Compiler Challenges - headers etc

Scrivener Scrivener for Windows
1

Apologies if this has been addressed before. “Search posts” is challenging to sort through.

I’m a newbie and I’m trying to compile my novel from Scrivener into .odt (what I generally use) and .doc. However when I look at the created files, there are no headers and no page numbers.

I set up a header in the compile area, so I DO expect I’d see it. Any ideas?

Additionally, though I TOLD the complier to use only size 12 New times Roman and ZERO bold, the chapter headings are still in bold.

Another question, how do I go about changing the default novel template. I’d like to put it in Times New Roman rather than an automatic Courier default. I can’t figure out how to do this?

Thanks!

2

You should be able to get the header using the .doc or .rtf export (both of which will open fine in Open Office). What program are you using to open the compiled file?

Are your chapter headings part of the document text, or are you using the document titles for this? If the former, and you have them formatted as bold within the document, that won’t get overwritten during compile–character attributes like bold and italic are preserved even when the font is changed.

If you’re using the binder titles as headers, you’ll need to make sure you format this element specifically in the compile settings, since it is separate from the text. You’ll also want to ensure that you’ve applied your preferred formatting to each relevant row in the table of document types and levels in the Formatting pane of Compile. It might be that you formatted the single document row, for instance, but missed formatting titles in the folder row, and these are coming out in bold. Select the row you want to change and then click the “Modify” button below to access the formatting rules, then click into the specific element in the sample text in order to change it.

If you’re referring to the compile settings–wanting TNR rather than Courier–you can create your own compile preset by making whatever adjustments you want in the compile pane and then choosing “Save Preset”. You’ll be able to access that from any projects, so there’s no need to create a new project template just for this. That said, if you do want to create a new template, just set up a project the way you want your new ones to start and then use File > Save As Template.

The default font used in the editor is a global setting, not part of a project (thus not saved in a template), so if you just mean you want to get rid of Courier there, go to Tools > Options… and click the Editor tab, then set up the sample text however you like. (The blue “A” button on the left gives you the font options.) All new documents in any project will use your new settings, and you can convert existing ones to match by selecting them in the binder and choosing Documents > Convert > Formatting to Default Text Style.

3

Thanks much for your reply. I’m using OpenOffice to open the compiled file. (I don’t own Word, so can’t test with that.) I’ve also tried opening an .rtf version with the usual windows wordpad. I’ve tried putting it in .doc, .odt and .rtf, but the header doesn’t show in ANY of those versions.

(I also notice that on the title page, only my name and the first part of my address show in .odt, though it looks okay in .doc).

I’m using the document titles (folder names) for the chapter headings. I’m a little confused at which “level” that is in the compile settings, but since I set ALL of them for the same thing - TNR, no bold, no italic, size 12, I was somewhat surprised to find them in bold and larger type. Even so, this is the least of my worries, I can always edit that. I’m far more concerned with the non-existent headers.

AH HAH! As far as asking about the template it’s definitely the global settings that I wanted to change. Awesome, I’ll do that also. TNR tends to be easier to read than Courier (on my computer at least).

4

Still haven’t been able to get page numbers/headers to show up in compiled manuscripts. Any ideas?

Did I not provide enough info?

TY

5

So sorry to have let this lapse!

For the headers/footers, you’ll want to use RTF or DOC format and then open in OpenOffice, not WordPad–WordPad does not support headers/footers, so it won’t show them. OpenOffice can read both those formats, so you’ll just need to either open the file from within OpenOffice or right-click the file and choose “Open with…” and then select OpenOffice. I’ve just double-checked and did not have any issues seeing compiled headers/footers this way.

Levels are about the binder hierarchy. Root folders in your binder, such as the Draft folder (it may be renamed “Manuscript” if you’re in the novel template), are considered Level 0. Documents and folders immediately within the Draft folder would then be Level 1, their children would be Level 2, etc. You can get a good visual by playing in the outliner a bit: Select the Draft folder and choose View > Outliner, then click into the outliner and select View > Outline > Collapse All. Everything you see in the outliner at that point is Level 1, inside the Draft folder. If you click the disclosure arrow for one that has subitems, its Level 2 items will display. If one of those has a disclosure arrow, clicking it will reveal its Level 3 items, and so on.

In Compile’s Formatting, “Level 1” formatting applies only to the binder Level 1 items of that document type, not their subdocuments. “Level 1+” means that the formatting applies to that document type at Level 1 and all higher levels. So in a basic compile set up, you’d just have each document type set for “Level 1+”, meaning that all folders will be formatted the same, all document stacks will be formatted the same, and all single documents will be formatted the same. For a more complex set up, for instance when you use different levels of folders in the binder for “Parts” and “Chapters”, you’d likely have at least two levels of folder formatting, “Level 1” and “Level 2+”, allowing you to format Level 1 folders differently from the others.

Different elements (title, text, notes, synopsis, meta-data) can have different formatting, so it’s possible you set the text formatting for all the levels but missed the “title” on one of them, so it’s still coming out larger and bold. Click into each row in the table at the top of the Formatting tab and take a look at the formatting in the sample preview window below. Do you see the larger, bold font appearing on any of them? If so, click the “Modify” button, then click on the mis-formatted sample text to select it and reformat it.

Make sure also that the “Override text and notes formatting” checkbox at the top of the Formatting tab is ticked.

6

At last I understand levels. I had no idea that the Manuscript was level 1 so I kept applying formatting one level too high, and then wondering why it affected other levels. Still wondering why a file with no text in it is not recognised and so doesn’t apply the normal formatting for that level, which makes lower level files directly under a folder misbehave, but I can work around that.