Setting scene word targets in a template

Scrivener
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1

Hi there.

I am starting a new project and would like every new scene I create (including ones made via import and split) to have the same word count target. Does anyone know how to set this up, please?

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Windows user but in template folder set a target for the document. The target will change to a bar. You can make a chapter and scene combo template as well.

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Hi.
Yes (in part), as @GoalieDad said you can create a document template for a quick recall with such settings stored as a default starting point.
In the manual : section 7.5

I don’t think there is anything that can be done for Import and Split, though.
This function will have the splits create new documents on their own.

There is, though, the possibility to set a folder to have new documents manually created inside of it to use a set document template. Perhaps (perhaps
) that could have Import and Split use that one template rather than blank new documents. (??)
It would have to be tested.

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Wherever you place your cursor in a document pre-populated with a target setting, Scrivener creates sub-documents when importing and splitting. Such sub-documents do not inherit the target settings.

Furthermore, if you create sub-documents beforehand and assign targets then move to the parent document and Import and Split, Scrivener creates further sub-documents with the same effect as before, i.e. without set targets.

5

Thanks for the answers, everyone. I have set up a project template and document templates, including making them the default in certain folders etc.

It’s a shame the import and split documents don’t inherit the templates. However, ‘split at selection’ does as long as the original scene has the same desirred settings.

For context, I write my outlines in a single word doucment then import and split once I get to scene-level detail. That sets all my scenes up for me in one go. At the moment it seems to be a choice between naming all the scenes individually after manually creating them or import+split then assigning the labels, status, targets etc manually.

Either way, the rest of Scrivener’s features make it well worth using :slight_smile: just a shame this little thing isn’t feasible.

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I just set up the word count on one document/folder then duplicate it. The duplicates inherit the target.

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What you could do and that might turn out to be faster would be to import but not split.
Once you’ve set the sole file you’ll get as you want it (or copy paste the content in a new document spawned from your document template if you have enough to set so that it is worth it), use Find...to locate what would’ve otherwise triggered the splits, and split using the shortcut. (I am a Windows user, I don’t know what the shortcut is for you.)

So, find next, split, find next, split, find next, split 
 until you get the “not found” message. (Or stall on the only one at the top of your last file, depending.)

Since there is also a shortcut for “find next”, that would go quite fast.

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The dilemma is import and split, which doesn’t inherit targets.

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Given the question on using templates, I’m assuming that a lot of the split scenes will be set to the same target, label, and status. If that’s the case, the simplest approach might be to use the Import and Split and then use the outliner to assign the metadata.

Label and status can both be assigned to a multiple selection of documents via the context menu, and the target can be applied fairly quickly to multiple items using the Target column in the outliner and the keyboard to tab from one row to the next and paste the value.

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Yes, I bulk update these items from the context menu in the Binder, as well as Section Type and custom metadata items.

Since you can’t select a column in the outliner, it’s a bit of a manual process - emphasis on bit. It really shouldn’t take long to do an entire manuscript, which would be a one-time activity. On the downside, though, you don’t get access to settings like Minimum Target, Overrun Allowance, and the three Show tick boxes through the outliner—all of which can be set in a template.

So, for those who use settings related to targets, it’s a slower process when the import and split approach is taken. In that case, I’d go with @Vincent_Vincent’s suggestion into import to one document, do the targets, find the split marker and split at marker.

Perhaps someone can conjure up a RegEx to do the splitting at the marker.

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I really don’t think a RegEx could do this. But an AutoHotKey script could.
One that would cycle Find Next → Split over and over until told to stop with a dedicated key.
(One would have to test and see if the very last document spawns a bunch of empty ones or not once there is no “Next” for Find... to find.)

And
 would this all be worth it? That’s a whole other question.

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To my mind, it shouldn’t initiate a split without a trigger character.
Users get value out of import and split transforming their work from a single document environment to Scrivener’s intended user experience. The facility was developed because it’s an attractive piece of automation.
I’m not in a position to say whether users are aware that a template can be pre-defined with with target information and further associated settings they might find useful.
The focus of the conversation is to marry the import and split with the template target settings in some way.
Templates exist for other reasons outside of defining set targets and their options, so therein lies the benefit of a more all-encompassing value proposition.

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The nice thing with this is each split would inherit the word target, minimum, overrun etc you set for the whole imported file. Yes you would have to rename them but the targets would be applied.