New Feature - Sync Scrivener preference across all devices

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
1

I use Scrivener on two Mac’s and on two iOS devices. Rather than setting Scrivener preferences on each device, I’d like to be able to set them once, then have Scrivener sync the settings across my other devices. Maybe in a manner similar to how Apple uses iCloud to sync various settings across devices. Thx

2

It’s not possible to synchronize Scrivener preferences across platforms, because different platforms have different capabilities. Things like the Mac Scrivener Backup preferences are meaningless to iOS Scrivener.

To share preferences between Macs, read this article:
https://scrivener.tenderapp.com/help/kb/macos/installing-on-additional-computers

3

So far Scrivener has been truly disappointing with regards to importing media, and a lot of people say the same and Scrivener does not fix it.

I use this for manuals and sometimes I have thousands of folders with a text document and photo’s / images in each one. The import function can add all of these folders in one go to Scrivener Binder which is great, but it has a few main issues which are very annoying and make it useless:

  1. My folders all start with a date and time, such as “2010-10-12 2317 Test folder” which should make them very easy to sort in the correct order in binder when imported. But scrivener does not or cannot sort these into numerical order, and instead puts them in a nonsensical order which does not make any sense which is very annoying and makes it useless.

  2. Scrivener will not keep the images in each folder added to the binder, instead moving ‘ALL’ of them all to the research folder, making it a nightmare to sort through thousands of images when they should be in the folder added.

  3. Scrivener does not have a way to refresh the binder with newly added or deleted folders, with texts, images, other content. Another shortsighted letdown which would otherwise make this a great program.

I hope Scrivener can fix these issues immediately as it is a function that many would use. We do not need Scrivener to add the images to each text part when imported, but just have them viewable in each folder added, so they can be dragged and dropped / or inserted into the text part easier.

Scrivener if you care about your customers, please fix this immediately. Some Mac programmers said it would be very easy to implement.

4
  1. Forum Rule;: Don’t cross post.
  2. The binder is what isactually going to be compiled, so all your images etc. For rewsearch purposes should be in the research folder. If they are to be published they need to be in a inserted in a text document in the binder or inclucluded there as a link.
  3. Of you add a new document or folder to the binder, it is immediately present, but at the bottom of the set at whatever level in the hierarchy you are working at. If you want it somewhere else, you have to move it.
5

  1. Sure it can. Edit → Sort. Note that Scrivener respects the folders you create: it only sorts files relative to the folders you put them in.

  2. The Draft folder can only contain text files. If you haven’t already, I’d recommend taking a look at our Interactive Tutorial, available from the Help menu. It’s a good overview of fundamental operations like this.

  3. The Binder refreshes immediately. It’s possible that either you’re looking at a Collection, or you expect the imported files to be in a different location.

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6

Perhaps it is a sensible expectation in such a case that Scrivener would create the requisite text doc and place the image in it. (Other file types would still have to be separated out and put in the Research folder, however, because they are not embeddable at all in the Draft folder area.)

7

Why is this expectation sensible? If I import a bunch of images, why should Scrivener assume that I actually want a bunch of text files instead? (In addition?)

If you have a large file structure of mixed (non-text) files, it makes more sense to me to import it to the Research folder or to an independent top-level tree, rather than drag the whole thing into the Draft folder and expect Scrivener to somehow figure out what to do with it.

8

The OP speaks of importing a folder of documents into Scrivener and indicates that (or at least this was my understanding) Scrivener is divvying the documents up by putting text docs in Draft and the remainder in Research. So, presumptions are certainly being made.

Or to put it another way:
One might as well ask why would Scrivener import any text documents it finds into the Draft folder rather than Research.

9

Probably because that’s where the cursor was when the Import command was launched.

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10

When one has over 1000 folders and numerous images for each folder, having them all dump in to the research folder is ridiculous. Anything can be done with programming, but apparently the creator cares more about quick profit than what people actually want.

This is just like them blocking one being able to buy the iPad version on the app store when using an M1 Mac, so they can sell people the more expensive Mac software over the much cheaper iPad version which would work fine.

11

Oh yes, clearly. The way in which files are imported has to do with making a quick buck, and nobody likes the way it works. :laughing:

Not sure what you mean by that. The Mac App Store only sells Mac software though, it always has, and I don’t think that has anything to do with what kind of chip you are using. Incidentally the iOS App Store only sells iOS software. So by your logic, when one is using the correct device to purchase software for that device, we are pushing people to the cheaper iOS version and blocking people from the more expensive Mac (or Windows, hey) versions.

12

It has everything to do with the kind of chip one is using. If you have a new Mac with M1 chip (not Intel), it can use Mac and iPhone / iPad software, yet LAL has limited Mac users from buying only the Mac software when we should have all options available.

13

Oh, I see what you mean, using Catalyst to port the iOS version to the Mac and then sell it there as well? It’s a little more complicated than just clicking a checkbox, and probably would involve a few months of work for something of the scale Scrivener is.

And once done, the main question would be why? Why would anyone want to use the iOS version when the Mac version is available? Surely there might be a few here and there that do—don’t get me wrong—but reason enough to bring out a whole new product that now must be maintained going forward? As you can see, we hardly even have time to maintain what we have. It’s a very small shop.

At any rate, here’s that discussion which already happened, and a bit earlier but most substantially.

14

This is a typical example of the False Consensus Effect. Your thoughts seem so obvious to yourself so you assume thar´t everyone else must think the same, which they don’t.

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