Re: to two-pane to one-pane, that is the question

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Note: This message is from the outliners.com archive kindly provided by Dave Winer.

Outliners.com Message ID: 2734

Posted by srdiamond15
2005-02-14 18:55:19

Yes, I’m completely satisfied with using ActionOutline for such scraps of information. Two-pane outliners often start by commending themselves for organizing bits of information, but then slide into such matters as writing a book or organizing research.

Perhaps the best example of this slide is the program InfoRecall 2004 by Phantech. It presents what is in some respects a wonderful writing environment, with multiple windows housed in a workspace, as well as having tabbed access to windows. It has writing features that everyone should have but no one else (save Zoot) does: the ability to collect information from notes in a “spike” fashion to create a new note.

But then it presents the user with its policy of *automatically* alphabetizing coordinate headings. You cannot reorder items in InfoRecall. (Well you _can_ with a kludge, such as preceding each item with a number representing the desired order.) Obviously Phantech wants users to be able to write in its product. But how can you write without focusing on order at least as much as hierarchy?

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Well, for one, I use two-pane outliners for very diverse information items that I want to keep in context; i.e. project contacts, financial info, terms of reference, related background URLs etc. It makes no sense in mixing all that in a single page view.

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