Nesting: Along similar lines, these apps let you create 'parent' items, each of which can have an unlimited number of 'children' items. These apps-each in their own way-make it easy to visually distinguish outline sections. Visual hierarchy: If you can’t tell the difference between a big idea and a supporting one, an outline loses a lot of its value. These are the features we looked for when choosing apps for this roundup: And you don't need anything fancy to build one-a word processor or plain text writing app could do the job.īut first-rate outlining apps handle the organization of your plan, so you can concentrate on the ideas.

They're lists of ideas and things you want to work on. Outlines are just bullet points with some extra structure. Here are 20 of the best outlining tools to help you scope out your next post, project, or speech. The best outlining tools make it easy to log your ideas, arrange your arguments, and pull everything together into a polished framework. And although you can certainly compose them with good ol’ pen and paper, a specialized app will give you more flexibility to change and reorganize points on the fly.

Mellel table merge cells