My top function is the Ctrl + Alt + F10 to expand all selected levels and Ctrl + Shift + F10 to collapse them.
And the F5 hotkey to open file/link/folder.
I’ve managed HUGE amounts of information in Treesheets - I know of no other tool that could have provided the same functionality and speed. It really feels like having a superpower
Copy-pasting style/color with Ctrl+C and then Ctrl+Shift+V is also mighty. Excel has a run for it’s money.
When exporting to .html, I can then copy-paste to Excel (in case I need to exchange with users that don’t use Treesheets).
thanks for the tips. I hadn’t found those keyboard shortcuts yet.
I immediately saw the power of treesheets when I found it recenty – I’ve been imagining and wishing for this kind of software for years!
Unfortunately there seem to be a few things broken on Linux and/or not configurable, relating to import/export and opening links in external programs.
So I can’t use it to keep ‘everything’ in. But it is definitely a new tool in my toolbox, for certain things.
Excel has a run for it’s money.
For sure. The experimental math functions are also really cool, but it doesn’t seem like the developer needs that so much because it looks like not much recent new development.
But for anyone reading this – definitely worth checking out!
I agree the math functionality in Treesheets is not so extensive, but I use Treesheets–>Excel a lot do structured documentation (text and contents) - and for creating nice, tabular data with styling and moving things around - or fill in templates in a quick way and doing color/markings, Treesheets has the upper hand above Excel.
The competing functions from Excel are;
If you select a column/row - and then put your marker on the “edge”, you get this Cross-icon. If you then hold down Shift key, you can drag-drop the column or row to another place (move it). (I wish I knew that sooner, I always felt trapped in Excel before I figured that one out. I was many years old before I found out…)
If you wish to color or change style to cells in a quick way in Excel, F4 keypress repeats the last action that was performed.
But I still work WAY FASTER with such operations in Treesheets.
So yeah, to those who are intrigued; Treesheets is special! <3
I am going to give Treesheets a look - that’s incredible… and I’ve never heard of it. Just when I think I’ve reached the ends of the internet looking for tools to improve my workflow, I stumble upon this. Thanks for the tip!
I can already see way that I would use this, the screenshots for the app give some inspiration. @fender, @hans - do you guys use it for anything groundbreaking that would tune others in to your use cases for the tool?
For me, Treesheets is one of those apps that blows the mind, but in practise doesn’t interoperate with the rest of the world to be useful except for one-off, specific cases.
It worked for me for the design phase of my JDex – capture and categorisation. That’s because it’s a more-or-less one way process. I find a few of the UI choices annoying, like not being able to drag and drop, but on the whole it works great for this kind of information organisation task.
I tried using it as my main project/todo organisation tool for a bit. It actually worked pretty well, and I could really envision this being really useful. I like the way you can link from cell to cell (though it’s a bit hacky – using a specific phrase or word as an identifier to search on).
I love how you can switch in an instant from a visual/spatial big picture overview, to a detail view in which you can ignore the rest of the tree. It makes one think you could easily keep a huge amount of stuff (your whole life??) in a sheet, and not lose focus.
For me, it just doesn’t work because I need interop, shareability, and the ability to process plain text as data. Plain text files are versionable and at least sort of suitable for collaboration with others. Treesheets can import/export an indented plain text format, so theoretically you could have both, with some sort of diffing procedure, but that sounds like it would be pretty fragile.
In short, it has definitely replaced mind map programs for most things I would use those for before, but I don’t see how I can really integrate it into ongoing projects for now.
This is an easy question to answer - but also a hard one.
The easy part; I use it for all of the things!!
The hard part; describe them all.
Ideally - I’d do screenshots/screencasts and show, but I’m a bit pressed for time - so here are some descriptions in text.
Let me know if any of them piques your interest, and I’ll try to expand.
I have thousands of .cts files.
I use it as a digital post-it. I don’t do pen and paper. I like to hold and fidget with pens, but not to write with them. If I need something to write on in a jiffy, I have a hotkey for Notepad++ - OR I open Treesheets and start jotting things down.
I have Treesheets as a template in my “files keeper” software (Personal Brain), so I can quickly create a new file without friction or thought, and it is in my structure (in Personal Brain) already, so I can easily find it again later, if needed.
Personal Brain is key here in terms of how easy it is to create files, and how easy it is to find them again later.
I mainly go for Treesheets if the structure of what I’m about to write down is a bit liquid/unknown, and I need to move things around fast.
The list of things/functions I use (yes, there are more available - but these are the ones I use)
I select a cell and move it around using Ctrl + Arrow keys.
I insert a nested level with Insert.
I escape the level I am on with Esc.
I insert a parent heading or level with F9.
I search and hit F3 to jump to the next instance.
I color cells or text, and I use Ctrl + C and then Ctrl + Shift + V to paste the style to different cells.
I use the F11 and F12 keys to maximize and go fullscreen (if I’m sharing screen or I wish to show to someone else and I want them to focus on the current item)
I zoom in and out of nested structures with Ctrl and the scroll wheel on the mouse
I sometimes use Alt + scroll wheel to change size (width) to fit the text
I use text “OK” or image/icon - or green background color to check where I’ve been/what is done.
I use F10 to contract/expand single level, or Ctrl+Shift+F10 to contract all selected levels, and Ctrl+Alt+F10 to expand all selected levels.
I have Options > automatically save a .html on every save turned on.
I copy and paste from the .html to Excel or Word if I need to share with others, or I copy the .html directly into an e-mail.
I use the F5 key to open files (if the path to the file is in the cell) or weblinks (if the URL is in the cell)
I sometimes use the search and replace function.
I sometimes change the way things are shown/viewed, using the Alt+1, Alt+2, Alt+3, Alt+4 - to manipulate view.
I do not (even though I’ve tried and experimented with mostly everything that is possible):
I do not use red text. This is so that when I use the “search”, I can easily spot what gets highlighted.
I do not use the calculation script language.
I do not use the function where I can resize the text (smaller/bigger) - if I am unfortunate to do that by accident, I reset with Ctrl + Shift + S back to normal text size.
I do not put pictures/images inside cells.
I do not use the tag function.
What do I put in there?
Many, many, many things.
I write Minutes of meeting (I have made templates, they even look nice).
I import list of path to files (Windows, Shift + right click > Copy as path - manipulate in Notepad++ if needed - and paste into Treesheets).
I can then open any of the files or folders using F5 keypress.
I can do Insert and then write notes/comments - either to specific pages in the file or to the document.
I once did a project where one of the contracts was 180 documents (!!) - and I had 4,5 contracts to keep track of.
Without Treesheets, I don’t know what I would have done.
Today, 5-6 years later - I can probably still pull up the correct document on screen in less than a minute - using the Treesheets file.
If files moved some other place, I can use Search and replace to edit the file path.
I sometimes create mindmaps (Alt+2 or Alt+3).
Useful as a “collective think out loud while words are on screen” tool. I have used it in many meetings.
I make (drafts) of check lists and procedures (although Logseq has mostly taken over some parts of this type of writing).
If others need to see or use them, I copy paste the .html to Excel.
I have written large documents, starting of by drafting in Treesheets and then moving to different software when it starts to take shape.
I like writing with F12 + F11 activated - fullscreen and max size, because it makes me focus on the words I use and what I’m actually writing.
Some of this has been replaced by Logseq, but I still get a good tingling in my body when I pull up Treesheets to “eat the frog” on some task I’ve been postponing for too long.
image/icon - or green background color to check where I’ve been/what is done.