---
title: "Being Productive With yEd"
id: "2718"
type: "post"
slug: "yed-productivity"
published_at: "2013-05-15T03:57:46+00:00"
modified_at: "2013-05-17T15:18:28+00:00"
url: "https://johnpoelstra.com/yed-productivity/"
markdown_url: "https://johnpoelstra.com/yed-productivity.md"
excerpt: "One of the drawing tools in my toolbox is yEd. It’s great for drawing relationship diagrams, particularly if you want to have them automatically re-swizzled. I choose yEd over a regular mind mapping tool like Xmind because it allows multiple......"
taxonomy_category:
  - "Productivity"
---

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# [Being Productive With yEd](https://johnpoelstra.com/yed-productivity/)

One of the drawing tools in my toolbox is [yEd](https://johnpoelstra.com/fedora-rhel-yed-install/)
. It’s great for drawing relationship diagrams, particularly if you want to have them automatically re-swizzled. I choose yEd over a regular mind mapping tool like Xmind because it allows multiple relationships between a node.

Like every drawing program I’ve tried, yEd has it’s quirks too. Here are a few things I’ve discovered that might help you.

- [Changing the default shapes in a drawing](http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/27/change-nodes-diagram-their-default-shapes-defined-symbols) by selecting an existing shape and applying it to others.
- [Rapid node creation with keyboard shortcuts](http://yed.yworks.com/support/qa/559/ctrl-arrows-to-link-nodes-while-navigating-between-nodes) that includes arrows at the end of the lines.

Another frustration with yEd I wish I could solve for you is the middle scroll wheel mouse behavior which zooms the screen in and out, instead of scrolling the page like any other applications you’ve ever used. It has the power to drive you crazy and there is no way to change it.

Here’s a simple tutorial for using yEd if you’d like to learn more about using it.

#### John Poelstra

John Poelstra coaches directors in finance and software. Trained through the Co-Active Training Institute, he has coached for more than 10 years, with over 520 clients and 3,150 sessions, including people at well-known Fortune 100 companies. In over 30 years of professional experience, he spent 25 in technology and finance: software testing, project management and team leadership at Red Hat and Dell/EMC, and finance as a bank auditor at Wells Fargo and a CPA at Grant Thornton. He hosts The John Poelstra Show podcast and is based in Portland, Oregon.

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May 14, 2013

[Productivity](https://johnpoelstra.com/category/productivity/)

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## 1 Comment

## [Add yours](#respond)

1. dip[June 5, 2013 at 7:02 am](https://johnpoelstra.com/yed-productivity/#comment-2693) [Reply](#comment-2693) The middle scroll wheel mouse behavior can be configured in File -> Preferences->General -> Mouse wheel preferences. [Reply](#comment-2693)

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