Hello,
I think index cards are a really great feature. Unfortunately, to see all index cards (when you have subdocuments – when I work on a novel chapters sometimes are composed with subdocuments) I am obliged to select all files in the binder. And when I do that, I can’t change the order of index cards except if I deselect everything. So you loose the confort of use. Is there another way you could see all files in the corkboard (folders, documents & subdocuments) without to select all files?
Thank you very much,
Regards
There is an easier way to load all index cards of a container, to the bottom of the hierarchy. Select the item you wish to display this way and then use the Documents/Open/with All Subdocuments as Flat List/ sub-menu (or just Shift-Opt-Cmd-O). But this only makes the selection part easier as you don’t have to mess with the Binder, the result of the action is still similar to a Multiple Selection in that you can’t move things around. That’s because, either way, you’re looking at an artificially flat representation of your outline; there isn’t much that can be done to get around that.
Outliner mode is a better view if you want to see a big chunk of your outline at once.
There is also the ability to see corkboards “stacked”, if you select more than one container at a time, but that would not be a recursive stack for each container, only it’s top level. Although, if your outline has only two levels of depth, that could work.
Ok Amber, thanks for your reply.
The Shift-Opt-Cmd-O shortcut is quite easier.
By the way I was wondering: is it possible to save a selection? And to call the group of files you selected when you want to switch between them?
Thanks!
In a sense, yes you can save a selection by using the Collections feature. Very simply, if you have selection you wish to save, use the Documents/Add to Collection/New Collection menu command. A new Binder tab will be added to your sidebar that you can name. You control the contents of it completely, so items can be added, removed, or shuffled around. You can also view the contents in your editor by clicking the name of the collection, in the bar below the tabs.
See §8.4, “Using Collections”, starting on pg. 81 in the user manual PDF.
Oh yes I knew the collections feature but I didn’t think about it!
Thanks!
I forgot: but rearrangment of the hierarchy made in a collection has no effect on the order of files in the binder, right?
Correct, it’s a place where you can freely experiment or organise things according to a different criteria than the Binder. It is possible to drag items out of a collection and into the binder (just pause over the “Binder” tab a moment to switch while dragging). This will move all of the selected items into the target location, in the order they appear in the collection. So you can use them to play with structure and then force that structure, for simple situations. You would most likely not want to use this method for the scenario you’ve described, as moving all items into one spot would lose their hierarchy. You’d end up with a big flat list.