M-x org-mode and just start typing. Hyperlinks are clickable. Add a check lists.

- [ ] Read Hacker News; C-c C-c when complete

- [ ] Write blog

* More readable links

[[http://news.ycombinator.com][Hacker News]]

* Level I

* * Level II -- There are two asterisks with no space.

- [x] Write lesson one.

What I don't get is why it uses multiple asterisks for levels (and an ugly font-lock hack to hide all but the last):

    *    header
    **   second level
    ***  third level
    **** fourth level
    etc.

when it's feasible to set outline-regexp to

    " *[*+.-]"    ; broken out due to HN's formatting

and then just use spaces and asterisks (and dots, pluses, minuses, etc.) directly:

    *    header
     *   second
      *  third
       * fourth

org-mode is really powerful, but does so much that it's hard to learn upfront. I've used Emacs heavily for several years, but never quite gotten into it. I have my own variant (a thin extension to outline-mode), which uses the 10% of org-mode's functionality that I actually care about.

Lines with multiple asterisks mean something different from outlines marked with spaces and asterisks (or hyphens, or numbers). You can only put a TODO, a priority, or a tag on a line with multiple asterisks. The spaces-plus-whatever lines are not meant for top-level tasks, but for little sublists.

I'm inclined to agree that it's a bit unsightly, but the font-lock hack works well enough for me, and I use the distinction in my outlines all the time.

I think that is a legacy of outline mode.

But not an inescapable one!

Haha, I get that part. I guess I don't understand the upside of keeping notes and todo lists on the computer.

I have flat lists of things in text files that I manage with Emacs, but it's stuff I only look at occasionally. I tried using org-mode, but I didn't see the big advantage over text files.

All the right now in-the-moment ideas and todos I write on paper, partly because I like to draw arrows between things.