I have issues with Scrivener 3

[NaOH]

I’ll use the Scrivener template to explain the issues.

First,
During ‘beta’ development there was a problem with the lag when switching between docs in the binder. Some also reported this. I expected this would be resolved with the release of the Scrivener 3, but the issue still exists.

When I switch between folders there is a considerable lag. In the development phase, one suggested this could be due to a stuffed inspector with a great number of comments. However,

• in my case, the folder in question has a few comments, but it does have about 40k words. Switching between folders with much less words, seem to show no lag.
• I do have another folder with a number of comments in the inspector, the only difference is that lag is a bit longer.
  None of these issues exist in Scrivener 1.9. I use inspector comments frequently and I don’t understand why this issue exists whatever is the case (whether I have few or a lot of comments, whether I have 50 or 50k words in a particular doc.). Inspector comments is a great Scrivener feature, there shouldn’t be any problem with that, unless I’m using it on Commodore 64.

Second,
Because double spacing or even more (anything between 1.0+ and 2 spacing) is common in use, I really don’t understand why Scrivener highlights the space, apart from the characters when I make a comment. Because I use e.g., # to make a comment in the text, it’s really annoying (especially when you have a lot of them).

Both in Scrivener 1.9 for Windows and in the first versions of Scrivener 3 for MAC OS, that was not the issue, highlight worked as it should:

I don’t understand why. If this cannot be ‘fixed’, is it possible to make some sort of symbol that Scrivener would insert into the text when you click to make a comment (something like we see in PDF)

So, in Scrivener would be…

Third,
While users for MAC OS have the option (feature) to choose background texture for the main editor, Windows users do not.

Why?

Fourth,
Regarding users’ wishes about colors and fonts, in the development phase, I’ve read something like it can’t be done because of the Windows. I’m not a programmer, but seriously though, how hard it is to change this

into something like this

so users who frequently use specific colors in their work don’t have to browse around.

Thank you for reading and your replies.

[AntoniDol]

@NaOH

choose background texture for the main editor, Windows users do not.

Have you tried clicking the white color swatch?

[AntoniDol]

@NaOH

Regarding users’ wishes about colors and fonts

Can you be more specific? I read this as a wish for recently used colors in the color picker.

[AntoniDol]

@NaOH

is it possible to make some sort of symbol that Scrivener would insert into the text when you click to make a comment

Just asking: Why don’t you use inline or Inspector Comments on selectesd text to… insert Comments?

[NaOH]

There are a number of reasons why inline text selection for creating inspector comments is not suitable. That’s why symbol option for comments exists in PDF softwares and alike. For example, when you are reviewing a research paper (or a lot of them) it can become unnecessarily confusing or cluttering. So, that’s not an option. Apart from that, let me just show you even if I do opt to use text selection to make a comment, it is basically the same problem as above, just even worse

or if you need to highlight text and make a comment at the same time

I don’t know if I was clear enough, this is what Windows users do not have, but MAC users do:

I can live without texture, recently used colors or fonts, but issues with the lag and comments really complicate my work.

[AntoniDol]

@NaOH

this is what Windows users do not have, but MAC users do:

When you set the Editor to Fixed Width, even Windows users can select a background texture.

HTH

[NaOH]

No, they cannot. Notice, Editor:

[devinganger]

Here is from my Windows system:

[NaOH]

Ok, let me try again.

While users for MAC OS have the option (feature) to choose background texture for the main editor, Windows users do not.
Why?

On Mac

On Win

Which then looks like:

On Mac

On Win

[JimRac]

You need to enable Fixed Width editor, as shown in @devinganger post. Then the texture option will be available to you. @AntoniDol also mentioned this upthread.

Best,
Jim

[AmberV]

The Fixed Width Background is not the same as the main Editor background setting. They can each have a texture in the original design, but on Windows the latter does not have a texture option. It is very clear from the first screenshot that “Editor” is selected from the list, not “Fixed Width Background”.

I would deduce, given how the texture settings are available elsewhere, that there is some technical limitation in the coding toolkit itself, that has no facility for inserting graphics behind the text.

As with the issue where text adornments, such as highlights, sit “off text” when using non-1.0 line spacing, I doubt it’s something they can easily fix. We did look into that issue and really did not wish to launch 3.0 with the highlight/box/bubble art the way it is, but it’s a but in the new Qt framework that wasn’t present in the older one. All we can do is continue to poke at Qt development.

[NaOH]

It won’t be available because there’s no such option for Windows users.

[JimRac]

@NaOH

It won’t be available because there’s no such option for Windows users.

You are mistaken. “Use fixed width editor” is available for Windows users. I use it myself, on Windows Scrivener, every day.

