Lists & blocks
The SetFork data model — list types, blocks, steps, runs, links and export.
List types
- Ordered sequence — steps have meaningful order (1..N): deploy runbooks, recipes, itineraries, learning roadmaps, rankings.
- Set / checklist — order doesn't matter: packing lists, review checklists, curated collections.
You pick the type at creation and can change it in the list settings.
Addressing
Every list lives under its owner, GitHub-style:
https://setfork.com/{owner}/{slug}Slugs are unique per owner. Lists can be public (visible to everyone) or private (owner only); switching visibility is in the danger zone of list settings.
Blocks
A list is built from blocks. The step is the main one, but not the only one: the radial "+" button in the editor adds any of eight types.
| Block | For |
|---|---|
| 👣 Step | The core unit: an action with a command, sub-tasks and rationale |
| 📝 Text | Free markdown — an intro, a note or an aside between steps |
| 🖼️ Image | An illustration or hero image |
| 📊 Poll | A reader vote with options and an optional deadline |
| 🎬 Video | A clip by link (YouTube/Vimeo) or as a file |
| 🎓 Quiz | A checked question: choice, text, number, blanks, pairs, ordering, code |
| 📎 File | An attachment (PDF, doc, archive — up to 25 MB) |
| 🛒 Products | A tiered set of options — for shopping and comparison lists |
The step in detail
A step is more than a line of text:
- Title — imperative and short ("Back up the database").
- Description — the useful details: amounts, temperatures, flags.
- Command — one terminal command, rendered with a copy button.
- Sub-tasks — checkable sub-items; in runs each can be ticked individually.
- Level —
required(default),recommendedoroptional, like MUST / SHOULD / MAY in RFCs. - Why — rationale for non-obvious steps.
- Section — a group heading that visually splits long lists ("Day 1", "Dough", "Week 3").
- References — labeled links to docs or sources.
Runs
A run is an executable instance of a list pinned to a specific version. Start a run and you get a live checklist: step states (todo / current / done / blocked), per-step notes and sub-task ticks. Runs survive new versions of the list — they stay on the version they started from.
Topics and tags
Every public list can belong to a topic (the colored categories in Explore) and carries free-form tags used by search and discovery. Tags are in English.
Links between lists
In a description or step you can reference another list with a wiki-link
[[handle/slug]] — it renders as a live link. The referenced list automatically
grows a "Referenced by" block (backlinks), so the connection is visible from
both sides. Forks, meanwhile, keep their own lineage ("forked from").
Export
Any list can be downloaded as Markdown or HTML, or printed to PDF (steps never break across pages).