Customize your Noteboard

You have probably heard us say that "flexible and simple" are our guiding principles at ADR Notable.  A great example of this flexibility is the way in which the Noteboard can be customized. 

Jump right to:

• Configure what is visible on the Noteboard
• Customize the Lane Titles
• Change the default order of your Notes

Note:  The default Noteboard includes a Lane (i.e. column) for Issues, Facts, and Proposals, plus an Uncategorized lane.   If you create a Notecard and hit Enter (or Add) without assigning it to one of the other lanes, it will show up in the Uncategorized lane.  Some Users prefer to take all their notes this way, and then simply drag the Notecards from the Uncategorized lane to other lanes.  

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Configure what is visible on the Noteboard

Open the View Options menu and click or unclick boxes to designate what appears and what is hidden.

When you might use this feature:

• You are reviewing documents during case prep and you want to record Issues and Facts as you go:  Uncheck Proposals and Uncategorized.
• You want to share the Proposals lane with the participants to help them focus on finding solutions: Uncheck Issues, Facts, Uncategorized, Caucus Notes, and Reveal Blurred Notes.
• You want to use your Noteboard as a "whiteboard," quickly typing in Notes and hitting Enter or Add, without any attributions or categories:  Uncheck Issues, Proposals, and Facts.

NOTE:  If you uncheck the Uncategorized lane, you can still use it to "store" your miscellaneous or Mediator Notes.  If you create a Note and hit Add or your keyboard Enter key without assigning a lane Trigger, that Note will go to the Uncategorized lane whether it is visible or not, and whether or not you have changed the lane Title to something else.  In other words, the "Uncategorized features" of this lane persist.

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Customize the Lane Titles

Open the Lane Menu ( in the upper right corner) and select Edit Lane Title.

You will then have the option to edit both the lane's Display Title and the Trigger, i.e. what you click to commit the Note to that lane.  Remember that you can use either the Trigger buttons (helpful if you use a mouse or a touchscreen) or type the # shortcut key in your Note and then type or select the trigger from the list.

When you might use this feature:

• You are mediating a divorce case and you want your notes organized by party:  Rename Issues and Facts with the participants' names (and uncheck Uncategorized, if you wish).
• You are in an arbitration and and instead of proposals, you need to record items the plaintiff has to prove to make his or her claim.  Rename Proposals to "Elements of Proof"
• You are mediating a Workplace Conflict and recording "Next Steps" instead of proposals:  Change the Proposals lane title to "Next Steps" and perhaps also the Issues and Facts lanes to the participants' names.

NOTE:  If you give the Proposals lane a different lane title, the special Proposals features will persist.  For example, in a Workplace conflict where you may be recording the next steps the participants will undertake, you can still keep track of the "iterations" of these next steps using the Add Counter Proposal feature. You will also be able to review how you arrived at the final version using the Proposal History feature, and any Note that is flagged with the "thumbs up" mark will be moved to the Document or "Term Sheet" Generator to be used in an MoU, Term Sheet, or other document. Conversely, if you use the Proposals lane for anything other than proposals, you will not have your agreements automatically transferred to the Term Sheet generator.  For this reason, you may want to rename the Facts or Issues lanes when creating a lane to record basic notes, as these lanes have no "special features."

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Change the default order of your Notes

By default, the most recent Note added will appear at the bottom of the lane.  You can change the default to have the most recent note appear at the top of the lane, however, by clicking on the arrow to the left of the lane title.  

And, of course, you can reorder your Notes at any time by "dragging and dropping" them.

When you might use this feature:

• If you are a Divorce Coach and have ongoing, regular meetings with a client.  You may want the Notes from your most recent session at the top of the lane.  Change the arrow to .