traverse icon Traverse | OPML Outliner for macOS Price: Traverse Lifetime: $17.99. Annual Subscription: $9.99. Monthly Subscription: 0.99 TL;DR:: Traverse is a competent outliner which deals in OPML, Markdown and Fountain files. It is well-designed with a column view which is addictive. OPML All The Way Traverse saves its files in the OPML format. “OPML (Outline Processor Markup Language) is an XML format for outlines (defined as”a tree, where each node contains a set of named attributes with string values”). Originally developed by UserLand Software as a native file format for the outliner application in its Radio UserLand product, it has since been adopted for other uses, the most common being to exchange lists of web feeds between web feed aggregators.”[^https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML] What that means to the user is “no lock in.” Every outliner in the market place should be able to open and work with OPML files and most do. OmniOutliner, Kosshi, Bike, and Opal are all able to work with OPML files. If at any point, you stop using Traverse, you can use a different outlining program and you have complete access to the files produced by Traverse. An Unique Outliner traverse Traverse is unique in the marketplace. It has a mix of features which are not shared by any outliner in the marketplace. These are some of the ways in which Traverse is different: It gives you four views into the same outline. There is a regular outline view. This is the one most outlining programs have implemented. There is a Writer view, where those coming from a text editor background will find most familiar. Columns Auto view, which is what the users of the outliner Tree (this seems to have disappeared from both the Apple store and the Internet), might be used to. A variation of that is the Columns Manual view. Four views into the same outline. What that means for the user is that depending on the kind of outline you are making, or the kind of writing you are doing, you have the right environment for the task. I am writing this review in the Writer view. Traverse does not have its own file format. It saves everything in the OPML format. That is an industry-standard format for outlines and easily dealt with by other outlining programs. It incorporates a whole system of templates and snippets. Templates to start a new document with a predetermined structure which you have defined. Snippets to add a proven piece of structure to sections in your documents. Traverse imports, writes and exports Fountain, the screen-writing format. I don’t know any other outliner which does that. Preferences Traverse is being worked on at a rapid pace and the screenshots might be out of date as the developer tweaks the product. This is a general idea of what preferences you can set for Traverse. traverse appearance This is the way you can customize the look of the program. It doesn’t have themes but it does have a light and dark mode. The only problem I have with it is the font size. Why 20 point? Why not give the user the ability to set an actual font size. traverse writing There is a nice formatting toolbar when you select text. These are my settings. You can change them to suit your way of working. traverse keyboard I am fond of this panel. I have years of experience with outliners, which means that my fingers have memory. Traverse gives me the ability to customize all of the keyboard commands to suit my muscle memory. This makes it easier to adopt a new application in this category. traverse new outlines You can set some options for new outlines you create. I like Writer view. There are some other properties you can set. traverse ai For those of you interested, there is a link to Apple Intelligence. I have it turned off. traverse export You get to control export functions in Traverse. I deal with Markdown Documents from Traverse. That is the panel I am showing in this screenshot. traverse library traverse library iCloud You get to choose where you put your outlines and there is iCloud integration, if you need that. Imports and Exports traverse imports Traverse imports OPML, iThoughts, Tree, Plain Text, Markdown and Fountain files. traverse exports It exports OPML, Markdown List, Markdown Documents, Fountain (I have that turned off), CSV, and the current view as PDF. Also lets you stream the content to Marked. Using Traverse Traverse comes across as a simple outliner, but there is power hidden under that façade. It does a good job of providing you with as much complexity as you want to endure. It is fast, and fairly stable. The developer, Stuart Marshall, is responsive and quick to respond to both bug fixes and feature requests. I have been enjoying the Writer view and the outline view of the application. It supports typewriter scrolling (thank you). The Competition Suddenly we have choices in the outliner category in the macOS space. OmniOutliner, Zavala, Kosshi, Bike, and now Traverse are all playing in this space. Zavala is distinguished by being free. OmniOutliner is expensive but the standard in this category. Kosshi is simple, and capable. Bike is fairly mature and working towards the next version. Traverse sits somewhere in the middle of this spectrum. It does some things which no one else does and that is what makes it special. For me, the outlining category is now served by Org-mode in Emacs. If I want to get away from Emacs and need a change of scenery, I find myself reaching for Kosshi. The urge to go write somewhere else is usually triggered by me temporarily not wanting to deal with the complexity of Emacs. Kosshi fits the bill for that retreat. It is simple and responsive. I am comfortable there. I can see spending time with Traverse and getting comfortable there too. It is well-designed software. Suggested Improvements More typographic controls would be welcome. Spaces between lines and paragraphs would enhance the writing experience. Please let us set the font size ourselves. Conclusion If you haven’t tried out an outliner and are looking for a comprehensive, well-designed solution, Traverse will not disappoint. If you are missing the tree view of Tree (the disappeared outliner), Traverse is the only available alternative. I recommend Traverse wholeheartedly. Resources Help Center Category Traverse posts | Shaking the Habitual Writing Screenplays with Fountain in Traverse | Shaking the Habitual macosxguru at the gmail thingie. Note: The developer provided a promo code for the program when I asked for one. [^1: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/OPML]