Corkboard function

A corkboard option would be great, I'd love the flexibility of being able to move scenes around on the screen. Sort of like Scrivener's corkboard. Sorry for bringing up Scrivener again, LOL. I *so* love PageFour, I just suffer from a chronic case of, um, corkboard-envy. Seems that the huge one on my wall is not enough (since, unlike my netbook, I can't carry it with me). Currently I use SuperNoteCard as a corkboard-equivalent.

Michal
Sunday, March 14th, 2010

By all means, keep bring up Scrivener. One of the downsides of desktop software over web based software is that it's difficult to get real feedback on what users want.

Darren
Monday, March 15th, 2010

Text Block Writer is a good index card tool that is worth exploring also.

Excellent blog for writers:
Becoming A Writer - Seriously
http://becoming-a-writer-seriously.com/

Clint
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I have scoured the internet searching for software that would help me store ideas or bits of research for my next writing project. Finally, I found a free program "Stickies" that I can use to copy content to and also to organize into categories and set them up like "post it" notes on, yes, a corkboard. Then I step back hoping to see the parts fitting into the whole and manipulating them in some kind of sequential fashion.

Rarely, I am blessed and thoughts come in a stream. Usually, I am impressed with ideas in a hodge-podge fashion and my notes are scattered. I feel dis-jointed and my only cure seems to be "stickies". Would Scrivener's cork board solve my problem?

Joan
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

Hi Joan,

There are a couple of note programs you might want to check into. NoteZilla and Quick Notes Plus both have a memoboard tool that is very useful. NoteZilla is the best note software package on the market, in my judgment at least. You can check both of them out with the 30 day trial version they offer. Also, Writer's Blocks 3 offers a superb note-block software package, but it comes with a premium price tag also.

"Like stones, words are laborious and unforgiving, and the fitting of them together, like the fitting of stones, demands great patience and strength of purpose and particular skill." - Edmund Morrison

Keep on writing!
Clint

Clint
Tuesday, March 16th, 2010

I second the NoteZilla recommendation, I own the app. It has an option to create "memoboards" (which essentially *are* virtual corkboards). They're almost perfect but not yet (I emailed the developer and asked him to add an option to hide all the toolbars, plus enable a full-screen view, in order to maximize the user's memoboard experience, LOL).

Another option I tried (but uninstalled) is 3M Digital Post-Its, here:
http://www.3m.com/us/office/postit/digital/digital_notes.html
Author Rachel Vincent had a post in her blog demonstrating how she uses this app in her plotting process:
http://urbanfantasy.blogspot.com/2009/01/plotting-cover-flat...

Michal Shiloh
Wednesday, March 17th, 2010

I took a hard look at SuperNoteCard and set up my latest novel using it. I think it has some great features, such as character icons to denote what a notecard represents. But, I don't see any clear reason to use it over or with PageFour as a novel writing tool.

For me, folders represent card stacks, and pages represent cards. It's true that I can't (yet) attach more meaning to a folder -- a color, a description, etc. -- but it is a great way to lay out all the scenes for a particular chapter.

I'll mention again my idea for a pane on the right where you can keep certain folders. For writing a fiction novel you could have all your characters, places, and things on the right side of your document and the notebooks and pages (or scenes) of your novel on the left. This allows for some of the benefits of a corkboard without hindering PageFour's simplicity.

Or am I missing something?

Paul
Sunday, March 21st, 2010

I have been searching for any software that leans in the direction of outliner and corkboard function and there seems to be a positive discussion here:

http://writingoutliner.com/forum/

Joan
Friday, April 9th, 2010

I like the extra pane on the right idea. But I would also like it to be able hold images. Photographs of various people, and of scenery and rooms, help to keep a continuity about a subject or character. A right pane that had tiled and scrollable windows would be a great "everything box".

Rick Wills
Wednesday, May 12th, 2010

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