I’m trying out Scrivener for Windows (don’t have a Mac), so i just downloaded 1.2.5.0. My initial interest was the ability (finally?) to import OPML. But all the examples i’ve found on the Web seem to be Mac-based.
Can somebody confirm whether this is possible on Windows?
If so, can somebody walk me through the steps?
I’m a newcomer to Scrivener but a career computer professional, so i figured i could figured it out. So i tried creating a new project, then (from the Draft folder) File > Import > Files. That won’t show me OPML files (red flag #1), though i can type one into the filename box. But then it complains about not importing media files. In the Research folder, File > Import > Files does show me OPML files, but i wind up with a blank screen with a link in the middle (picture hopefully attached) that opens a local OPML editor.
First of all, make sure you are using the beta version. It sounds to me like you might have downloaded the stable version, which is a few months old now. The OPML features were just released into the public beta stream. If you’ve got that installed all ready, you really should be seeing an import selection for OPML in the File/Import menu.
The behaviour you are describing is how the software works when it imports unsupported file types. It lets you turn the project into a data hub, so you can store all of the stuff you need for your work in one place, even take notes on them and assign meta-data, but they have to be opened in an external editor to be viewed and edited.
I am having the same problem, and have a question about the response.
How can I know if I am using the recent, stable version or the beta? I am using a trial version to see if this program will be helpful to me. But I will need to be able to import OPML.
When it imports but appears empty, you are probably set to view it as Scrivenings [CTR +1]. To see the contents, hit CTR + 3 to “View the
Group’s Subdocuments in the Outliner.”
It probably ought to go to that view by default after importing.
That response was written nearly a year ago. The beta I was referring to has long been released and OPML import is now a part of the official version.
As for what view to use as a default, that’s up to your own usage. The software will not automatically change your view settings depending on what you have recently done contextually. That’s probably just something you’ll grow accustomed to as you learn the software and use it.
Also, this specific problem of the OPML import appearing blank in Scrivenings view is also down to the OPML data. Some OPML files will use the note field convention, and in that case you may get text content when you import that would be visible in the editor in Scrivenings mode—and that might be precisely what you want, which is one reason why we can’t assume you want any particular view mode after importing.
