Changelog

New updates and improvements to Outline.
Follow us on twitter to find out when features are released.

Document sharing and permissions

Document permissions

This week brings user management to the document level. Previously all permissions were managed on Collections, but now you are able to share individual documents with specific people to view or edit. This is great for sharing private notes or drafts with a small group of people.

We also gave the sharing interface a new look and a lot more clarity over who has access to the document and what level of access they have.

To get started, simply click the Share button in the document header or check out the sharing documentation for more details.

AI answers

AI answers

One of the biggest problems with a team knowledge base is that it can be difficult to find the information you need amongst hundreds or thousands of documents. Even with great search it can be hard to know the exact phrasing to use to find the right document.

Now we've built a new feature that allows you to get direct answers to questions from your knowledge base simply by asking them in the search or command menu! Answers are dynamically generated based on the documents you have permission to access.

To get started, any workspace admin can enable the feature under Settings -> Features -> Ai Answers. Find out more information in the documentation, and let us know what you think!

Improved PDF exports

We've made some great improvements to the way that document exports are constructed this week. These changes allow Mermaid diagrams and rich embeds to be rendered correctly in HTML and PDF exports going forward, other formatting was also improved to make these look even nicer.

Other fixes and improvements

  • Embedded videos now display correctly when viewing a documents history
  • Emoji's in templates are now applied correctly
  • Mobile now has a "Share" option in the document menu
  • Todo items in editor can now be toggled with Cmd+Enter (Ctrl+Enter on Windows)
  • When copying a document you can now choose whether to include child documents
  • Added support for Instagram and LinkedIn embeds

Commenting in code

Commenting in code blocks

Outline now supports commenting on text inside of code blocks, this is particularly useful – as we all know that naming things is the hardest part of coding and now you can discuss the best name for that variable right inside of the code block.

Embedded videos

You can now upload videos and embed a player directly into any Outline document. Just like images, we also added the ability to resize the video to fit and write a custom caption.

To embed a video simply drag and drop into the document, or find the "Video" option in the block menu. For more information checkout our guide to inserting blocks on Outline.

Embedded videos

Find and replace

Outline find and replace

It's now possible to find and replace text in the document editor in both the web and desktop apps. You can access the find and replace dialog by using Cmd + f, or Ctrl + f on Windows.

The find and replace dialog supports both regular expressions and case sensitivity as well.

Link hover previews

Outline link previews

This week brings the addition of hover previews, you can now see the details of internal documents, mentioned users, and external links when hovering over them in the editor. We have built the system to be extensible so that previews of authenticated integrations (think GitHub, Linear, etc) can be added in the near future too.

Hover over any link in a document or comment to see the new functionality.

Improved code blocks and Mermaid diagrams

Code block

Code blocks have received a visual refresh and are now easier to use. Code highlighting was updated to look much better in dark mode and tons of extra languages were added in the last month.

Mermaid diagrams are now rendered in realtime as you type and also received the same visual improvements as code blocks.

In app notifications

Building on last months release of comments, this month brings in-app notifications support so you can quickly catch up on what's happening in your workspace and jump straight to the relevant document.

Collection admins

We also added the ability to make members admins in specific collections, this new role allows members to manage the collection details, including adding and removing other workspace members.

Regular collection membership no longer allows members to manage the collection – see the documentation for more detail on permissions.

Go to documentation →

Commenting

Outline comments

It's been a long time coming – commenting is finally available in Outline, opening up a whole new world of use cases and collaboration! While we iron out the kinks it's disabled by default, but you can enable the feature for your team in Settings -> Features -> Commenting.

Once enabled you'll see a new comments sidebar become available. You can add comments to any document or to a specific text selection, we also support threaded replies, notifications, @mentions, basic formatting and images in comments.

We're eager to hear your feedback, please let us know what you think.

Windows Desktop App

Outline for Windows

The new desktop app is a Windows application that allows you to access your Outline cloud workspaces from your desktop launcher. It is a great way to quickly access documents in multiple windows without having to clutter up your browser tabs.

Mac user? We already have an app for you – check out the macOS app.

Download Now

Custom Theming

Custom theming

This week brings support for the beginnings of custom theming. You can now change the accent color for your team to match your own brand which will be reflected throughout the UI.