Here’s the screenshot for how to access the setting, copied from @devinganger post above.

@devinganger

Here is from my Windows system:

Here is the navigation path to the Windows option “Use fixed width editor”: File > Options > Appearance > Main Editor > Options > Use fixed width editor.

Please follow that navigation path, then enable the “Use fixed width editor” option.

Then click on the Colors tab (navigation path File > Options > Appearance > Main Editor > Colors > Editor) and you’ll see that you can pick a texture for the editor.

Best,
Jim

[NaOH]

Thanks for the reply AmberV. As I said, I’m not a programmer and have no clue anything about it; but the highlight issue bugs me because it wasn’t present in previous version both on Win 1.9 and Mac 3.0 (I think, the first version). So, If I understood correctly, Scrivener 3 is now developing in different software then it was before?
And one more thing, do you happen to know if the lag I have is something on my end, or is it due to large amount of words in a single doc (Text)?

I really hope developers fix the lag and the highlight (I personally don’t need box/bubble, if highlight works). Because for me there is no alternative to Scrivener. Honestly, I tried to search for alternatives and the results I got are mostly softwares for novels, something that is of no interest to me.

[NaOH]

Then click on the Colors tab (navigation path File > Options > Appearance > Main Editor > Colors > Editor) and you’ll see that you can pick a texture for the editor.

The above screenshot, I posted, clearly shows that fixed width editor is enabled.

If you have the option to choose a texture for the Editor, please provide a screenshot.

[AmberV]

It’s the same toolkit (Qt), but the previous version of Scrivener was written using a much older version of the development platform. This offset bug is something that exists in the newer toolkit. They tried really hard to work around the problem, but there are some things you can’t really change about the underlying framework without breaking it in other ways, and sometimes you just can’t change things at all.

It bugs me as well! I prefer around 1.25 line height, which is just enough to make it obvious, particularly on things like inline footnotes, where the highlight actually extends out of the bubble in some places. The alternative is using 1.0 line height and finding a font that is legible at that settings. I’ve considered it.

And one more thing, do you happen to know if the lag I have is something on my end, or is it due to large amount of words in a single doc (Text)?

If you have a specific condition that is causing performance issues, I’d send in a sampling to tech support. It could be something to optimise.

Because for me there is no alternative to Scrivener. Honestly, I tried to search for alternatives and the results I got are mostly softwares for novels, something that is of no interest to me.

That seems to be a common issue indeed. Were I to be looking for an alternative, as a non-fiction writer, there really is not anything of interest out there beyond monolithic document editors like LyX and word processors. There is probably less reward for creating a general purpose writing tool, as novelists are everywhere and have obvious feature-based things that can be provided for (like character and plot tracking). The alternative is something more like Scrivener, which is a lot more difficult to design and, to an extent, learn how to use. It’s either that or no substantial features at all, which is where you see the gulf: there is software like FocusWriter and iA Writer that do practically nothing outside of basic text editing, and then feature-based stuff. Not that there is anything bad about those things, it’s just a design choice.

[NaOH]

I use Times New Roman at 1.4 spacing (the example I gave for the topic is at 2.0). I did use to play a little with other fonts and less spacing and didn’t get satisfactory results. But then again, I could try more combinations; download more fonts, etc.

[NaOH]

Just to let anyone interested know that I found a workaround for inspector comments highlights.
Not ideal, but:

1. View > Text Editing > Hide Markup
2. If needed: Options > Appearance > Textual Marks: uncheck all, except comment highlights.

With that, any character or inserted symbol/emoji can be selected and be made as an inspector comment, without being highlighted.

[kewms]

@AmberV

There is probably less reward for creating a general purpose writing tool, as novelists are everywhere and have obvious feature-based things that can be provided for (like character and plot tracking).

Exactly this. All novels, regardless of genre, have characters, settings, and plots. In contrast, the differences in requirements between, say, a memoir and a technical textbook are vast. Legal writing has a lot of template-based tools, but most other non-fiction genres are much less regimented.

[NaOH]

I’d like to thank the developers for making highlights better (something I referred to as the ‘second issue’ in this topic).

I also noticed that the lag is significantly reduced (something I referred to as the ‘first issue’ in this topic), but it’s still there.

Recent colors and fonts remain as a wish - nice to have, but having option to choose texture as background for the main editor (something I referred to as the ‘3rd issue’ in this topic) is still a need. I’ll speak for myself, but a texture really helps when reading, thinking, staring at Scrivener for a longer period of time (even though I use dedicated software for reducing ‘blue light’).

(thanks again, and please don’t lock this topic, I’d like to keep it live from time to time, so more people can see it, and then complain : )