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NoodleTools How to Guide: How to Use Notecards

How to Link Notecards to a Source

When you click New to create a notecard from the Sources screen, it is automatically associated with the source that you are working with. 

Creating a notecard in the sources screen

Creating a notecard

If you create a notecard from the Notecards screen, you must select the source from a dropdown list when you are creating the notecard.

Drop-down menu for sources when creating a notecard in the notecards screen

When you edit an existing notecard (from either the Sources or Notecards screens), you can change this association by selecting a new source from the Source drop down list on the Edit notecard screen.

To link multiple notecards to a source at once, select any number of notecards on the Notecard Tabletop view (they will display with an orange selection rectangle), then click Link to source above the tabletop. Select the source from the Select source dropdown list and click Submit to save the change.

Linking multiple notecards to a source

How to Add Tags, Color, and Visual Cues to Notecards

Using tags

A tag is a way for you to identify and label concepts within each notecard. Examples include geographic locations, years or time periods, and key concepts. Before you save a notecard, you can add tags that you think may be useful. Later, you can locate groups of notecards by searching on a particular tag/concept.

To associate a tag with a notecard as you create it, simply type the tag into the Tags field (on left) on the Edit notecard screen. To associate an existing tag with the notecard, simply select the tag from the My tags menu (on right).

Adding a tag in the Edit Notecards screen

Add or remove tags from notecards

There are two ways to add or remove tags:

1. Edit the notecard and change the tags  in the Tags field. 
2. Use the Tags menu above the Notecard Tabletop.

  • Select the notecards you wish to add or remove the tag from.
  • Click the Tags menu and select Tags on the menu to display a list of existing tags. If you are removing a tag, look for the tag that has a checkmark next to it and click on it to remove the checkmark. To add a new tag to the notecards, select a tag from the list.

Notecard colors and visual cues

In addition to word and phrase tags, NoodleTools allows you to add Color and Visual cues to the notecards you create. 

To add color to one or more notecards:

Adding color to notecards

 

1. Select each of the notecards you wish to add or remove a color from.
2. Click the Tags menu above the Tabletop, select Color on the menu, and click on one of the six colors.
3. To remove or replace a color, select the color you want to remove, or select a different color.

Unlike tags, only a single color can be applied to a particular notecard. If you apply the color red to a notecard that already has the color green, the notecard will be changed from green to red. The bird’s-eye-view also displays a colored square, rather than the default gray one.

One application for colors is labeling pro and con arguments for a debate (green for pro arguments, red for con arguments). Or if you were comparing three different versions of the same myth in various sources, you might choose to assign one color to notecards pertaining to one version, a second color for the second version, and so forth. Later, you can search your notecards by a color and certain tags, compare common attributes among all three myths, then pile and order notecards with a particular combination of color and tags on the tabletop or insert them into your outline under a new subtopic.

Visual cues are a set of six predefined visual reminders that can also be added to your notecards: Needs further research, Need help, Incomplete, Original thinking, Important, andUsed in paper.

Adding visual cues to notecards

To add visual cues to one or more notecards: 

1. Select each of the notecards you wish to add or remove a visual cue from.
2. Click the Tags menu above the Tabletop, select Cues on the menu, and click on one or more of the six cues.
3. To remove or replace a cue, select the cue you want to remove, or select a different cue.

When applied to the notecards, these visual cues show up as icons on the notecard on the tabletop, calling them to your attention immediately.

Notecards with icons added

Renaming and deleting tags

Click the Tags menu above the tabletop and click Manage tags to edit a tag or delete tags (removing them from all notecards to which they are currently applied).

Options for managing tags on notecards

NOTE: Tags are not case-sensitive. For example, the tag “Washington DC” is equivalent to “washington dc”.

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