Panels and Docks
What they are, Why you care, and How to Use them
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
2023.10.11.v#.web.234.0.0
What are DOCKs and PANELs?
Why Do I Care?
Definitions
Docks vs Panels: what’s the difference?
Uses
Features of Docks and Panels
Step by step - How to use
Open a Panel
Open PANEL in the right DOCK
Open Multiple PANELs in the RIGHT DOCK
Open Panel in the TOP DOCK
Open multiple PANELS in the TOP DOCK
Move from TOP to RIGHT, or RIGHT to TOP DOCK
Icons in the RIGHT DOCK
Icons in the TOP DOCK
Main Window DOCK
Replace the MAIN PANEL
MOVE a MAIN WINDOW PANEL
Open Multiple Panels in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK
Helpful Hints around Drag-and-Drop
Gotcha's
Demonstration Video - if you’d rather see a 10-minute video than read this post!
Tana Announcements
Tana Resources
What are DOCKs and PANELs? and Why do I care?
Concept
It might help to think of your screen as a desktop. On top of your desk is a document, a book you are reading, a pad of paper you’re writing on, a picture of your kids inspiring you, your calendar, and your to-do list.
Well, depending on the size of your screen (and your tolerance for screen clutter 😉), you can have each item open on your “digital desktop” (your screen) as a PANEL.
Why do I care about DOCKs and PANELs?
Once you get used to using multiple PANELs, I suspect you’ll wonder how you did without them. After all, you wouldn’t force yourself to use only one thing at a time on your desk; no, you’d leverage your desk space and have multiple things open to help you draft that article.
That’s where DOCKS and PANELS come in. By leveraging DOCKS and PANELS, you can increase your productivity, reduce friction, and get more out of the power of TANA.
Definitions
DOCK
A Dock is where a PANEL appears. Tana equates DOCKs to drawers.
There are two DOCKS - one to the right of your main PANEL (aka MAIN WINDOW) and one to the top of your main PANEL and extending across the full width of the screen.
PANEL
A PANEL is the portion of your screen real estate where you type in your node(s).
A PANEL appears within a DOCK or within the MAIN WINDOW
PANEL and PANE are used synonymously and interchangeably within this article and in the Tana Documentation.
MAIN PANEL - if only one PANEL is on the screen - this, by default, is your MAIN PANEL. IF more panels are open, your main Panel is the first PANEL opened and the panel closest to the right sidebar. This is also referred to as the MAIN WINDOW.
As with all of my writing, these are not technical definitions but simplified, operational definitions to help you understand how you’ll use DOCKS and PANELS.
How does a PANEL differ from a DOCK?
You can’t open a DOCK without opening a PANEL, so what’s the difference? And if all you have open is your MAIN PANEL and another PANEL to the RIGHT (or TOP), there is functionally no difference.
But…
When you open a second PANEL to the right (plus your main PANEL), it’s then you can see the difference. In this scenario ,you have two PANELs open in the right dock (to the right or your MAIN PANEL. Now, resize the DOCK by grabbing and dragging the divider line between the MAIN PANEL and the RIGHT DOCK.
Did you catch it?
Remember, your DOCK is the container in which your PANELS appear. When you resize it, your RIGHT DOCK resizes as a whole, causing each PANEL to resize proportionately within the DOCK.
And if you try to resize an individual PANEL within the DOCK - it can’t be done. 🤨
So your screen is split between the MAIN PANEL and the RIGHT DOC. Not among all the PANELs.
So panes CAN scroll independently, but the PANELs can not resize independently from the DOCK where it resides.
Uses
The primary use case for DOCKS and PANELS is to split your screen so you can have one node on one side and another on the other.
Why would you want to split your screen? To use:
One side as a reference, while drafting on the other
One side is source material, while you are notetaking on the other
One side is a summary, while you are drafting details on the other
One side as inspiration (think picture), while drafting on the other
One side is showing a video, while you are noting takeaways on the other
You can more than two PANELs open. Why, you ask?
Multiple source docs open while drafting
A video on one PANEL, a summary on another, and your detailed notes on a third
A PANEL for easy access to your day page or other frequently used page
A PANEL for your calendar, A PANEL for our day page, A PANEL for your source material, and one for your writing
Endless possibilities…
Features of Docks and Panes
PANELS can scroll independently
PANELS can appear in a DOCK to the right or in the DOCK at the top
DOCK at the top can stack multiple PANELS
DOCK on the right can hold multiple PANELs vertically
PANELS can move from one DOCK to another (and back again) or to the MAIN PANEL
PANELS can open and close independently
All PANELS can be closed at one time
Step by Step - How to Use
Open a PANEL
To open PANEL in the right DOCK:
There are five ways to open a node in a new PANEL in the RIGHT DOCK:
Option 1: CMD/CTRL Click
Option 2: CMD/CTRL k > Dock on RIGHT
Option 3: CMD/CTRL k > Open New Panel
Option 4: CMD/CTRL M
Option 5: Drag-and-Drop
A fifth option is discussed below in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK section.
