# Give the idea shape. Keep the context.

22 September 2026 · By the Nodary team

Sketch on a board inside your documents, connect decisions and explain systems with a new UML workshop. Keep the source editable and take your work with you.

![Nodary visual board with notes, connected shapes, drawing tools and an element inspector in dark mode](https://nodary.ai/release-media/visual-workspace.png)

Some ideas need a sketch before they need a paragraph. Nodary now gives those ideas a place inside the project document, beside the sources, explanations and decisions your team will return to later.

## Think on a shared canvas

Add notes, rectangles, ellipses, decision shapes, text and freehand strokes. Connect two shapes and the arrow follows them when they move. Adjust size and color, duplicate an idea, undo a change, pan, zoom or open the board in a larger workspace. Dark and light themes follow your workspace.

## Explain the system, then refine it

The diagram workshop puts editable Mermaid source beside its preview. Start from sequence, class, state, flow, data or mind-map templates. Replacing your source asks for confirmation and can be undone. A syntax error keeps the last valid preview visible, while SVG export waits for the current source to render successfully.

## Keep separate contributions together

In document co-editing mode, boards merge changes per element, so one person can edit a note while another moves a different shape. A diagram remains a single Mermaid source: if an incoming change arrives while you are editing, choose a version or download your draft. An unresolved diagram draft can be recovered when you return in the same tab, where browser session storage is available.

## Take the work beyond the canvas

Boards appear in document readers, shared documents and the existing print layout. Export a board as SVG, editable JSON or Markdown with its scene data; importing board JSON adds it beside existing work. Diagram exports include SVG, Mermaid source and Markdown. The board’s note text and structure remain available to Nodary’s document and AI tools.

## Try it in your workflow

1. Try the board below: select a note, change its text, then move it with the arrow keys.
2. Choose Draw for a freehand sketch, or Connect and select two shapes.
3. Open UML & diagrams, choose Templates and try a class or sequence diagram.
4. In your workspace, create a Visual board document or insert Visual board from the editor’s slash menu. Enable document co-editing to share edits.

The public demo resets on reload and does not test authenticated multiuser editing. New board additions stop at 200 elements; concurrent additions are retained. Simultaneous changes to the same element use a winning version, not character-level merging. Strokes are simplified to 256 points. This release does not add multi-selection, sticky comments, voting, an infinite canvas or visual editing of individual UML classes. Download unresolved diagram drafts before closing the tab, especially if browser storage is unavailable.

The page: https://nodary.ai/updates/give-your-ideas-a-shared-canvas