Exporting and importing outlines with inline notes

Posted by Dr Andus
Apr 22, 2013 at 04:31 PM

What is the best format to export and import an outline with inline notes between different outliners?

Recently I had started moving more data around and I realised that it is less then straightforward. I assumed that OPML could handle this but I have not been able to move outlines with inline notes successfully. Either the inline notes get lost, or the hierarchy gets destroyed (truncated).

Most recently I wanted to get an outline with inline notes out of Freeplane, ideally into another single-pane outliner that can have inline notes. I have tried all kinds of different combinations of two-pane vs. single-pane outliners with or without inline notes, and the only thing that produced an acceptable result was a direct copy and paste from Freeplane to MS Word. Not what I had in mind…

Can OPML even handle inline notes?

The different combinations of outliners I tried this time were TKoutline, Bonsai, Noteliner, OPML editor, Scrivener, Outline 4D, Noteliner, and Word. Some can take OPML, others RTF, others only TXT. What I’m hoping for is a single-pane outliner with inline notes that would recognise both the hierarchy and the notes (so I can hide them when not needed).

Any suggestions for a format or outliner that would allow me a decent import of a Freeplane .MM file (with notes)?