The Build category (the first of the Structure band in the palette's category picker) holds the elements you lay a diagram out with. Everywhere else in the palette you are adding something to the canvas; here you are deciding how the canvas is arranged.
What the five have in common is that each one holds other work. A frame gathers a region, a lane carries the steps in a row, a timeline sequences events along a track, a table organises cells, and a mind node hangs children off itself. You reach for them at the same moment: once you know how the diagram is arranged, before you have decided what goes in it.
What the category contains
- A Mind node is a node that knows its parent. Tab adds a child to its right, Enter a sibling below, each one connected, selected, and ready to type into, so a whole branch is built from the keyboard. See Mind Maps.
- A Table is an editable grid of cells you can style, link, and fill row by row; double-click a cell to type. See Tables.
- A Lane is a titled horizontal band for swimlane diagrams, its title down its left edge. Dragging the lane carries everything sitting in it, so a row of steps moves as one. See Lanes.
- A Frame is a labelled box that groups a section of the canvas. It draws behind its contents and carries them when you move it, and a slide with one frame on it is framed by it. Press
Fto add one. See Frames. - A Timeline is a track for sequencing events, with points above the line; add more from the button at its right end. See Timeline Rail.
Build is in the palette in Diagram and Draw mode. In Illustrate mode it holds only the Table and the Timeline, since mind maps, lanes and frames organise a diagram rather than a page, and Plan mode has no Build category.
Why they are rows, not tiles
Most catalogue categories show a grid of pictures, because the picture is the explanation. These five are all containers, and at tile size all containers are a rectangle. So Build renders as rows with a one-line description each: "Tab adds a child, Enter a sibling" against "A titled band that carries its steps" is what you are actually choosing between, and no icon says that.
These five used to live in four different places, filed by what they look like rather than what they do: the mind node with the wordy elements, the lane and frame with the drawing tools, the timeline with the components, the table with the charts.
Working with them
Each behaves like any other element once placed: select, restyle, lock, and move it freely, and each can carry a link, a note, or a comment like anything else on the canvas.
Because they hold other work, two habits pay off. Put the container down first and fill it afterwards, so the things inside are captured by it as you go. And when you move one, check what came with it: a frame and a lane carry everything whose centre sits inside them, and a mind node carries its whole branch, which is usually what you want and occasionally a surprise. Resizing a frame or a lane never moves its contents.
Reach for Build at the start of a canvas and the rest goes faster: lay out the lanes or frames you know you need, then switch to Shapes and fill them in.
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