Blog: WhizFolders, Articles and tips

In case you haven’t noticed, a new version of WhizFolders Deluxe edition is in Alpha testing where we are continuously adding great new features. This version is available from our self-service area for paid customers, support.whizfolders.com.

We just released Alpha 6.2.4 that completely revamps the hoisting feature. Now you can hoist any level. Hoisting means, you want to concentrate on a particular tree of notes and don’t want other topics to be visible to distract you. Here is an example, the following list of topics shows a list before hoisting.

Suppose, I want to concentrate on the topics underneath “The power of hyperlinks” to develop that outline further. So I select that topic and click on the menu “View–Hoist all child topics.” As soon as I do that, all other topics go away and I only see the topics that I want to work with. Here is a picture after hoisting.

This list exactly works like the full list. I can add more topics, move them around, print them, and so on. Even if I close this document, it remembers its hoisted status. When I finish working on this hoisted list, I can go back to the full list by the menu “View–Unhide All (unhoist).”

If you use WhizFolders for outlining and haven’t used hoisting, try it out. It makes the outlining process much more powerful.

“It’s perfect. It’s very close to Info Recall with some very nice added functionality. One of the ways I used the other program, which I’ll now do here, is to keep notes on characters in a complex novel. For example, I created the MicroTech Inc. and used it in various chapters. Each time I mentioned a new peripheral character, like a security guard, I’d go to the MicroTech Employees topic, and list that character name, and where s/he appeared. These characters didn’t need a profile, but it’s nice to know that in Chapter 20, when I refer to the security guard again, I know his name. :-)”

“Another example is that my characters either smoke or don’t, or they drink tea or coffee. I have a Coffee & Cigarettes topic, and list each character there by their preferences. Then I put a JumpLink to that topic in each character’s bio. It’s a quick way to know what they drink in the morning, instead of having to wander through a whole profile. After all, they pick each other up spontaneously, and spend the night. This gives me a way to stay consistent without having to lose my train of thought in the midst of a chapter.”

“Finally, I use Jump Links to connect up related characters, rather than having to make long references to family trees, character profiles, and so forth. “Mike” is married to “Kate” and each has their own profiles. The link feature is perfect for joining them, then their kids, and so forth. I can have the McCaffery family as a Topic, but all it contains is named links to each individual family member. Then that topic is the profile, with further links to other relatives and their profiles.”

“I’d suppose that WhizFolders could easily step in as a way to keep track of extended families. :-)”

– Craig Landes

If you haven’t already noticed, there is a page on the web site, how WhizFolders Organizer helps the writers.