What is MORE 3.0?

MORE started out as a humble outliner, and then evolution took over. Presentation software, a hybrid of structured word processing (aka, outlining) and graphics emerged from the primeval software soup. Somewhere along the way, MORE acquired some of those genes, and they're far from recessive. In fact, MORE 3.0 can now match — and in some cases beat — Persuasion, the formerly undisputed top of the class.

MORE BETTER MacUser's, April '90 review (page 56) called Persuasion 2.0 “... simply the best in its class ....” At the time, I agreed. Now I'm not so sure. These two programs are in as close to a dead heat as any two I've ever seen. MORE has a richer feature set, but Persuasion's slide templates, especially the color ones, are better-looking. Of course, you can design your own templates, so the artistically inclined may find MORE's superior document capabilities, well, more persuasive.

As with Persuasion, the principal tool for getting your thoughts down is the outliner. In Persuasion, your outline-formatting options are limited — the outline is just fodder for slides. In MORE, true to its roots, the outline itself can be the presentation (with all the inherent pitfalls of text-heavy presentations this implies).

You have a wide choice of labeling schemes (Roman numerals, letters, bullets, and so forth), and you can customize new ones. If, for example, you maintain a to-do list in MORE, you can set its labels to be check boxes, so you can check off your tasks on a printed form as you get finished with them. Indeed, not only can you maintain a to-do list in MORE but the program also comes with a template for such a list, along with dozens of other templates.

Outline templates are stored in “libraries” you can load by choosing Open Library from the Library menu. The program comes with seven libraries, and you can create your own.

Libraries contain more than just outline templates. They also contain objects, color sets, layouts, and rule sets. Objects are draw objects you can place in slides. The artwork is pedestrian, however, and if you need good art, you’ll want to invest in a clip-art collection. Color sets are palettes of slide colors you can use in your slides. Layouts are like Persuasion's AutoTemplates; MORE's predesigned formats for slides (both 35mm slides and overhead foils) aren't as visually appealing as Persuasion's, though.

Rule sets are something else entirely. They're a way to format headlines (that is, any line in an outline) and comments — much as you use style sheets to format paragraphs in Word. But much its is the operative term: I couldn't figure out how they worked just by playing with them. The dialog box in which you edit rules is formidably arcane until you work through the tutorial and read the reference manual carefully. Once you understand rule sets, though, they're powerful tools.

The program’s slide-making tools are also formidable. Slides are called bullet charts, to distinguish them from tree charts, the program’s other display type. Tree charts are organizational charts on steroids. They have options for changing the way nodes are clustered; a staff tool for adding nodes that are not in the hierarchy; and as in bullet charts, complete control over colors, text, shadows, and the like.

Graphing is handled by a separate application, MORE Graph. It doesn't have any on-line help, but it's pretty easy to use. You import data or enter it into a worksheet, and in a few keystrokes, you've got a chart in one of nine styles. You can even combine different chart styles, and you can save customized chart formats.

THE BOTTOM LINE Symantec has turned a respectable tool into a true solution with two intelligent features. Chart Tutor, on the Bullet menu, guides you step-by-step through the process of creating your presentation. It's hard to screw it up. And a separate 92-page manual Making the Most of MORE, teaches you not only the finer points of MORE but also how to communicate more effectively.

If you’re currently using Persuasion, you probably won’t feel a pressing need to switch. But if you're still shopping for a presentation package, you've got a tough decision to make. Persuasion is good, but you may find you want MORE.

Wrona, Tom. (October 1990). MORE 3.0. MacUser. (pgs. 57, 59).

Download MORE 3.0 for Mac

Architecture

Motorola 68K

Compatibility notes

Emulating this? It could probably run under: Basilisk II