Hi, I asked a similar question a few years ago without much luck. I generally like one-pane outliners (still use Ecco a lot). However, a one-pane outliner doesn't work for me very well if I get too many items in it. What I'd like, is an outliner where you can do outlining in a main pane but then switch between outlines using a second pane (e.g., a navigation pane to the left of the main pane), where the second pane either supports outlines, or as an acceptable alternative, a folder/tree type structure. I realize Ecco can do this to a point, but I want to try something different. I thought I saw one in a Google results search a few days ago, but didn't look at it in detail, and now I can find what I was looking at.

Thanks,
Nathan

This is an interesting question to me, because it highlights what I perceive to be the insufficiency of the one-,two-, and three-pane outliner distinction.

Here's how I understand the definitions:
one-pane - a basic outliner, like MS Word, MaxThink or OmniOutliner
two-pane - distinguishes between entry titles and entry bodies. entry titles are sorted in left pane, in a tree structure. entry bodies are edited on the right pane. E.g. Tree Notes.
three-pane - adds attributes to each entry in addition to title and body text. attributes editable in third pane(s). E.g. Ultra Recall.

OP, you can find a list of two- and three-pane outliners here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner

Here's where I'm confused - the Wikipedia entry talks about hybrid one- and two-page outliners. These allow you to see the bodies of multiple entries in the right pane while viewing the parent navigation tree in the other pane.

So how does one classify BrainStormWFO? It is not a true one-pane outliner, it seems to me, since you can't expand to view the children of multiple entries in a single pane. And also, you can view multiple panes at once, allowing you to see the parent level next to the child level, much like a two-pane outliner. But it is not a two-pane outliner, in that it lacks distinction between titles and bodies.

So perhaps it's an odd type of hybrid one- and two- pane outliner? It does both less than the traditional hybrid the wiki describes, since it auto-hoists, and more, since you can theoretically open an unlimited number of hierarchical panes.

In the interest of avoiding the appearance of threadjacking for commercial purposes, let me point out that there are several other programs that defy the conventional categories:

MaxThink - the volume sorting capacity makes me unwilling to lump it in with all the other single-pane outliners, despite the identical layout
org-mode - a text processor outliner capable of multiple panes, with GTD and hotkey sorting support
personalbrain - not an outliner at all, but a mindmap database webber
others?

I'm working on a page that explores these differences, but I won't link to it for the aforementioned reason.

I think a discussion of this category system would be useful, since the OP's somewhat vague description of what he was looking for forced me to think about it.

Nathan,

If I understand your question correctly, you want to be able to organize a collection of smaller outlines, each of which can be stored in categories. Essentially an outline of outlines. If this is the case, I think your options are limited, but there are options.

There's an older application called InfoStore. It is still available, but not being developed. In your outline, you could create a text note or an list note. The list note could have hierarchy. Here's the link: http://www.mhsoftware.co.uk/infostore/infostore_main_details.htm

Then there is Debrief Notes, which has a folder structure in which you can store many kinds of notes, including an outline note. I wrote about Debrief on my blog. Here's that link: http://welcometosherwood.wordpress.com/2011/04/25/a-brief-look-at-debrief/

In MyInfo (and likely other options that are not coming to mind at the moment) you can have several outlines open at once accessible via separate tabs, but I don't think that's exactly what you're looking for. But you could jury rig this, somewhat, by making one of your outlines a list of your other outlines, and create hyperlinks to them. I used to do this with the DOS program GrandView. Worked pretty well, actually.

Hope this is of some help.

Steve Z.

Ok, I found the answer to my question, in vast detail, here: http://www.sqlnotes.net/drupal5/index.php?q=node/1506

It's from outlinersoftware.com originally

Nathan,

If I understand your needs correctly, perhaps the latest version of Noteliner is worth a try. Version 3.2n has a collapsible navigation pane. In my opinion it is, in other respects, a fine outliner and the developer is diligent and approachable. And it is free.

http://www.noteliner.org/i/Main.html


John

If I understand your question correctly, you want to be able to organize a collection of smaller outlines, each of which can be stored in categories. Essentially an outline of outlines. If this is the case, I think your options are limited, but there are options.

Yes, that is a good summary of what I am looking for. I will give noteliner a closer look.

Also, I found the outliner I mentioned from a Google search results list, it came up again on a different search. It's called Splash Notes. Looks ok, nothing overly impressive though. It has a navigation pane where you can have a list of outlines.

http://www.splashdata.com/splashnotes/

ndodge wrote:

Also, I found the outliner I mentioned from a Google search
results list, it came up again on a different search. It's called Splash Notes. Looks
ok, nothing overly impressive though. It has a navigation pane where you can have a
list of outlines.

If Splash Notes is in the right direction, I suggest you try out ListPro http://www.iliumsoft.com/listpro/windows/screenshots which I think is considerably more powerful.

ndodge wrote:

results list, it came up again on a different search. It's called Splash Notes. Looks
ok, nothing overly impressive though. It has a navigation pane where you can have a
list of outlines.

http://www.splashdata.com/splashnotes/

If you like Splash Notes than you might also like Natara Bonsai (desktop edition). I opted for that over Splash Notes 5 or 6 years ago, when I was looking for an outliner. Bonsai just had more powerful features. You can choose to have a pane on the left that displays all the existing outlines. There are also tabs on the bottom that allow you to switch between open outlines (plus there is another optional pane for notes and some other useful features that can be turned on and off). I've extolled the virtues of Bonsai on this forum a few times, so if you do a search you'll probably find some details about it here.