To open Multiple PANELs in the RIGHT DOCK
You can have multiple PANELS open in the RIGHT DOCK. There is probably a limit, but I suspect that you’ll run out of readable screen space before you hit it. As you add more PANELs to the RIGHT, the width of each PANEL is reduced to make room for the new PANEL.
Selecting a node from any PANEL in the RIGHT DOCK, will open that node in a new PANEL to the right of the PANEL from which the node was selected.
Thus, if you have three PANELS open in the RIGHT DOCK and want a node from the middle PANEL to be its own PANEL, it will open to the RIGHT of that middle PANEL.
Otherwise, the new PANEL opens to the right of the MAIN WINDOW DOCK but in the RIGHT DOCK. Or said another way, it will open in the RIGHT DOCK's first (leftmost) slot.
All options discussed in OPEN A PANEL IN THE RIGHT DOCK above will open additional PANELS in the RIGHT DOCK.
⚠️ BE AWARE - When using Option 2 CMD/CTRL k > Dock to Right, IF you:
— Are in the MAIN PANEL DOCK
— And your cursor is in the very top Parent NODE
— A CMD/CTRL k > Dock on Right — will move that PANEL to the RIGHT DOCK, and your MAIN PANEL will be empty as shown below.
Open Panel in the TOP DOCK
Option 1: SHIFT CLICK
With your cursor in the node, SHIFT CLICK on a node to open the PANEL in the TOP DOCK.
Option 2: CMD k > Dock Node on TOP
With your cursor on a node, CMD k > Dock Node on TOP
To open multiple PANELS in the TOP DOCK
Repeat either Option above: SHIFT CLICK, or CMD/CTRL k > Dock on Top.
Note each new node opened in the TOP DOCK will open at the TOP of the stack. Scroll down in the TOP DOCK to see npreviously opened nodes
Move from TOP to RIGHT, or RIGHT to TOP DOCK
Once PANELs are opened in either your TOP or RIGHT DOCKS (or both), you can move a PANEL from one to another.
Option 1: CMD/CTRL k > Open in TOP (or RIGHT) DOCK
To move an open PANEL from:
— RIGHT DOCK to TOP DOCK — CMD/CTRL k > Open in TOP DOCK
— TOP DOCK to RIGHT DOCK — CMD/ CTRL k > Open in RIGHT DOCK
— MAIN WINDOW DOCK to (TOP or RIGHT DOCK) — drag-and-drop (for more info, see below in MAIN WINDOW DOCK section)
Option 2: Use the top right ICONS
If you hover over the three ICONS in the top right corner of each PANEL, two more ICONS appear, as shown below.
The icons in the RIGHT DOCK:
From left to right, these are:
— Move PANEL to the TOP DOCK
— Only Show this PANEL
A PANEL in the right dock will move to the TOP DOCK with the leftmost icon.
⚠️ BE AWARE: If you select the “Only show this panel,” this PANEL expands to the size of your screen, closes all other PANELs, and effectively becomes your new MAIN WINDOW DOCK. Note that if you press your “back” button - you will NOT get your previous DOCK/PANEL layout back.
The icons in the TOP DOCK:
— Move PANEL to the RIGHT DOCK
— Only Show this PANEL
A PANEL in the TOP DOCK will move to the RIGHT DOCK with the leftmost icon.
The “Only Show this Panel” icon works the same as outlined above.
The Icons in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK
These are discussed in the section below.
In Main Window DOCK
The MAIN WINDOW DOCK acts a bit differently. It, too, can have multiple PANELs, and it can have its own TOP DOCK. This requires using the old Drag-and-Drop method of opening a PANEL.
Thedrag-and-dropp method is another option for opening a PANEL in any DOCK (not mentioned above), not just your MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
Before the 2/13/23 Tana update, drag-and-drop was the primary way to open a PANEL. If you have ever used that method, you know how frustrating it is. With that update, there was a slight improvement in the drag-and-drop method, but it can still be frustrating until you get used to it. Once you get the hang of it, having multiple vertical and horizontal PANELS open within the MAIN WINDOW DOCK is pretty cool. We will review it in detail below.
