# Using Outlines

An outline view shows the hierarchical structure of the document as an indented outline. It is easy to restructure the hierarchy of the document in an outline window, by dragging parts of the hierarchy to other parts of the hierarchy.

The outline view does not show any of the links in the document; use maps to explore links.

Outlines are best when you understand the structure of your information, and when it’s easy for you to put everything in its proper place. If you frequently find yourself puzzling over where to put a note, consider working in Map view for a while. You can always reorganize later.

You can have several outline windows open in different tabs or even in different windows, each focusing on different portions of your document.

### The disclosure triangle

A container — a note that contains other notes — appears in an outline view with a small triangle to its left.

When the triangle points down, the outline lists the children of the note. When the triangle points right, the children are hidden. A container which is hiding its children is sometimes said to be collapsed, and a container that displays its children is said to be expanded.

- click the disclosure triangle to expand or collapse the item.

> OR

- with a note selected, ⌥→ expands the item, and ⌥← turns it collapses it.

- choose Expand from the View window to turn the expand the selected item.
- hold down the ⌘ key while you click a disclosure triangle to expand or collapse that item and also all its younger siblings.
- hold down the ⌥ key while you click a triangle to toggle that triangle, and also expand or collapse all the descendants of that note.

### Editing a note title

To edit a note’s title in an outline, simply click and hold the title. After a brief delay, a frame will appear around the title and you may revise the title at you wish. The click-hold delay is the same duration as that used to trigger a file rename in Finder

Several key shortcuts are available when using the in-place note editor:

- Escape (⎋)will cancel editing and restore the previous title.
- Return (↩) will confirm the new title and terminate editing. Press Return a second time to create a new sibling note.

You may also finish editing by:

- clicking on the note’s icon,

OR

- selecting a different note

### Separators

A separator is a horizontal line in the outline view that may be colored and titled like other notes via the Note and Colors menus.

To add a separator:

- choose Create Separator… from the Note menu

> OR

- select any note
- open the Prototype pane of the Document inspector and check Separator.

- The Outline Icon
- Focusing On Notes
- Organizing Notes