Progress tracking

The Workplan is designed to help you not only plan your work but also track its progress and review what you have accomplished. This page covers auto-save behaviour, canvas navigation, grid and snapping controls, keyboard shortcuts, common use cases, and practical tips for keeping your boards effective over time.

Auto-save behaviour

The Workplan saves your work automatically. You do not need to click a save button or worry about losing changes.

How auto-save works

• Changes are saved within a few seconds of any modification
• Saves are debounced, meaning rapid changes (such as dragging a card across the canvas) are batched into a single save rather than saving on every pixel of movement
• Your layout, card positions, connectors, sticky notes, drawings, and board configurations are all included in the save
• Undo history is preserved for the duration of your session but resets when you close the browser

What is saved

Data	Saved?	Notes
Card positions and sizes	Yes	Per board
Card colours	Yes	Per board
Connectors	Yes	Per board
Sticky notes	Yes	Text, position, colour, and size
Drawings	Yes	All strokes, colours, and widths
Board names and order	Yes	Across all boards
Active board selection	Yes	Reopens on the same board next time
Zoom level and pan position	Yes	Per board
Undo/redo history	No	Session only; resets on page reload

Syncing across devices

Because the Workplan saves to the cloud, your boards are available on any device where you are logged into Ultrathink. Changes made on one device appear on another after a brief delay.

Navigation

Effective navigation lets you work comfortably on large canvases with many cards.

Panning

Move around the canvas using any of these methods:

• Click and drag on empty canvas space
• Middle mouse button drag (on mice with a scroll wheel click)
• Two-finger scroll on a trackpad
• Arrow keys when no card is selected

Zooming

Adjust the zoom level to see more or less detail:

Method	Action
Scroll wheel	Scroll up to zoom in, down to zoom out
Trackpad pinch	Pinch in or out
Keyboard	Press + to zoom in, - to zoom out
Toolbar	Click the zoom percentage and select a level
Fit to content	Press Ctrl+0 or click the fit button in the toolbar

Zoom levels

The Workplan supports five zoom presets, plus continuous zooming between them:

Level	Use case
25%	Bird's eye view of the entire board
50%	Overview of card layout and structure
100%	Normal working view (default)
150%	Detailed view for reading card content
200%	Close-up for fine adjustments

You can zoom to any value between 25% and 200%, not just the presets. The zoom indicator in the toolbar shows your current level.

Grid and snapping

The grid helps you maintain a tidy, aligned layout without manually positioning each card.

Toggle grid visibility

1. Look for the grid controls in the Workplan toolbar
2. Click Show Grid to display or hide the alignment grid
3. The grid appears as a subtle pattern of lines across the canvas

Snap to grid

When snap to grid is enabled:

• Cards automatically align to the nearest grid intersection as you drag them
• This ensures consistent spacing between cards
• New cards are placed at grid-aligned positions by default

To toggle snapping, click Snap to Grid in the toolbar. When disabled, cards stay exactly where you drop them.

Keyboard shortcuts

The Workplan supports a full set of keyboard shortcuts for faster interaction. These work when the canvas has focus (click on the canvas background if shortcuts are not responding).

Action	Shortcut
Pan	Arrow keys or Space + drag
Zoom in	+ or Ctrl+=
Zoom out	- or Ctrl+-
Fit to content	Ctrl+0
Select all cards	Ctrl+A
Delete selected	Delete
Duplicate selected	Ctrl+D
Undo	Ctrl+Z
Redo	Ctrl+Shift+Z
Enter drawing mode	D
Create sticky note	N
Create quick card	Double-click on empty space

Tip: On macOS, substitute Cmd for Ctrl in all shortcuts.

Use cases

The Workplan adapts to many different planning styles and contexts. Below are four common use cases with suggested approaches.

Project planning

Use the Workplan to lay out the full scope of a project and track progress over time.

1. Create a dedicated board for the project
2. Add entry cards for requirements, designs, research, and tasks
3. Draw connectors to show dependencies between entries
4. Use sticky notes for open questions, decisions, and blockers
5. Assign colours by status (for example, green for complete, yellow for in progress, red for blocked)
6. Review the board regularly and update card colours as work progresses

Brainstorming

The Workplan's freeform canvas is well suited to ideation sessions.

1. Start with a central idea as a card in the middle of the canvas
2. Add related concepts as cards around it
3. Use drawing tools to circle groups and mark themes
4. Connect related ideas with connectors
5. Add sticky notes for questions that emerge
6. After the session, reorganise the best ideas into a cleaner layout

Meeting preparation

Prepare for meetings by assembling relevant materials in one view.

1. Create a board for the meeting (name it with the date and topic)
2. Add entry cards for each agenda topic
3. Link to relevant entries you might need to reference
4. Add sticky notes for talking points and questions to raise
5. Use connectors to show the flow of the agenda
6. During the meeting, update sticky notes with decisions and action entries

Research synthesis

When you have collected multiple research entries, use the Workplan to find patterns and connections.

1. Add all research entries as cards
2. Organise them by theme, moving related cards near each other
3. Draw connectors between entries that reference similar concepts
4. Use the highlighter to visually group clusters
5. Add sticky notes summarising key insights for each group
6. Use the drawing layer to annotate relationships the connectors do not capture

Tips for effective planning

These practices will help you get the most from the Workplan over time.

Use colours consistently

Pick a colour scheme and stick with it across all your boards. Whether you colour-code by status, category, or priority, consistency lets you scan a board and understand it at a glance. Document your colour scheme in a sticky note on your Main board if you need a reminder.

One concept per board

Resist the urge to put everything on a single board. A board works best when it has a single focus: one project, one meeting, one brainstorm session. If a board starts feeling cluttered, split it into two.

Regular cleanup

Boards accumulate stale content over time. Set a recurring reminder to:

• Archive boards for completed projects
• Remove cards for entries that are no longer relevant
• Update card colours to reflect current status
• Delete old sticky notes and drawings that have served their purpose

Zoom out periodically

It is easy to get lost in the details when you are working at 100% or 150% zoom. Every so often, zoom out to 50% or 25% to see the full picture. This helps you spot gaps in your plan, identify isolated cards that should be connected, and get a sense of overall progress.

Use keyboard shortcuts

Shortcuts make a significant difference in how quickly you can work with the Workplan. The most valuable ones to learn first are:

1. Ctrl+Z and Ctrl+Shift+Z for undo and redo
2. Ctrl+D for duplicating cards
3. D for toggling drawing mode
4. N for creating sticky notes
5. Ctrl+0 for fitting the view to all content

Combine with other Ultrathink features

The Workplan does not exist in isolation. Use it alongside other parts of Ultrathink:

• Tasks view: Track task status in the Kanban board, then visualise dependencies on the Workplan
• Topics: Browse entries by topic to find related content to add to your board
• Search: Use AI-powered search to find entries relevant to your current planning context
• Detail panel: Click any entry card on the Workplan to open the detail panel and review the full content without leaving the canvas