I’d like to see the index cards (synopsis text) changed from .txt simple editing to allow the use of .rtf full featured editing. This will allow use of bold, italic, colored background, colored text, etc. It could be a restricted set of features but at least those mentioned should be available.
I know there are ramifications to make this change and I think the end result will be a better Scrivener.
This is not the same as keywords that will put a color bar on the index card as those are not for status but rather to connect/collect different scenes.
One benefit of full featured editing synopsis text is this: sub-scene status.
Scrivener covers the chapter and scene status well with First Draft, Final Draft, etc. but it does not address sub-scene status. By sub-scene status I refer to something within a scene that I discover needs attention but maybe not right now. So I select a sentence or phrase in the synopsis and highlight it. Maybe I use 3 colors to indicate priority. This is then clearly visible in the corkboard or outliner. It won’t be forgotten. Later, when I’ve taken care of the issue I remove the highlight and it’s no longer a visual flag in the corkboard or outliner.
There should be a way to change the colour of the fonts in both the corkboard and the outliner. I find that the ability to press the return key and have the cursor move to the next line in lieu of immediately exiting out of the outliner or corkboard quite annoying. I really think the experience of the corkboard and the outliner should be as close to their physical equivalents as possible. You should be able to move the index cards anyway you want across the corkboard and you have the capability of changing fonts, colours, sizes etc within them.
If you wish for Return to make a new line, that is already possible by disabling the Ends editing synopsis in corkboard and outliner option, in Navigation preferences. If you want to move cards freely, that is already possible by switching to freeform mode in the corkboard footer bar (the two-way toggle on the right hand side).
oh cool, thanx. i can’t seem to get into the freeform mode though. All I see is 4 little boxes indicating corkboard options on the bottom right corner of the window, so perhaps I’m not looking where I should be looking.
having the capacity to change fonts, colours, underlining, emboldening, etc with the outliner and the cork board I think is really missing in Scrivener. I hope it’s improved upon.
You should be seeing the toggle right here, but if you have the footer bar hidden or something, try the View/Corkboard Options/Freeform. (Note, this is Mac-only at the moment).
Freeform also requires you to have a container loaded (so a folder or document group or a collection) rather than a multiple selection, given that the latter is transient. You can however easily create a collection from any selection of documents so that the freeform mode would be available, and you’d then be able to reload it later.
Yes, it seems to work only when I place scrivening in folders. Generally however I don’t. So this might be a thought of allowing freeform for scrivenings alone in the next iteration…
I wish there was a way to draw lines between index cards, sort of like how one does in Scapple. But I suppose that’s whats Scapple is for.
Since a multiple selections do not “exist” anywhere, there would be no place to save the freeform corkboard information, such as where each card is located, and in what order when overlapping each other.
You can create a collection from your selection via Documents > Add to Collection > New Collection (also from the right-click menu). Click the title bar of the collection to load it on the corkboard like a container and use freeform, then just delete the collection when you no longer want it.
It’s easier once you do it. And the argument for using it in this context is sound. If you have a selection that you care enough about to arrange the cards on a freeform corkboard, you probably don’t want that arrangement to just vanish the moment you click anywhere else. So having a little place in the Binder where you can think something out and then destroy it safely once you are done (Collections are just links to the original items) can be useful.
“I’d like to see the index cards (synopsis text) changed from .txt simple editing to allow the use of .rtf full featured editing. This will allow use of bold, italic, colored background, colored text, etc. It could be a restricted set of features but at least those mentioned should be available.”
I’d like to second this.
I’m a screenwriter and I do a lot of work in index cards before writing a single page in screenwriting format, so it would help greatly to have the ability to distinguish between WHAT a scene does and WHY it does it, for example, by being able to highlight or bold text in the index card.
Have you had a look into some of the various meta-data features Scrivener has available, that can change the appearance of cards on the board? For some of the more abstract things you might wish to call attention to, I’d say that’s better than typing something in and formatting the text.
But at any rate, I would encourage finding other ways to do what you’re trying to do—like the Notes pane—because this is something that isn’t going to be changing any time soon.
And the argument for using it in this context is sound. If you have a selection that you care enough about to arrange the cards on a freeform corkboard, you probably don’t want that arrangement to just vanish the moment you click anywhere else. So having a little place in the Binder where you can think something out and then destroy it safely once you are done (Collections are just links to the original items) can be useful.