I frequently have to make organizational charts. I have experimented to find ways to automate this relatively boring task, and discovered that I could combine text with a shape to create a basic cell style for my chart, then apply the NavBar tool and have an org chart cell that I could copy or clone and it would stretch to fit new text. Not the intended use of the tool, but hey.

So mostly it works fine, but every now and then as charts get updated and saved as other charts, I start to get unexpected results: editing one cell will cause odd changes in another cell, messing up my chart, sometimes to the point I have to start over.

My questions are:
1. Is there a better way to do this?
2. If not, how do I minimize or avoid the weirdness? I don't need the new layers that NavBar creates (MouseOff, etc.). All I need is a box/ellipse/polygon that'll stretch with my text, and that I can freely copy, paste, and clone, with each new unit being independent of its ancestors.

I have sometimes grouped the box with the text that's in it, sometimes not; I can't say I've seen a pattern indicating whether grouping helps or hinders.

Thanks!

Bejurin Cassady
Seattle