In a computer lab setting with a network server available, it's often much easier to install Inspiration^® on the network server instead of on each individual computer. Installing on the server saves time and ensures that all students are accessing the same resources.

To install Inspiration on your server, begin by logging in as network administrator from a workstation. Admin-level access is required for the install to work properly.

Next, run the installer program on the Inspiration CD-ROM. When the installer gets to the section where it asks you to "Choose Destination Location," click on the "Browse" button. Browse to your network server and choose it as the installation destination. It's strongly recommended that you install Inspiration to its own folder so that setting permissions will be easier. Finish the installation process, at which point Inspiration will start. Enter your name, organisation and serial number in the dialog that displays to complete the install.

Once you've finished installing, you will need to change the security permissions for the Inspiration folder and all items inside it to make it possible for more than one person to use Inspiration at the same time. Using your network software's standard procedure, change the permissions on the Inspiration folder for both users and groups to either Read & Execute, Read & Filescan or Read Only (depending on the server software you use.) Make sure they don't have write access to the Inspiration folder.

After setting these permissions, create a shortcut or alias for the Inspiration application and place this shortcut/alias on each workstation. To test, log in to one workstation as a member of one of the groups to which you gave Read, Read & Execute, or Read & Filescan permissions. On another workstation, log in as a different member of one of those groups. Start Inspiration on each workstation. If all is set up correctly, Inspiration should start on both.

For a platform-specific, more technically-worded version of these instructions, see the Network Install Instructions.

Inspiration allows users to create personal templates and libraries, as distinct from the standard templates and libraries that are found in the Inspiration application folder. User-created Inspiration templates can be saved to any location to which the users have write access. Note: this generally excludes the "Inspiration Templates" folder in the Inspiration folder on the server.

Users can also create their own symbol libraries even when Inspiration is installed on a server. In this case, though, the user-created libraries will be personal libraries. They will be stored in the Inspiration Data folder, which is typically found in the Documents folder (Macintosh) or the My Documents folder (Windows) on the workstation of the person who created them. Either of these types of files can be added to the centralised templates and libraries on the server by copying them from their original location to the Templates or Libraries folder on that server. If Inspiration is installed on multiple workstations instead of a server, simply copy the custom templates or libraries to the other workstations.

While Inspiration is usually used for mapping ideas that have no precise chronology, some customers have discovered another type of diagram to create in Inspiration - a timeline.

Timelines can be useful for history or humanities units, as well as keeping track of specific steps in a project. There are two types of timelines that can be created with Inspiration: basic and traditional.

To create a basic timeline, which is well-suited to project tracking, begin a new document with the "Main Idea" selected. Using the Create tool, which is in the Diagram toolbar, create as many symbols as you need to cover the many points in the timeline. Each will be linked to the one before it, showing a logical sequence of events. Simply enter the events or tasks into the symbols and you have a basic timeline--customise as desired. If this is to be used as a project timeline, you may find checkboxes useful in marking when tasks have been completed. To show checkboxes on each symbol, choose "Show Checklist" from the Tools menu.

To create a traditional timeline, more visibly similar to the standard timelines of historical events, begin with a new document. There are some cosmetic changes you may wish to make at this point to make the timeline look exactly as you wish. If you wish to change your symbols so that they are borderless text boxes, change a symbol to the symbol that looks like a rectangle with a dashed outline and an 'A' inside it. Choose the "Set Default" item in the Edit menu to set this selected symbol as the default for this diagram. If you wish to change your links so that they are 90-degree angles, rather than diagonal lines, select a link, then click on the Link menu and choose "Right Angle". If you wish to have links without arrows, choose "No Arrows" from the "Arrow Direction" section of the Link menu. Once you've made your changes to the selected link, use the "Set Default" item in the Edit menu to set this link's attributes as the default for the whole diagram.

Once your cosmetic changes are set, begin by changing the "Main Idea" text into the topic of your timeline. Use the Create tool, which is in the Diagram toolbar, to create your first date/event, linked to the Main Idea. Next, create your end date/event. Space them a suitable distance apart. Now, click on the point above or below the line and begin typing your next date/event. This should create a symbol for this date/event. Link from the first date/event to this one. Repeat this process for subsequent dates/events. Before long, your timeline will be complete.