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Scrivener-like outliner for Windows?
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Posted by JohnK
Mar 24, 2009 at 03:15 PM
DaXiong wrote:
>I am still on my quest for the perfecct outliner (I know, doesn’t exist cause I keep
>changing what I need). What I’d love is Scrivener, but for windows.
You and many, many others. As I mentioned in the recent thread about PageFour (http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/1064/0/new-developments-with-pagefour), I recently switched from PageFour to The Journal.
I had an exchange of emails with The Journal’s developer in which I suggested that he should look at Scrivener with a view to developing a similar outliner feature for The Journal. He was enthusiastic, and said he would try to get something out by the summer. The Journal is a polished program, so if he does attempt to produce a Scrivener-style outliner, it should be worth waiting for…
Posted by DaXiong
Mar 24, 2009 at 06:21 PM
I appreciate the feedback. Page Four really doesn’t have what I’m looking for, and development really hasn’t progressed in some time (I am aware of a minor bug-fix update). I use PageFour from time to time, but it just doesn’t have the outlining support I need.
I’ve looked at the Journal in the past, and actually downloaded again seeing the recent comments about contacting the developer and possibility of some Scrivener-like additions. I’m waiting ... and hoping.
Overnight, I’ve had an exchange with someone who’s trying to merge LyX (http://www.lyx.org) with Scrivener. You can read about his idea here (http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/03/04/perfect-tool). He says the LyX people are supportive, and he’s got a prototype working. (Note: Yeah, I volunteered to beta test it). I’ll keep you informed.
The people who frequent Outliner Software are great. If I were a developer, I’d foot the bill for the site, and give you all free copies of my programs, just for all the great ideas you provide and how you help each other.
Posted by Tom S.
Mar 24, 2009 at 07:08 PM
DaXiong wrote:
>Overnight, I’ve had an
>exchange with someone who’s trying to merge LyX (http://www.lyx.org) with Scrivener. You
>can read about his idea here
>(http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/03/04/perfect-tool). He says
>the LyX people are supportive, and he’s got a prototype working. (Note: Yeah, I
>volunteered to beta test it). I’ll keep you informed.
This sounds nice. If it ever turned out to be more than a pipe dream, I’d love to try it - if for no other reason than it would be cross-platform.
Tom S.
Posted by David Fass
Mar 24, 2009 at 07:13 PM
I previously looked at a bunch of the tools other people had mentioned (for PC). My anticipated usage was fiction writing, so I was looking for features that would be useful in that endeavor. Eventually I settled on SuperNoteCard for organization and yWriter for composition. There are some areas of feature overlap between them, which is a shame, because it makes it less than a totally elegant partnership. But I think both programs deserve strong consideration. Both offer a strong dose of “design simplicity,” which was lacking the other programs I tried, several of which seemed to be tripping over themselves trying to do everything. Good luck. —Dave
Posted by Chris Thompson
Mar 24, 2009 at 09:19 PM
Extending LyX is a nice idea, but I’m not sure why he doesn’t just use LaTeX markup for crossreferences, styles, etc. directly in Scrivener? (Footnotes and marginalia are natively supported in Scrivener.) There’s an active community of LaTeX/Scrivener users who do this, and in fact a subforum on that topic hosted on the Scrivener site.
For those who find LaTeX frightening, you can also use an intermediate level (less imposing and more accessible) markup in Scrivener called Markdown that can be exported to LaTeX.
—Chris
DaXiong wrote:
>Overnight, I’ve had an
>exchange with someone who’s trying to merge LyX (http://www.lyx.org) with Scrivener. You
>can read about his idea here
>(http://www.oak-tree.us/blog/index.php/2009/03/04/perfect-tool). He says
>the LyX people are supportive, and he’s got a prototype working. (Note: Yeah, I
>volunteered to beta test it). I’ll keep you informed.