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Scrapbox Best Practices

Feb 27, 20226 min read

In the process of becoming proficient with Scrapbox, Nishio said, “Tell me about that earlier! I wish I could tell my past self!” I wish I could tell my past self! Written in mid-2017. see Written at the beginning of 2019: The advantages of Scrapbox (Part 2).

  • Table of Contents

    • First, write in outline.
    • Don’t divide the project into smaller pieces.
    • Headings on pages with a lot of content should be interesting.

  • First, write in outline

    • This form of itemization.
    • Because I was used to the format of a blog, I started writing normal sentences from the beginning.
      • [Lowering the hurdles to information output
      • Sometimes someone asks me something and I say, “I’ll write it down later!
      • Why “later”? Because you’re setting the bar high for yourself.
      • So I’ll just do it, saying, “I might write more about it later, but for now I’ll just write it down in bullet points.
      • And since there’s no need to hide it, they send it off saying, “I wrote it in a messy way.
      • The reaction to it can lead to further development.
    • Don’t try to structure it from the beginning.
      • Structured after the fact
      • I mean, if it’s not essential to structure it, then don’t structure it.
    • Learn Scrapbox outline editing shortcuts!
      • But it’s just an intuitive combination of Ctrl and Alt with arrows.
      • In Windows, Ctrl+Left/Right is deprived by default by the OS, so turn it on from personal settings.
    • Just make a bulleted list of what you’re going to write about later when you think, “I’ll write about that later.”

  • Don’t divide the project into smaller pieces.

    • In the meantime, if you’re new to this, you could just create a “PRIVATE anything you want to write project”.
    • When you get used to Scrapbox and feel ready to send out information, you can create a “public project where you can write anything you want.
    • Nishio’s case (example of failure)
      • Create a project /organize-ideas to put together “how to put ideas together.”
      • Create a private version of that project out of concern for what you are not allowed to publish copyrighted material.
      • It’s a hassle to move pages, so I write only in private.
        • Around this time, “Don’t we need a feature that would make it easier to move pages between projects?” I said.
          • You feel it is necessary because you are in a situation where you frequently have to move pages across projects, right? That situation is a mistake to begin with.
      • I’m tempted to write about Numpy and other technical stuff, but it’s not “how to put ideas together,” so I’m in trouble.
      • Create a /nishio for general public use, and also a private project for private notes.
      • I’ve written a lot in my private life, but I’ve had trouble making it public, and from the outside it looks like I’m not very active.
      • Join [ScrapboxDrinkup
      • I’ve heard several people say, “I’ll put it all in one place,” and I think I’ll put it all in one place anyway.
      • When I put it all together, it was a whole different kind of fun.
      • It should not be divided unnecessarily. If there is no clear reason to separate them, they should not be separated.

  • Headings on pages with a lot of content should be interesting.

    • If it’s one word or something, I think it’s a word description page.
      • become more like a dictionary
      • unexciting
      • Similar to Making a nameplate in [KJ method
      • Don’t let it be tasteless.
    • Similar to the relationship between text and headings when writing a book
      • The editor tells me to just look at the headline to get some idea of the content.

  • Not a warehouse to put dead sentences in. - Wiki as a living text - Event article is dying - Not a warehouse for dead text. That’s the idea behind Scrapbox, but that said, I think there are a lot of times when you start using it anyway, you say, “I want to keep this,” and you put dead text in it.

    • At those times, I would say, “This is not a warehouse for dead text! Don’t put them in!” What a thing to say, and it will spoil the motivation of those who try to use it.
    • We can put the dead ones in there and gradually something will grow out of them.

  • No attempt to tag it. - Structuring information with links

  • Other

    • Anchor in /forum-jp/page.
    • How to do external linking
      • How I do it.
      • If you don’t want to go through the trouble of pasting a URL, just paste it in and it will become a link.
        • For example, if I saw something on Twitter that I thought was interesting and decided to summarize it later, I just put it up.
        • I may make it look better when I feel like it.
      • The general page shows the title.
      • The link to Facebook is simply labeled “Facebook. There is no appropriate title.
      • The link to Twitter is simply “Twitter” or “@username”.
      • Even in general pages, when the purpose is to indicate the URL of the source and not the title or other information, “src” is used.
        • Compact what is not important.
      • When linking to Amazon from a book description page, use the title “Amazon
        • It’s self-explanatory which book is being referred to by the title of that page.
    • time series
      • Only on rare occasions, when he feels like it, he mentions [2015]-01-02, etc.
      • We don’t do it on every page.
      • I don’t do it from the beginning, but I do it because I think, when I look back on it after a few years, this is a text that still makes sense after a few years.

Year 2021

  • Read projects updated by others in [Scrapbox Stream

This page is auto-translated from /nishio/Scrapboxベストプラクティス using DeepL. If you looks something interesting but the auto-translated English is not good enough to understand it, feel free to let me know at @nishio_en. I’m very happy to spread my thought to non-Japanese readers.

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