Navigation Tips
There are many ways for you to reach the information you're looking
for. We'll list the most important ones below, starting with the methods
that are common to all object types (Slides, Sources, Individuals,
Families, Events, Tiddlers), then focussing on some methods that are
specific to a particular object type.
The following navigation techniques are common to all object types.
- browsing object lists (with different sort keys):
- This may be the most natural way, certainly in the beginning. First
reach the list of objects you're
intrested in by clicking its icon in the page header (e.g. Slides).
Then select a sort key for the list by clicking on the link at the top
of the object list (in the case of Slides, you can choose between slide ID,
tray address, date and location). Last, navigate the list using the
navigation controls at top (First, Prev, Next, Last -- there's an "All"
button as well, but avoid using it once the object list reaches in the
thousands) and scroll to browse the list until you locate the object you're
looking for. When you do, click on the object ID (first column) or the
action links (last column) to access the object in view or edit mode.
- using search results:
- Once your data collection starts growing, you'll find that browsing
object lists becomes inefficient. The search interfaces built into the
application will give you a much faster way to reach the object (or indeed
any data item) you're looking for. We currently provide three such
interfaces. We'll only introduce them here -- please
refer to their own Help pages for detailed instructions on how to use
them.
- full-text search: also called basic search, this
page allows you to search for the occurrence of a specific string
in any text field of (almost) any database table. The string is question
can appear as substring in any of these fields, and the search is case
insensitive. You can limit the search to certain objects or metadata
(default is all), and the search result may contain short quotes that
put the matched string in context where applicable. On the search result
page, results are grouped by object or metadata type, and the kind of
object can be identified based on the prefix letter (see Objects and Metadata Types).
For more information on the full-text search, see Basic and Timeline Search Page.
- advanced search: this one requires that you focus on one
object type at a time (the only non-object data that also has an
advanced search page are books and articles), but lets you use any field
present on the edition
page for that object type as a search critiria. All such fields with
non-default contents are then ANDed together in the query. The columns
present on the advanced search result page can be chosen by the user
for each object type independently (from his profile edition page).
For more information on using the advanced search feature, please refer
to Advanced Search Page and Advanced Search Result Page.
- timeline search: this search page lets you identify quickly
the latest objects that have been updated (how many objects and updated
by whom can be controlled by the user), or get a list of all objects
created, modified, or both between any two dates (created or modified
by whom can also be controlled by the user). Using the Calendar View, you can
also easily identify Slides, Events and Titles that are linked to any
specific date.
For more information on the different timeline search modalities, see
Basic and Timeline Search Page, Calendar View and Calendar Search Result Page.
- browse INXtree from main application page:
- From the main application menu, you can browse the INXtree structure in the
left pane, then get a list of all objects attached on or below the selected
node in the right pane. You can then view these objects and leaf through
them in the right pane
(while staying in list context) by clicking on their ID, or edit any of them
and leave the list context by clicking the action link at right. For more
information, see Main Application Menu.
- direct jump using object ID (aka Quick Jump):
- If you already know the ID of the object (or metedata item) you're interested
in, simply type it in the small edit box present in the footer of every
page, then click Go to jump directly to the view page for
that item. Examples of object IDs could be 'D1234' for a Slide
or 'I98' for an Individual (see Objects and Metadata Types for a list of all
prefixes supported by the application). For more information on this feature,
see Main Application Menu.
- jumping to next or previous object in the list from the obj. view page:
- From any object view page (except for Families and Tiddlers), you get
navigation links at
the top of the page, just below the header, to leaf through the objects
based on a choice of 2 sort keys, one of them being the ID and the other
one being the most relevant one for that kind of object.
- jumping to related objects from the view page (see also's):
- All objects can be linked together using the See also feature,
irrespective of their type. Once
connected like that, from the view page of one, you can easily jump to the
view page of any of the related objects.
- jumping to related objects from the text on the view page (aka
SmartLink):
- In most comment fields in the application (certainly those of objects and
lesser objects), you can use a special syntax to refer to other objects
or metadata items (e.g. '{D1234}' -- please refer to the help
covering the edition page of the object in question to learn what special
formats, if any, are supported). When rendered in view mode, these references
are converted to hyperlinks to the view page of the item in question.
If the object that you refer to doesn't exist (yet) or is not linked to the
current object (in the case of Bibref and Srcref), the reference will be
rendered in a special style (orange
italics) and the associated link will point to that object
creation page or list (where possible).
- using "linked objects" links from metadata records view pages:
- From some metadata view pages (e.g. Books, Articles, Weblinks, Categories,
etc.), you will find a section called Quoted by or Linked objects
which links back to the objects using that metadata item.
- browser-based search function:
- Of course, never forget that the browser-based search fonction (Ctrl-F)
can be used quite effectively once the required data is displayed (list,
view page, etc.)
