Re: Valid use cases for lists?

[Matt Lundin <mdl@imapmail.org>]

Chris Patti <cpatti@gmail.com> writes:

> Can anyone give me an example of when it's a good idea to use lists
> rather than headlines?
>
> They feel rather like a violation of the principle of least surprise
> to me, because when you use them, and then try to use pretty much any
> other Org feature on them (marking them as a TODO item, tagging, etc.)
> it doesn't work because lists aren't meant to be used that way.

> I'm guessing I'm missing something obvious here, and that's why I'm asking.

Lists are lists. Headlines are headlines. If you need something to show
up in an agenda view, use a headline. 

From the perspective of document structure, headlines vs. lists
corresponds with section headings vs. lists in Markdown:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Markdown#Example

I find lists to be a good means quickly to organize and reorganize items
within an entry. I use them for brainstorming, for making grocery lists,
for itemizing ingredients in recipes, for documenting what I did on a
task, etc.

Though you can't tag them or add todos to them, you can use checkboxes
to track your progress on items in a list.

 - http://orgmode.org/manual/Checkboxes.html#Checkboxes

Lists also play an important role in export. E.g., this list...

 - apples
   - Fuji
   - Red Delicious
 - bananas
 - pears

Exports to html as...

<ul class="org-ul">
<li>apples
<ul class="org-ul">
<li>Fuji</li>
<li>Red Delicious</li>
</ul></li>
<li>bananas</li>
<li>pears</li>
</ul>

Matt