To replace the MAIN PANEL
If you have the RIGHT and TOP DOCKS open, you may want to replace your MAIN WINDOW PANEL.
Option 1: ALT/Option CLICK
From a node in the RIGHT or TOP DOCK — ALT/Option CLICK - opens the node in the MAIN WINDOW PANEL.
From the Parent node in a PANEL of the TOP or RIGHT DOCK — ALT/Option CLICK - moves the PANEL from the RIGHT DOCK to the MAIN WINDOW DOCK. Thus, the PANEL is no longer in the RIGHT DOCK.
⚠️ BE AWARE: if you have multiple PANELS open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK (discussed below) - this will REPLACE ALL of the open PANELS in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK
Option 2: Click on a node within the MAIN WINDOW DOCK
A simple click on a node in the NEW WINDOW DOCK will zoom in on that node in the NEW WINDOW DOCK, effectively replacing the PANEL in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
Note: if you have multiple PANELS open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK (discussed below), a CLICK on any node will replace only that PANEL - not all other PANELs like the ALT CLICK method does.
Option 3: Drag-and-drop
Drag-and-drop a node from the TOP or RIGHT DOCK and place it anywhere in the MAIN WINDOW PANEL. If multiple PANELS are open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK, only the PANEL you drop on will be replaced.
Option 4: Click on a SIDEBAR node
Clicking on any sidebar node will replace the node in the main window.
To MOVE a MAIN WINDOW PANEL
If you want to move a PANEL in MAIN WINDOW DOCK to the RIGHT or TOP DOCK, the options are similar to those from RIGHT to TOP DOCK (and visa versa) above.
⚠️ BE AWARE: If you only have one PANEL open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK, and you move it - you will have an EMPTY MAIN WINDOW DOCK. It will say “Nothing here!” until you open a PANEL in that DOCK
Option 1: CMD/CTRL k > Open in Top (or RIGHT) DOCK
To move an open PANEL from:
With your cursor in the PARENT node of the PANEL (as noted above, these options below will result in an empty MAIN WINDOW DOCK).
— MAIN WINDOW DOCK to TOP DOCK — CMD/CTRL k > DOCK on TOP DOCK
— MAIN WINDOW DOCK to RIGHT DOCK — CMD/ CTRL k > DOCK on RIGHT DOCK
— MAIN WINDOW DOCK to (TOP or RIGHT DOCK) — drag-and-drop (for more info, see below in MAIN WINDOW DOCK section)
Option 2: Drag-and-Drop
Drag-and-drop the Parent Node of the MAIN WINDOW PANEL to the edge of the TOP (or RIGHT) Dock.
To Open Multiple Panels in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK
Option 1: Use the top right ICONS
The ICONS in the upper right of a PANEL in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK are slightly different than the ICON noted above for the RIGHT and TOP DOCKs. In the MAIN WINDOW DOCK, these additional three ICONs only appear if you have more than one PANEL open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
Hovering over the three icons in the top right corner of the MAIN WINDOW DOCK reveals three additional ICONS:
From the left
— Move this panel to the bottom of the bottom-level panels
Clicking the leftmost icon will move the PANAL to the bottom of the left-most PANEL open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
Thus, if you have three PANELS OPEN in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK, and you click on the icon in the right-most panel - it will close that PANEL and reopen it at the bottom of the leftmost PANEL in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK. Thus, stacking nodes in the leftmost PANEL one on top of the other, with this new PANEL at the bottom of the stack.
If you have one PANEL open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK, these ICONS don’t appear and are not applicable.
— Move this panel to the top of the top-level panels
Clicking the second ICON from the left will move the PANAL to the TOP of the left-most PANEL in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
Thus, if you have three PANELS OPEN in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK, and you click on the icon in the right-most panel - it will close that PANEL and reopen it ABOVE the left-most PANEL in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
— Only show this panel
This will expand the MAIN WINDOW DOCK and close any other open DOCKS (and PANELS)
Option 2: Drag-and-Drop
Drag-and-Drop any node (from any DOCK) to the left, right, or top edge of any PANEL open in the MAIN WINDOW DOCK.
Dropping it on the left edge will open the new PANEL to the left of that PANEL; on the right edge, it will open to the right, and (you guessed it) dropping it at the top edge will stack it above that node in the same DOCK. The drop at the TOP effectively creates a TOP DOCK within the MAIN WINDOW DOCK. You can still open a normal TOP DOCK above the MAIN WINDOW DOC.K
Helpful Hint to Dragging and Dropping
Dragging and Dropping isn’t as easy as it should be. You can’t just DROP it anywhere. You must find the valid drop spot, which is very, very small (about 1 pixel).
