Thanks and sorry for any confusion!

Hope everyone is having fun with it.

The improvements are listed on the version 8.3 page. To get them you need to turn on Help|Automatic Updates and restart YourOtherMind.

I’m really liking the new features, they have helped me through the process of writing my first novel (and have evolved based on what I noticed I needed to finish the novel). I wrote the entire novel in a single StickIt page, both drafts, with a total word count of about 300 000 words (counting all the research, character biographies, and other things that I included in the page). I was worried that I might get into speed or memory issues but I did not.

If anyone is interested I have developed a bit of a template that I am using and will post.

Note: One bug was discovered after I released version 8.3. It is pretty minor but I’ll get an update out shortly. Basically if you use the new Page|Advanced|Archive page feature AND you have never used the version system before it will give a warning. To make this work you need to invoke the Edit-bar, choose Features|Versions and archive one version manually. You only ever have to do this once (it creates the necessary directories). After this the Archive All feature will work.

Version 8.4

When will the next big release be? Not until next year and only if necessary — this full-time writing gig is starting to take up my time (and that’s good!). There may be one or two smaller updates to fix any bugs that this release may have introduced.

Please add your requests to the comments field!

Features new for 8.4

The biggest change from 8.2 to 8.3 is the addition of the new Dashboard, informally known as the Dashboard-flex. This Dashboard combines all the features available in the old Dashboard and the Index/Table of Contents, in a new, more convenient manner.

The Dashboard-flex sits on the side of the screen (easy to move to the side of your preference) and can expand through various levels of ‘usefulness’ — from a basic index listing, much like the old index view, all the way to the full Dashboard screen. A quick toggle (F6) can hide/reveal the Dashboard-flex and its last expansion state is remembered between uses.

Stages of Expansion

The Dashboard-flex can be adjusted through [s] stages
1. Invisible (Pressing F6 can hide the control completely, pressing F6 again brings it back)
2. Quick List (A list of all pages with the ability to navigate through notebooks, use queries/bookmarks). Typing text in the edit box at the top does a quick filter on the current list.
3. Full List (In addition to the List there are quick buttons to add stories, markets and story/novel submissions, this is the default view)
4. Expanded list (More buttons are added for advanced functions, as well there is a preview when pages are single-clicked in the list giving the page’s current status. There is also the ability to do full text searches).
5. Mini Dashboard (The Journal pane from the Dashboard appears allowing time and word count tracking)
6. Dashboard (The full dashboard appears with the index hiding)

TIP: Right-click on any item in the index list and you can open it in a new window (as opposed to opening it in the same window).

What’s Next?

- An easier query-writing system will be deployed in a later version

They are now fixed and all the movies should work again.

Skinning

What does it do?

A new skinning system allows for a rapid change in appearance of the application.

How To Use It

Users will be able to create their own skins by adding and modifying skin files (these are plain text files in the \skins directory). A skin editor will be released eventually.

Special settings

• A variable names global_foreColorForButtonsWithImages can be used to set a different text color for buttons with images. These buttons will also inherit the background color of their parent
• A small number of controls have been marked to ignore skinning. So far these are the ‘retired’ panel and the ‘on hiatus’ panel.

Applies To

To learn more about YourOtherMind, Creative Sidekick and Writer’s Organizer, visit the main discussion page. To learn more about Brent Knowles, the creator of YourOtherMind, visit his main page.

I’m in the middle of either the coolest revision to the YourOtherMind interface or the worst idea I’ve ever had. Verdict is still out.

To address new user shellshock and confusion I’ve removed the ‘index’ from each individual note page and created a global index that I think more clearly shows the contents of YourOtherMind as a digital notebook. This collapsing/expanding interface also incorporates all the gadgets on the Dashboard when fully expanded as well as the navigation bar and quick buttons for many options — yes this means the Dashboard as it exists now is gone.

This new index will be able to be positioned on either side and can be hidden completely, if desired.

I’m hoping it draws new users to the features available without making their heads explode. We’ll see.

From a technical point of view it should also make YourOtherMind run a bit smoother.

Anyways, probably won’t be much to post until this is done. This new index system with a few other features/clean up will be the 8.3 release and I’d really like to deploy it before I leave for the Writers of the Future workshop at the end of summer. But it really depends on how nice the weather is up here until then

Feel free to add your comments below.

There are specific features I want to finish for version 8.3 but I think — after viewing the feedback — that I need to really focus on addressing the new user experience. Predominantly the comments focus on how confusing the interface is. I had hoped that by starting the user on the Dashboard (instead of a text note) I’d help users understand how to add new notes. Instead this seems to further confuse people — throwing a huge screen of options at them initially not being the best of options…

At this point I’m considering returning to the ’start on a note’ method. In regards to helping people figure out features — adding notes and whatnot — I’m torn between whether its worth my time building demo videos showcasing those features, building a more graduated interface (the more a person uses, the more is unlocked and explained as they go, basically a tutorial), or just leaving things as they are and focusing on features for the more ‘hardcore’ user.

If you have any suggestions let me know.