I remember: when I was using FreeMind, I had shortcut keys to add a node independently of the cursor position in the text content of the origin node. For example, I could create node B as sibling above node A when the cursor was at other than the start of node A’s text, or create node C as child under node A when the cursor was at other than the end. So I didn’t have to think about typing an extra keystroke to control the behavior of Enter, I didn’t have to think about where the cursor was inside the origin node, and I didn’t have to manually move the nodes around to make the intended parent-child structure, it could be done in one shortcut. This was convenient especially when I was mind-mapping and wanted to quickly build a hierarchy of ideas based off one node. For example: with “fruit”, I could instantly create “food” as parent or “apple” as child; with “dog”, the single shortcut would allow me to consecutively put it under “canine” then “mammal” then “animal”, moving upward, without having to go back down to each child to manually put it under each parent.
I would like to be able to do the same with the blocks in Logseq. Namely four shortcuts for:
Insert a sibling block above
Insert a sibling block below
Insert a parent block
Insert a child block
Having these commands configurable on the “Keyboard shortcuts” page would be nice.
Otherwise, or for the time being, is there a way to create macros of keystrokes in the config.edn to achieve the same results? :macros and :commands seem to be for inserting texts rather than creating a sequence of commands.
Whiteboard is based on a drawing tech developed by others. Logseq take it to his app and added the block integration (excellent thing!)
But whiteboards are not very used because they are not a tool that match the Logseq user. The freeflowing board is ok but I don’t think marries well with an outline.
The correct tool would be a mindmap board.
A proper mind-mapping tool would be amazing and coherent with an outline like Logseq. At the end of the day, a mindmap is a visual outline.
IMO Logseq should focus on be that tool. Implementing shortkeys like you suggest and automatic branching.
An imperfect but simple and easy to copy tool would be the mindmap tool of Heptabase. It’s found inside the whiteboard tool of Heptabase.
I completely agree with the MindMap functionality so we can choose the view (Outline or MindMap) when working in Logseq. Sometimes it’s better to work in an Outliner View, when doing a log of text and sometimes a MindMap works better, when brainstorming for example). Whatever happens in the backend should be the same, only the Viewing Interface should switch to editing horizontally instead of vertically.
I too come to Logseq from FreeMind and I often had second thoughts about leaving that tool and wished Logseq was able to do Outlining in a MindMapping fashion in its UI.
I hope we can have it someday. Dev team is working in big things and I’m sure that, at some point, they will polish the product focusing on the main features: fast outline with database options, quick and easy searching/resurfacing, and visual view (outline bullets + editable mindmap).
I’ll follow closely this amazing project. Meanwhile, I’ll use a combo of two software (Workflowy+Mindnode). But I’m exposing it here not because I want my needs filled, but because I’m convinced it is the path to survival for Logseq.
I believe in open soure pkm and Logseq is the best at it. Private and secure. And a minimalistic vision centered in outline with properties + editable mindmap view would make it popular and perfect for intelectuals, students and profesionals.