The following navigation techniques apply only to Event objects.
- through sequences:
- Individual events that are historically linked into higher-level
"narratives" can be grouped together using the Sequence lesser object
type. For instance, if you have Events for a series of battles, you could
create a Sequence for the entire war. An Event can belong to any number of
different Sequences. Once member
of a Sequence, you can navigate to these Events from the Sequences Management Page or
leaf through them using the Sequences section on the Events Edition Page.
- through relative dating information:
- When the date of an Event is unknown or not accurate enough, you can use the
relative dating feature to locate the Event with respect to other Events
whose dates are known. This information is displayed on the Event view
page in the Relative Dating section. You can navigate between the
Events listed there using their ID. More information on Relative Dating
management on the Events Edition Page.
The following navigation techniques apply only to Individual objects.
- though family tree:
- Individuals can be linked together to form Families. When this is the case,
from the Inidividual view page, you can use the Lineage section
to navigate the family tree (click on the Individual's ID to reach his or
her view page, click on the green '+' sign to reach the Family view page).
The currently displayed Individual is highlighted in bold.
Please note that the Lineage display on the Individual view page
is limited to one generation above him/her and one below (i.e. parents,
spouse and children). More information on managing these relationships on
the Individuals Edition Page and Families Edition Page.
- though the biography section:
- When creating and editing Individual records in Project Hirtius,
you will necessarily create related Events at the same time (birth, death,
couple creation if applicable). In addition to these so-called auto-events
(see Concepts),
you can attach more Event objects as you see fit. All of these can be
navigated to from the Biography section of the Individual view page.
The following navigation techniques apply only to Tiddler objects in
the context of the embedded TiddlyWiki interface.
- by timeline:
- In the righ-hand side menu, click on the Timeline tab. You will
get a list of Tiddlers, sorted by their last modification date, most recent
on top. Simply click any Tiddler in the list to open it (or jump to it
if it's already open).
- by tags:
- In the righ-hand side menu, click on the Tags tab. You will get
a list of all tags defined in the current project / wiki. Clicking on any
of these tags will display a popup menu with a list of all Tiddlers
bearing that tag. Just click the Tiddler to open it or jump to it.
Addional manu entries offer the possibility to open all Tiddlers bearing
that tag in one go, or to open the Tiddler named after the tag (that
Tiddler might be used to define the scope, usage or meaning of the
tag). If such Tiddler doesn't exist yet, you get the opportunity to
create it.
- list all:
- In the righ-hand side menu, click on the All tab. You will get
a list of all existing Tiddlers (in the current project), sorted
alphabetically. Just click any Tiddler to open it or jump to it.
- using the Main Menu:
- On the left side is the Main Menu. Its contents is user-controlled
and defined by editing a default Tiddler (called "MainMenu"). You can use
it to provide tailored navigation within your project.
- jumping to related tiddlers from the text of a tiddler:
- When writing the text of a Tiddler, just insert the name of another
Tiddler (as long as it's formatted as WikiWords), and the application will
automatically render it as a hyperlink when displayed in view mode.
"WikiWords" are run-together capitalized words. To get the same effect
with Tiddlers whose title are a single word or multiple, space-separated
words, enclose the title in double square brackets when quoting it
(e.g. '[[Some title]]'). See also Tiddlers (Embedded TiddlyWiki).
If the linked Tiddler doesn't exist yet, you will be offered the
opportunity to create it when clicking the link.
- using the search feature:
- Just type a word in the search box (in the upper right corner of the
Wiki page) then press [Enter], and all Tiddlers containing that word will
open, with the word in question highlighted.
Another factor that may help you navigate your data is the way
you control whether new data will display in your current browser window
or in a new one.
Most action links in the application will open in the current window
by default, but some are coded to open in a new window (for instance in the
case of object selectors), or in a specific frame (for instance on the
Main Application Menu or in this HelpSet Navigator). In all regular cases, though, you always
have the ability to right-click on the link and select "Open in new Window"
(or "Open in new tab" if your browser supports it).
Using separate windows is particularly useful when editing multiple
objects starting from a search result (allowing you to keep the search result
during the whole operation), or when comparing objects between
them. It's also very handy when you need to create new metadata entries
(categories, books or weblinks for instance) just before using them : keep
the object you're working on in one window while you create the new
metadata in another (right-click, "Open in new Window" from the icons
in the header).
When using this technique, be careful not to end up editing the same
object in two different windows at the same time, though. While not causing
any problem for the application itself, this could lead to data loss, as you
overwrite the committed data of window #1 with that of window #2. In future
revisions of Project Hirtius, some form of "mid-air collision detection"
will be implemented to minimize that risk.
Project Hirtius, © Les Ateliers du Héron, 2012.
Last updated: Thursday, Aug. 1st, 2024.