Board Basics

Redline's investigation boards provide an infinite canvas for organizing and connecting information. This guide covers the fundamentals of working with boards.

Creating a Board

1. Launch Redline
2. The board selection screen appears automatically
3. Enter a name in the New Board field and click Create
4. Start adding nodes!

To switch boards later, click the board name in the title bar.

Board Limit

Personal licenses are limited to 5 boards. Pro and Enterprise licenses have unlimited boards.

Canvas Navigation

Panning

• Mouse: Click and drag on empty canvas space
• Trackpad: Two-finger scroll

Zooming

• Mouse wheel: Scroll to zoom in/out
• Trackpad: Pinch to zoom

Adding Nodes

There are several ways to add nodes to your board:

Quick Actions Panel

1. Expand the Context Panel on the right (click the arrow if collapsed)
2. Click a node type button in the Quick Actions section
3. Fill in the node details

Keyboard Shortcuts

Press a key while hovering over the canvas to instantly create a node:

• N for Note, A for Actor, E for Event, etc.
• See full list below

AI Assistant

Ask the AI assistant to create nodes:

"Create an actor node for Elon Musk"

The AI will search for information and create enriched nodes automatically.

Paste URLs

1. Copy a URL to your clipboard
2. Click on the canvas and press Cmd/Ctrl + V
3. Redline automatically creates the appropriate node type:
   • Social media URLs become Social nodes
   • News articles become Newsfeed nodes
   • Other URLs become Embed nodes with OpenGraph previews

Working with Nodes

Selecting Nodes

• Single node: Click on the node
• Multiple nodes: Hold Shift and click, or drag a selection box

Moving Nodes

• Click and drag a selected node
• Move multiple nodes by selecting them first, then dragging

Editing Nodes

• Double-click a node to open the editor
• Make changes in the Context Panel on the right
• Changes save automatically

Deleting Nodes

• Select the node(s)
• Press Delete or Backspace
• Or right-click and select "Delete"

Creating Connections

Connections show relationships between nodes.

Drawing Connections

1. Hover over a node to see connection handles
2. Drag from a handle to another node
3. Release to create the connection

Connection Types

Right-click a connection to change its type:

• Related - General relationship
• Caused - Causal relationship
• Led to - Sequential relationship
• Contradicts - Conflicting information
• Supports - Supporting evidence
• Member of - Membership relationship

Editing Connections

• Click on a connection line to select it
• Add a label in the Context Panel
• Delete with Delete key

Organizing with Regions

Regions are visual containers for grouping nodes.

Creating Regions

1. Select multiple nodes you want to group
2. Right-click and select "Create Region"
3. Name your region

Region Features

• Drag the region to move all contained nodes
• Resize by dragging the edges
• Collapse/expand to hide details
• Color-code for visual organization

Using Narratives

Narratives group related nodes into storylines. Unlike regions, narratives are logical groupings that don't require visual proximity.

Creating Narratives

1. Select nodes to include
2. Right-click and select "Create Narrative"
3. Or ask the AI: "Create a narrative about the Ukraine conflict"

Narrative Features

• Auto-Summary: AI generates executive summaries
• Relevance Levels: Core, Major, Related, Peripheral
• Narrative Links: Connect related narratives (supports, contradicts, precedes, etc.)
• Status Tracking: Active, Dormant, Resolved, Archived

See Node Types for more details.

Timeline View

Events with dates appear in the Timeline View.

Opening Timeline

• Click the Timeline icon in the toolbar
• Or press Cmd/Ctrl + T

Timeline Navigation

• Scroll horizontally to move through time
• Click on an event to select it on the canvas
• Use zoom controls to adjust the time scale

Timeline Filters

• Show/hide specific node types
• Filter by narrative
• Filter by date range

Keyboard Shortcuts

General

Action	Shortcut
Search Nodes	/
Delete Selected	Delete or Backspace
Undo	Cmd/Ctrl + Z
Redo	Cmd/Ctrl + Shift + Z
Cancel/Close	Escape

Quick Create Nodes

Press these keys while on the canvas to quickly create a node at the cursor:

Key	Node Type
N	Note
E	Event
P	Prediction
A	Actor
O	Organization
L	Location
D	Document
M	Media
W	Newsfeed
S	Social
R	RSS Feed
B	Embed
G	Region

Switching Boards

Click the board name in the title bar to open the board selection screen, where you can:

• Switch to another board
• Create a new board
• Rename an existing board (click the edit icon)
• Delete a board (click the trash icon)

Tips for Effective Investigations

1. Start with key entities - Create Actor and Organization nodes for the main subjects
2. Use the AI - Let it research and create nodes; you focus on analysis
3. Connect early - Draw connections as you discover relationships
4. Create narratives - Group related findings into storylines
5. Use regions - Visually organize clusters of related nodes
6. Add predictions - Track hypotheses and verify them over time
7. Subscribe to feeds - Monitor RSS feeds for new developments