TechWhirl (TECHWR-L) is a resource for technical writing and technical communications professionals of all experience levels and in all industries to share their experiences and acquire information.
For two decades, technical communicators have turned to TechWhirl to ask and answer questions about the always-changing world of technical communications, such as tools, skills, career paths, methodologies, and emerging industries. The TechWhirl Archives and magazine, created for, by and about technical writers, offer a wealth of knowledge to everyone with an interest in any aspect of technical communications.
Yes, most plain-text editors (like my favorite, Notepad++) should be able to Save your text as .xml. That should get you all your post-import options.
For more standard outlining, there's also Dave Winer's Fargo online outliner: http://fargo.io. Stores data in Dropbox, so it's always available, and offers collaborative options as well.
Mike McCallister
-----Original Message-----
From: techwr-l-bounces+mike -dot- mccallister=pkware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com [mailto:techwr-l-bounces+mike -dot- mccallister=pkware -dot- com -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com] On Behalf Of Uwe Ziegenhagen
Sent: Friday, February 13, 2015 9:42 AM
To: Andrew Harvie; Technical Writing
Subject: Re: TOC planning tools?
I have two ideas:
* Freemind: It uses a xml-based save file, so you can manually create the single nodes
* Emacs Org-Mode: You can easily create new hierarchies, import is pretty simple since the whole file is text-only. It has great export options as well
Uwe
2015-02-13 15:46 GMT+01:00 Andrew Harvie <withanie -at- gmail -dot- com>:
> G'day all,
>
> I'm looking for a tool, and hoping that one of you will be able
> to recommend one.
>
> My goal is to explore ideas for a reorganization of my table of contents.
> The current hierarchy is functional, but I suspect that it could be better.
>
>
> The work flow that I envision for doing this is to:
> 1) Export the current TOC to a text file.
> 2) Import that into this magic tool that I'm searching for.
> 3) Drag and drop the topics to form new hierarchies.
> 4) Collapse and expand groups to facilitate viewing.
> 5) Flag nodes using colors or symbols.
>
> Mind mapping software is the closest tool that I can think of, but I
> haven't been able to find one that can import a text file to create
> the initial set of nodes. A price of cheap to free would be ideal,
> since this is likely to be a one-time use.
>
> One other relevant detail for this question is that the number of
> topics is "large".
>
> Any suggestions?
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
> Doc-To-Help: The Quickest Way to Author and Publish Online Help,
> Policy & Procedure Guides, eBooks, and more using Microsoft Word |
>http://bit.ly/doctohelp2015
>
> ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
>
> You are currently subscribed to TECHWR-L as ziegenhagen -at- gmail -dot- com -dot-
>
> To unsubscribe send a blank email to
> techwr-l-leave -at- lists -dot- techwr-l -dot- com
>
>
> Send administrative questions to admin -at- techwr-l -dot- com -dot- Visit
>http://www.techwhirl.com/email-discussion-groups/ for more resources
> and info.
>
> Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our
> online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
>
> Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our
> public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
>
--
Dr. Uwe Ziegenhagen
<http://www.uweziegenhagen.de>
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doc-To-Help: The Quickest Way to Author and Publish Online Help, Policy & Procedure Guides, eBooks, and more using Microsoft Word | http://bit.ly/doctohelp2015
Looking for articles on Technical Communications? Head over to our online magazine at http://techwhirl.com
Looking for the archived Techwr-l email discussions? Search our public email archives @ http://techwr-l.com/archives
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Doc-To-Help: The Quickest Way to Author and Publish Online Help, Policy & Procedure Guides, eBooks, and more using Microsoft Word | http://bit.ly/doctohelp2015
