SmartOutline is Free-Form Information Management

SmartOutline is professional free-form information management software that allows you to organize, secure, collaborate and work with information in new and innovative ways. SmartOutline operates from a tree-like or Explorer style interface. After adding information to your outline, you can save it to an ".OUT" outline document format. From there, export to many popular office file formats and share with others. You can write notes, add calendar events, reference articles or even annotate any web page using shapes, clip art and text highlighting tools.

Power of Simplicity...
Use SmartOutline as a free-form organizer to work with various sets of related information. Then save the outline to an .OUT format or export to any of the supported export formats. Share your outline with others by email or use collaborative web sites, such as ProjectShare.com, to distribute your outline. Now your information is structured and organized the way you work and naturally easier to work with.

Get the right tool for the job.

Let us be clear! SmartOutline does not replace any of the tools above. Our company still uses word processors for letters, databases for data storage and MS Outlook for email.

However, today's computer users are forging a need for a new type of information management. We call it "Free-Form Information Management" and SmartOutline provides the best application for this need hands down. With SmartOutline, you get all of the basic benefits of free-form information management, plus additional features that yield unlimited possibilities for business solutions. SmartOutline is designed to allow information to be tightly related, randomly input and yet remain database centric for exporting and other application use.

How the SmartOutline Product, Editions and Features are related...

SmartOutline

SmartOutline is designed to store, manage and organize various types of information and export to unlimited common file formats. The next table lists the family of SmartOutline Editions.

SmartOutline Editions

Each edition allows varied levels of operation and ability. To learn more about each edition, select one of the images above or review the compare grid to evaluate editions side-by-side.

SmartOutline Features

Add-ins
Tabbed Notes	Add notes to an outline.
HTML Forms	Uses any HTML page as a data template and collect information without any database programming. This single feature is an invaluable tool within itself. It uses .htm, .html, .mht, .url (yes even remote URL remote pages) file formats and any other internet located web-page. This add-in is truly an exclusive and innovative software concept, a must see! NOTICE: WITH THIS ONE FEATURE ALONE YOU CAN CREATE ENDLESS APPLICATIONS USING HTML FORMS.
Link Library	Add links to any media on the web, including web pages, files, video and audio.
Event Planner	Add calendar style information to your outline.
Checklist	Add task items to the checklist and view percent complete.
Drawing	Add vector based drawings to an outline.
Checklist	Keep track of 'To Do' items.
Interactive Charts	Add charts that are easy use. 2D and 3D interactive views and more...
RSS Manager	Manage news articles in RSS format. Includes 3 world clocks and embedded web browser.
Risk Assessment	Summarize risk visually using risk group and items. Apply risk factors to leverage risk that are weight differently. Neat and simple to use.
Web Browser	Add a Web Browser to your outline and reference web pages
Note: SmartOutline is an open framework and the add-ins above are just a few that are initially included when purchased. This by no means implies the full capabilities of SmartOutline. Many more add-ins may be custom built by any application developer to further extend its application.
Productivity
Create Outlines	Creates a structured, organized view of mixed information types.
Create Outline Templates	Creates an outline that acts as a 'cookie-cutter' for common outline parts.
Merge Copy	Merges outlines by copying the source layout to a specified location on the target outline.
Save Mini Outline	Saves a 'Mini Outline' from the selected items location, including the child items, to create a new outline document.
Save Template	Saves a 'Template Outline' from the items within the outline. A template outline forces items with the outline to act as read-only "cookie cutter" items.
Export	Exports the contents of the outline to a specified file or data format. (see Export Formats)
Change Icons	Changes any icon in the outline to one of many found in the library.
Numbering	Applies numbering to any outline sub-tree.
Insert File	Adds a direct link to any file.
Insert Folder	Adds a direct link to any folder.
Drag & Drop features	Easily drag and drop outline information between other outlines and office applications.
Spell Check	Spell Check with over 250,000 words within any add-in workspace or elements on your outline.
Relate Topics	Create references between outline items
Lock Items	Prevents outline items from being moved or changed.
Sort Items	Alphabetizes outline items.
Bookmark	Creates a marker that may be recalled by menu to open a specified outline item.
Compress Document	Decreases the size of a large outlines.
External Applications	Launchs external applications from your SmartOutline application.
Change Icon Type	Changes the icon representation of the outline item.
Quick Key Access	Popular editing features are accessible via shortcut keys.

Export Formats
Microsoft Excel	Creates a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. (.XLS)
Microsoft Access	Creates a Microsoft Access database. (.MDB)
XML Tree style	Creates an XML file. (.XML)
XML Catalog style	Creates an XML file. (.XML)
Text	Creates a Text file. (.TXT)
Unicode	Creates a Text file. (.TXT)
HTML	Creates an HTML file. (.HTML)
CSV (MS-DOS)	Creates a comma delimited file. (.CSV)
CSV (Macintosh)	Creates a comma delimited file. (.CSV)
Quattro Pro	Creates a Quattro Pro file. (.WQ1)
Lotus 1-2-3	Creates a Lotus 1-2-3 file. (.WK4)
Data Interchange Format	Creates a Data Interchange file. (.DIF)
DBF 2,3,4	Creates a DBase file format. (.DBF)
Symbolic Link	Creates a Symbolic Link file. (.SLK)
Note: SmartOutline is an open framework and the export add-ins above are just a few that are initially included when purchased. This by no means implies the full capabilities of SmartOutline. Many more exports are available for purchase or may be custom built.
Security Features
Document level	Secures the entire outline with user name and password.
Item level	Secures an outline item with user name and password.
By Computer	Add additional security at the document level or outline item level by preventing access by computer. This means the item or document must be opened on the computer that it was originally created.
Apply to child items	Apply any item level security scheme to all child items.

Advanced
Programming Extensibility [Add-in creation]	Use Microsoft Visual Basic, Microsoft Visual C+, Microsoft Visual Basic .NET,C# and other environments that yield Dll or ActiveX technologies to create add-ins for import, export and workspace operations.
Add-in Builder Wizard [Add-in creation]	Creates SmartOutline compatible workspace add-ins from existing Microsoft .Net usercontrols.

The features listed above are common to all editions.
Note: SmartOutline is a flexible framework and inherently adaptable to custom add-ins for any industry.

Is it a database or file and does it matter?

SmartOutline utilizes a smart file storage, recognized by an '.out' extension format similar to your everyday office document. Normally, applications of this type, Personal Information Managers (PIM), store your information in centralized databases. This works great, until you want to travel or send your information to someone else. We wanted your data to be portable and flexible. Because your information is stored in a neat, compact file format, it may be emailed, shared with someone else on the internet, archived and easily managed. This means you can outline many different types of mixed information, save your file for that session and open another file for a different task session. You can even work with multiple outlines at the same time and drag & drop information between them.

How can I use it?

SmartOutline works for you at home and at work. You can put it to work in all sorts of scenarios. Use it at home to store family contacts, create quick databases and more. At work, create structured notes and share them with your entire team. From there, each team member may utilize the outline to generate manuals, functional documents, web structures, presentations, business plans and more. You can do even more with the automation tools, web extensions and other custom add-ins. For more information on how you may best use SmartOutline, see the 'Possibilities' sections for specific details.

Is there more under the hood?

SmartOutline is a open framework that interpolates various applications that import, export and automate to create a tailored experience that is rich and ready for the future. It also has many new features that allow you to use the internet web pages for data storage and mark-ups. SmartOutline easily allows you to secure individual items or the entire outline document.