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Microsoft Word Outlines
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Posted by Gary Carson
Jun 21, 2009 at 02:13 PM
Moritz, is “Draft Mode” the same thing as “Normal Mode” in pre-2007 versions of Word?
Posted by Stephen R. Diamond
Jun 21, 2009 at 05:35 PM
The only changes to the outlining function as such between 2003 and 2007 are cosmetic.
In answer to another question, both draft mode and normal mode exist in both the 2003 and 2007 versions.
Gary Carson wrote:
>Just wondering if the outlining capabilities of Word had changed much in Word 2007.
>I’m currently using 2003.
Posted by moritz
Jun 21, 2009 at 07:17 PM
agree that core outlining remains unchanged.
Specifically missing from Word (and available in some power outliners/editors):
- support for columnar metadata (e.g. “status” column to filter for all “draft” paragraphs, or “last changed” column to filter for “changed/not changed in last 20 days”)
- hoist
- selective editing (e.g. show only paragraphs containing the word “outliner”)
- per paragraph versioning
- built-in OPML support
Interestingly, there is support for unidirectional cloning in Word 2000 or better (copy / paste as link).
So I would grade Word a B+ based on its merits as an outliner (I would not discount the “adjacent” functionality like style sets, that really supports much of the same purpose: working with different structural views of a document).
One outliner that tried to “do it all right” in a best of breed effort was TAO for Mac OS X (http://www.d-lit.com). However, that one gets a C- on usability and there are huge doubts in my mind about its future. Maxthink on Windows also ticks the box on many core features but appears to have some performance/stability issues and also is not the prettiest tool I’ve ever seen.
Moritz
Stephen R. Diamond wrote:
>The only changes to the outlining function as such between 2003 and 2007 are
>cosmetic.
>
>In answer to another question, both draft mode and normal mode exist in
>both the 2003 and 2007 versions.
>
>Gary Carson wrote:
>>Just wondering if the
>outlining capabilities of Word had changed much in Word 2007.
>>I’m currently using
>2003.
Posted by Gary Carson
Jun 22, 2009 at 01:39 PM
“In answer to another question, both draft mode and normal mode exist in both the 2003 and 2007 versions.”
Draft mode IS normal mode, isn’t it? I can’t find anything called draft mode in 2003.
Posted by moritz
Jun 22, 2009 at 03:53 PM
yes normal view (2003) = draft view (2007)
I guess calling a view “normal” didn’t make much sense and somebody figured that out after a couple of decades ;-)
Moritz
Gary Carson wrote:
>“In answer to another question, both draft mode and normal mode exist in both the 2003
>and 2007 versions.”
>
>Draft mode IS normal mode, isn’t it? I can’t find anything
>called draft mode in 2003.