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PlyLoom about itself: a story in twelve steps

In 0.14 a map can be shown step by step: each step is a view of the map with a title and a few lines. To show how that looks, we made the example PlyLoom about itself — a map that explains PlyLoom by its own means — and recorded a story for it. Below are all twelve steps as the reader sees them.

· Matvey Zakharenko · 5 min read

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How a story works

A step is a view of the map: the mode, the sheets, the zoom and the camera, the filter, the selected and unfolded cards, the state of the passe-partout. The story is kept in the map itself, in the .plyloom file, and reads as a view: it does not change your data. A link with ?story=1 opens the map right at the first step — that is how the button above works.

The story pages with ← →, Space, Home and End; Esc closes it and the map returns to what it was before. Between steps on one sheet the camera glides.

Step 1. Why PlyLoom

Step 1 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: Why PlyLoom
“A big diagram is split into sheets. Each sheet answers one question, like this one.”

The first step opens the Why PlyLoom sheet: the risk “everything in one diagram is a mess”, the decision “a sheet answers one question”, the map itself and its reader. At the bottom is the story bar: the step number, the title, a few lines and the arrows.

Step 2. A node is a unit of meaning

Step 2 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: A node is a unit of meaning
“Folded, a node shows its name and a small picture; unfolded, the picture, the text and the attributes.”

The step remembered the unfolded Node card: the picture, the text and the attributes, each section folding on its own. A picture in a node is new in 0.14 too.

Step 3. Relations

Step 3 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: Relations
“A relation has a type, a label and a direction. A line to another sheet goes to the passe-partout.”

The Relation node is selected, with its labelled relations; at the canvas edges is the folded passe-partout — coloured segments for the neighbouring sheets the lines go to.

Step 4. One entity on three sheets

Step 4 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: One entity on three sheets
“It is the same node, not a copy: the gold line joins its places.”

The step opens a spread of three sheets and selects the node that stands on all three. Gold shows its places; an edit in one place shows everywhere.

Step 5. The passe-partout

Step 5 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: The passe-partout
“Neighbouring sheets as cards round the sheet. A click on a card leads to its sheet.”

Here the passe-partout is unfolded — a step remembers its state too, and yours comes back after the story.

Step 6. The whole map

Step 6 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: The whole map
“Every sheet on one canvas with the lines between them.”

The All sheets view: the example's ten sheets on one canvas. A step keeps the view and the camera, so the reader sees exactly this.

Step 7. The stack

Step 7 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: The stack
“Sheets as plates one above another; a gold line passes through them to the same entity.”

Four sheets as plates. Cards lie on the plates, and lines between plates run as on a multi-layer board — along the plate to its edge and straight to the other plate.

Step 8. Contents

Step 8 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: Contents
“Sheets as a list with their nodes, or as a diagram of pairs with the number of relations.”

The contents diagram: sheets as cards, a line's thickness is the strength of a link, gold marks shared nodes.

Step 9. The private part stays with you

Step 9 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: The private part stays with you
“The lock 🔒 keeps a sheet, a node or an attribute away from an AI and from a file for someone else.”

The Private sheet: what the lock does and where it is checked before anything goes out.

Step 10. The AI proposes, you decide

Step 10 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: The AI proposes, you decide
“The answer comes as edits; each can be accepted or rejected.”

The Working with AI sheet: the prompt with the map, the answer as edits and what never goes into a prompt. The pictures in the nodes are shots of the AI window and the edits screen.

Step 11. Documents from the map

Step 11 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: Documents from the map
“Word, PDF, Markdown, tables and diagrams are assembled from the sheets.”

The Assembling documents sheet: what a document is assembled from, and why the same map gives the same document.

Step 12. Your data stays yours

Step 12 of 12 of the story PlyLoom about itself: Your data stays yours
“The map is saved in the browser and in a .plyloom file; the version history keeps the earlier ones.”

The last step is the Files and saving sheet. The → arrow goes inactive, and Esc closes the story.

A story of your own

  1. Open the view you want: the mode, the sheets, the zoom; select and unfold cards.
  2. Story → Add a step — the view is remembered as a step.
  3. Repeat for each step. In Story → Steps… write the titles and a few lines, and change the order by dragging.
  4. Story → Watch — check how the reader will see it.
  5. Hand over the .plyloom file or a link to the map: the Reading button takes away everything that changes the map, so the reader cannot move anything by accident.

More in the user guide: the story and reading. What else is new in 0.14 is in the release article.

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