How to operate SEO Note

If you have used Notepad or Word, SEO Note will feel smaller — and that is intentional. You do not chase dozens of files for one project. You pick a note in the tree on the left; its article opens in the editor on the right. Structure is the interface.

SEO Note is a free Windows tree outliner / notes manager. One local file can hold many nested articles in text, rich text, or HTML. No mandatory cloud account. It shines for private archives and offline work; it is not a live collab wiki or a phone-first app.

Core loop

1 Select a note in the tree

2 Read or edit in the right pane

3 Add children, drag, rename as needed

4 Save the document

Using the tree structure

The tree is a structure of links to articles inside the SEO Note document. Scroll the tree panel if the hierarchy is taller than the window. Each branch is a note. Choose a note and its article appears in the main editor. If the article is longer than the editor, scroll there too.

To move focus: click the tree to work on structure; click the editor to type. Mixing those up is the usual reason a shortcut “fails.”

A note can contain many subnotes — child notes. Children can have their own children. That multilevel map is the advantage over flat editors that only give you one scrolling page.

When a note has children it is a parent note. A closed parent shows [+] before its name. Double-click the name (or use the expand control) to open it; [+] becomes [-]. Click [-] or double-click again to collapse.

Rule: creating a note creates its article with it; deleting the note deletes the article with it. Treat nodes as the unit of life and death for content.

You can add, delete, rename, and drag notes. Place articles under parents by category or topic until the left panel reads like a table of contents you trust.

Inbox
Projects
  Acme
    Brief
    Meetings
Reference
  Templates
Archive

Start messy in Inbox; file under Projects or Reference when you know where a note belongs. Details on shaping trees: Tree outliner for notes and plans.

Article formats

Notes can hold different article types:

• Text — simple text editor for plain documents
• Rich Text — Word-like editing: fonts, paragraphs, spacing, colors, sizes, styles, tabulation; OLE objects (diagrams, pictures, clips, sound, documents from programs that support OLE) can be pasted and edited in place
• HTML — lightweight HTML editing: pictures, links, styles, sizes, colors; export to HTML files when you need a page outside the outliner

	Text	Rich Text	HTML
Feel	Plain editor	Word-like + OLE	Page + source/web
Typical use	Logs, dumps	Formatted memos	Notes you may export as pages
Extra chrome	Minimal	RTF toolbar + ruler	HTML toolbar; Web / Source

Note options (beyond the body)

Per note you can also:

• Enter a description
• Review note stats
• Set a password on a note
• Flag read-only (view but not edit) — for text and rich-text modes
• Find a note by name
• Sort the tree on chosen bases
• Attach files, then extract and work with them
• Convert the article between txt, rtf, and html
• Place an icon on the note

Use passwords and read-only when a branch should not be casual edit fodder. Convert format when the note outgrows plain text or when you need HTML export — not as a weekly ritual.

Editor operating

The editor shows the contents of the selected note. Depending on format it behaves as a simple text editor, rich-text editor, or HTML editor. Each format has its own editor toolbar for the options that apply.

Each editor has a context menu (right-click). The tree panel has one too. You can also open context menus with the keyboard menu key (left of Ctrl on many keyboards).

For HTML articles, switch to source mode to see and edit the markup: Ctrl+R, or View → HTML → Source. Switch to web view with Ctrl+W, or View → HTML → Web. That pair is enough for most HTML notes without leaving SEO Note.

HTML view switches

Ctrl+R — Source

• See HTML code
• Edit markup directly
• Menu: View → HTML → Source

Ctrl+W — Web

• Browser-like view
• Check layout while editing
• Menu: View → HTML → Web

Import and export

You can import whole trees from TreePad 2.7 and KeyNote 1.6.5. You can also pull content from TXT, RTF, DOC, and HTML files into articles. Export your own articles to txt, rtf, or html when you need a portable copy outside the SEO Note file.

Save before large imports. After a TreePad or KeyNote migration, walk the tree once: rename odd nodes, collapse what you do not need open, and decide which bookmark section owns which theme.

Main toolbar (quick ops)

The main toolbar covers common work: new document, open existing document, cut / copy / paste (and related edit actions), plus add date and add time into articles. Full layout of panes and bars: Graphical user interface. Shortcut list: Hot keys.

Honest limits

• No live multi-user editing on one file
• Not designed as a phone-first capture app
• Read-only flag applies to text and rich-text modes as documented — know your format before relying on it
• Import paths target specific TreePad / KeyNote versions; newer third-party formats may need an intermediate export

For “keep a verified local copy while you use AI elsewhere,” see Local notes as source of truth. For backups of the single file: Backup notes to USB.

Mini FAQ

Why did my article disappear when I deleted a note?
Note and article are created and deleted together. Restore from a saved copy of the file if you still have one.

How do I open a closed branch?
Double-click the parent name or expand via [+] until it shows [-].

Where is Web vs Source for HTML?
Ctrl+W and Ctrl+R, or the View → HTML menu items.

Next steps

1. Download SEO Note if you do not have it yet
2. Build a small tree: Inbox + one project with two children
3. Try text, then convert one note to HTML and use Ctrl+R / Ctrl+W
4. Read GUI and Quick Start
5. Skim Main features for use-case ideas

GUI · Hot keys · Quick Start · Main features · Tree outliner guide · Free Windows notes manager · About · Download · FAQ

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