WebView Help

 
 This is no longer under development

 
 
 
 

(In case you're wondering, here is a brief answer to the question What is WebView?).

The first time you view a Topicscape on-line, it will take minute or so to download 3D Topicscape WebView. When you visit again, it will start much more quickly.

If you do not see a landscape like one the below once the menu bar appears, it may be that your computer does not have the necessary 3D graphics hardware. Please refer to Troubleshooting WebView.

For a 4-minute video of how to get the most out of WebView, go to this YouTube clip (choose 720p if you want to view it full screen).

What are the cones?

The cones and pyramids are topics. You can go inside them (see below) where you may find entries called occurrences. These are items of information about that topic. Occurrences are generally files that you can open.

Both topics and occurrences may have extra information attached to them that appears in the Details Panel. Select a topic by hovering the cursor over it to see the Details Panel. If this Panel has a URL (web address) on it, it will be in blue lettering and you can click on that to visit the URL in a new browser window.

Topics with additional information in the Details Panel description have a small yellow tab like a Post-It near the base of the cone.

Fly

Fly with the keyboard arrow keys or your mouse. The controls are similar to those of Google Earth. To fly with the mouse, click on the ground (not on a cone) and drag the mouse around while holding the left mouse-button down.

Holding the Shift, Control or Alt key down while flying will allow you to rotate the landscape, climb, and swing your view.

Zoom

Quickzoom: Hold down the Shift key, then left-click on a topic and keep the mouse button down. Release the mouse button before the Shift key to go back. Releas the mouse button after the Shift key stay at the zoomed position .

Simple zoom: Use the + and - keys on the number pad, or the mouse-wheel.

Re-center the landscape

Choose any topic (cone or pyramid) to be the one around which the landcape is built. Click on it, and soon after, the view will be re-organized.

Press the Backspace button to go back to the previous view. This will also let you retrace your flight around a landscape.

Select a topic

Select a topic by hovering over its cone. The contents of the Details Panel will change according to the selected topic.

Enter a topic

Hover over the topic and a blue name hint will appear, with 'Enter' below it. Click on the 'Enter' button and you will see the Topic Center (see the 2nd image below).

Search

Type a word or words and press the Enter key to search. There is no need to press any special character - WebView is always waiting for searches. A search panel appears with various ways of refining the search if you wish.

The list of hits from a search initially appears in 3D. If you prefer a 2D scrollable list, press Ctrl+h.

A Topicscape landscape with the main features labeled

Enter a cone or pyramid and you'll see the Topic Center looking like this:

The Topic Center

Other things to know:

1. Some occurrences just consist of a short note. The note will be found in the Description area of the Details Panel when the occurrence is selected.
2. Occurrences may have an attached file. These can be opened by double-left clicking on the line in the occurrence list.