Inspiration Basics
Getting Started
1. From the Start menu, choose Programs. Click
on Inspiration 7 to launch the
program.
2. Inspiration
will open in Diagram View. You
will see a Main Idea symbol in the center of the window.
3. Delete the
words Main Idea, and type your topic as the new main idea.
Diagram Toolbar
Adding
Ideas
1. Click once on
the main idea symbol to select it. (You
will know it is selected when it has squares and diamonds around it.)
2. Click on the Create button  in the Diagram
Toolbar. Notice that you can scroll
over the points on the button to choose the direction in which the symbol will
be created.
3. While the new
idea is selected, type an idea to name that symbol.
Adding
Ideas with Rapid Fire
1. Make sure the Main Idea symbol is selected (squares and diamonds around it).
2.  Click on the RapidFire button  in the Diagram Toolbar. You will see a red lightning bolt appear in
the symbol.
3. Type another
idea, then press the Enter key.
4. Type another,
and then press the Enter key. Notice that the program automatically creates new idea symbols for these
entries.
5. Repeat the
steps above to create additional idea symbols for your web.
Adding Sub-Ideas
1. Click on one
of your idea symbols to select it, and then click on the Create button
in the Diagram Toolbar.
2. A new symbol
will appear. Type the desired text for
that symbol.
3. Click once on
the background screen, and then click on the rectangular symbol on the Symbol
Palette. This will place a symbol
without a link to any existing ideas.
4. Type the
desired text for this symbol. (It will be linked to one of your ideas
later.)
Moving & Arranging
Symbols
1. Click and
hold on the unlinked symbol and drag it near the idea symbol you want to link
it to.
2. To move a
cluster of symbols together, hold down the Shift key and click on each
of the symbols you wish to move. Release
the Shift key, click and hold on one of the symbols in the cluster, and
drag it to the desired location on the page.
3. You can also
use the Nudge button  in the Formatting Toolbar to move the
symbols slightly.
4. Click on the Arrange button  in the Diagram Toolbar. Choose the diagram type you wish to use,
then click on Ok.
Creating Links
1. Click once on
the idea symbol you want to link your unlinked symbol to.
2. Click on the Link button  in the Diagram Toolbar.
3. Click once on
the unlinked symbol. This will create a
link that originates at the idea, and ends (with the arrow) at the previously
unlinked symbol.
4. When creating
links, always click first on the idea symbol, then on the sub-idea symbol. Otherwise, your arrow will be pointing in the
wrong direction!
Creating
Link Text
1. Click on the
link between any two symbols to select it.
2. Type some
descriptive text. This will insert text with the link.
Creating
Notes
1. Click once on any of
your sub-idea symbols.
2.  Click on the Note button  on the Diagram Toolbar. A small note window will
open. Type your note in that box, then click the small gray box in the top left corner to
close the note.
3. You can tell a symbol
has a note attached by the small icon that appears next to it when it is
selected:
Adding
Hyperlinks
1. Click once on
a symbol to select it.
2.  Click on the Hyperlink button  in the Diagram
Toolbar. You will see the following window appear:
3. Notice that Web
Page is automatically selected as your hyperlink option. In the Link To box, type the URL of the website you wish to
link that symbol to, then click on OK. (Note that you can also link to an e-mail address, another file – like
a word processing document – or to another Inspiration file.)
Changing
Symbol Shapes
1. Click on the Main
Idea symbol to select it.
2. While the Main Idea symbol is selected, click on the Sun symbol in the Symbol
Palette on the left side of the window. (If you do not see the Symbol Palette on the left, go to the View menu and select Symbol Palette.)
3. Notice that
the Main Idea symbol changes to the Sun symbol. Use the right- and left-pointing arrows at the top of the Symbol Palette to view additional images. Click on the down arrow to see
categories of symbols.
4. Repeat the
steps above to change the symbols for a few of your other ideas.
Changing Symbol Colors & Fonts
1. Hold
down the Shift Key and click on several symbol to select them. If you want to change to color of all
symbols, from the Edit menu, choose Select
All.
2. Click
on the Text Color button  in the Formatting Toolbar and choose a
new text color from the Color Palette that opens.
3. While
the symbols are still selected, click on the Fill Color button (dark
blue bar) and choose a new symbol color.
4. Use the Line Color button
(purple bar) to change the outline color of the symbol.
5. To
undo a color change, click on the Revert button (bar with X).
6.  To change the font and size of the
text on a symbol, click on the downward pointing arrows next to each menu in
the Formatting Toolbar:
7.  You can also choose to make the text Bold, Italic, or Underlined by clicking on the appropriate button
in the Formatting Toolbar:
Working in Outline View
1. To switch to Outline
View, click on the Outline button  in the Diagram Toolbar. Notice that all
ideas become topics and sub-ideas become subtopics. (Note that the Diagram
Toolbar becomes the Outline Toolbar with different tools.)
2. To add a
topic to the outline, click on your Main Idea topic and then click on
the Topic button in the Outline Toolbar.
3. A new number
will appear. Type your desired text.
4. Click on the Subtopic button and type in a subtopic.
5. To change the
numbering layout of the outline, from the Outline menu, choose Prefix Labels, and then choose a prefix style.
6. Use the Left and Right indent buttons to change the levels of topics. (i.e. Make a subtopic become a main topic by clicking on the Left
Indent button.)
Saving Your Inspiration Diagram
1. From the File menu, choose Save.
2. In the Save
in: box, click on the down arrow to navigate to the location you wish to
save to.
3. The file name
will default to whatever you have named your Main Idea symbol. You can change the file name if you wish,
then click Save. |
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