My outliner, Zavala, has a new release in beta testing. There are lots of new features and I sure could use some help testing it. zavala.vincode.io/2021/09/2…

@frankm If that ever gets added, it will be a long ways off. It is gets very involved, making an shoebox app work directly with files like a document based app. Some functionality, like linking, would have to be restricted and some added, like document management. It's messy.

@frankm I do understand that people are hesitant about keeping all their data in a proprietary (even an open source one) database. I'll probably add something that allows bulk OPML exports as a backup.

@vincode I am thinkng about more interaction between outlining tools rather than backup. As you probably know, export/import between apps in which you actively edit in both is not the best option. I think Dave is trying to champion an API like approach between his tools and other slike Logseq and Roam, but I don't see whether those developers are interested in playing. Most developers' time is consumed by their apps and interop between becomes lower priority.

@frankm I would love good interop between different outliners, but it probably isn't going to happen. I would be shocked if the big players in this space made it easy for the little players like me to work with their user's data.

The other problem is that we all have different requirements, some of which OPML can't handle (currently). Text formatting, inter-outline linking, embedded images, etc... all need to be added. Getting everyone to agree on it would be challenging.

Maybe Dave's API proposal addresses this? I can't find anything on it. I did a quick internet search and came up empty. Do you have any links you can share?