Microsoft Word has a nice outlining tool built in

Sometimes when I’m writing code, I need to check a tree of function calls. It can be tricky to remember which nodes I’ve checked and which I still need to check. Tracking my progress on paper or in a text editor doesn’t work very well. Sometimes I would use a diagramming tool (bubbl.us) to build out the tree, but it’s cumbersome.

It turns out that Microsoft Word has a great outlining tool built in. You can add sibling and child nodes very quickly (by pressing Enter or Tab). And you can easily cross out items that are done.

I’m a fan.