Hello everyone,
I’m currently working on a project which I need to split into several parts. So every part will be a new project in Scrivener.
However I’m trying to find out how I can change the numbering that appears when compiling the manuscript. The first part consists of chapters 1 to 20.
For the second project I want the chapters to start at chapter 21, is there a way to change the automatic numbering for chapters in the compile options?
Kinds regards,
A Scrivener White Belt
I’m not aware of a way to start numbering above 1. Maybe someone else can chime in with a method do to it?
Is it really necessary to split it into separate projects? I ask because there are authors who keep entire book series in a single project, and it works well for them. It may also work well for you, in that the numbering of one part can / will affect the numbering for the next part.
The way you’d organize your project is to create a “part” folder for each part, and put all your other folders and documents inside each part folder.
When compiling, you can tell Scrivener to only compile the contents of a single part folder, and I believe even in version 1 of Scrivener, there’s an option on the compile window to treat the selected folder as a portion of the entire draft. Take a look at the options around the drop-down that lets you select something besides your draft/manuscript/whatever its called folder, and then look up those terms in the manual. One of those options may do what you want if you keep the entire thing in a single project.
At the very least, you can compile the whole thing, and then just delete the stuff before or after the part you want to distribute in that output file.
Hey there Robert,
Thank you for the alternative. I’ll look into that 
Preferably I’d like to keep the parts separated due to the sheer volume and continue the numbering of the chapters over the parts. But if it’s not possible I’ll try this method, thank you.
I thought of one trick that you could employ.
Create a document at the top of your draft. Insert the auto-numbering placeholder (see your compile settings to find what placeholder is being used) once for every preceding chapter in the parts that would come before your current part. Every copy of that placeholder (<$n> for instance) will print a number and then increment the number for the next usage of the placeholder.
You have to essentially create a throw-away page that is compiled into your output to make this work, and it’s going to be tedious to keep up with how many chapters came before. But if you must do this, then that’s the only way I can think of to possibly make it work.