Best Free Outliner
Outliners occupy a unique niche among computer users. Many people see no benefit from them while others consider them an essential piece of software. If you are among the group that loves them, then you should check out Keynote, a freeware program with a dedicated band of followers. While most software designers like to use the term user friendly, in this case it really applies. This is one of the few software programs that you can install and start using right away.
What do you do with KeyNote? Well to quote the web site “KeyNote is used by screenwriters to draft screenplays, by medical doctors to keep patient databases, by developers to store source code snippets - and to everyone it serves as a place to put all the random pieces of information that have no particular structure or relationship to other data, and do not fit easily in task-specific applications such as word-processors, databases or spreadsheets.” Unfortunately the program is no longer being developed but remains popular in its current release.
If it is a problem for you that it is no longer under development then you might want to consider NeoMem as an alternative. It's not really a dedicated outliner but is rather more of a general purpose note taking program that can be used as an outliner. It's a kind of hybrid of a database and word processor that's designed to allow you to organize, store, hyperlink and search information. That bland description totally under-sells the product. It's one of those programs that you really need to use in order to understand its full potential. It works with all Windows versions so try it.
Another possibility is FreeMind It's an Open Source "mind mapping" program written in Java that can serve as an outliner as well. Functionally it's closer to Keynote than NeoMem. It's slower than Keynote but is more powerful for mapping complex relationships.
ZuluPad is another program that is not really an outliner but rather a cross between a note-taking program and a wiki. Its strong card is the ease with which you can create a set of linked and cross linked documents. In its current release it is lacking in features when compared to other products but this is more than compensated by its high level of usability
KeyNote
Website: http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html
Download Link: http://www.tranglos.com/free/index.html
Author: Tranglos Software
Current Version: 1.6.5
Version Date: Last update Nov 12, 2003
Download file size: 1.7 MB
License: Mozilla Public License (Free)
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98/Me/2000/NT/XP
Additional Software Required: Windows 98 users may need to install version 4.01 of Microsoft common controls
64 Bit Version Available: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: None
Other Relevant Information:
NeoMem
Website: http://www.neomem.org/
Download Link: http://www.neomem.org
Author: Neomem
Current Version: 1.2b
Version Date: Last update Mar 1, 2006
Download Size: 680 KB
License: Free MIT X11 License
Operating Systems Supported: Windows 98/Me/NT/2000/XP
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Version Available: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: None
Other Relevant Information: None
FreeMind
Website: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Main_Page
Download Link: http://freemind.sourceforge.net/wiki/index.php/Download
Author: Sourceforge Project
Current Version: 0.8.0
Version Date:
Download Size: 3 MB basic version, 8 MB complete version
License: Free, Open Source
Operating Systems Supported: Windows, Linux, Mac OSX and any system with Java installed
Additional Software Required: Java
64 Bit Version Available: No
Portable Version Available: No
Non-English languages supported: None
Other Relevant Information:
Zulupad
Website: http://www.gersic.com/zulupad/
Download Link: http://www.gersic.com/zulupad/download.html
Author: Gersic
Current Version: 0.42
Version Date: unknown
Download Size: 1.6 MB
License: Free, Open Source
Operating Systems Supported: Windows ME/XP/2003, Mac OS X
Additional Software Required: None
64 Bit Version Available: No
Portable Version Available: Unknown
Non-English Languages supported: Unknown
Other Relevant Information: You can upgrade to 1.0 with additional features for $15
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No one seems to know about it, but I own no fewer than six outliners (sometimes referred to as PIMs) including Treepad X Enterprise and I have tried almost everything on the market and, in my less than humble opinion, the BEST, most comprehensive, free outliner is TreeDBNotes. It is so good and so packed with options that I feel guilty not paying for it. Check it out here: http://www.mytreedb.com/treedbnotes_free.html
I still haven't found my ultimate outliner - it should have the wiki orientation of wikidpad with strong emphasis on linking, tabs, etc but a full featured editor like the other outliners.
I'm using The Guide for a while now -- http://theguide.sourceforge.net/ -- and it's been quite a neat experience so far. It's fast and lean, and works off the USB stick. Open source.
I used Keynote for a number of years. Due to certain limitations, I searched around and decided to use NeoMem. It was good but after using it for at least a year, I did not find it satisfactory. More searching and trying various alternatives. I finally decided to use The Guide. I have been happily using for > 1 yr and version 2 beta1 is very fine. I keep thoughts, ideas, info, notes .... in there. It is a simple, flexible and great software.
One great outliner is The Guide
https://sourceforge.net/projects/theguide/?abmode=1
Total Text is a similar program to Neomem (freeform database, opensource, portable), more info here.
