Quick start guide



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Quick start guide for TreePad Lite

This short guide is meant to help get you started quickly using TreePad Lite.
When - after reading this document - you find yourself already capable of using the program,
then you can consider the manual a reference guide.
If - on the other hand - you still do not feel confident after reading this quick start guide, then
please feel free to use the manual as a tutorial.


 

Opening the manual

While reading this document it is highly recommended that you open the TreePad Lite manual
because this document uses the TreePad Lite manual as example on quite a number of occasions.
To open the manual, just click on the TreePad icon for 'TreePad Manual' (in the Windows start menu). Alternatively, you can start
the TreePad program by clicking on its icon (in the Windows start menu), and then open the manual from inside TreePad
(the manual can be found in the same directory as the program).


 

Introduction to TreePad

TreePad provides a nifty way of accessing and organizing information. The program basically consists of
two panes, the "Tree pane" and the "Article pane".
The left-hand pane or 'tree pane' allows you to organize your data, while the right-hand pane or
'article pane' allows you to type in new articles - it contains an editor.


The tree consists of 'nodes' or branches. By default, any node has a yellow folder icon and a node title.
Each 'Node' in the tree pane corresponds to an 'Article' (the text inside the article pane).
When you click on a node in the left-hand pane (tree pane), its corresponding article will be
loaded inside the right-hand pane (article pane). The topmost node is the 'root node'.


 

Using the article

If you've used a text editor or word processor before, the 'Article Pane' (or right-hand pane) of TreePad will look familiar:
it is a regular text editor very much like NotePad. TreePad also has an 'Edit' menu which you can use for actions
that apply to the text inside the article, such as 'Copy', 'Paste', 'Cut', 'Select all' and 'Undo'.



To start editing the article, simply click with your mouse inside the article at the location where you want to edit it,
and start typing. If you have the manual open, you can type something in, but you should not perform a File/Save if you
want to preserve the original manual. Should you accidentally save the changes at one point, no problem, the manual
can always be downloaded separately by clicking "Menu: Help/Download newest manual" from inside TreePad Lite.


 

Using the tree

TreePad's advantage is that it lets you organize your articles however you wish, using 'Tree Pane' which you can see on the left.
The tree consists of 'nodes' or branches. By default, any node has a yellow folder icon and a node title.

Each 'Node' in the tree pane corresponds to an 'Article' (the text inside the article pane).
When you click on a node inside the tree, its corresponding article will be loaded inside the article pane.


 

The Root node

The first - or most fundamental - node is called the 'root node'. You can find it at the very top of the tree pane.
If you have the manual open, and look at the left-hand pane, you can see that the title of the 'root node'
is 'TreePad Lite Manual'.

Please note that inside a TreePad file, there can be only one root node. All other nodes spring from the root node.

 

Editing a node title

(1) To edit a node title, first click on it, then click "Menu: Tree/Edit node name".
(2) Alternatively, to edit the node title, you can also click on the node title (to select the node), then wait a second, and click again.
(3) A third method for editing the node title is to click on it to select it, then hit the F2 key on your keyboard.
When you are done editing, just press the 'enter' key on your keyboard, or click anywhere outside the title of the node that you are editing. Clicking inside the article with your left mouse button will also conclude the node editing process.
To cancel any changes made, press the 'escape' key on your keyboard.


 

Child nodes and subtrees
When you want to compare treepad's tree to a real-life tree (i.e. the real-life organism called 'tree'),
then TreePad's root node corresponds to the trunk of the real-life tree, and the other nodes correspond
to branches. Much like the real thing, any of TreePad's nodes (or branches) can contain other nodes
(or branches) - called 'child nodes'. Child nodes can contain child nodes of their own---and so on.
This recursive capability gives TreePad its power.


For instance, if you have the manual open, when you look at the left-hand pane, then the node
'What is TreePad?' is a child node of the root node 'TreePad Lite Manual'.
The node 'Installing and uninstalling' is also a child node of the root node.



Moreover, the node 'Installing and uninstalling' contains its own 'child nodes', which are:

'Installing'
'Uninstalling'
'Run from USB drive: portability'.

The node 'Installing and uninstalling' together with its child nodes is also called a 'subtree'.
If you do not see these nodes, please read on.


 

Expanding and collapsing subtrees
If you are not able to see the child nodes in the example directly above, then you need to 'expand the subtree'.
Just click on the little [+] sign to the left of the node 'Installing and uninstalling'.
To hide these child nodes, or 'collapse the subtree', you can click on the [-] sign to the left of 'Installing and uninstalling'.
Please note that an 'expanded subtree' (= the children are visible) always has a [-] sign which
you can click with your left mouse button to collapse it. A 'collapsed subtree' (= the children are hidden)
always has a [+] sign that can be used to expand it.


 

Parent nodes

While the node 'Installing and uninstalling' is a child node of the root node 'TreePad Lite Manual', it is also the 'parent node' of its own 'child nodes'.

For example, the root node 'TreePad Lite Manual' is a parent node of the nodes:

'What is TreePad?'
'Installing and uninstalling'
'Getting started'
'Using TreePad'
etc.
etc.

and the node 'Installing and uninstalling' is a parent node of:

'Installing'
'Uninstalling'
'Run from USB drive: portability'.


 

Editing the tree
You can add, name, rename, delete, and move nodes using the 'Tree' menu. You can add virtually as many levels of
child nodes as you wish, giving you almost unlimited categories and sub-categories for your information.
When you create a node, a blank article is created with it. When you delete a node, its article is deleted, too.


 

Creating your own TreePad file
The manual is a regular TreePad file. You can always start your own TreePad file by clicking 'Menu: File/New'.

Please note that there can only be one root node, To add a new node while the root node is selected you can exclusively use 'Menu: Tree/Insert node/Child node'. You cannot add a new node 'before' or 'after' the root node.

When any of the other nodes are selected you can also use:
'Menu: Tree/Insert node/Before' and
'Menu: Tree/Insert node/After'


 

Rearranging the tree
To re-arrange the nodes inside the tree use drag-drop (drag a node from one location and drop it into another location using your left mouse button). You can also use 'Menu: Tree/Sort' and 'Menu: Tree/Move'.