The Build category (under Common in the palette's category picker, right after Shapes) holds the elements you lay a diagram out with. Everywhere else in the palette you are adding something to the canvas; here you are deciding how the canvas is arranged.
What the five have in common is that each one holds other work. A frame gathers a region, a lane carries the steps in a row, a timeline sequences events along a track, a table organises cells, and a mind node hangs children off itself. You reach for them at the same moment: once you know how the diagram is arranged, before you have decided what goes in it.
What the category contains
- A Mind node is a node that knows its parent. Tab adds a child to its right, Enter a sibling below, each one connected, selected, and ready to type into, so a whole branch is built from the keyboard. See Mind Maps.
- A Lane is a titled horizontal band for swimlane diagrams. Dragging the lane carries everything sitting in it, so a row of steps moves as one. See Lanes.
- A Frame is a labelled box that groups a section of the canvas. It draws behind its contents and carries them when you move it, and it is what exports treat as a section backdrop.
Fdraws one. - A Timeline is a track for sequencing events, with evenly spaced points you add to from the end. See Timeline Rail.
- A Table is an editable grid of cells you can style, link, and fill row by row. See Tables.
Why they are rows, not tiles
Most catalogue categories show a grid of pictures, because the picture is the explanation. These five are all containers, and at tile size all containers are a rectangle. So Build renders as rows with a one-line description each: "Tab adds a child, Enter a sibling" against "a titled band that carries its steps" is what you are actually choosing between, and no icon says that.
These five used to live in four different places, filed by what they look like rather than what they do: the mind node with the wordy elements, the lane and frame with the drawing tools, the timeline with the components, the table with the charts. If you have a favourite pointing at one of them, it still works, because only the category moved.
Working with them
Each behaves like any other element once placed: select, restyle, group, lock, and move it freely, and each can carry a link, a note, or a comment like anything else on the canvas.
Because they hold other work, two habits pay off. Put the container down first and fill it afterwards, so the things inside are captured by it as you go. And when you move one, check what came with it: a frame and a lane deliberately carry their contents, which is usually what you want and occasionally a surprise.
Reach for Build at the start of a board and the rest goes faster: lay out the lanes or frames you know you need, then switch to Shapes and fill them in.
Was this article helpful?