

Yup. Gingo app: https://gingkoapp.com/

But... I don't know how well it would work in iPad/iPhone these days. It might be worth trying it using a Chrome browser as well, if it doesn't work well in Safari. I usually use it in Firefox or IE11 on the PC, or the Chrome browser in my Chromebook.