From Piled to Filed

Introduction

Sometimes a spark of inspiration can lead to categorization, and before categorizing precisely it can start loosely, like a pile forming on the floor.

This guide shows how that can happen, moving from a whisper of inspiration to forming a pile to eventually finding the perfect spot for where something belongs.

Step 1: Capture inspiration

While writing something down, you receive a spark of inspiration..

Create a new host note, and then a child thot with a  Whisper.

Instructions

1. Create a new host note from scratch by pressing the icon located at the top of the app.
2. Type: "Sara Meeting".
3. Next press on the toolbar to create a child thot. If is not on the toolbar, press on the toolbar to show it. Alternatively, press Spacebar on the keyboard twice quickly while the cursor is at the end of the thot's text content to create a new child thot.
4. After the new child thot appears, type "Sara mentioned John’s birthday is next week".
5. If is not on the toolbar, press on the toolbar to show it. Press on the toolbar to create a new Whisper, and then type "Party".
6. To continue, press on the toolbar to finish creating the Whisper. The added Whisper now points to a newly created host note titled "Party".

What this means

A  Whisper is a stage of inspiration that links a thot with a note without deciding how they are linked yet, just that they are.

The Whisper created here is intentionally vague: you don't need to know yet whether you're planning, attending, organizing, or just thinking about Party.

Once the Whisper is added to the thot, analytics will show "Inspired" increased and "Articulated" decreased.

Step 2: Refine meaning (intent begins to emerge)

When you return later, you want to elaborate..

Insert a parent thot above the "Sara mentioned John’s birthday is next week" thot.

Instructions

1. Place the cursor in the thot that says "Sara mentioned John's birthday is next week" at the start of the thot's text content.
2. Press Spacebar on the keyboard twice quickly while the cursor is at the start of the thot's text content to insert a new parent thot. Note that this automatically lifts any metadata from the source thot into the new parent thot. The new parent thot now has Party.
3. Once the new parent thot appears, type: "John's Birthday Party".

What this means

Because metadata automatically lifts into a newly inserted parent thot, the user is able to simultaneously create an intention connected to Party and connect the "Sara mentioned John's birthday is next week" thot as a supporting detail. The new parent thot creates more space to elaborate further.

Step 3: Elaborate

You want to elaborate..

Add supporting child thots to the "John's Birthday Party" thot.

Instructions

1. Place the cursor in the thot that says "Sara mentioned John's birthday is next week" at the end of its content.
2. Press the return key on the keyboard while the cursor is at the end of the thot's text content to create a new thot following the active thot.
3. Type: "Ask about coworkers".
4. Press the return key on the keyboard to create another sibling thot.
5. Type: "Food".
6. Press Spacebar on the keyboard twice quickly to create a child thot.
7. Type: "Cupcakes vs cake".

What this means

Every thot can be elaborated on, and oftentimes that elaboration reveals how further organization makes sense.

Step 4: Begin organizing into a pile

You realize that you want to organize your notes involving parties..

Convert Party into a  Pile.

Instructions

1. Place the cursor in the thot that says "John's Birthday Party".
2. Ensure the icon in the toolbar is active so that the active thot's metadata items are shown.
3. Select the Party Whisper by tapping it (once it is selected the Whisper will change color).
4. Press Q on the keyboard to open the thot metadata updater.
5. Once the thot metadata updater appears, press the icon.
6. Press "Update" to confirm changing the metadata item from a  Whisper into a  Pile.

What this means

The  Whisper, which isn't committed to classification or association, commits to approximate classification by becoming a  Pile.

You've also added a sponsor to the "John's Birthday Party" thot, which turns said thot into a header thot of a newly created hosted note.

The Whisper that contributed to the app's tracked "Inspired" metric has been replaced with a Pile which still contributes to the tracked "Inspired" metric but not to the same degree that the Whisper did. This means there's still inspiration here to draw from, but that the initial inspiration captured by the Whisper is gradually being articulated.

Step 5: File into just the right place

After piling the new "John's Birthday Party" note into Party, you realize you want to organize it further, not just in a pile, but in a perfect spot where these kind of notes should go..

Create a new note "Birthday Parties" under the existing "Party" note. Then place the "John's Birthday Party" note directly into the said new note by using a  File.

Instructions

1. With Party already selected, tap it again to open a new editor where the "Party" note resides.
2. Place the cursor in the thot that says "Party" at the end of its thot's text content.
3. Press the Spacebar on the keyboard twice quickly to create a new child thot.
4. Type: "Birthday Parties".
5. Press on the toolbar to add a  Pile.
6. When the selector appears, an option will be present that says Current Context. Tap this option in the editor or tap on the toolbar to select the active option. This creates a new note "Birthday Parties" piled under the "Party" note. By using Current Context as the Pile for "Birthday Parties", you've piled the "Birthday Parties" note into the "Party" note. Current Context is itself a dynamic context which changes depending on the "Birthday Parties" header thot's parent domain. Alternatively, you could have typed "Party" after pressing and selected the "Party" note when it appeared. When the "Birthday Parties" note is later detached or launched, the Current Context will change from a dynamic context into a static context, pointing to what was the note's parent domain.
7. Press "Done" at the top right of the editor, then press the icon at the top right of the app to return to the previous editor.
8. Place the cursor again in the thot that says "John's Birthday Party".
9. Press on the toolbar to add a  File.
10. Type: "Birthday Parties".
11. Even before you've finished typing "Birthday Parties", you may have noticed the option to select "Birthday Parties" appeared. Press on the toolbar to highlight the "Birthday Parties" hosted note you recently created.
12. Press on the toolbar to finish creating the File.
13. Notice that the Party Pile is no longer present. This is because when a File is selected for a thot, it means the perfect spot for this thot (and its note) has been found, so any prior  Piles or  File for said thot are replaced by the newly selected  File.

What this means

With a File now selected for the "John's Birthday Party" thot, said thot has progressed from initially being simply a thot, into a piled note, and finally into a filed note.

The inspiration captured initially by a Whisper was honed into a Pile, which increased the "Articulated" metric and decreased the "Inspired" metric. The Pile was then eventually removed entirely once the thot's File was added, completing the journey of the initial inspiration tracked by the initial Whisper.

The initial Party no longer contributes to the app's tracked "Inspired" metric, but the two new piled notes ("Party" and "Birthday Parties") created during this guide do.

Although the initially captured inspiration became fully articulated, you may often find new inspiration along the way.