Outlines and headings

A paper is easier to write when its structure is in place first. In Papero, the structure is your headings, and each section can carry a short prompt that says what it should cover. This page shows how to build and change it.

On a Mac, read ⌘ wherever this page says Ctrl, and ⌥ (Option) for Alt.

Headings in a Papero document

The title at the top of the page is the document's title. Inside the text you use three heading levels:

• Heading 2 starts a main section, such as Methods or Results.
• Heading 3 starts a subsection inside a main section.
• Heading 4 is a smaller heading inside a subsection.

To make a heading, pick it in Text style on the toolbar, type ##, ### or #### and a space at the start of a line, or press Ctrl+Alt+2, Ctrl+Alt+3 or Ctrl+Alt+4. To change the level later, use Turn into in the block menu. See The editor and Keyboard shortcuts.

A Heading 2 or 3 with no text before the next one shows in a lighter colour, so you can see which sections still need writing. A section without subsections also shows Empty section. Write here or generate a draft. where its text will go.

Start from an outline

When you create a document, Outline in Document settings on What are you writing? decides how it starts:

• From my description: Papero's AI writes main sections, with subsections where they help, that fit your topic. Each heading comes with a short prompt.
• Standard sections: four main sections, Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion, each with a prompt that lists what usually goes in it.
• No headings: a blank page.

The full walk-through is in Write your first document. Once the outline is in the document, it is ordinary text: rename a heading by typing over it, delete one you do not need, or add your own.

Add suggested headings to a document

If your document is missing sections, Papero can propose the ones it lacks.

1. Press Document options (the three dots at the top right) and choose Suggest headings….
2. Press Suggest headings. Papero reads the title, the document prompt and the existing headings, and shows Finding headings for your document… while it works.
3. Read the list under Suggested headings. Each heading comes with the prompt Papero would give it.
4. Press Add to the end to add them, with their prompts, at the end of the document. Press Cancel to add nothing.

Nothing changes until you press Add to the end. Each request uses one AI outline from your allowance. If the document has neither a title nor a document prompt, Papero asks for one first, so it knows what the paper is about. If your document already has those sections, Papero says so.

After adding them, move a heading with the grip in the left margin, or with Ctrl+Alt+↑ and Ctrl+Alt+↓.

The prompts panel

On a wider screen, the prompts panel sits to the left of the page. It holds two kinds of prompt.

Document prompt is the brief for the whole paper. It starts as the description you wrote under What are you writing?. Press Document prompt at the top of the panel to read or edit it.

Section prompts lists your Heading 2 and Heading 3 sections. The panel follows your cursor:

• The section your cursor is in opens. It shows a prompt box that asks What should this section cover?, and the buttons Generate draft, with the drafts you have left under it, and Find papers.
• The other sections are listed by name. Click one to jump to it.
• While the panel is open and your cursor is in a section, the rest of the document is dimmed, so you can focus on one part.

Find papers opens the citation search for that section, ready to cite at the end of its text. See Cite as you write.

To close the panel, press Hide prompts panel. A rail then marks each section beside the page. On a wide screen it shows the section names; on a narrower one, point at it to see them. Click a section to jump to it, or press Show prompts panel to open the panel again.

If a document has a very long outline, Papero keeps prompts and drafts for its first sections only. A later heading's box then says so instead of offering a prompt.

What the prompts do

Prompts are notes for Papero, not part of your text. Papero reads them when it:

• suggests the next sentence as you type (see Autocomplete);
• drafts a section (see Draft a section);
• refines a suggestion with Stay on topic;
• suggests headings, as above.

A good section prompt names what the section must cover in a few short lines. For example, the Methods prompt in Standard sections asks for the design, participants or materials, the procedure and measures, and how the data were analysed.

Add a table of contents

Type / and choose Table of contents to add a list of your headings, from Heading 2 to Heading 4. It updates by itself as you write, and you can click an entry to jump to that heading.

For outline ideas for an essay, see the essay outline use case.