In order to improve the ease of rearranging traditional outlines or outline trees, the FORCE LEFT and FORCE RIGHT functions are vital.

Most current PIMS and outliners do not have these functions.

FORCE LEFT promotes/shifts left a single item without changing its position vertically and without affecting (moving) anything else, including sub-items.

FORCE RIGTHT demotes/shifts right a single item without changing its position vertically and without affecting (moving) anything else, including sub-items.

Without the ability to select multiple items, you really do need force left and force right. But it is less clear that an outliner with those capabilities should have those commands, and I would prefer that they did not.

The question is whether an outliner should allow the shortcuts with the most direct path to a result or whether outlining operations should mirror the mind. Since sub-items are grasped as belonging with their superordinates, I find an outliner works most intuitively when you must first remove them. That would mean first selecting them collectively and then subordinating them to their new heading.

srdiamond
(If this posts, its because I'm at a different computer)

In order to improve the ease of rearranging traditional outlines or
72outline trees, the FORCE LEFT and FORCE RIGHT functions are vital.