A couple of things can help you find the spot:
— GO SLOW as you move towards the edge of the PANEL to find the drop spot
— Look for a slight movement of the text (within the PANEL) to shift ever so slightly to the right, left, or top. The drop spot is at this shift.
⚠️ BE AWARE: These things can go wrong if you miss the valid drop spot that triggers the opening. Your drop might not open a new PANEL but inadvertently:
— Replace the entire PANEL
— Move the node into the node on the PANEL
— Do nothing
— And for whatever reason, I think I’m dropping it at one spot, and it opens in another.
I’ve found it consistent about 80% of the time (my guess). I’m sure it’s a user error because finding that drop spot is so exacting. Regardless, I still find multiple panes in the MAIN WINDOW PANEL very useful.
Gotcha's
In each section, I’ve listed some specific gotcha’s under the heading ⚠️BE AWARE. Here are some additional things to watch out for. They are in no particular order.
Can not have the same node open (zoomed in) in two PANELs
Can not adjust the location of the MAIN PANEL
Can not use save layouts to save your open PANEL configuration
PANELS don’t slide in and out (think Andy Matuschak sliding panes)
The more PANELS open in the right DOCK - the narrower the column for each field
You can resize the DOCK, but NOT the individual PANELS within a DOCK
Functionally, the ability to drag-and-drop a PANEL into a DOCK is there, but the “drop” area is so small (1 px) that it’s too difficult to use effectively (so stick with the keyboard shortcuts or feature icons).
It’s important to remember Tana is in the ALPHA stage of its development, and DOCKS and PANELS are only in the first iteration. I’m hoping 🤞PANEL resizing, more flexibility in DOCK locations, and other features will come in future releases.
Demonstration Video
If you’d like to see these features in action, check out my raw, unedited video and join me as I demo the power of Docks and Panels.
Since the last edition, Tana has made the following announcements. Here’s what’s in it for you:
The search backend has been upgraded. You should now see your most recently used nodes pop up first.
Grouping in List View has been improved, including new pagination for larger groups
Table View has been cleaned up. Your tags are no longer repeated on each row
Various bug fixes
Click here for the entire list.
This brings us to the end of this issue. Additional resources related to topics in this issue are listed below. Please let me know in the comments if there is anything specific you’d like to see in a future issue.
NEW TANA Resources
(since the last edition):
Resource Table of Contents:
A lot of videos have been released. Click here for a complete list of TANA Videos.
The Twos/Tana Tie Up for Time Blocking article from Note Aloud about time blocking in Tana
The Simple Way Tana Keeps Me Focused & In Flow Daily article by Ev Chapman
Tana Is Full Of Joyful Productivity Magic article by David Mattais
How I am using Tana by the app advocate
How Tana Turbo-Charged My Knowledge Building & Writing by Ev Chapman
RECENT TANA TEMPLATE PUBLISHED:
Helpful Tweets:
I'm not an expert at Tana, nor do I work for them.
As a passionate volunteer and avid user,
I research these deconstructions to help me learn,
but I write them to help you learn from my mistakes.
I've done my utmost to ensure the accuracy of this information,
including extensive testing and review
by other Tana users more experienced than I am.
That said, I'm human.
I sometimes get it wrong
(please don't tell my husband I admitted that ☺️).
If you find an error or have questions- please comment below,
use my exclusive Substack subscribers-only Chat (including free subscribers),
or DM me in SLACK or Twitter
If you don’t have access yet to Tana, you can sign up for Early Access on the Tana.inc site, then pop over to the Slack “Introduce Yourself” channel, and well, eh, introduce yourself. The Tana Team will DM you an invite.
Tana development has so far catered to the tech-savvy, early adopters, but I’m here to change that. Please do not be intimidated by Slack posts. I fear many newcomers are not asking beginner questions because the technical wizards are geeking out about the newest features, and maybe some of you find that intimidating! (I know I did!)
Let me say this - I have your back 🤝.
Insane detailed explanation, Dee 💯. I would prefer a left-click mouse to pan wherever we want any panel fitting a predefined screen layout (similar to PowerToys FancyZones in Windows).
Fabulous resource, Dee! Thanks so much for taking time to document and illustrate this in such detail. Perfect resource for a 4-day Tana newbie setting up her new work space. Thrilled to find your Substack, too! Will be coming back for more again and again and again . . . . Many thanks! 😃👍