Text-based workflow

Posted by MadaboutDana
Sep 7, 2013 at 08:34 AM

There will be those who sigh heavily when they see yet another topic on text in workflows - what’s it got to do with outliners, eh? - but they may change their minds (especially if they’re iOS device owners) after reading the excellent review of the iOS app Editorial at http://www.macstories.net/stories/editorial-for-ipad-review/

For those who decide to investigate Editorial in more detail (and ConnectedText aficionados would be well-advised to do so, because the workflows you can create with Editorial are truly astonishing), the same author has also written a (very good) book with much more detailed information on Editorial. It’s titled ‘Writing on the iPad: Text Automation with Editorial’.

Mobile apps are redefining the outliner, in fact, because so many note-taking apps are effectively two-pane outliners (even when the navigation pane only pops up when required). There has been an amazing proliferation of interesting text editors, with apps like As Noted, NoteSuite, Notebooks and many others all using a mixture of two-pane and single-pane outlining, as well as other models (As Noted and Editorial both use side-swiping screens to very good effect).

Ultimately, it’s all about efficiency and workflow. Which is why I’m looking forward to seeing Scrivener on iOS (yes, it’s in process, but may not appear till next year). And where workflow is concerned, Editorial is king!