Is there a way to auto-generate chapter headings from the names of the various chapters in the binder? Or is the only way to get chapter headings to manually type them in at the beginning of each chapter?
Secondly, is there a way to handle block quotes when compiling for epub so they are centered within the text block?
Thanks in advance…
Yes, Scrivener is quite capable in this regard. You can use the names of folders or files in your Draft outline to generate these titles directly, you can also choose to embellish them with generic text and numeric counters, like “Chapter 23”, or even entirely replace the title (not use the folder name you use for your own organisation in the Binder) with something generic like that.
All of this is done in the Formatting pane, which you can think of as a multi-level style system. In the top half you are choosing what to do with different icon types and indent levels, and in the bottom half you control the styles for output of that selected item. If you’re unsure of how this maps to the Binder, note how selecting different rows highlights example matching types in the Binder.
If you’d like to see some examples of this in action (assuming your project didn’t already come set up with automatic headings), try playing with some of the provided format presets, from the Format As drop-down menu. The “Paperback Novel” is a good showcase for what can be done here, but most of the presets do demonstrate different ways you can use this feature. You may find one of them pretty much works the way you want it to out of the box. The “E-book” preset is also a good starting point, and has automatic headings.
Generally speaking, you shouldn’t ever have to worry about typing in section or chapter titles yourself in Scrivener. There are obviously exceptions, and cases where that is the best approach, but usually it will be easiest to let Scrivener generate this for you using the Formatting pane.
The way this is handled best is with Preserve Formatting. Just select the block quote, format it the way it should appear, and then use the Format/Formatting/Preserve Formatting menu command. Everything in that blue box will pass through the compiler without alteration, by default.
Preserve Formatting is itself a formatting attribute, hence it can be saved into a Formatting Preset, so you can apply your block quote styling and this blue box all at once. See our example block quote preset (the one that declares itself for use with the essay format), for an example of how that can be done, or as a starting point for making your own preset.