To begin, create an account with Notion. It’s easy to connect with the app using a Google, email, or Apple account. I suggest starting with the free trial to see if Notion is for you. Once in, tell the app your name and add a password. Be careful if it asks you to join an already created team. Mine threw me in with nine other people with the same email tag.
Yeah, I don’t know them.
Eek.
Start by creating your own board unless your workplace has an invitation for you.
The first screen is busy but easy to navigate. Like Facebook and other apps, menus are on the left, and the workspace is in the middle and right. Notion is an empty planner.
Let’s fill it up.
For now, we’ll skip the templates. There are a ton, and next week, I’ll sort out the best of them. For now, let’s start with a blank page.
On the main screen, on the left, below the list of templates, click Add a Page. This will create a blank canvas for your workspace.
Adding Content
Click on the Title to change it to something useful, like Goals for 2022, Gift List, or Character Names. Before you hit enter, you can add a template right away. Scroll down to choose to add an icon or from the templates menu. There are also database options to pick from right away. For now, I choosing Empty.
Once the page is created, you can type away, creating content, blog posts, etc. But if you type /, the program will give you a list of content to add. It includes tons of lists—toggled, to-do, numbered, bulleted. There are also headings, sub-pages, and tables. But wait, there’s more. Add various types of databases, media, and links to outside content.
Phew.
Let’s make a list for now.
Click on the To-Do list. Like Keep and Evernote, a small box appears. Type and hit enter and receive another checkbox. Hover the mouse over the box, and a hand icon will appear, allowing you to check off the task. Click on the six dots next to the box to drag the list item to another spot on the list. The plus sign to the left of the six dots allows you to add another block under the To-Do item. Perhaps you need to add a comment or a sub-checklist for a complicated task.
Making it Pretty
Now let’s add icons and cover art to your page. Hover the mouse over your title at the top. Three options should appear—Add Icon, Add Cover, Add Comment. Click the Icon option to choose from a variety of emojis. (It might pick one for you, as it did for me the first time. Click on the icon again, and the menu of emojis will appear.) This icon will appear before the page name on the left, allowing a visual to remind you what’s on the page (besides the title, LOL).
Click Add Cover. Notion will again pick a picture for you. Just click Change cover to choose your own picture. There is a small image gallery, an option to upload, a link to an outside image, or use Unsplash—another images gallery. Covers must be wider than 1500 pixels and must be under 5MB. Facebook and Twitter banners are too large. If you are creating your own, keep it thin. You can reposition the cover if your image does not fit.
Now we need some style. The three dots on the top right let you add text style and other page management options, such as copy or open the page in Windows. To change the text within the page (bits, sections, or the entire piece), highlight the text to change. A mini menu, like you might see in Word, pops up with styles, colors, spreadsheet equations, code, and links. You can also change the type of text with the drop-down menu at the start of the pop-up. Mine says To-do (because I made a to-do list). If I click on the down arrow beside To-Do, a list of other types of text appear—other lists, databases, plain text, etc. You can always edit the type of text. The three dots at the end bring you to the management options of delete, copy, etc., but also color. Here you can choose text and text background colors.
Adding to the Page
Adding content to the page is easy by clicking either the plus sign in front of any content block or clicking at the end of the list/block and activating the initial call for the / command. To add sub-pages to your content, mouse over to the left menu. Hover over the title of your page. Three dots and a plus sign appear. The three dots allow you to manage the page. Delete, copy, move using this menu.
The plus sign gives options to quickly add a page inside the first one. It appears as a pop-up. You can create content as before with more options. At the top of the pop-up, you can view the new content as a page or add it as a sub-page. Type as needed and choose your option. If you chose Add to…, it will ask you which main page to add the content to. (Great for non-linear thinkers.)
Basic Management Actions
On the left menu, click and drag any page to move the order of the list. You can add the pre-created content to any of your lists. Be careful though. Moving things can get tricky. If you “lose a page” (as I did), click the search button at the top and type the page’s name. I put my reading list inside a timeline! To move it, I opened the “lost” page, clicked the three dots on the top right, chose Move To, and replaced it in my PopSugar folder. Phew!
This is the tip of the iceberg for Notion. Next week, I will talk about the templates available and more options for page content.
As with any app I share, you are the person using it. Try for yourself and see if it works for you.
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