Kneaver Methodology in 5 postcards

I like to draw to express complex ideas. Here are 5 cards I use to explain how to start with Kneaver.

Shared as is. The cards are what will support the coming onboarding feature in Kneaver: The Launchpad.
Creating 20 items is the critical level to reach to start seeing some benefits from Kneaver. The faster this stage is reached, the better. Kneaver don’t stop at adding explicit knowledge, but it’s a good start and see the social functions bring power.

#0 Explains how to use the cards.

Choose a Card. It’s like starting a card game. You pick one and use it as much as you can. “As much” means as long as ideas are coming with little resistance. Naturally, we are tempted to proceed from card 1 to Card 12 in this order but it’s not compulsory. Due to the flexibility of Kneaver there is no predefined order and we shouldn’t impose one. It would be the best way to block.

Methodology 0: Choose a card

#1 Is to set the goal.

Why are you spending time on this anyway? What are your intentions? Goals are supporting our motivations in the long run. They also serve as the compass of where it’s valuable to add and explore topics.
Mth001

#2 is to list the key terms

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Terms and concepts that come to your mind in this field. It’s not the goal to find them all or build a local copy of universal knowledge but really to place landmarks in the territory we want to explore. The game is to add a short definition and a link to look further. The link (usually Wikipedia) is less to be a bookmark then to refrain us to be exhaustive or the temptation to transfer into Kneaver stuff written by others. Leave what exists where it is already. Kneaver’s integrations will make it reachable anyway. I refer to this stage as “scaffolding”. Little text, but plenty of links between items. In the end, we have a like a mesh. It’s usually the time when users would like a map. There are maps in Kneaver, but it’s a bit early to start there and anyway, Knowledge is neither flat or 3D. It’s just in our heads.

Mth002

#3 is about adding copy to our items

Add some flesh to the skeleton. With the new UI it’s especially easy. Just move to the “recents” page and suffice to click on the items and start changing the text. It’s like a big set of cards laid down ala PInterest all editable at once.

Start by adding some definitions and surround all the terms you would like to detail with the wiki brackets [[]]. A Button is available for you. Just select the words and click. When you leave the editable zone, Kneaver will refresh the text and show the links already resolved. Those with a question mark behind are left to detail. Don’t fret there is no need to fix them all like you drive nails with a hammer. take them as restartable tough trails. Under menu “More” you will find pending links that let you go back to them at once even when you network will reach 5000 items.

And precisely going back to those pending links will be a great inspiration for the rainy days when inspiration is low.

Mth003

#4 is about adding people.

It’s a common practice to add people to concepts. In the past, it was to add authority to ideas, to build credibility. It was also because people tend to work in connex topics in their life and they act themselves as connectors between concepts. Nowadays it’s also because we can follow or reach out to them. There are really 3 groups: Those who worked in past and left a legacy, those who still produce work but are outside of your network. yet you can keep their name on Twitter and the link to their blogs, finally there are your peers, your PLN which whom interactions are both ways. Place them all around the concepts you built before.

We will reuse thos details later when we build blogs list, search news, build twitter lists.
Mth004

Did you reach this stage? Iterate a bit. When your activity graph will build up, it will be time to move to next cards.