After spending some time exploring Scrivener over the last few weeks, I have a few observations, questions, suggestions. (I wasn’t sure if this belonged in Wish LIst or Feedback sections).
My largest uncertainty concerns the way in which the Outliner works. Let me begin by saying that I am a happy user of Mori who is now blown away by all the features and functionality in Scrivener geared specifically for writers. While I will continue to use Mori as a database and information manager, Scrivener will soon be my primary first-stage writing tool (before export to Mellel).
One of the ways (among many) that Scrivener is vastly superior to SG (for my purposes) is linked to its outlining capabilities. Crucial for me is the fact that a new document in the binder can be created with a second click. Skipping the old dialogue box speeds up my workflow considerably and allows me to brainstorm in the binder as fast as I would like. This simple change gives me the speed and simplicity and flexibility that Mori offers but which was lost in SG. But even better, Scrivener now has a dedicated Outliner as an overlay, where the synopsis field makes it possible to truly brainstorm and outline a piece of writing in formation. But for me this process depends on speed, simplicity, flexibility and very easy and intuitive navigation – if an outliner slows the flow, its utility decreases dramatically for me.
This is why I have found the Outliner mode in Scrivener to be a bit less functional and helpful and intuitive and amazing than it might otherwise be. Specifically I am referring to the way that the tab and return keys work in the Outliner. Based on the way the Binder and the Corkboard work (as well as programs like Mori and Omni-Outliner), I would expect that hitting return would effortlessly create a new document. Instead, it seems that return only creates a new document (new outline point, new synopsis) when the entire record is selected. But if you are in either title or synopsis specifically, hitting return sends you to the top of the list. It seems like the only way to select the whole record is to tab forward 2 or three clicks. But when I do this, my cursor/view has been moved all the way to right, to focus on a marginally important field (like include in export) and I can no longer even see the title and synopsis fields unless I do a horizontal two-finger scroll on my powerbook to shift the view back left again. (Should there be a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom when the view shifts and the fields you were working on are suddenly off screen/beyond the open window?)
What this means is that though I love, or at least want to love, the Outliner module, I waste time navigating around the Outliner view. Instead of just quickly setting out a series of ideas and possible structure, my intuitive click on return to create a new document suddenly sends me to the top of my screen, I then find myself tabbing about and losing my view, and then remember that I need to hit command-N to create a new document -– which is much slower to do than hitting return.
So – am I doing something wrong here? Should I just accept that command-N is the way to go and will soon be internalized, even if it slows the writing? Or is there some way that Outliner can follow Corkboard and Binder behavior such that hitting return from wherever you are in a record will create a new document? This seems tiny, but would make a huge difference in workflow. I understand that Tab too is designed to do certain things in Binder and Outliner – but I do miss the elegant/efficent way in which Tab I Mori and OO moves the document right in a hierarchy. Similarly shift-command-L or R is more cumbersome than simply command-L or command-R for organizing/moving documents around within a hierarchy.
The ability to reorganize and navigate quickly and smoothly is crucial for outliner writing/brainstorming – whether from within the Binder or in the Outliner. I would therefore appreciate any tips/feedback from other users about how I might better use the program, keyboard shortcuts etc. If there is any way to change some of this behavior, I would like to put it on the official wish list. But I, like everyone else, am terribly eager for Beta 2, so I would not want these suggestions to slow down the next release. And if there are structural limitations that prevent these changes from being implemented, they should be ignored. These are small concerns about a truly outstanding program which I’m ready to purchase.
Other small issues that have come up in recent discussions:
-The most important thing about the Inspector for me is the possibility of having a fully resizable/full pane notes view. So I would not want that to change. But there are times where it would be useful to be able to view my notes and my synopsis at the same time. So while I would not endorse any changes that led to fixed views/window size – I would side with those interested in making the Inspector views more customizable. (Though this is a small point).
-I would like to support the suggestion made earlier by a user who wanted a date created field in the Outliner in addition to a date modified field. Sometimes I will open a document, notice a small error and make some kind of tiny change, and suddenly I lose the possibility of recognizing it by its date anymore – because it is now listed as a recently modified document when, in fact, it really is an older document. I might be odd in this respect – but I find date created, in some cases, to be a very useful bit of metadata. (Another small point).
-I would also like to support the wish expressed by another user that there be an option in Edit Scrivenings to automatically include document titles as section headers, within the body of the merged ES document, or any printed or exported document. There are times when I would not want document titles to be automatically included in the body as headings and other times when this would be very very useful. I can learn in the latter case to actually write them into the body of the text, but the ability to instruct Scrivener to do so automatically would be a very useful option.
Most of my other concerns and wishes have already been raised and addressed for Beta 2.
I would like again to thank Keith for producing such a clean and smart writing tool that is also very powerful and feature-rich. I’m amazed at what Scrivener can do. I’m also amazed at how respectful and responsive Keith has been towards user suggestions and problems. Beta 2 will already be a significant improvement over the current beta.
My experience of academic writing changed utterly recently, and for the better, when I shifted from working in long single (Mellel) docs to composing drafts in many discrete and re-orderable chunks. I have been doing this in Mori, which is quite minimal as a writers tool and requires some workarounds and compromises and has even so been great for my writing. The ability to now do this in a full-featured writing program is incredible. Many thanks.
Outliner will follow the other modes in the next version.