I’m really new to S, but I’ve read not only the S manual but also a couple of books on getting started. I am still confused about one thing: folders.
I set up to save to Dropbox. There is an automatically generated folder “Binders” that is always empty. There are several test projects in my “Projects” folder.
Is Binders always going to be empty?
I don’t think I grasp the difference between Binders and Projects. Everytime I start a new project I get a new Binder in S. But there is never a new file in the Binders folder.
Can I create several projects inside one binder?
I can’t say I’ve ever seen “Binders” inside Scrivener, nor in the files & folders which make up its project file format… Where are you seeing that? In the Mac’s Finder program? In you web browser when logged on to dropbox.com? In Scrivener?
As for the term Binder vs. Project… The binder is the left column of Scrivener when it’s visible. The editor is the middle (where you write, or where you see the outline or corkboard views of your documents), and the right column is the Inspector. See this image as an example of what the Scrivener window looks like when you have a project open: simplyscrivener.com/wp-conte … .43-AM.png
A project is the container for all of the information presented in the Scrivener window when it’s open. It’s the Scrivener equivalent to a .docx MS Word file. Typically, novelists have one project per novel. Researchers probably have one project per paper. PHD candidates likely have one project dedicated to their thesis. (Note: There are other ways to organize multiple novels in a series, or related research papers, but I’m not going down that rabbit hole). What you see in the screenshot I linked to is a single project, open in Scrivener. There is only one Binder (the left column) in a project.
“Folder” has different meaning depending on what you’re talking about. On your Mac, in the Finder, you can organize folders however you want. Under the Dropbox Folder, I have many sub-folders, so that I can keep screenshots separate from downloaded software manuals, documents from work, random junk I downloaded and wanted on multiple computers, personal writing projects…
A folder inside a Scrivener project is just one way to visualize the structure of your book or paper. Typically, you don’t write ‘on’ folders in scrivener (but you can), instead putting scene/section documents “under” or “in” those folders. The structure of your binder can also be thought of as levels of indentation, as with a formal outline (like the ones with Roman numerals, letters and numbers).
I hope that clears up some of the terms, and helps you get at what you’re trying to figure out.
Scrivener did not create those folders. It doesn’t require anything like that: it just puts self-contained .scriv project files wherever you ask it to.
Could you send a screenshot of the About screen for the program you are using, please?
To the point of your original question, as I said, Scrivener doesn’t really care where you file things. You specify a location when you create a project, and that’s it.
Have you installed something on a mobile device that might also be connecting to Dropbox?
