Tips and tricks for using bCisive

Ways to create a new box

It’s easy to add a new box to your map by dragging the box type you want from the Building Panel. But did you know there are several other ways to create a new box?

  • Just start typing – a new box will appear on the workspace. Click on the workspace somewhere first to have it appear at that point.
  • If you have a box selected, the Enter key will give you a new sibling, and Insert a new child. If you’re already editing a box, use Shift-Enter and Shift-Insert.
  • Use Shift-drag to make a copy of a box or a whole branch.

Creating a custom box

Sometimes you may want a distinctive box type, one not in bCisive’s standard set – perhaps Precedent, or Caveat. It’s quite easy to make your own boxes, with custom headings and images. Here’s how:

  1. Drag a Dynamic Box out from the Free Form section of the Building Panel, or just double-click on the workspace to create one.
  2. Type your heading text between asterisks: *Precedent*. When you exit the box, it’ll automatically convert to heading format.
  3. Add any picture or clip art icon you like to your box, by simply dragging it into the box from its location.
  4. Using the right-click menu, you can set the image to thumbnail size or to fit the box width, or delete the image altogether.

That’s it – your new custom box is done!

Adding images

Give your bMap more punch by adding images. Just drag a picture onto the bCisive workspace from its place on your computer, or from a web page. You’ll see that if you drag it close to a map, it will convert to a box and attach. If you’re working with free-form boxes, you can also drag the image directly into an existing box.

For even greater impact, use a photo or your company’s logo as a background for your map. In the Output menu, first make sure Page Preview is switched on; now select your image using the tools in the ‘Background Image’ area.

Handy keyboard shortcuts

There are usually several different ways of doing any action in bCisive. For keyboard lovers, here are ten of the handiest keyboard shortcuts:

Ctrl+M Change box type Changes the type of the selected box. Keep pressing to cycle through available box types.
Ctrl+H Hide Children Hides the descendants of the selected box. Press it again to show them.
Ctrl+U Fold Up Children Hides a box’s descendants in a way that allows you to reveal them level by level.
Ctrl+1, +2 or +3 Show Next 1, 2 or 3 Levels Reveal exactly as many levels of your map as you want.
Enter New sibling Creates a new sibling box (in edit mode, use Shift+Enter)
Insert New child Creates a new child box
Ctrl+Shift+V Paste Below Pastes what’s on your clipboard into a new box below the selected one.
Ctrl+K Hyperlink Inserts a hyperlink to a web page or a file
Ctrl+Shift+N Add Note Attaches a new Note to your selected box
F11 Full Screen Toggles between normal and full-screen view

Headers and footers

Give your bMap a heading, or any other supporting text you require. Simply drag a Dynamic Box from the Building Panel and add your text, or just start typing – a Dynamic Box will appear on the workspace.

By default, a Dynamic Box has no fill color or border, but you can add them using the Box Format options on the Format ribbon if you like. Resize your box, change the font size and position it where you’d like it around your map, without connecting it.

Linking local files to your map

Support your arguments with evidence. Reference external spreadsheets, reports or documents by creating live hyperlinks to them in your bCisive map. It’s very straightforward:

  • Simply drag the file from its location on your computer into a box in your map – a hyperlink to the file will automatically be created in the box.
  • You can also create the hyperlink manually by selecting the map box and clicking the Hyperlink button in the Home ribbon. Then use Browse to find the file on your computer, and click OK.