How this garden works
A map that is also a reading room
Nothing here is magic. A short list of notes, the links between them, and a little physics that lets the picture arrange itself. This page explains the machinery, so the garden is easy to trust and easy to leave.
What a garden of notes is for
An essay says one thing in a fixed order. A collection of short notes says many things and lets the reader choose the order. We chose the second form because the subjects we care about, which are making, learning and the behaviour of systems, are tangled together. A note on repair has something to say to a note on slack, and a straight line of chapters hides that.
So each note stays short enough to read in a few minutes, holds a single idea, and says which other notes it leans on. The map is simply those links drawn out, so that a reader can see the shape of the whole before choosing where to walk.
Independent and unattached. This is a small, non-commercial reading project. It is not affiliated with any company, agency, publication or organisation, and it asks nothing of visitors.
Reading the map
The numbered picture at the top of this page labels the four parts. Here is what each one tells you.
- A circle is a note. The icon inside shows its growth stage: a seedling, a budding sprout, or an evergreen tree. Size follows the number of links, so well-connected ideas look larger. A note’s stage is also told by its edge and fill, never by colour alone: seedlings have a dashed edge and a pale fill, buds a lichen fill, evergreens a dark fill.
- A line is a link. Lines turn clay-coloured and thicker when you point at, or move keyboard focus to, a note, showing exactly which neighbours it touches.
- A dashed edge marks a seedling. Young notes are drawn lightly because they ask for the least trust.
- The dotted rings are growth bands. Evergreens are pulled toward the centre, buds toward the middle ring, and seedlings toward the outside.
Moving around without a mouse
Everything the pointer can do has a keyboard equivalent. Tab to the map to focus it, then use these keys. The list view on the garden page offers the same notes as ordinary buttons if you would rather not use the map at all.
| Key | What it does |
|---|---|
| Arrow keys | Move focus to the nearest note in that direction. |
| [ ] or Page Up Page Down | Step backward or forward through the notes in reading order, most settled first. |
| Home End | Jump to the first or last note in that order. |
| Enter or Space | Open the focused note in the reading pane. |
| Shift + arrow | Nudge the focused note, the keyboard version of dragging it. |
| Esc | Close the open note. |
How the layout works
The map is not drawn by hand. Each note is pushed away from every other note, the way magnets of the same pole push apart. Each link acts like a small spring that pulls its two notes closer. A gentle pull toward the growth rings sorts the stages, and a friction term stops everything from bouncing forever.
When the page opens, the notes start bunched together and spread out until the pushing and pulling balance. That few seconds of settling is the only animation the page performs, and it ends by itself. If you have asked your device to reduce motion, the settling happens instantly and the map simply appears at rest. Dragging a note, or nudging it with the keyboard, disturbs the balance and the rest rearrange around it. “Settle again” scatters the notes from a fresh start.
What the garden remembers
Three small things, kept only in your own browser: the last note you opened, whether you prefer the map or the list, and the ticks on the tending checklist. None of it is sent anywhere, because there is nowhere to send it. If your browser blocks storage, the garden still works and simply forgets when you close the tab.
Checking what this browser remembers.
The garden at a glance
These bars are counted live from the notes themselves, so they cannot drift out of date.
Questions
Why do the notes move?
They are finding a resting place. The motion is the layout being computed in front of you, and it stops on its own. Nothing keeps moving afterwards, and with reduced motion switched on it never starts.
Is the map the same every time?
Roughly. The starting arrangement is fixed, so the picture usually settles the same way. Resizing the window, dragging a note or choosing “Settle again” can change where things end up, though the links never change.
Can I read this on a phone?
Yes. The map shrinks to fit and shows labels only for the note you are touching and its neighbours. The list view and the notes page are often easier on a small screen.
How are notes added?
By hand and slowly. A new note arrives as a seedling, earns its links, and is promoted only when it has survived rereading. You can suggest a topic from the contact page.