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outlining in the left pane, text in the right?
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Posted by incandescentman
Nov 18, 2011 at 09:51 PM
Is there an app that displays keyboard-editable hierarchical structure in the left pane and text editing/word processing in the right pane?
I’m looking for a Mac or web-based app that will allow me to create and modify hierarchical structure (in the form of multi-level bulleted lists) in the left pane and do text editing/word processing in the right pane.
I wish I could combine Workflowy and Scrivener into one tool.
The good thing about Scrivener: It displays the hierarchical structure of my document in the left pane (with headers, subheaders, subsubheaders) and displays a text editor/word processor in the right pane.
The problem with Scrivener: Creating new sections, moving sections around, nesting one section beneath another, etc is cumbersome. Every time you want a new level of the hierarchy, you have to choose “new text,” name it, and use the trackpad (not the keyboard) to drag it to where you want it in document folder structure. Blech.
The good thing about Workflowy: Creating and modifying the hierarchical structure is so easy. You create a new list item simply by hitting enter, promote by hitting tab, demote by hitting shift-tab, and move list items around easily using the keyboard.
The problem with Workflowy: no text editor pane.
What I want is a tool that’s like Workflowy in the left pane?quick keyboard-based creating and modifying of hierarchical structure?but with a text editor/word processor in the right pane.
With the tool I envision, for each bulleted list item in the left-pane hierarchy, I could enter right-pane text. At the end, like Scrivener, the tool would “compile” a Word document, excluding the hierarchy of headers and subheaders and including only the right-pane text.
I can hack a solution to this with Workflowy by just entering body text below various list items in the structural hierarchy and adding a #bodytext tag for each paragraph of prose, then running a search for #bodytext and exporting only the paragraphs that appear thus tagged. But it would be more far more useful to have a split-screen navigation so that I could see the body text in a separate pane from the hierarchical structure.
I looked at OmniOutliner, and with that tool, I do not seem to be able to select and export by hierarchical level, so I don’t think I could isolate the body text.
Does such a tool exist? What solutions would you suggest? Thanks!
Posted by MadaboutDana
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:44 PM
Hm - interesting point: the two-pane outliner you’re describing is very, very common in the Windows world, but actually much less common in the Mac world.
Or are they? You might want to take a peek at this list by Stephen in a (much) earlier thread on this forum:
http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/811
It’s a great starting point!
Posted by MadaboutDana
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:47 PM
Oh, and check out Tree (http://www.topoftree.jp/en/tree/), reviewed by Stephen fairly recently (http://mac.appstorm.net/quick-look/productivity-quick-look/tree-a-new-dimension-in-outlining/#more-24115)
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Nov 18, 2011 at 11:48 PM
This may be a bit of an unconventional answer, but I think you should take a look at Twig, the little-brother version of Tinderbox. Using the explorer view, you should be able to do what you’re describing (if I read you correctly). The big question you’ll need to answer with Twig, however, is well can you export the text you want, because the export function is a bit limited.
Check it out here:
(Actually, I’m not 100% sure Twig contains the explorer view, which Tinderbox has, so check that too. Sorry to be so unhelpful.)
Steve Z.
Posted by Zman
Nov 19, 2011 at 03:37 AM
Since we are talking Mac Outlining tools,here’s the best series on subject I have ever seen. I found it quite useful in my Mac days and used to wait patiently for the new posting every month by Ted Goranson. Its a little dated now…
http://www.atpm.com/Back/atpo.shtml
Devon Think and Tinderbox on the high end can accommodate, but there are other choices. Even if some of these tools are no longer available, tracking down information on them will lead you to their heirs.
zman