Shape the themes¶
Goal: turn the grouping’s proposal into themes a specialist of the field would recognise: name them, move keywords that landed in the wrong place, merge and split, add a level of topics, then save and apply them to the map.
You need: a built project, ideally with its keywords cleaned (Clean the keywords with an AI copilot): the cleaner the keywords, the better the proposal.
It takes: half an hour for a first pass on a small field; the editor keeps a draft, so you can stop and come back.
How the themes are made¶
The build groups the keywords that the same people use together into a tree: one to four levels (themes, then topics inside them, for instance). Each keyword sits on a node, and a keyword’s use counts toward its node and every node above it. The tree the build proposes is only a proposal: it becomes your tree when you save it, and your tree is kept over later proposals.
Steps¶
1. Open the editor¶
Open Themes in the navigation.
On the left, the Outline: every node with its number of keywords and its share of all use. Search keywords and themes (or the / key) finds a keyword in the whole tree. The tabs Set aside and To check hold the keywords on no theme and those waiting for a decision.
In the middle, the Treemap (each theme as large as its use), the Map of people and keywords, and a Playground.
On the right, the panel of what you selected: its keywords, the people who weigh most on it, its names in each language, and its actions.
The header says where you are: « The grouping’s proposal, not saved yet », then « N unsaved changes », then « Saved ». Undo and Redo (the arrows, or Ctrl-Z and Ctrl-Shift-Z) go back as far as you want.
2. Name the themes¶
Select a theme and press Rename (or F2). Give it a name a researcher of the field would recognise, in each language of the project: the map, the treemap and the shared site use these names. Look at Its most used keywords and The people who weigh most on it to decide what the theme is about.
3. Move, merge, split¶
Move a keyword that landed in the wrong theme: select it (in the panel or the outline), Move to…, choose the theme. Dragging works too.
Merge two themes that are one subject: select one, Merge with…, choose the other.
Split a theme that holds two subjects: More › Split…, tick what goes to the new theme, name it.
New node: a theme of your own, then move keywords into it.
Set aside a keyword that is no subject of the field (too general, a broken phrase): it stays in the project on no theme, with its reason, and Put back returns it.
Every action is in a menu and has a key: Shift+F10 (or the Menu key) opens the actions of what is selected in the outline, F2 renames, Delete deletes an empty node, Ctrl+S saves.
4. Add a level¶
Levels › Insert a level… adds a level above, between or below the current ones (topics inside themes, for instance); Levels › Rename the level… names it (« Theme », « Topic »), and Levels › Remove a level… dissolves one into its parent. Up to four levels.
5. Save and apply¶
Save the proposal (later Save) keeps your tree as a new version; More › Versions… reads, compares and restores earlier ones.
Save and apply saves, then builds the themes and the map again in the background: « Applying the themes and drawing the map. You can keep editing meanwhile. » When it ends, the people’s shares and the map follow your themes.
You should see, on the Map, your theme names in the treemap and the legend, and each person in the colour of their main theme.
With an AI copilot¶
Curate with AI gives the tree to an assistant that can run code, as for the keywords (Clean the keywords with an AI copilot): the bundle holds the tree, the keywords’ space and each person’s usage as numbered rows (never a name or a text). The assistant studies the tree with cartolex’s measures (coherence, margins, keywords on a border), proposes renames, moves, merges and splits, and explains each; you review them change by change, accept a whole kind at once, and Apply and save.
If something is not right¶
A banner says the vocabulary changed: after a new build of the keywords, new keywords wait in To check with a proposed place: accept (A), move (M) or set aside (S) each.
« A new proposal of the grouping »: a change of the grouping’s settings proposes another tree; Adopt the proposal or Keep my tree.
You closed the browser with unsaved changes: the draft is kept in the browser and restored when you come back.
The tree was saved elsewhere (another tab): your changes are applied again to the newer tree, and those that no longer apply are listed.
The settings of the grouping (how many themes, how many levels) are under Tune the space and the grouping; Building a project says how a change is rebuilt.