Opal Help

This is the online help documentation for Opal, from A Sharp.

Opal is the Mac OS X-native successor to Acta, the popular outliner. Acta runs under Classic, and on System 9 and before; Opal brings an Acta-like outliner to Mac OS X (10.4 “Tiger” and later).

Opal is powerful, yet simple. It combines all the essential features of an outliner in a package that’s extraordinarily easy to understand and easy to use. This documentation describes Opal completely. If you don’t know what outlines and outliners are all about, please first read All About Outliners (choose Help > All About Outliners). For a hands-on tutorial introducing all of Opal’s basic features, please first read Introducing Opal (choose Help > Introducing Opal).

Here’s how this documentation is structured:

• Files

  • The kinds of file that Opal can open and save.
  • Tips on printing.

• Windows and Documents

  • Basic window management.
  • Description of an Opal document window.

• Editing

  • Basic facts of topic editing and selection. If you’re going to read only one page of the documentation, this is the one.
  • Information about all other aspects of working with an Opal outline can be accessed from the main Editing page.

• Reference Section

  • Complete list of Opal’s menus.
  • Description of Opal’s preferences.

• Glossary of commonly used terms

• Information on how to purchase and register Opal

About This Help Document:

Navigational aids at the top and bottom of each page show you your place within the documentation.

Hyperlinks guide you instantly to related material.

Or, use the right-pointing arrow at the top right to page through the entire documentation in order, like a book.

The documentation is searchable (using Help Viewer).

For a complete Table of Contents, click here.