Instruction Manual
Thu, 10/04/2007 - 22:04 — poton
Hi - I'm liking Cayra. I think it would be a helpful feature to include a more traditional manual with Cayra. For me, the "hello.cayra" file is hard to learn anything from. I've been searching around for a good Mind Map program and think I would be able to get more out of Cayra faster if there was a Manual. Maybe you are waiting untill Cayra is more stable or concrete in it form and usage?
Thanks
Manual added
The manual can be found in the new version and also in this forum topic here. Feel free to comment there!
Possibly an Easy Way to Compile Manual
Perhaps heavy users of Cayra could each write a section of a manual. Cayra's creators could then add to this foundation, instead of having to do it all from scratch.
Finally, I'm offering my services as a technical writer and editor. This is work I've done before, and I would be more than happy to contribute it to this excellent project.
Re: Possibly an Easy Way to Compile Manual
Hello,
Thank you for such a great suggestion!
We're almost done with the manual, so no need to write it from the scratch. It's already on the way into a new version! :-)
manual
just saw the manual on the new version 0.9.0. thanks for adding it. im sure a bunch of users will like it
Re: Instruction Manual
Hello,
Thank you for kind words and for your suggestions!
We think manual is a good idea and we'll work on it.
Re: Instruction Manual
By the way, could you say what exactly was unclear in the program for you?
Instruction Manual
Here's what's unclear to me. I don't know how to:
--Move a link from one node to another
--Create links
--Make siblings
--Create a child with more than one parent
--Link a copied node to a new location, and insert a link
--Create a child/sibling node without having to go back to the parent and create it (for example: if I want to have a list of children, it seems to me that, unless I go back to the parent to create a child, I will create "children of children" instead of siblings for a child)
--Understand why the same parent+ child nodes, after being condensed, open up in different parts of the screen each time they are contracted.
--Also, how to control where parents and children open up once they have been expanded.
That's it for now. I think there were a couple of other issues I had, but I can't think of them now. I'll post when I encounter them again.
Also, regarding the manual--it may be useful to have a native English speaker review it before you distribute it. That way language that doesn't translate particularly well (giving directions, for example) can be re-written and made clearer to your English-speaking users--of which there will be very many because the program is so great!
Angela
Re: Instruction Manual
Hello Angela,
Here are some answers:
1. It's not possible to move links. Instead you can create a new link and then delete the old one.
2. To create a new link you have to grab the "link type" box (that appears when the mouse cursor is over the node) and drag the appeared link to the node you want to link with your first node (or drag the link into an empty space on the diagram and once you let it go, a new node will be created).
Also please take a look at the new screencast that shows first steps with Cayra. Creating links (with or without type) is shown there.
3 & 5 : So far you can use "Alt+Left arrow" and then "Insert", but we're also working on implementing a feature of a special hot key for creating siblings.
4. I guess that goes with creating links, am I right?
6 & 7 : Well, the reason for that is program's automatic layouting - it tries to find the best position each time the nodes are contracted. As soon as their position is different every time, it opens them into new locations, too.
If you e.g. open "Hello" map and simply contract (click on the +17 sign) the "Hot keys" parent node, then hide all its child nodes and click on +17 again, you'll see that their position is almost not changed - they stick to the same area.
On the contrary, if you click on the parent node itself, it'll be bound to move into the center of the map - as all nodes do - therefore its postion will be changed drastically.
8. The manual will be posted on our web site as well as included into the program, so if there'll be something unclear in the descriptions, feel free to comment in the forum and we'll do our best to improve it. :-)
Instruction Manual
Cayra is pretty simple to use right away. The Hello.cayra file is very smart in that it forces you to play with the program to figure it out. However it shouldn't be the stand-alone way to learn. For example I like using short cut keys like "insert" to make a new node, but If I don't know what they are, or don't remember one, I have to open the Hello.cayra file then find it. Whereas a traditional manual would be a good way to see all the shortcut keys all in one place.
So "insert" creates a new child node....what shortcut is there to make a brother/sister node? If there is one I wasn't patient enough to search through the hello.cayra file to find it.
Thanks for your great support
Re: Instruction Manual
To create a sister or brother node you have to create another child from the parent node of this child node you want to add a sibling to.
We don't have a shortcut for this action, because in Cayra a child node can have several parents, so it'll be unclear to which parent should a sibling node be added.
Wouldn't there be a way to
Wouldn't there be a way to attach the node being created by the hotkey to the last node that worked as parent ?
Like, each time a child node is created, a variable is renewed to hold the parent's node reference. When the hotkey is pressed, it creates a child relating to that variable. I don't know, maybe it's more complicated than in my head.