Hello, first time poster here. I’ve been testing search queries and running through the manual, but I cannot decide if the following is possible in Scrivener and I am missing it, or if it is not an implemented feature.
I am currently testing the trial version and I see a lot of future potential for scattered projects across several mediums, one of which is an independent video game design collaboration. What I would theoretically like to be able to do is export a series of folders I have nested under the Research folder and then be able to have my collaborator import them back into her Scrivener and maintain the Notes, etc fields. For the moment these folders hold categorized reference images with both synopsis and note field information but as we move forward this could expand.
After testing several export options and then trying to import them in various ways back into a test project, I gave up. I ultimately found a work around by creating a copy of my project and then trashing everything in the copy except for the image folders, then uploaded it to Dropbox. I believe from my reading that she can import the copy as a Scrivener project and then move the image folders into her own Research section.
I thought maybe a Dropbox sync would help as an option, but from what I read it looked like I couldn’t use this to sync only part of a project between collaborators. Am I correct on this?
I think the easiest way of doing what you’re describing is to create a new blank project, drag the folders in from the original project’s binder into the new one, and then send the new project. Where that procedure will be less safe is when you make heavy of us custom metadata. Dragging items between binders will create some forms of metadata if they are assigned to those items—for example keywords will drag over even if they don’t exist in the target project—but that won’t create new metadata structures. If the original project uses a custom checkbox to track completion status and the target project lacks a custom field of the same name, then not only will the field not be created in the target project, but the checkbox data will be lost.
So in cases where there may be complexity like that, I think the approach you described is safest. Use File ▸ Save As…, strip out all of the stuff your collaborator does not need and empty the trash.
So in light of the above, it may be easier to drag and drop rather than formally import the whole thing, but both methods are about the same, all things considered. And of course if there is important metadata it should be communicated where to look for it in the transit project, so that fields can be created prior to import.
Regarding Dropbox: it is just another way of copying files between computers, correct. If you put your entire project on there, they will get the entire project. Likewise you cannot share only a few paragraphs of a .docx file over Dropbox. It’s not a flawless metaphor, but the principle behind it is the same.
An easier way to maintain this might be to create a separate project just for the research materials. That way you don’t have to worry about what happens to the metadata when you drag materials between projects.