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looking for Dynalist alternative, for JUST outlining
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Posted by Tiggerlou
Mar 4, 2026 at 01:33 PM
Uhh…nope.
The problem is, I have HUNDREDS of documents, grouped very neatly into a series of nested folders. I’d have to put absolutely every one of those documents underneath one uber header that includes them all. One huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge document, with an infinite series of indents ....indents ....indents, until the bottom line of each document only has room for a few characters, with the text wrapping around into the next line and the next and the next. What a mess!
With a folder pane alongside the documents, I can pop into any one of them instantly. No problem. But if I have to use a word search to find a document that would bring up every single instance where that word was used, instead of the folder title, so I’d have to plow through that tangled mess to find the header / folder I want. That sounds like a massive, totally unnecessary headache.
Nuh-uh.
Posted by Tiggerlou
Mar 4, 2026 at 01:39 PM
And I really don’t care that I can include images, pdfs, etc. I don’t need checkboxes or colors or fancy formatting with hashtags.
I want an outliner that lets me organize a huge amount of plain text, so I can find what I’m looking for easily. Putting all of those separate outlines into one outline? Nope.
Posted by Amontillado
Mar 4, 2026 at 03:59 PM
I looked at Tana a little, but was put off by all the AI.
My dream outliner lets me outline and keep a repository of notes, all integrated together.
You are wise to steer clear of Word’s outline mode. I think the reason it’s there is to serve the self-loathing demographic.
Posted by Cyganet
Mar 4, 2026 at 08:32 PM
Some options to consider:
* Notion allows you to outline and nest pages inside each other (where a page acts as a folder) or create database pages (no outline)
* Logseq is an outliner with separate pages
* Obsidian supports folders and notes, and you can add an outliner plugin since its normal mode is paragraphs
* Capacities has an outliner mode
Posted by Cyganet
Mar 4, 2026 at 08:40 PM
And one more that is literally a plain text outliner: Innovation Dilation’s Indigrid