Hi there. Is there a way that Scrivener does not reset the chapter order when I choose to compile a range of chapters? I hope this makes sense. I went to send from chapter 2 to chapter 4 to a friend, and the software restarted the chapter numbering from 1 etc…
Thanks
Hi Creativitycheer. 
Welcome to the forum.
You need to temporarily put your chapters in a folder (in the binder) and compile like this:
Select that folder from the list, then
Make sure that option/setting I highlighted in blue is unchecked.
The chapters’ numbers come from a placeholder. → <$n>
When you compile, the compiler counts +1 each time it comes across one.
Compiling as I showed above will emulate the compile of the whole draft, so that the first chapter you truly intend to compile doesn’t inherit “1” as a number.
Your final output will be of only the chapters in that temporary folder, but with proper numbering.
Thank you very much for your prompt response.
Lordy, having to move them temporarily is annoying huh. If that’s the only way then c’est la vie, I guess.
There are other ways, but of all the ways that I know of, that’s the most convenient.
This said, I don’t know everything…
Otherwise, yes, c’est la vie.
[EDIT] Perhaps it could work with a collection…
I’ll try. I’ve never done it before.
[EDIT 2] Nope
Lol, thanks for trying to look for a better way.
Note that you don’t want to move your chapters. Where they are matters.
Add that dummy folder just above them.
Then put your chapters in it. Ctrl+right-arrow might do. (Windows shortcut)
Edit / Move / Move right
Yeah I’m sorry I can’t seem to figure it out. I don’t really understand your instructions because by putting the chapters inside that dummy folder, I am effectively moving them. I will just have to send the whole MS.
Yes, you “move them”, but they are still where they should be relative to your other chapters in the binder’s order.
That’s what I meant.
If you compile to an editable format (rtf, docx), you can compile everything, then simply discard what you don’t want in another text editor afterwards…
Ah yes. Of course. I will do this. Thanks Vincent!
If you have a Chapter and Title setup, you could assign the focus Chapters temporarily to a different Section Type during compile where the Chapter and their numbers don’t feature, but the Titles do.
Not exactly what you asked for but you won’t send your writing colleague Chapter 1 to 3 each time, just the Titles, which would differ since they’re unique names.
Cheers Kev. I do have titles. I think the main thing is that when my recipient sends feedback, it’s much easier to refer to chapter numbers rather than title names. But I still appreciate this suggestion! Thanks.
On a Mac it’s simple. Don’t move anything. Jusr select the chapters you want in the binder (if they’re discontinuous, like 1, 3 and 5 use Command-click), then scroll down in that “funnel” filter menu and choose “Current selection”.
Can’t you do that on Windows?
Mark
They are continuous chapters in this case. I’m on a Mac. And that method doesn’t work for me. Thanks though.
Please describe what happened when you tried.
Oh it just restarts at 1,2.3 etc
You’ll have a similar challenge when doing a book proposal and you include 4 sample chapters.
Also, any Word Count placeholder in your Back Matter will only count the words in the sample chapters extracted from DRAFT/MANUSCRIPT you’ve ringfenced for inclusion.
Not a big thing really, just something to consider.
Here is some previous discussion on the matter.
Scrivener never has had a simple way of exporting x number of containers (whatever you choose to refer to them as, parts, chapters, subsections), linear or non-linear, with the original numbering from wherever they came from in the draft folder. The only concession it makes toward this is printing one single container at a time, as allowing for more complex selections (such as what can be achieved with the Current Selection choice, never mind Collections which can be out of order) can get a bit difficult to handle. Such would would not always be something desired as well, which would lead to a need for more options. For example, one might compile an out of order collection with the express desire of having the numbering be 1,2,3, not 23, 12, 87, because of where the items in the collection originally came from in the draft folder.
So for this one, I think the best answer is to open the file you compiled and type in the numbers you want into the headings.
Thank you very much Amber.
Feature request then? Haha.
Thanks to all who responded.
Maybe! But if you have something to add along the lines of a feature request, that second link points to the wish list thread for this. If you see a blind spot in the argument for how it is not feasible in a program with this flexibility, I’d be interested to hear it about in that thread!
Again the main issue is that we aren’t really talking about one single numbering stream here. Those using Scrivener for non-fiction may well have counters that operating dependent upon chapter numbering. For example it is common for figures to use a “20.4” nomenclature, where this would indicate the fourth figure in chapter 20. Such a counter may not even be in the text at all, but something generated on the fly as part of the Caption style. More complexity is when cross-referencing enters the picture, and you have some text in your compiled chapter 8 that refers to “Figure 20.4” that isn’t included in the compiled output.
These are all cases where I feel the most accurate and best solution is to compile the whole thing and chop off the parts you don’t want in a text editor before sending it off—or for simpler cases where it’s just a heading number, like I said, replacing the numbers yourself.
