I am a speaker on time management so I prepare my workshop notes in an outliner first and then export the top level topics to PowerPoint to create graphic slides later.

I have been using Noteliner and really like it but I can't get the outline from Noteliner in PowerPoint. Even copy and paste doesn't work - Noteliner freezes.

Any other suggestions? I did look at Fargo (web-based) and liked the interface but had a horrible time getting anything exported from it in any sort of useable format.

Garland Coulson wrote:

I have been using Noteliner and really like it but I can't get the
outline from Noteliner in PowerPoint. Even copy and paste doesn't work -
Noteliner freezes.

It works fine over here. As Sam says on the Noteliner website, problems usually have to do with missing or damaged .net 2.0 framework or Visual Studio 2005 installations. There are links to those on his website:
http://www.noteliner.org/i/Main.html

Any other suggestions?

Have you tried Workflowy? It gives you the option to export a branch as formatted (to paste into MS Office, for instance), plain text, or OPML. But I'm not sure what you mean by exporting "the top level topics." In Workflowy it's only possible to export an entire branch.

There is also my beloved Bonsai 5 Desktop Edition, but I'm not sure if it's still possible to buy a license:
http://64.226.29.51/Bonsai/Download.cfm

BrainStorm could be another option (unconventional and also a dinosaur... I like dinosaurs.)
http://www.brainstormsw.com/

I am using Windows 8 and I notice Noteliner says it works in Windows 7 only in XP compatibility mode. So time to look for a more updated outliner - one that doesn't freeze in my o/s.

I have tried Workflowy but don't like the model of it being only one big outline instead being able to save different outlines for each workshop.

I also prefer outliners that work offline as well.

Garland Coulson wrote:

I am using Windows 8 and I notice Noteliner says it works in Windows 7
only in XP compatibility mode.

Doesn't Win8 have XP compatibility mode? There might still be a way to run Noteliner in it. Have you contacted Sam? He might be able to give you some tips.

As for single-pane outliners for Windows, there are thin on the ground. We had a a discussion about them in the past:
http://www.outlinersoftware.com/topics/viewt/2520

Here is an amended list. Some of these are more complex software but also have a single-pane outliner or a single-pane view. But some may also need XP compatibility mode.

Brainstorm
ConnectedText (Outline pane)
Ecco Pro
Freeplane (in outline view)
InfoQube
Inspiration 9
ListPro
MaxThink
Natara Bonsai
Noteliner
NoteMap
OneNote
Outline 4D
Sense (has single-pane view)
SplashNotes
TKOutline
UV Outliner
Word (outline view)
WorkFlowy (Chrome app)

There's an outliner called Mind Outliner in the Win 8 Store. It can read and write to OPML. If you store your files in OneDrive, it all works pretty well.

- Mike

You might want to include org-mode in that list. I use it almost exclusively. The software is so good that it's included in the main Emacs distro. I've used a number of outline programs over the years and nothing comes close to org-mode. It's way beyond a single pane outliner. I do all of my writing with org-mode. Push a few keys and I can export to nicely formatted latex/pdf, a different sequence gives me plain ascii, and so on. And the program is available with no charge on Unix (Linux), Windows and the Mac. Emacs isn't going to go away next week either. The current version is 24. This program has been around in one form or another since the 1980 and it just keeps getting better and better.

The learning curve is longer but once you 'get it' you'll never go back to an ordinary outliner.

Tried Mind Outliner but didn't like that I couldn't hit the tab key to demote an item.

Another thought occurred to me. I have never really liked the outliner in Word but I haven't tried it in years. So I opened and tested it and it has improved a lot. And the benefit as a speaker is I can do the outline in Word, save it and then import it into PowerPoint to make slides from. And I can also turn the outline into an ebook.

I will try this for a bit and see how it works.

I would like to use a more dedicated outliner, but the benefit of being able to create PowerPoint presentations and ebooks from the outlines is a powerful benefit to my work day.

Garland

Garland Coulson wrote:

I would like to use a more dedicated outliner, but the benefit of being
able to create Powerpoint presentations and ebooks from the outlines is
a powerful benefit to my work day.

PowerPoint should be able to import outlines in tab indented text, so many outliners could fit that bill.

I personally find the three major mind mapping programs most well equipped for exporting to Powerpoint, Word and (in the case of MindGenius and MindView) Excel, including managing styles. MindView even allows you to export, edit in the application and then re-import. They all have outline views if you don't appreciate the mind map display.

That said, mind mapping applications are significantly overpriced compared to most outliners.