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Writing Outliner for MS Word Soon on BitsDuJour
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Posted by Alexander Deliyannis
Aug 2, 2013 at 03:14 PM
WO keeps all relevant Word files within a single SQLite database file. This is convenient, but apparently has led to some problems in the past (in particular when storing the database in Dropbox). The new product will use the file system for the same purpose:
http://writingoutliner.com/writing-software/blog/news-about-the-succeed-product-of-writing-outliner-projectfolders/
That said, with the exception of the Dropbox issue, and judging from Graham’s experience, the current program seems overall safe and stable. I expect that there will be a modest upgrade pricing to the new product when it is released, so the Bits du Jour offer should still make sense.
Posted by 22111
Aug 2, 2013 at 03:16 PM
I forgot to mention, and assuming my description above is correct:
Any cross-reference between parts of text will be upheld and updated? Even when before, a reference was within a physical file and now is from one physical file into another, or vice versa? This would be splendid functionality… or is this idea just dreaming of things not being realized yet? No outliner of my knowledge offers such functionality, which might explain why scientific publications continue to be written in Word?
Posted by 22111
Aug 2, 2013 at 03:33 PM
- I should add that in my description above, I assumed that moving around entries within the tree also moves around any “entries” (together with their physical file parts) that are indented “under” those entries, like in any traditional outliner. (And I hope this assumption is correct?)
- I understand considerations with regard to speed and stability, but all I know is that Scrivener does not handle any cross-referencing and will probably never do, since its target audience is not academic writing, but that cross-referencing within Word is possible, within ONE Word file at least, hence my question if WO is able to manage such cross-referencing on this broader “project” scope even, which would be quite fantastic.
Thank you for this info and this link, which is very instructive. “ProjectFolders” is a very good name, and “ProjectFolders add-in will greatly utilize a tagging system for file management, this approach has been proven by Gmail, EverNote, etc.” seems to be a very smart move, marketing-wise, albeit not being on purpose for academic writing, so I fear if “total cross-referencing” is not within the current version, it will probably be not in future versions either, since what can be found at your link seems to indicate quite another direction of development.
Posted by Graham Rhind
Aug 2, 2013 at 04:18 PM
@22111 Yes, this is more or less correct. Nothing is really physically moved as such when you drag things around except the order that WO knows the files needs to be handled in when you output the data into a new (full) Word file. I don’t know about referencing (not something I need or use) and yes, when you drag a branch, it takes the children with it.
@DrAndus: it’s horses for courses. I’ve never had an issue with Word (except its first incarnations in the 1990s, but that’s ancient history) and I need very complex formatting from the very start. I’m not writing in WO, I’m managing documents. Word’s the only word processor I’ve ever come across which can handle the file sizes I need with the formatting and stability I, likewise, need, so I don’t feel the need to look for another tool. But WO saves me a lot of time and grief so for me it’s ideal. It may not suit everybody, naturally ... :-)
Graham
22111 wrote:
I see, and I did not want to spread false info.
>
>On bitsdujour, Peter Martin wrote:
>
>If only one has the ability to sort the titles (left side) then I would
>say it is perfect.
>
>which was left uncommented by the developer there, so I falsely assumed
>the entries could not be moved; it now appears Martin wanted to say (I
>suppose) “sort automatically, alphanumerically” or something along this
>line.
>
>So if I understand well:
>
>- you have several Word files
>
>- you “import” those into a “project” of this tool
>
>- then, another day, you load this “project”, which in reality means the
>tool will load all the corresponding Word files, and present their
>structures within a “compound” tree, as if all these separate files were
>one file, and which also means there would be a virtual, global
>structure, in which subtitle 3.5.2 of file 12 would be item 5.8.2 within
>this overall structure?
>
>- within this overall structure, you click on any entry, and you gain
>access to the respective Word document, at the respective position
>(hence a click on entry 5.8.2 would “open” document 12 at subtitle 3.5.2
>in this example)?
>
>- also, within this overall structure, you freely move parts around, as
>it was one single file, which means if you move around point 1.3.4 after
>point 12.5.6, in the tree, in the actual files the corresponding part
>would be deleted in one file and rewritten at the correct position
>within another of these files?
>
>If my above assumptions are right now, I think this should be a
>tremendous piece of software.
>
Posted by Dr Andus
Aug 2, 2013 at 04:30 PM
Graham Rhind wrote:
>@DrAndus: it’s horses for courses. I’ve never had an issue with Word
>(except its first incarnations in the 1990s, but that’s ancient history)
>and I need very complex formatting from the very start. I’m not writing
>in WO, I’m managing documents. Word’s the only word processor I’ve ever
>come across which can handle the file sizes I need with the formatting
>and stability I, likewise, need, so I don’t feel the need to look for
>another tool. But WO saves me a lot of time and grief so for me it’s
>ideal. It may not suit everybody, naturally ... :-)
Fair enough - we seem to be using Word for very different purposes (and it’s not impossible that there is something in my own system config that makes Word seem sluggish and crash occasionally). I was just curious what WO brings to the party. Thanks for clarifying.