I love the Document Notes. I just want more of them! i.e. “Document Notes 1”, “Document Notes 2”, etc. I have multiple uses for them, so I have to delete the contents to repurpose. I could create sub documents but that doesn’t give me the quick reference that I like about the current presentation. This seems a tidy option.
The names would either be generic (notes 1, 2 etc) or user supplied. Given the option I would name my notes:
Notes. (New ideas, notes for the rewrite etc.)
Arcs. (The value of the scene for the lead characters (plus or minus))
Turns. (What is the “turn” in the scene)
Precis. (A one sentence description of the scene (to print out for the physical cork board))
Theme. (A reminder of what I’m trying to achieve).
These would each be another icon/option in the bottom strip alongside ‘references’, keywords’, ’snapshots’ etc.
I’ve yet to try and bastardize the “Document References” or “Comments and Footnotes” panes, I might be able to bend them to my will. But none would be as sexy as the above, imho.
I’ve been trying to think of a way in which you can use existing features to get close to what you want. How does this sound?
Create a new document template called ‘Scene’ (or whatever), then for each of your ‘document note types’ create a separate subdocument for Scene with meaningful names (Arc Notes, Turns etc).
In each subdocument, create any boilerplate text you want, then uncheck ‘include in compile’ in the Inspector.
When you want to create a new scene, use the Scene template you’ve just created. It will also recreate the ‘notes’ subdocuments, complete with boilerplate text and unchecked ‘include in compile’ setting.
Make sure you have Windows > Float QuickReference Panels ticked, then select all (or a subset of) the ‘notes’ subdocuments and press the Space bar – this will open them all in individual Quick Reference panels, which you can move around the screen as you wish.
You now have all your notes documents available to view and edit at once, but they won’t be compiled in the final document unless you explicitly want them to be.
Problems with this approach:
every scene has an ‘Arc notes’ etc subdocument which may get confusing if you don’t name them all individually
the QuickReference Panels don’t update as you move through each Scene document, so it’s better for sustained work on a single Scene, rather than quick flitting between many Scenes.
Not sure if this would be any good to you, but perhaps it might be worth having a play to see if some of it helps?
Thanks for the feedback on this. Multiple notes attached to a single document is something we’ve always had around as a lofty some-day idea. I can’t get into any specifics, but I think you’ll be happy with the designs that have come out of these discussions.
For now, I would suggest giving References a try. It’s not quite as immediate as Document Notes (and part of why Doc Notes isn’t more complicated is because doing so would risk the convenience of a one-shot scratch pad like this), but do consider that access to the content in a Reference is easy to obtain. Hit the spacebar, for example, to load it as a QuickReference, or just double-click on the icon to load it in a reference split. Meanwhile you can name the notes as you wish using the Description field.
@brookter. Quite right. This is what I fear, but I’m always up for giving something a go!
While on first read I can’t quite picture what you’re suggesting, I am going to try it if nothing else but for the experience of understanding it. I’m a huge fan of exploring every nook and cranny of a programme. As you caution, it might not do what I want, but it might well do something else.
@AmberV. You always have a good suggestion. Thanks. I will indeed try references too. That you are “playing” with something in this neck of the woods is music to my ears. I think both @brookter and yourself seem to understand what it is I’m after (and don’t think it daft), so that’s a good sign. I look forward to whatever comes our way.
No problem – the basic idea is just having separate sub-documents to hold the different notes for each of your scenes, which you then view and edit in QuickReference panels.
The trick is in using Document Templates (Project > New From Template…) to automate the creation of the sub-documents so you don’t have to do it for every new scene.
If you do decide to try it, let me know if you have any problems and I’ll try to help.
Thanks for the clear and concise how-to. I got it. Had to laugh once I did. I have one hundred and ninety scenes, six docs for each … would make 1,906 floating windows. 8) I don’t think it’ll work for this telephone directory of a doc, but something shorter. The template idea is definitely a keeper.