Scan & Fix 50 registry issues FREECNET Editors' review
You probably learned in elementary school that outlining is a good way to organize your thoughts. ThoughtStack is a basic tool that lets you create flexible outlines, or tree hierarchies, with your ideas. It's not the most intuitive program we've ever used, but with a little practice, we can see how it could be a very effective way to brainstorm and keep track of what you come up with.
The program's interface is plain, with a text box at the top and a larger pane below where the tree is displayed. To add a node to the tree, you simply type your thoughts into the text box and then press Enter or click the Add to Tree button. You can continue to add items to the tree or to the nodes you've created. The program is highly dependent on hot keys for navigation, which can be a little confusing at first, but once you get the hang of them, the hot keys allow you to quickly move through your tree and reorder the items within it. The built-in Help file lists all of the hot keys that the program employs, but we do wish that it did a better job of explaining some other aspects of the program. Most importantly, we'd love to know what the large slider on the interface is for; we thought that maybe it lets you zoom in and out of large trees, but that didn't seem to be the case, and there was no other explanation. Overall, ThoughtStack is not a program for those who like a lot of features, but it is an interesting choice for people seeking novel ways to organize their thoughts.
ThoughtStack requires no installation, and at 737KB, it's lightweight enough to be kept on your USB drive.
Publisher's Description
From Andrew Runka:
Great for note taking, planning, brainstorming, and general thought organization needs, ThoughtStack is a free-form tool inspired by the need for an improved notepad for quickly and easily organizing thoughts. Thoughts are entered into a foldable tree structure for improved consistency and readability over plain text. The tabbed structure allows the user to have many streams on the go at once, and the intuitive hotkey system allows the entire program to be controlled by the keyboard alone.
What's new in this version: Version 1.061 adds Highlight and move/delete multiple thoughts feature, Help menu option - Donate.
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All versions:
4.7 starsout of 3 votes
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Current version:
4.0 starsout of 1 votes
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"Very good, but very basic"
Version: ThoughtStack 1.061
Pros
Uncluttered in every way: easy to use, and no bells or whistles to complicate things. It takes almost no time at all to be able to use this like a professional.
Cons
If simplicity and ease of mastery is what you want, then there are no cons at all. But what you see is all you get; if you want to be able to include pictures, hyperlinks, or specially formatted data, then this is the wrong product for you.
Summary
As a simple device of ordering one's thoughts, then this is just about perfection. To use it, you create a series of folders, one for every major issue in your project. For example, if you are planning a short essay, you might put in a 'node' (sort of like a folder) for each section or paragraph, and then a text box to contain your ideas or the actual essay text.
So why not use Notepad or some ordinary text program? The big advantage with ThoughtStack is that it allows you to expand and collapse different sections, so that you can work on easily switch from the Big Picture view (seeing the outline of your entire essay) to focussing on just one small area - a single idea, paragraph or sentence.
ThoughtStack is one of the simplest outline tools around. Others, including the Treepad range, offer far more options - but then, the more complicated they get, the more effort and learning it takes to use them well. In the end, you makes your choice, and gets what you ask for!
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