How do you organize your Zettels with other materials for specific projects

BWB

I have several projects ongoing which leverage materials in my Zettelkasten. Examples include curriculum and materials for several university courses, a book project, and several academic papers. I am looking for a way to organize all the materials specific to a project (pdfs, Zettels, images, links, etc), in a specific order, connecting them as needed. Something like a big, virtual white board.

The "perfect" solution would include:

• something visual
• allows me to move things around
• allows for linking to several "nodes" (many-to-many)
• previews of the materials would be great, but not critical
• the actual "nodes" on this network of ideas should be links to the materials; I do not want move them from their current location
• I am not directly "producing" something from this virtual whiteboard. It is something I will refer to as I create the coursework, paper, etc.

Regular outlines and lists are too inflexible and are not visual (though this is how I have always done it in the past). Mindmaps are too structured and hard to show cross connects with out making it messy. Some of the mind maps are not a little cumbersome when adding links and images. Using something like DevonThink provides a lot of power and allows for replicants to organize the materials, but it is not visual.

I have tried Curio and Scapple. Both provide large virtual canvases, allow fairly easy insertion of links to files, and show images. That said, there are no previews of the files and websites.

Are there other approaches to organizing project related materials with your Zettels? Any suggestions?

Thanks - BWB

Phil

Try Trello. I use it for work projects and it's a pretty visually handy way to keep track of multiple workflows at once.

GBC

Have you looked at Tinderbox? It's not an exact fit for your requirements but might be usable for you.