Topics

Topics nest

Topics are the building blocks of a map, and a big one can hold smaller ones. A child under a parent just means it belongs there - not that you must work through them in order. Flat, deep, and mixed maps are all fine. Shape it in edit mode, or ask Mesh for more topics, fewer, a deeper breakdown, or a flatter overview.

In Geometry, "Symmetry & Tessellations" might hold lines of symmetry, rotational symmetry, the four transformations, tessellations, and patterns in art & nature - a parent that is a real work area, with children that each stand on their own.

Open a topic to reach its Hub

Click a topic's name, or press the Open topic hub button on its row - it lights up when the topic has notes and stays dim when it is empty, so you can see at a glance which topics hold work. Either way lands you in the Hub, home base for that one idea. A topic's Hub holds three things:

The controls across the top

The Hub header carries everything for that one topic, left to right.

• Activate this topic - make this the topic Mesh centers on. Once on, the chip reads This topic is active, with a small X to turn it off.
• Memory - open What Mesh knows for this topic.
• Expand - fill the panel with the Hub; the same button Shrinks it back.
• Close - close the Hub. The topic's hub button reopens it.

Just below sits the topic's path - a trail of breadcrumbs from the top of the map down to where you are, like Symmetry & Tessellations › Rotational symmetry. Each parent is clickable, so you can jump straight up without hunting through the tree.

What Mesh remembers about a topic

Apart from what you write in the note, each topic keeps a short private note where Mesh jots how the work is going - a few plain facts. The note holds the material; this holds how you're doing with it.

Open it from the Memory button. It reads What Mesh knows: a small bulleted list of facts, each dated. Nothing to fill in - Mesh keeps it as you work. Forget wipes it clean and asks once first. To fix a single line, just tell Mesh in chat.

An Artifact for the topic

When a topic deserves a real, self-contained page instead of a wall of chat, Mesh builds an Artifact and pins it to the very top of the Hub - your clearest place to read and learn the idea. Not every topic needs one: for planning, research, or lighter work, Mesh may lean on the note, references, or chat instead.