Outline Panel

What is the Outline Panel?

The Outline Panel displays a structured, collapsible outline of any Bible book. It gives you a bird's-eye view of where your current passage sits within the larger argument or narrative of the book — an essential tool for expository study that takes context seriously.

As you move between verses in your study, the outline automatically highlights and scrolls to the deepest outline section that contains your active verse, so you always know where you are in the book's structure.

How to use it

1. Add the Outline Panel from the + Add Panel menu in your study workspace.
2. By default it links to your study — it automatically shows the outline for your current study book.
3. Tap any verse in the Study Panel and the outline scrolls to highlight your location in the book.
4. Click any outline row to expand or collapse its sub-sections.
5. Right-click or long-press an outline entry to open that passage in a new Bible panel.

Key features

• Hierarchical outline with up to 4 levels of nesting — major sections, subsections, and sub-points
• Active verse tracking — outline highlights your current location as you study
• Auto-expand — ancestor sections open automatically when your verse is within them
• Smooth scroll — the active outline entry scrolls to the center of the panel
• Book introduction card — shows a summary of the book above the outline tree
• “Lookup book background” button on the intro card — searches the Dictionary panel for the book
• Context menu per entry — open that passage range directly in a new Bible panel
• Expand all / Collapse all button in the panel header

Linked vs. Unlinked mode

The chain icon in the panel header controls whether the outline follows your study or browses independently.

• Linked — the outline always shows the book your study is currently in and tracks your active verse automatically. This is the default.
• Unlinked— a book picker appears so you can browse any book's outline independently without affecting or being affected by your study passage.

Outline structure

Outlines are organized into levels, each displayed with a distinct visual weight:

• Level 1 — Major sections with Roman numerals (I, II, III). Displayed with a divider and the largest text.
• Level 2 — Subsections labeled A, B, C. Indented one step.
• Level 3 — Sub-points numbered 1, 2, 3. Indented two steps.
• Level 4 — Detail points labeled a, b, c. Indented three steps, displayed in italics.

Each entry shows its title and scripture reference range. Expanding a row reveals a brief summary of that section's content.

Settings

Configure Outline Panel defaults at Settings → Outline.

Tips

• Open the Outline Panel at the start of a new study to get your bearings before diving into a passage.
• Use the book introduction card to quickly look up historical and cultural background for the book.
• Right-click an outline entry and open it in a Bible panel to read the full section alongside your passage.
• Unlink the panel to compare the structure of two different books side by side using two Outline panels.
• Font size and theme can be overridden per-panel using the controls in the panel header.