The power of the 'Create New Topics' panel - avoiding duplicate topics

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

CreatNewTopicPanel.jpg



This box appears in the following cases:

  • when you drag a green dot (see Glossary) from a topic to the field,
  • when you drop a file or folder onto the field, or
  • when you make a sub-topic (in the Topic Center).

The quickest way to use it is just to type a topic name in it and press Enter twice, or click Add. That will give you a child topic.

But by doing it that way, you will miss some opportunities to consider alternatives:

  • Different relationship types,
  • hints of alternative topics that already exists and you might want to use in place of the new one you're about to create, and
  • different ways of treating the file (move, copy or link).

Selecting the relationship type for the new topic

Select the type of relationship: Child, Parent or Loose Associate (see Tunneling through to more ideas). Nine times out of ten, you will want the new topic to be a child of a target topic. If so, just leave this at its default setting: it will make a child.

  • If you dragged a green dot from another topic, the new topic will be a Child, Parent or Loose Associate respectively according to the radio button selected.
  • If you dragged some files or a folder to the field you will later have to drop the new topic onto another. The selection of the type of relationship says how the new topic will be related to the one on which you dropped it.

Hints of similar topic names

NewTopicHints.jpg

If you click the Hint button, Topicscape will look through your existing topic names and show any that match one or more of the words in the name you have just give for the new topic you are about to create. Based on rules for matching, Topicscape may show you topics of a similar name. You might prefer to use one of these in place of the new one. The suggestions are made in order of priority as evaluated under the rules.

If you hover the cursor over each hint, you'll see its parents and children. This will usually help you decide whether to accept the hint or not.



Next: Pending Tray - holding area for topics and occurrences

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