> For instance, sometimes after indenting a line I cannot un-indent on future lines
I feel like this is why a lot of us use Markdown/Org, because this is the most annoying issue in Word to me since 2003. Why are the indentation rules so arbitrary?
I don’t use word processors often (less than once a year in general), and did something comparatively advanced in LibreOffice Writer a few months ago, involving mixing English and an Indian language, and trying to use styles and such (equivalent to tacking on a stylesheet in HTML). I learned that the toolbar button for lists creates a list with hard-coded inline styles for bullet appearance, indent amounts, &c. If you want to change it, you can’t use that button any more, and have to make your own style with the appropriate properties (not easy) and apply them to each list item.
Part of the mess is that it doesn’t seem to actually model lists, just paragraphs which might have a list level associated with them. I have no idea why this was ever deemed acceptable: it precludes multiple markers on one line:
1. a) Sorry, but you can’t do this.
b) It’s not expressible.
2. You need a paragraph first.
a) Then it can be done.