I see that Compile still has multiple issues.
Is this being addressed soon?
Al
P.S. I’m using a Part 1, Chapter 1, Scene 1 style and am seeing way too many inserted Chapter titles. All my chapters actually have no title.
Could you be a little more specific on the issues you’re seeing? What kind of compile set up to you have, what format are you compiling to, what do you expect to happen and what is happening instead? A screenshot of your binder and of compile’s Formatting pane might help as well, regarding the issue of “too many inserted Chapter titles”–it might just mean you need to deselect the title element somewhere, but without knowing how your project is structured I can’t say just what would need a tweak.
I’ve placed screen shots and comments here:
http://rusnam.org/private/
Let me know if you need more information.
All right, this just needs a little tweaking in the Formatting pane of Compile. As you say, the fix is just creating a second level for the folders and using the “Chapter” prefix only for that, removing it from the first level so your Part folders compile with just their title, no added prefix.
Open File > Compile… to the Formatting pane, then select the folder row in the table. To the right of the Options button above there’s a “+” button; click that and it will add a new folder row, Folder 2+, changing the top row to Folder 1. The new row will use the same settings as the first (the one you had selected).
To change the chapter numbering from words to Arabic numerals, make sure the Folder 2+ row is selected, then click the “Modify” button and then click “Title Settings…” You’ll see the prefix here, using the <$t> variable which puts in a title case word (it’s also set to use all uppercase currently under the “Appearance” tab). Just change that <$t> to <$n> and you’ll get numbering styled 1, 2, 3 etc. (Outside of compile, you can see the different available automatic numbering schemes by selecting Edit > Insert > Auto Number. If you try that in the editor, for instance, the proper variable will be placed in the text and will convert at compile time.) Since you’re not using the folder titles, just the prefixes, you can also deselect the “Title” checkbox in that Folder 2+ row.
Now select the Folder 1 row again, click “Modify” and then “Title Settings” and delete the Prefix. This will leave you just compiling the titles for that top level of Part folders.
Once you’ve done all that, you’ll probably want to update the compile settings by saving them again (with the same title) via the Manage box. (It will revert to “custom” if you make any changes to settings, and it may end up getting called “custom” at times if you’ve closed and reopened the project even if none of the settings in compile have changed; I’ve put this on the list to see what we can do about making it maintain the correct title, since I realize that can get confusing.)
With that, you should get the compile output you’re shooting for.
Ok! It’s working now.
Note that the CHAPTER to Chapter is on the Modify/Title Settings/Case tab.
On the Format As field changing. It seems to change to custom with most any modification. This change is easy to miss resulting in unsaved/lost settings that have to be noticed and changed again until you do notice and save them before compiling. If you hit the Compile button you don’t have a chance to save the settings.
I see that the Compile settings are saved to some place I have no control over. This should be to a directory of my choosing, like a project directory, so I can keep everything backed up. I work exclusively on an external hard disk that I routinely backup to other external hard disks, plural. I put nothing on the C: drive.
I notice that the Manuscript button/combo box setting, the output file name selection and the output file type selection are not recorded in the Compile settings. This makes for more routine work and detracts from user-friendliness.
Glad it’s working.
Whoops, thanks for the correction. I didn’t have Scrivener open and got mixed up there with the Mac version’s wording.
The name in the “Format As” field will change to “Custom” whenever you make changes–that’s expected, since you’re no longer using the settings in the preset but have altered them in some way. When you compile, the settings are still saved for the project, so if you just open Compile again you can save the settings as a preset or external file at that point.
After you’ve saved the preset, you can click the “Load” button and select the preset from the list, then use “Export” to save it to another location that you can backup. The compile presets are saved in a set location because Scrivener needs to able to watch this folder for changes–e.g. if you import compile settings, they’ll be brought into this folder as well so Scrivener can see them and make them available in the program.
Consider though that the preset is intended as a compile “template” in a way, to be used across multiple projects. The contents of compile are meaningless in this scenario, since each project may have a different set up, and even in the same project you might want the same settings but choose to compile different parts of the Draft. Your compile settings are remembered per-project, though; that is, when you make changes in compile, it will remember those next time you open compile in that project.
Saving the output file name would be begging for disaster–if you want to overwrite an existing file, this needs to be a deliberate action, not something Scrivener sets you up to do. And again, this would hardly be useful as a preset, when compiling different projects.