Suggest best approach to linked content?

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o0Mellel0o
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Suggest best approach to linked content?

Post by o0Mellel0o »

I have a large collection of chat transcripts I am organizing into a document. Currently the entire dialog is in date sequence and fully displayed. This makes it cumbersome to navigate because the individual sessions can be several pages long. To reduce the bulk I have used both a small and condensed font. I would rather have a list based on names that is linked to the dialog. This would allow greater freedom and flexibility in formatting. Ultimately, the Mellel file will be be a PDF and I will be reading the PDF on my 10" iPad Pro.

So basically my idea is to have a Table on Contents in date order with each item linked to a separate file containing the dialog.

I would like to have the ability to change the sort order from date sequence to alphabetical. If this is not possible I could create an alternate Table of Contents containing an alphabetized list with links to each document.

I am thinking the separate files avoid the problems with everything shifting when adding to the document but Mellel does update links automatically and one large document would avoid losing track of random linked files.

I am wondering if this is the best approach?

Does anyone have suggestions, tips, or a better idea?
joseph_anton
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Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 4:07 am

Re: Suggest best approach to linked content?

Post by joseph_anton »

I wonder if you are familiar with DEVONthink? It might be easier to keep track of individual chat transcripts as part of a database than as a word processor document. There is an excellent companion application for iOS so you could read and work on the transcripts on your iPad.
o0Mellel0o
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:23 pm

Re: Suggest best approach to linked content?

Post by o0Mellel0o »

Would you mind describing how you would use DEVONthink for this application?

I actually would like something "paperless" I was first thinking of setting up a webpage but running it offline but that seemed clumsy. I really have no idea how I would use DEVONthink after browsing through their webpage.

Thank you for the suggestion.
joseph_anton
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Re: Suggest best approach to linked content?

Post by joseph_anton »

I think I would create a new database in DEVONthink for the purpose and drag the chat logs you have into it (the software can deal with documents in many different formats). You can give each document in the database a name that makes sense to you (e.g., based on the date) and order the documents in different ways. You'll then have something that resembles an e-mail inbox that allows you to move from one document to the next.

The real beauty of this is that there are many different ways to sync a DEVONthink database between different computers and mobile devices. So you could set the whole thing up on your desktop and sync it over to your iPad to read and edit.
o0Mellel0o
Got the auto-title mojo working
Posts: 17
Joined: Tue Aug 19, 2014 6:23 pm

Re: Suggest best approach to linked content?

Post by o0Mellel0o »

Thank you for the description. I believe DEVONthink is going to be perfect for this. After reading the comparison chart I downloaded the trial of the personal edition to have a go at it. I think I can do what I need with that version.

Thank you for taking the time to offer this suggestion.
joseph_anton
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Posts: 103
Joined: Sun Jun 04, 2017 4:07 am

Re: Suggest best approach to linked content?

Post by joseph_anton »

No problem, hope it works out for you!
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