Web Drawing Tool

We have added a version of the whiteboard tool that lets you more easily create "webs" of linked bubbles. In your workspace you will find a "Web" object that looks something like:


Click for full-size image.
This shows how the tool looks on a Mac. It will look a little different on Windows

Unlike the whiteboard that you have used for brainstorming, the web tool:
  • Centers text inside bubbles for you
  • Allows bubbles to be hidden and shown
  • Allows a pages of notes to be connected to any bubble

Help topics:

Hiding and showing bubbles

In the picture above, notice that the bubbles around the edge have a small grey dot with a "plus" sign in it in the corner. This means that there are other bubbles that are connected to these bubbles that are not being shown. If you click the arrow tool in the toolbar and double-click on one of these bubbles, the connected bubbles will appear. You may need to scroll the drawing to see the bubbles.

If you double-click on the bubble again, the connected bubbles will be hidden.

Adding and editing bubbles

The tool that looks like a circle with a "T" in it is the "node" tool. You can use this tool to add new bubbles to the web or edit the text in existing bubbles. If you select this tool and click on an empty place on the drawing, a small circle will appear along with a box that you can type in. When you are finished typing, select another tool or click somewhere else on the drawing. The bubble will expand to fit the text.

You can use the connection tools (the buttons on the toolbar that have lines with arrows) to draw links between bubbles. Bubbles can be resized by selecting the arrow tool and clicking on the bubble. Small square "handles" will appear around the bubble. You can drag these to resize the bubble.

Viewing, editing, and adding notes

Each bubble can have a page of notes associated with it. Initially we have associated blank pages with the bubble for your research question and for the Definitions, Indicators, Causes, Effects, Solutions, and Future bubbles.

To view or edit the notes for a bubble, choose the hand tool from the toolbar. When you move the mouse over a bubble, the cursor will change to a hand if the bubble has notes. If the bubbles does not have a page of notes, the cursor will look like a small plus-sign ("crosshairs").

If a bubble has notes, you can simply click on it with the hand tool. The panel on the right side of the window will change to show you the notes for bubble. Any changes that you make to the notes will be shares with your remote team members.

If a bubble does not have notes, you can double-click on it to add them. When you do this, a window will appear. Select the option for "A new page named:", enter a descriptive name for the notes, and then click "OK". After you have done this, the new blank page of notes will appear when you click on the bubble.


Viewing and printing the web from Internet Explorer or Netscape

You can view your web and notes from a web browser such as Internet Explorer or Netscape. To do this, either double-click on the blue URL (which will look something like http://teacherbridge.cs.vt.edu/private/projects/....) at the bottom of the web window or choose "Open in Web browser" from the Web window's "File" menu. This will open the web in Internet Explorer or Netscape. From there, you can print the web. (You will probably want to print these in "landscape" mode so that they will come out of the printer sideways.)

If you have notes associated with any bubble on the web, clicking on that bubble in your web browser will show those notes. The pages will be formatted as described here: Shorthand

Showing all bubbles

If you "lose" bubbles or want to ensure that no bubbles are hidden when you print, you can make everything visible by selecting "Select All" from the web tool's "Edit" menu. Then go to the "Visibility" menu in the "Attributes" menu and choose "Show selected figure(s)". This will make everything visible.

/public/projects/Science and Engineering/Web Tool Login | Web Editor | Full Editor
Last modified 1/27/03 9:56 PM by ganoe (history)
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