The Outliner

The outliner is the left sidebar in Manuscript Mode. It shows your book's chapters and scenes, lets you arrange them, and takes you straight to your writing.

Structure

• Book: The book-icon row at the top. Click it to show all chapters in the writing area.
• Groups (Parts / Acts): Optional folders for chapters. The small badge beside a group name counts its chapters.
• Chapters: Filled page icons have writing; hollow page icons are empty.
• Scenes: Appear inside an expanded chapter when it has more than one scene.

Navigation

Click a chapter or scene to open it. The selected row is highlighted. Use a chapter's arrow to show or hide scenes. Use a group's arrow or name to expand or collapse it.

Drag & Drop

Hover over a chapter, scene, or group and drag its six-dot grip:

• Chapters can move within, between, or outside groups.
• Groups can be reordered among other groups and top-level chapters.
• Scenes can move within or between chapters.

A colored line or highlight previews the landing spot. Hold a chapter over the center of a collapsed group to open it. If the drop is wrong, simply drag the item again.

Right-Click Menus

Right-click (or Ctrl+click on Mac) any chapter, scene, or group to see its menu.

Chapter Menu

• Open in Minipen: Shows the chapter in the reference sidebar.
• Rename: Edits the chapter title in the outliner.
• View Chapter Drafts: Saves the whole chapter or compares a saved draft with current writing. It remains available for chapters with several scenes. Use Scene Drafts on a scene row for that scene alone.
• Insert Chapter Before / After: Opens the chapter dialog near this chapter. Confirm Before or After there. The new chapter inherits this chapter's group.
• Move Earlier / Move Later: Moves one place. A direction is grayed out at that end of the book.
• New Scene: Adds a scene at this chapter's end.
• Numbered Chapter: Shows this chapter's number only when Show chapter numbers under the toolbar's Settings is also on. The number appears above the title.
• Show Chapter Header: Shows or hides the number, title, and subtitle without changing the writing. Use it to restore a header hidden from the writing area.
• Merge with Chapter 4: Joins this chapter into the one above and keeps both chapters' writing. It appears only when a previous chapter exists and names that chapter by visible number or title. Penpoint confirms first; chapter merges cannot be undone.
• Create Group / Add to Group / Remove from Group: Shows the grouping choices that apply. Create Group appears only for a chapter outside a group.
• Change Status: Mark the chapter as Draft, Revised, Polished, or Final. These are organizational labels and do not change your writing.
• Change Color: Adds a small color square to the row.
• Scan Chapter for Content: Finds character, location, item, and tag names. You choose which suggestions to add, and scanning never changes your prose. It is grayed out for an empty chapter.
• Delete Chapter: Permanently removes the chapter and all its scenes after confirmation. Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) cannot restore them. The confirmation optionally offers Back Up + Delete, which saves a snapshot of the current Book's manuscript before deletion.

When Back Up + Delete succeeds, its copy appears in the Versions window as a read-only snapshot, not a one-click undo. See Manuscript Snapshots for how to open it.

Scene Menu

• Open in Minipen: Opens the reference sidebar directly to this scene.
• Rename: Changes the scene title.
• Scene Drafts: Saves this scene or compares a saved draft with current writing.
• New Scene: Adds a scene directly after this one.
• Merge with scene above: After confirmation, combines both scenes' writing. Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) can undo it until you open another chapter, switch between scene, chapter, and book views, or move a scene. Any of those actions makes it permanent. Undo restores the separated writing, name, color, status, characters, locations, items, tags, field data, and saved drafts. Chapter merges cannot be undone.
• Change Status: Applies Draft, Revised, Polished, or Final as an organizational label without changing prose.
• Change Color: Adds a small color square to the row.
• Delete Scene: Permanently removes its writing, notes, field data, saved drafts, character, location, item, and tag assignments, and story and character arc links. Penpoint confirms first. Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) cannot restore them.

Once you open a saved draft in its read-only viewer, see Comparing Your Manuscript Drafts to learn how to read the comparison without restoring anything.

Group Menu

• Rename Group: Changes the group name.
• Delete Group: Immediately removes the folder without confirmation. Its chapters move outside in their current order, and their writing stays safe. Ctrl+Z (Cmd+Z on Mac) cannot restore the group.

Adding Chapters, Scenes & Groups

Click + for New Chapter, New Group, or New Scene when a chapter is selected. A new chapter starts near the selected chapter, or at the end when none is selected. Confirm its position in the dialog.

Word Counts

Click the gear icon at the top of the outliner and check Show word counts for counts on chapter, scene, and group rows. A chapter totals its scenes. A group total sits at the far right, separate from its chapter-count badge.

Counts refresh after writing saves, so they may settle after the editor's count. Long titles can wrap to a second line while counts show.

This setting applies to all books and persists between sessions.

Renaming

Double-click a chapter, scene, or group name to edit it inline. You can also use Rename or Rename Group from its menu.

Collapsing the Outliner

Use the top collapse button for more writing room, then the expand button to return. Penpoint remembers the choice between sessions.