| 2013-09-21 10:42:23 |
DavidM |
description |
First of all, I want to make clear that this idea may be far outside the scope of Zim and thus be utterly rejected.
Ok, what I would like is the option (probably not default: a plugin) to use outlining functions in Zim. An outliner is defined as a text editor to work with structured text, organised in a hierarchy. Zim has hierarchy: headlines and lists. So the functions I would like are:
-First and most important: expand and collapse hierarchical elements. There are two kinds of elements that could be expanded/collapsed. The first is content under a headline, until the next headline of equal or higher level. The second are lists. Both elements can have sub-elements of lower level (lower headlines, indented lists inside a list) that should be collapsible themselves. The collapse interface could be a button/icon (next to the headline or list, maybe visible on hover), or simply a key+mouse button. When collapsed, the headline would remain with some indication of collapsed contents (an icon); it would be a bit more complicated with lists (a few words from the first list item, a generic collapsed list indicator...).
-Second and less important (and probably a lot more complicated): reorder blocks. Each hierarchical element could be selected as a whole (not through text selection), including sub-elements, and be moved around, changing its place and its level within the structure (with the system caring about changing sub-headings, list indent).
Little Outliner (http://littleoutliner.com/) is an example of the behaviour I would like to see (although I don't like every UI detail).
I know some of this is implemented in the TOC plugin, but that only works with headlines, not lists. I use Zim to structure subjects in long documents, which amounts to lists with 8 levels of indentation, very difficult to manage without collapsing.
Thanks for considering! |
First of all, I want to make clear that this idea may be far outside the scope of Zim and thus be utterly rejected.
Ok, what I would like is the option (probably not default: a plugin) to use outlining functions in Zim. An outliner is defined as a text editor to work with structured text, organised in a hierarchy. Zim has hierarchy: headlines and lists. So the functions I would like are:
-First and most important: expand and collapse hierarchical elements. There are two kinds of elements that could be expanded/collapsed. The first is content under a headline, until the next headline of equal or higher level. The second are lists. Both elements can have sub-elements of lower level (lower headlines, indented lists inside a list) that should be collapsible themselves. The collapse interface could be a button/icon (next to the headline or list, maybe visible on hover), or simply a key+mouse button. When collapsed, the headline would remain with some indication of collapsed contents (an icon); it would be a bit more complicated with lists (a few words from the first list item, a generic collapsed list indicator...).
-Second and less important (and probably a lot more complicated): reorder blocks. Each hierarchical element could be selected as a whole (not through text selection), including sub-elements, and be moved around, changing its place and its level within the structure (with the system caring about changing sub-headings, list indent).
Little Outliner (http://littleoutliner.com/) is an example of the behaviour I would like to see (although I don't like every UI detail).
I know some of this is implemented in the TOC plugin, but that only works with headlines, not lists. I use Zim to structure subjects in long documents, which amounts to lists with 8 levels of indentation, very difficult to manage without collapsing.
Thanks for considering! |
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