Compiling: Header

[mlibrescu]

Using the short story template, I compiled my work in progress to view what it would look like in manuscript format. There are two errors in the header, which first appears at the upper right of page 2. Here’s what it currently looks like (with my name and the title removed and samples in their place):

John Public / SAMPLE TITLE / 1

• The first error is the title appears in uppercase. This is not the correct manuscript format for a short story. The title should be in initial caps.

• The second error is that it should indicate page 2, not page 1.

So, it should look like this:

John Public / Sample Title / 2

How can I fix this?

[JoRo]

You can edit the header text in the page settings of the applicable compile format.

See section “24.20.7 Header and Footer Text” in the manual, as attached.

You also can set page-numbering options in the page settings of the applicable compile format.

See section “24.20.5 Header and Footer Options” in the manual, as attached.

Headers.pdf (653 KB)

Slàinte mhòr.

[mlibrescu]

Two Questions:

1. Where is “the page settings of the applicable compile format?” (Update, I figured this bit out.)

2. Why does the short story template default to an incorrect format (see my screenshot).

[mlibrescu]

OK, I figured out how to fix the header issue. But that still leaves the default short story template mistake on the first page. I fixed this in the current project, but I forgot what I did. I need to know how to fix it either on a per project basis or globally.

And why does Scrivener’s short story default to an incorrect header format in the first place?

Thank you.

[KB]

The problem with the page numbering starting at “1” on the second page is just an oversight I made when setting the templates up. All built-in templates are set up by me in exactly the same way a user would create them. I forgot to tick “Count first pages” and missed the issue when testing. I have fixed that in the template for 3.0.4.

The capitalisation is not a mistake - there is no one set-in-stone format for short stories, and the title on the first page and in the headers can be all-caps or not. If you prefer it in regular case, you can amend the Compile format as you wish. I generally follow the formatting recommended by William Shunn, though, and note that he uses regular case here, so I have changed that for the next update.

I’m not really sure what you mean about the first page - it’s not obvious to me what problem you are referring to there. The greater-than sign after “Way”? I don’t think Scrivener would have inserted that. The way this page works is that, by default, Scrivener has some placeholders in there that get replaced with information from Contacts, so any mistakes here will be down to the way your address is set up in Contacts. You can of course just edit your name and address on this page after the project is created - Scrivener can only do its best to grab the address from the information available on your computer.

[mlibrescu]

I’m really frustrated that I’m not getting through to you. I don’t understand why you can’t see that the name and address in my sample on the upper-left is incorrectly formatted. As long as we’re talking William Shunn, here is his first page:

Can’t you see that in Shunn’s (correct) formatting, the city, state, and zip code are on the same line and in Scrivener’s version they are all on separate lines? And I didn’t add that greater than sign in myself. You did. And if we want to get picky, Shunn uses parenthesis around the area code, not a hypen.

There’s something wrong with the template. I’m spending too much of my time trying to get you to see that, when I should be working on my writing.

If you still maintain that nothing is wrong, then please just show me where I can fix the settings and I’ll do it myself.

[KB]

You are being incredibly rude despite the fact that you have had some very good and personalised help here, both from other users and from myself, the developer. The only rule of this forum is be polite - please follow this rule if you wish to receive further assistance.

Scrivener does not put parentheses around the area code. As I already explained, Scrivener takes that information from Contacts, so that must be how it is formatted there - so check Contacts.

And no, it wasn’t obvious to me the differences between addresses in your screenshot and on Shunn’s website, since I’m English and addresses are formatted differently here. You offered very little explanation of the problem so you shouldn’t be surprised that further clarification may be asked for; you might “get through” to people more easily by taking the time to point out the exact issue you are having. Anyway, Scrivener can only set up a general format for the address out of the box; it may need tweaking by the user. All Scrivener has access to is user name, street, town, postcode etc as different variables. It is not aware of every possible address format for every country. It puts the address information on different line, providing a good start, but the user should then edit the page to suit.

If you would like to modify the template yourself so the the address is formatted to your requirements:

1. Select the short story template.

2. Hold down the Option key while clicking on “Choose…”. Holding down Option tells Scrivener not to populate any of the placeholders in the template with real user (address) information.

3. Create a project.

4. Go to the “First page header”.

You will see a bunch of <$template_…> tags. You can find these described under Help > List of All Placeholders.

Edit them as you wish your address to appear, then go to File > Save as Template… to create your own version of the short story template that you can use in the future.

As for the greater-than sign, this should not be there and I cannot reproduce it the issue - unless that is in your Contacts too? Please double-check. The only other thing I can think of is that there may be a bug whereby the <$template_…> tag is not being replaced correctly, but as I cannot reproduce that and nobody else has reported it, perhaps you could provide a reproduction case that allows me to see the issue for myself?

[mlibrescu]

I reread my previous comments. As I said, I was frustrated. I described the problem in terms that I believe should have been clear, and I was having no joy getting through to you. Please accept my apology if you took anything I wrote as being incredibly rude.

I believe a cause of miscommunication stems from a difficulty to see things from the perspective of someone who doesn’t understand the workings of the program as well as you understand it. Again, this may sound blunt, but I’m not mentioning this to be rude or insulting, so please don’t take it that way. I have been a tech support representative for a software company, so I’m saying this from experience.

If you reflect on this, it may help to improve the way you interact with customers, who, after all, are the ones who spend the money to keep the company going. Here is an example of what I’m talking about: When you say " perhaps you could provide a reproduction case that allows me to see the issue for myself," I don’t understand what you are asking for. What is it that you would like me to supply you with and where should I send it?

Now, when I say there is a greater than symbol on the page, and I tell you that I haven’t typed it in anywhere, then you need to work from the supposition that I am supplying you with a fact and work from there, instead of saying, “we didn’t do it.” Because that is only going to provoke a response of “neither did I.” And that isn’t helpful. I have checked my address book, and there is no > after my street address. I would include this in a screenshot, but I would be revealing my address online,

I will add that I have owned Scrivener for a long time, but as I haven’t done much writing over the past few years, I haven’t used it much. Now I am attempting to make an earnest attempt to learn the program, using more than one source for reference. I have an IT background and have done some object-oriented programming. When I notice an issue in a program, I’m usually, but not always, correct.

[mlibrescu]

I now understand the reason for the problem with the name and address on the first page of the manuscript. In the UK, you write your addresses differently than we do in the US., with one line for street, another for city, another for county, and another for postal code.

From the perspective of a newer user in the US and probably some other countries, this formatting appears to be a bug in the template. Your company should recognize that not all users of the software live in the UK. Since the US is much larger than the UK, it’s possible that a majority of users don’t live in the UK. Perhaps there should be two versions of the templates where this is an issue. At the very least, the user should be notified that the fields are set up for users who live in the UK, with instructions on how to change it manually.

So, from my perspective, it was a WTF moment. When I tried to convey the problem, because you weren’t conscious of why this was even an issue, your response was “I don’t see any problem.” But you mentioned you were familiar with Shunn, and it’s easy to see how American proper manuscript formatting differs from British formatting in his examples. Still under the impression that it was some kind of bug, and being unaware of the UK/US difference, I was taken incredulous. Because to me, it was as obvious as the nose on my face.

As Oscar Wilde wrote in “The Canterbury Ghost,” “Indeed, in many respects, she was quite English, and was an excellent example of the fact that we have really everything in common with America nowadays, except, of course, language.”