Other fixes and improvements

  • Escape now defocuses the editor when typing
  • When selecting text and opening the link menu matching documents will now immediately be shown.
  • Fixed an issue where it was not possible to tab and scroll on images on mobile
  • It's now possible to upload multiple files at once from the block menu

JSON Import / Export

Outline export options

Outline now supports importing and exporting documents in JSON format. This is useful for migrating data between Outline instances, or for backing up your data in a format that retains more information than a lossy Markdown export.

We also recently added HTML export, which can be used for archiving your data in a format that can be viewed directly in a browser.

Other fixes and improvements

  • When we send an email for document changes that includes a modified table only the portion of the table that has changed is now included in the email
  • Users with "viewer" permission can now subscribe to document changes
  • Fixed an error that could prevent login with Microsoft if signed into multiple Microsoft accounts
  • Drag and drop in the sidebar got a little smoother
  • Links with strikethrough now work with the hover preview
  • Added snytax highlighting for Visual Basic

A new publishing flow

Publish a document

We've made some improvements to the publishing flow in Outline – you can now create a document without worrying about where to store it first.

Before this update, you had to choose the location for a document before creating it, which could be frustrating for those who wanted to create a note quickly and worry about organizing it later. With the new publishing flow, you can create a document first and then choose where it will live in your knowledge base.

Other fixes and improvements

  • We no longer show a Print option in browsers without a printer
  • Avatars will now fallback to showing colored initials when offline
  • Full width images in the editor are now aligned correctly in RTL docs
  • We improved pasting of tables from desktop software such as Office and Numbers
  • Fixed a bug where text in revision history was unreadable in dark mode
  • Fixed a bug where pipe characters inside tables were not rendered correctly

Google Analytics Integration

All workspaces now have access to a new Google Analytics 4 integration, by adding your own Measurement ID it will be embedded in all public and team documents in your workspace allowing your team to measure views and activity across the knowledge base.

To use the integration you will first need to create a new GA4 property in your Google Analytics account, then copy the Measurement ID to the settings page in Outline at Integrations -> Google Analytics.

New Images Layout

Outline full bleed image

This week brings an additional layout option for images on Outline. You can now choose the "full-width" option to extend images to the edges of the page past the text content.

This works particularly well for wide pictures and photos, such as banners and headings across a documnt and for larger images with a white background where they can fill up more of screen by default.

The new layout is available by selecting an image and then choosing the "full-width" option in the toolbar that appears.

PDF & HTML export

PDF export in Outline

We are pleased to announce a new feature that allows you to export your documents in PDF and HTML format. This is a useful and much requested addition for anyone who needs to share their work with others but not publish documents on the public internet. PDFs are widely accepted and easily readable on any device.

You can access the functionality from any document menu, then select Download -> PDF, the file generation process will take a few seconds depending on the size of the doc and the number of embedded images.

macOS Desktop App

macOS Desktop App

The new desktop app is a macOS application that allows you to access your Outline cloud workspaces from your Mac's dock. It is a great way to quickly access documents in multiple windows without having to clutter up your browser tabs. Oh, and a Windows app is coming soon!

Download Now

Search improvements

This week brings a number of improvements to search results in the app and Slack integration.

You can now use "phrase search" to find documents that contain an exact phrase, -negative keywords to exclude results, and partial matching with the *wildcard operators.

Resizable images

Resizing images in Outline

It is now possible to resize images in Outline. This is a feature that has been requested for a long time and we're excited to finally ship another foundational feature.

When editing simply drag the handles on the image to change the size. Images snap to a grid to help in alignment.

Code block line numbers

Code block line numbers

Code blocks in documents are now displayed with dynamic line numbers by default, if you prefer they can be disabled through a new setting found in user preferences.

Multiple workspaces

We're excited to announce that you can now create multiple workspaces to support different departments, or organizations with the same SSO login methods.

Workspaces are currently billed and managed separately and are available in the workspace switcher in the top left of the app or through the command menu.

New Outline workspace

Visualizing document history

From today we're now able to display a rich "diff" of what has changed in a document since it was last edited. You'll see this view in email notifications and when navigating through the document history sidebar…

Tip: You can quickly open the history sidebar by clicking on the last edited timestamp.

Outline email notification

Upgradable viewers

Since the launch of viewer permissions we've heard requests for a need for increased flexibility. As of today it's now possible to upgrade the permissions of workspace viewers in individual collections.

Simply add the viewer member to a collection and change their permission to "View and edit" the same as you might a regular member.