How to modify Group Nodes?

Question

Specifically what I want to do is change the style and position of the 'open/close'-buttons. There are a few other things where I needed to be satisfied with "Good enough", so if there is a way to edit nodes beyond their properties in yEd, that'd be great.

Also I figured those sample nodes have had to be created somehow and you can even import entirely new Sections to the palette, so I figured there was something I was missing.

Answer 1

Unfortunately, yEd does not offer a way to change the position of the 'open/close'-buttons. The styles for group nodes are not as customizable as the styles for normal nodes.

Comments

Then I guess I should make a Feature Request?

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Well, usually this would indeed be the way to go, yes. But to be totally honest, I doubt that we will implement more options for groups.

yEd Live offers groups with top-right/bottom-left/bottom-right 'open/close' button locations.

So maybe switching to yEd Live would be an option for you?

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I don't think yEd Live would work for me, as I doubt that it could withstand what I'm needing it for. Also it seems to be simpler in a lot of ways compared to yEd, for example the node properties look a lot more sparse.

As for what I'm using it for, Writing, specifically to construct Skill and Perk trees for my literary RPG system. Though it kind of evolved into a 'murder board' with a lot of random nodes containing ideas, plotpoints, lore tidbits, character details, etc.

Also while there is nothing native in yEd, might it be possible to edit/add nodes by delving into the files? And if yes, might there be some instructions as to how to go about it?

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If you mean the GraphML files that yEd creates when saving a diagram, then the answer is: "Yes, in theory this is possible." GraphML is a text-based format, you can open and edit GraphML files in your favorite text editor.

However, manually editing GraphML files in this way is highly not recommended. GraphML is a complex format and it is very easy to end up with an invalid file. For this reason, there are no instructions for manual editing either.

There is a public high-level format specification, though. The specification allows for application-specific, proprietary extensions and yEd uses a lot of those.