Sidebar
The sidebar is Zenboard’s primary interface for quickly browsing and managing your references. It operates in two modes — Dock mode and Floating mode — and you can freely switch between them as needed.
Dock Mode
In this mode, the sidebar stays anchored to the edge of your screen and appears only when you need it. A thin handle is visible by default, and the sidebar smoothly slides out when you hover over it.
4-Direction Anchor
You can dock the sidebar to any of the four edges of your screen — left, right, top, or bottom. Choose the optimal position so your references never overlap your work.
| Shortcut | Position | Use Case |
|---|---|---|
Cmd + 1 | Top | Great for MacBooks with a notch, or when bottom toolbars matter |
Cmd + 2 | Left | Works well with apps that have tool panels on the right (Figma, Photoshop, etc.) |
Cmd + 3 | Right | Ideal for code editors with file trees on the left (VS Code, Xcode, etc.) |
Cmd + 4 | Bottom | Useful for video editing apps with menus/timelines at the top |
With a single shortcut you can instantly relocate the sidebar, so whenever you switch apps you can adjust the sidebar position to maximize your screen real estate.
Auto Collapse/Expand
In Dock mode, the sidebar automatically collapses and expands on mouse hover or click. Press Cmd + B to toggle the auto collapse/expand behavior.
Automatic Layout Switching
- Left/Right anchor: Vertical scrolling layout
- Top/Bottom anchor: Horizontal scrolling layout
The card arrangement and scroll direction automatically adjust based on the anchor position.
Floating Mode
A freely positionable mode that lets you place the sidebar anywhere on screen.
- Drag to move — Freely reposition wherever you like
- Resize — Use the resize handle to adjust width and height
- Multi-display — Move between monitors
Press Cmd + D to toggle between Dock mode and Floating mode.
Grid Layout
Cards are automatically distributed into multiple columns or multiple rows based on the sidebar size. Widen the sidebar to add more columns; narrow it to reduce them.
Card Management
Basic actions for managing cards in the sidebar:
- Click a card — Open in Smart Viewer
- Drag cards — Reorder by dragging
- Right-click — Context menu (Copy / Save / Delete)
Opening Cards
How you open a card determines which type of Smart Viewer appears.
- Click — Opens in the Shared Smart Viewer. A single window is reused for all cards — clicking a different card replaces its content.
Cmd+ drag outside the sidebar — Creates a dedicated Per-Card Smart Viewer at the drop position.
Shared vs Per-Card Smart Viewer
| Shared Smart Viewer | Per-Card Smart Viewer | |
|---|---|---|
| How to open | Click a card | Cmd + drag outside the sidebar |
| Instances | One at a time | One per card, multiple can coexist |
| Card switching | Updates when another card is clicked | Stays fixed to its card |
| Position & size | One shared setting for all cards | Saved independently per card |
| Border color | Gray | Orange |
| Double-click | No action | Collapses to a small square |
| Maximize button | Available | Not available |
Additional Per-Card Smart Viewer behaviors:
- Cmd-dragging a card that already has an open window moves that window to the new drop position — no duplicate windows are created.
- Deleting a card automatically closes its window.
- Open multiple cards side by side for easy comparison.
Collapse / Expand (Per-Card Smart Viewer only)
Per-Card Smart Viewers can be collapsed into a small square with a double-click — useful for keeping multiple viewers on screen without taking up too much space.
- Double-click — Collapses to a small square, animating from the center of the window
- Double-click while collapsed — Restores to the original size
- While collapsed, only the close button is shown and edge resizing is disabled.
- A collapsed window can still be dragged from anywhere to reposition it.
- When expanding, the window is automatically repositioned if it would go off-screen.
- Even after an automatic repositioning, collapsing again returns the window to its original pre-expansion position.
State Persistence
The sidebar’s mode, size, anchor position, and collapse state are automatically saved and restored on next launch.