Getting started with Cork

Cork is a virtual corkboard of index cards. You write on cards, pin them to boards, and move them around until your novel, essay, or trip itinerary starts making sense. This page gets you from zero to your first board.

Create an account

Head to cork.is, click Start free, and sign up with Google or an email address. The free plan includes 3 active boards and 25 MB of image storage — no credit card, no trial clock.

Make your first board

You'll land on your boards page. Click + New board, give it a name ("Novel draft two", "Kitchen renovation", "Reading list" — anything), and Cork drops you onto an empty corkboard.

Every board has two views, and you can flip between them any time from the header:

• Board — a free-form corkboard. Put cards anywhere; they snap neatly to a grid.
• Kanban — cards march through columns. Good for drafts moving from "Idea" to "Done".

Pin your first cards

Click + New card. A full-screen card opens where you can type a title and write whatever you like — the editor handles formatting as you type, and you can give the card a color from the palette in the top-left corner.

Press <kbd>Esc</kbd> (or click outside the card) to pin it to the board. Make a few more. Drag them around. Drop one on top of another to stack them, like a pile on a real desk.

Where to go next

• Move, arrange, and stack cards
• Link cards to each other with [[double brackets]]
• Add tags and search everything

If you had boards in Cork before signing up (from the browser-only version), Cork will offer to import them the first time you sign in.