I'm a big believer in MaxThink (http://www.maxthink.org/indexhtm.htm) although not everyone likes the way it works. I'm also fond of NeoMem, which is free and works quite well.
Here are two links that will point you towards pretty much everything that's out there.
Good all-around article with numerous external links to applications can be found at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliner
And the wonderfully titled "Outliners and Mind Map Software: A Really Thorough, Annotated List" with links can be found at:
http://psychinnovations.com/psych/node/37
Hi Harold,
Would you prefer zulupad over wikidpad? If so, please tell us why. I have tried wikidpad and liked it much. But, I have not try zulupad.
TIA
I do prefer zulupad pro over the wikipad. This is a personal preference and a lot of people do prefer Wikipad. The only reason for the preference for me is because Zulupad creates the links automatically. Whatever you name your WikiPage is automatically linked to every other occurrence of that word(s) in all other pages. In all the others you have to type in some sort of syntax to get it to link.
This has it's advantages and disadvantages. You have to think ahead about what you want to name each page. I became sold based on that because I often use it in a quick-and-dirty note taking situation. On the other hand I needed the ability to add graphics, webpages, etc. As a result I had to upgrade to the Pro version.
What I would really like, but none provide is the ability to have this automatic linking combined with the ability to hand code a link if I wanted. Sometimes I want to include a spelling variation or similar and this flexibility means Wikipad or similar.
I guess the bottom line is that I am lazy and find that this automatic linking makes sure that no matter how many pages I have all the links are done without my having to find each one and them add the code for the link. With each complete subject in its own file this works for me.
On the other hand if you want to organize several subjects or need a more complex organization with multiple folders, categories, etc. then zulupad is the worst choice for you and wikipad is the one you want.
Zulupad is too damn basic. Neomem gives you the ability to import and export one article at a time, but only in *.txt and *.csv format. Treepad lite has the same problem, altough you can import/export the hole tree or selected nodes or articles; it as very limited support for *.html. Wikipad as complete support for *.hmtl, but you cannot choose fonts, or even format your text. Nice program though, but still under development. Both Keynote and Treedbnotes overcome these features, they both allow you to import and export multiple files at a time, and you can choose between several formats. Treedbnotes has even more features than Keynote, but personally I find it's GUI awfull no matter the theme you choose, it could be less cluttered and much better organized; it is also the program I tested with the largest installer and the one which consumes more resources (30 MB with an empty DB). I also think this is not true freeware, but nagware since you have to scroll through shareware functions to find the freeware functions: this is annoying. It as an excellent output though. With that said, I choose Keynote, that even though it's no longer being developed, doesn't represent any security risk, acording to the Secunia DB.
From Lisbon-Portugal,
Francisco
I like KeyNote, but it freezes at times, especially when I try to copy and paste a rather long notes. I tried Neomem, but its toolbar lacks some of the features I find in Keynote.
Fortunately, after months of searching, I found Treedbnotes free version. It functions just like KeyNote, but with a much nicer skin. And it can import KeyNote file that I have built up with ease.
http://www.mytreedb.com/treedbnotes_free.html
KeyNote (which I have used for many years) is a superb tool, but not without problems. I have found that with a large database the search facility breaks, and so I have moved to the commercial version of TreePad. Unfortunately it does not support tabs though.
TreePad Lite is an excellent freeware tool for simple text notes.
Also remember that the PIM EssentialPIM includes a tree outliner with good import facilities in the free version, although the search is simple and slow.
Wikidpad compares to TreePad in my opinion. And it's free, while the equivalent free version of TreePad doesn't compare feature-wise to Wikidpad.
None of these programs can be compared with TreePad.
+1 for WikidPad (from an old KeyNote user :-) )
I think this page is missing a great utility called Wikidpad. I used to use Zulupad, and anyone who likes Zulupad will LOVE Wikidpad. This is a full wiki in personal form. It's still being developed, and has several add-ins. I was thinking of using a a regular wiki to organize my notes, but Wikidpad is not internet dependent and is therefore faster. The new version also can have multiple tabs open at the same time. There's also an ability to export into html. In my opinion, this is the best note-taking/outlining utility around.
Only recently I started using Wikidpad, but I already like it. So, like you I wonder why Harold has not include it in his selection. Harold, can you please respond to our remarks? Thank you in advance.
I highly recommend KeyNote. I love how with a quick hot key (CTRL + Shift + F12) I can jot down notes in a "three dimensional" outline. I have installed it on every computer I use. Even though the author doesn't update the software, it is very feature rich. Maybe someone could convince the author to make the project open source.
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