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MasterPlan

Visual planning ideaboard, by indie devs, for indie devs and creatives · By SolarLune

Option to specify Line tool arrowhead direction

A topic by Lunarexxy created Mar 15, 2021 Views: 204 Replies: 5
Viewing posts 1 to 3
(2 edits)

I made a list of notes, connected by arrows, to help me visualize how to set up the entities in a project I'm working on. When making the list, I expected that the arrows would point at the notes next to them. Instead they point towards each other. (Screenshot)

I'm guessing there's some automated "neighboring item" detection that causes this, which happens to check up/down first. I assume this actually works fine in most cases. (Though maybe it shouldn't detect arrowheads? I don't know if anyone relies on that.)

To circumvent edge cases like this, it'd be nice if the Line tool also had an option to override the automatically set direction, and instead let the user specify which direction that all its arrowheads should point, regardless of whether they're next to something.

This could also help some users who need more control over graphs they make using the Line tool. (Example)

(+1)

Hello! 

I'm late to replying here; sorry about that! I've been pretty busy the past few weeks. As the recent news post mentioned, I plan to recreate MasterPlan from scratch, and I think I might get rid of the Line Task entirely in favor of easier linking between Tasks / Cards. You mention using the Line tool to create graphs, so I'd like to know how you were using it so I can cover that use-case if possible, as well, and make it easier to do so.

(1 edit)

Hi, I just purchased this program, and I wanted to add that I really like the Line Tasks. I'm all for making the task linking easier, but I also find a lot of use for just being able to plop down an arbitrary line too. For example, I like to add lines to break up clusters of tasks (like a divider) -- and these lines  aren't attached to any task. So if you were to  out-right replaced the line-task with some sort of integrated task-linking mechanism, I wouldn't be able to freely plot lines like that.

Also, being able to make polygons or other shapes with the lines is also a fun feature. I use them in a similar way as Lunarexxy -- to make "fences," graphs, polygons, and dividers.

So I would say: "Yes, absolutely make the task linking easier and integrated into tasks more organically" but also "the line tasks as they currently are are also useful for different non-linking purposes too!"

But as Lunarexxy suggested: the ability to just add more "nodes" onto onto a line  (instead of having to make a dozen individual lines and manually link them up) would be a nice feature.

(+1)

Hi! Thanks for purchasing the program; I really do appreciate it! I appreciate your feedback, as well - it does seem like a good idea to still allow lines in some shape or form to exist for those who want to use them; I'll have to see if I can strike a balance with regards to it. Improving line capabilities to add "nodes" that you can drag to shape them sounds like a good feature to add, as well. 

Thanks, again!

Sounds exciting! I did like the idea of having  a line tool though. Aside from its uses in visually connecting nodes, and firing off trigger signals, it makes it very easy to divide chunks of the planning board into their own little areas. Being able to draw lines wherever you want on the board is super versatile.


In the case of something like a literal graph, the ability for a single line to have multiple segments would be really useful. Or perhaps a dedicated Graph node that lets you easily organize information like this.


Hello! I'm late to replying; I missed this post. Apologies! Thank you very much for your feedback, as well - I especially appreciate these visuals and mockups that show how you use MasterPlan, as that's helpful for me to develop the tool (specifically graphs, in this case, as a few others have requested them and I was a bit unsure as to how I could implement it smoothly). Division of plans does seem like it could be useful, and I'd like to implement and support these more visual / spatially organizational use-cases, as well. Thanks for the suggestion, again!