Make new topics

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(Go to:Topicscape Pro User Guide - contents list)

Make new topics

You can make new topics in many ways. Drag and drop is a major one (more on that in detail in Drag-and-drop / Import -- to make topics, occurrences and associations).

  1. In the Map or 'Scape window, click on an existing topic. (Even a new Topicscape will have one topic, so you can always do this. A green dot (see Glossary) will appear - drag that to the field (see Glossary). A 'Create New Topics' panel appears. Type a name. Click on the 'Add' button. (More about the other function of this panel later in The power of the 'Create New Topics' panel).
  2. In the Map or 'Scape window, click on an existing topic, press Ctrl+N or Insert to make a new topic -- it will default to child but you can change that (or Shift+Insert to make a parent of the topic).
  3. Drag or paste a folder onto a topic rectangle or cone, or onto the field. A 'Create New Topics' box appears with the folder's name as the topic name. You can change the topic name and use the "Hints" function described in The power of the 'Create New Topics' panel. You will also have to choose whether you want to copy the folders and files to the Topicscape's folder, move them instead, or have the occurrences made as links, so that the files remain where they are, with no copies made. You can only drag a single folder, but that folder can have a tree of sub-folders and they will be reproduced as a structure of topics. Later you can extend the connections between topics in ways that are not possible in Windows.
  4. Drag or paste files onto the field. A 'Create New Topics' panel appears with the first file's name as the topic name. You can change it and use the hints function. You can drag or paste files onto a topic, but that won't make a new topic, it will make new occurrences inside the folder -- see Make new occurrences.
  5. Double-click on the field (or the sky if you're looking up!) -- it will default to child.
  6. Right click on the field (or the sky) and select 'Add a new floating topic' from the pop-up menu that appears.
  7. Select Edit | Create | Topic from the menu bar.
  8. Select Edit | Create | sub-topic from the menu bar. This item will only be active when one or more occurrences are selected in the Topic Center.
  9. Select File | Import | Structured text - Floating topic; File | Import | Folder to make - floating topic, etc., etc. These will be introduced in Drag-and-drop / Import -- to make topics, occurrences and associations; Exporting to FreeMind; and Importing from PersonalBrain.
  10. Use these shortcuts: Ctrl+N, Insert, or Alt+C make a new child topic; Shift+Insert or Alt+P makes a parent topic; Alt+L makes a loosely associated topic.

Create many new topics at once

You can type a name or several names to make several topics at once. To do that, in the 'Create New Topics' panel, separate the topics with the '|' character like this Business|Personal|Family. This can be a time-saver but if you do that, you will not be able to use the hint panel (see Hints of similar topic names). Hints will not be shown if you enter several topic names at once.



Next: Merge any two topics in a Topicscape

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