The left portion of the screen shows a hierarchical representation of the structure of the finding aid. Each section can be expanded and contracted so that the archivist can focus only on the portion of the finding aid on which he or she is currently working. A small image of the EAD tag brackets and an English description of the element represent each element in the outline. Tag brackets with a red dot in the middle represent elements that are required in the finding aid.
Some elements also have a small plus or minus image to their left.
For example, clicking on a plus will cause that element to reveal all of the elements that it contains. Clicking on a minus will cause the element to contract thereby hiding all of its sub-elements. Clicking on the text representation of an element within the outline causes it to become highlighted. The highlight tells you that this element is the current element. The current element is the one on which the next action will have an effect.