It seems I can only add 4 columns of custom meta-data in the outliner (adding to the four built in columns). Is this actually a limit? And if so why, I still have tons of room on the pane.
Is there a way to add an additional column of color coding besides the built in one that comes with “Labels”? (and I don’t mean having all the text in a column a single color which you can do; more, having each row be a color of my choosing. Just like you can for the Label feature in Outliner and the Binder.
Thanks
What version of Scrivener are you using? (Help > About Scrivener). The current production version of Scrivener for Windows is 1.9.7.0.
Perhaps this is a terminology issue.
Custom meta-data fields can be created, modified, resequenced and deleted via Project > Meta-Data Settings > Custom Meta-Data. If there is an upper limit as to how many, I haven’t hit it yet. I currently have 22 custom meta-data fields.
Selection of standard and custom meta-data fields as columns in the outliner view is controlled via View > Outliner Columns. Click on a meta-data field to select it to be dispayed (will subsequently show a checkmark). Click on it again to deselect it from being displayed (checkmark will go away). First time can be a bit tedious, as one apparently must go through View > Outliner Columns for each individual custom meta-data item one wishes to select or deselect. I haven’t figured out how to do more than one at a time.
Once selected for view as columns in outiner view, they should appear as columns (titles at top of outliner view). Column widths can be adjusted by dragging the dividers between the titles. Columns can be moved left or right via dragging their titles. If the columns together exceed the width of the outline view, a horizontal scroll bar at the bottom of the view can be used to scroll left and right.
In Project > Meta-Data Settings, additional colors (and their meanings) can be added under the Labels tab and additional statuses can be added under the Status tab.
Scrivener 3 for the Mac (OS X) supports additional types of meta-data. I haven’t checked lately, but would guess this is supported in the Scrivener 2.9 beta for Windows and will be in the final Scrivener 3 for Windows when released.
Hope the above is of some assistance. Sorry if I missed or misunderstood some of what you were asking.
No, you got it in one, thanks. I had forgotten I had to “turn on” the columns I wanted to see there with the check boxes. I’m so used to right clicking in Windows to make that happen, but forgot there was a menu with those options in it.
I already use the colors in the binder (which flow into the Outliner) but I always find I need a second set of colors (or another column in the binder that has the same color ability as the first) that are also unique to each row of the Outliner - it helps me group things together visually. I tend to use colors in the binder to indicate scene intensity (or type of conflict or backstory, expo etc ) so I can make sure my roller-coaster is not dwindling, But I’d also like to group character POV with colors too. Often you get so involved with one set of characters that you let others languish and seeing them grouped by color would let me find gaps and shuffle the story where characters haven’t popped up recently. I’m currently doing that with character names in a column in the Outliner but, visually, text doesn’t cluster as easily in the eye as colors do - at least for me.
Is there a way to do that kind of thing with another set of colors?