Once in a while, when I face some puzzle in writing and posting to my blog, I wonder why I continue to use Flint, a Tinderbox template to create my blog instead of an application made for it like Wordpress. The learning curve is steep, and the license is not inexpensive. Tom Webster ("Blogging with Tinderbox" via Mark Bernstein) reminded why I like Flint for my weblog:

I recently went back to deciphering Flint, which is a collection of macros and templates to turn Tinderbox into a pretty robust weblog generator. Ever since Radio Userland I have liked the idea of maintaining a weblog locally and then only needing to upload html to a remote server with no server install necessary--easy to keep my thoughts on my laptop where they belong, and very simple to publish what I want to publish. I realize that you can accomplish the same thing with a weblog client like Ecto and any garden-variety weblog app, but Tinderbox's ability to replicate a post-it board full of non-linear notes is brilliant and irreplacable. Why does this matter? Look at the popularity of tagging as an organizational scheme for modern blogs. Tagging has become popular precisely because 'chronological' and 'hierarchical' just don't cut it as organizing principles for the giant spinning cork ball of the creative mind.

Tinderbox, however, lets me link any old note to any other old note, and back again--so my notes can be organized like index cards spread out on a table, regardless of how my weblog reads. That makes it much easier for me to revisit things I might have missed, and keep "back burner" thoughts percolating for when inspiration strikes. It also lets me maintain a private weblog and a public weblog all in one Tinderbox document--a highly usable intersection of Wiki and weblog, all searchable and linked on one big canvas. Again, though there are other apps better suited for weblogging, there are none better suited for brainstorming and organizing my thoughts--and now all I have to do is drag a note from one part of my drawing table to another, and it is published (or not). When you can truly live within Tinderbox for everything, the tool itself stops being visible and starts becoming a natural extension of your thought process and not just a "blog tool."

Tinderbox has yet to become a natural extension of my thought process. It takes time to master it. Still, I like the potential for using one application for brainstorming, taking notes, re-combining them, and generating new permutations of concepts that I might not have thought of otherwise. Once mastered, Tinderbox is a great tool for thinking and learning. The weblog is just an extra benefit.

Here are some other articles on Tinderbox:

Matt Neuburg's review: Light your fire with Tinderbox
Matt Neuburg for creating web pages: Creating Online Help with Tinderbox
Tom Webster: Problem Solving with Tinderbox
Tom Webster: More Problem Solving with Tinderbox
Doug Miller: Miscellaneous posts on Tinderbox
Ted Goranson on outlining: Deep Tinderbox
Alastair Weakley: Using Tinderbox for writing