It would be nice if the General Text Attributes could be set on a per project basis. For instance, I currently have two main projects going. One I like to have the default be one font, in the other I prefer a different font setting. When I switch between project files I have to reset the General Text Attributes for each every time. If there is a way to already do this that I am missing then please let me know, I am a new user. Thanks.
To get one thing out of the way, are you perhaps intending the font that you use in Scrivener to be the font that you get when you export and print? If so, this can already be set on a per project basis, in the Export Draft function, last tab: Formatting. You can set things up just like you want to, and then save these settings as an export style for later use.
The idea is: You can use a font and ruler style which is appealing to you as a typist without being constrained by what the document should like to a reader. In that sense, there would be little reason for the application font to change from project to project, as your comfort settings would be universal. Further, it allows you to export a document in different fashions, depending on its purpose. You might wish to print out a proof copy for your own editing a certain way, but use standard submission formats for the manuscript sent to your agent. With Scrivener’s design, you needn’t worry about what it looks like in the application itself.
Now, if you do wish to have multiple “comfort” settings for different projects, that could be more problematic, but do keep in mind these are only defaults for new documents. You can always adjust each document using the font and ruler settings, in whatever manner you please. The preferences only set things up as a default.
del
I am aware of the export options and ability to save different export settings. I am also aware of the concept of it looking one way while typing/writing and another upon export. In this case it is that the two projects are so completely different and, for some reason, I have found I prefer different font settings for the two different writing tasks. Changing fonts on a per document basis is a hassle and slows the writing down. Ultimately, for each project, I’d like to be able to set up my writing environment and then leave it. Make sense? I imagine there are a number of ways to implement this.
The issue, which I have seen in other apps too, is the difference between project specific settings and application-wide settings. Things in the Prefs pane are usually application-wide. Perahps there should be a Project Settings panel too that allows one to make settings specific to the project, that then override the main Prefs panel.
Maria, that is indeed one very valid problem. Scrivener’s setup does not readily anticipate the wildly multilingual. 
The typography section is another which could be annoying.
frmoses, I have seen such a system employed in various applications before, and there are certain things that I would not mind having specific to projects, too. Corkboard and colour settings are definitely one of them; especially with the Corkboard being as expressive as it is these days. I wish I could make it more “techy” in some projects, and more elegant in others.
Personally, I would like to see a sub-set of the preferences available in a project settings sheet; perhaps expanding the labels & status setup back to its original role as project settings. I do wonder how difficult such a change would be, at this point in the application’s development. I fear that this would inhibit the inclusion of such a feature any time soon. There must be many hundreds of references to the current single-preference arrangement.
del
Didn’t read the whole thread but if this is about text modes applying to different projects I agree: it’s annoying to set it to Screenplay mode in one project only to make a file later on in a different project that should just be in general and getting very confused at the odd formatting.
This is normal for most applications. Setting a default font for every single project would be a little odd and more complicated. Would each project start with a Helvetica font and expect you to change it to something you liked? Many users would then demand a preference (such as it works now). I think it is natural to assume that most users have a preferred screen font, especially given that you can change the export font per project. Apologies if this is inconvenient for the minority of users who don’t work like this, but I have to be honest and say that this is not likely to change. When I say, “This is not likely to change,” please don’t misunderstand me as being rude. I value all feedback and suggestions. But to some suggestions - the ones I don’t agree with, as much as a I value - I do have to say, “No” - otherwise Scrivener development would be never-ending (not that it isn’t already ).
Thanks and all the best,
Keith
On further thought, my original suggestion was poorly conceived. The current Prefs pane is just fine, and does behave as expected, across all projects. This should not change. What would be nice is an additional Project Settings sheet, that could, if the user chose to activate it, have settings which over-rided the main Prefs panel. It would not be a duplicate of the main Prefs pane, but would contain a few elements that a user might want to vary from project to project. This would allow a user to have some variations on particular projects.
I know what you mean … I’m only at the end of my test period, but I may well have a big Chinese–English editing job coming up, and I have the feeling Scrivener will be the best environment for doing it in (Chinese post-graduate students of translation will be doing the basic translation, I will then edit it into good English).
An app which has an analogical system is OmniWeb, where you have global preferences for the whole application and then Site Preferences where you can set many of the parameters differently for each individual site you visit if you so wish …
I don’t know how do-able this would be in Scrivener, and I can understand Keith’s labelling it as ‘unlikely’; but it would be nice.
Mark