I am trying to do a compile to include my synopses (from the index cards) and have tried various options in the Compile window but none seem to generate a version which includes my synopses. Am I doing something wrong?
So far I have tried the Enumerated Outline, the Novel format and the Outliner options. I have ticked everything in the formatting tab; selected only the text and synopses columns; combination of the above for only the scenes as well as everything… I’m at a loss.
What are you getting as an output? Just the titles? Have you double-checked that the right documents are included in the “Contents” pane of Compile? It may be set to only compile a certain folder in the Draft, or you might be trying to compile cards that are somewhere outside the Draft folder. The “Outliner” preset should be giving you the titles and synopses, and certainly checking the “synopsis” column is all you’d need to do to get those included, so it sounds like you have that part the way it should be.
No matter which way I try it, the output is always the same: the text of the story only. I have tried it six ways from Sunday now, and also on a different computer and I have not been able to get my synopses to compile. I only have the one folder at the moment, with half a dozen text files in it. I have tried selecting only the files, only the folder, both the folder and the files, ticking every single box, ticking only the synopses column, and variations above and beyond. Every single time, as mentioned above, the compile presents only the text of the story - no titles, just the text (oh, and the title page information).
If you’d be willing to zip up a copy of the project and send that to support AT literatureandlatte DOT com, I’ll take a look at it–without being able to see the binder set up and compile settings, etc., it’s going to be a bit more work to try and go back and forth sorting this out, but with the project in hand I’ll hopefully be able to see pretty quickly what’s going on and help you get it set up the way you need it.
Sorry for taking so long to reply. I think I’ve finally worked it out (I think - I am technically challenged).
I did a little experiment tonight and tried compiling the tutorial and that seemed to include the synopses no problem, so I set up a new project using the basic template, included a couple of folders and files, and wrote some very banal one-liners on each, including on the index cards. Then, tried compiling - it worked. I wondered if it was just the template I was using so I did the same again, this time with the novel template (my preference) and, hey presto, it compiles text and synopses!
I’m thinking the problem I am experiencing may be because I have been using the project I set up in the Beta version of Scrivener. I haven’t tested the theory yet but I will try setting up a new project and copying and pasting my stuff across and see if this fixes my “issues”.
Having creating the project in an earlier version of Scrivener shouldn’t affect your ability to compile it now, so I’m still not quite clear what’s going on here, but I’m glad at least you’ve found a way to make it work!
FYI, this did work for me - my synopses are now included in the compile. I didn’t do anything differently when I set up the project nor did I do anything differently when I set up the compile. I do remember that whenever I tried to do a compile with the synopses in the Beta version it used to crash Scrivener…
But, it doesn’t matter now cos I can compile my synopses - next to work out how to compile the character sheets!
For your character sheets, which I assume are outside your Draft folder, I’d create a new collection with them all, then compile that collection. In the Compile panel in the Contents pane you can select what you want to compile–it has Draft by default, but if you click in the drop-down menu you can select any subfolder of the Draft or a collection.
(I think - I am technically challenged).