How is this different from List Item Indenter?

List Item Indenter applies the same fixed indent to every item; List Skewer increases the indent for each successive item, creating a staircase or diagonal shape instead of a uniform block.

What does "step" control?

How many extra copies of the indent character are added per item. A step of 1 adds one more copy per item (0, 1, 2, 3...); a step of 2 adds two more per item (0, 2, 4, 6...).

Can I use more than a single character for the indent?

Yes, any string works as the indent character, it's repeated i * step times per item, so a multi-character string like "--" also staircases correctly.

Does the first item ever get indented?

No, the item at index 0 always gets zero copies of the indent character (0 * step = 0), so the first item is always flush left.

List Skewer Online - Staircase-Indent a List

Overview

Introduction

A uniformly indented list looks like a flat block; a progressively indented one looks like a staircase, useful for visualizing hierarchy, sequence, or just for a bit of ASCII-art flair.

List Skewer builds that staircase automatically, increasing each item's indentation based on its position.

What Is List Skewer?

A visual formatting tool that indents the item at 0-based position i by i * step copies of a chosen indent character.

The first item is always flush left (0 copies); each subsequent item gets progressively more indentation, creating a diagonal, skewed shape.

How List Skewer Works

The input is split into items on the resolved separator, and each item's index i is multiplied by the step value to determine how many times the indent character repeats before it.

String.prototype.repeat() builds that per-item prefix, which is prepended to the item; the results are rejoined using the same separator as the input.

When To Use List Skewer

Use it to create a simple staircase or diagonal visual effect from a plain list, for ASCII art, decorative text, or presentation slides.

It's also a quick way to visualize a sequence or ranking where increasing depth communicates increasing position.

Often used alongside List Item Indenter, List Mirror and List Function Applier.

Features

Advantages

Fully deterministic output based only on item position, easy to predict and reproduce.
Configurable indent character and step width cover a wide range of staircase steepness and styles.
Works with any configured separator, not just newline-delimited lists.

Limitations

This is a purely visual/novelty effect; it doesn't preserve any semantic meaning about list nesting the way a real outline structure would.
Long lists with a large step quickly produce very wide lines, which may wrap or look odd depending on where the output is viewed.

Examples

Default step-1 staircase

Input

a
b
c
d

Output

a
 b
  c
   d

Item i gets i single-space copies prepended: 0, 1, 2, 3 spaces respectively.

Step-2 staircase with a custom character

Input

x,y,z (indent char: "-", step: 2)

Output

x, --y, ----z

Item i gets i * 2 copies of "-" prepended: 0, 2, and 4 dashes respectively.

Best Practices & Notes

Best Practices

Keep step small (1 or 2) for longer lists so the staircase doesn't run unreasonably wide.
Use List Item Indenter instead if you want uniform, not progressive, indentation.

Developer Notes

Each item's prefix is built with indentChar.repeat(i * step), where i is the item's 0-based position in the split array, so the staircase step size and character are both fully configurable inputs to the same formula.

List Skewer Use Cases

Building a simple ASCII-art staircase or diagonal shape from a plain list
Visually emphasizing increasing rank, depth, or sequence position in a list
Adding a decorative touch to a list before pasting it into plain-text notes

Common Mistakes

Expecting the first item to be indented; it never is, since index 0 always multiplies to zero copies.
Using a large step on a long list and ending up with impractically wide lines.
Confusing this with List Item Indenter, which applies the same fixed indent to every item instead of an increasing one.

Tips

Try a step of 0 to confirm the tool falls back to no indentation at all, useful as a sanity check.
Pair with List Mirror for a symmetrical staircase-then-reverse-staircase visual shape.

List Skewer