Show/hide binder button- unexpected result

Scrivener Scrivener for macOS
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hi. this is more an unexpected result than a bug. hope this is the right place. I put it here because the result seems to be unintended for efficiency of use reasons, but maybe a necessary evil. I am new to the software and may be unaware of subtleties of use.

this problem occurs when you are working with a partial scrivener window that is aligned to the far left of your screen instead of to the far right, with the ‘binder’ hidden. I have scrivener open to the left and, say, safari open to the right.

as it works when scrivener is aligned, alternatively, to the right, i expect to: ‘show binder’, choose file, ‘hide binder’ and be in my original state to begin working again as fluidly possible.

what occurs on the left however is: I press the ‘show binder’ button, the binder reveals itself aligned far left, main window extends over to the right (covering temporarily the safari window while the binder is viewed), I choose file and "hide binder’ and then the main window stays in its new location (overlapping safari window) and sidebar contracts to the right (leaving a new gap between left scrivener edge and screen left, I then have to manually move the window back over to the left to return working. this is perfect when to the right, but when to the left it is annoying and adds up. I realize this may just be a result of having to pick one situation (aligned to right) over another.

fix: change the binder opening and closing motion mechanic. before opening and closing binders track the window position, say upper left corner for instance, and then when binder closes always move the main window towards that position. that way when window is far right, it will see main window didn’t move when binder extended, it keeps main still and just moves sidebar, but when main is to the right it will see it had to move main out and it will move main back to the left.

or just give us an option to pin it left or right.

thanks and love your software,
just an idea :smiley:

working scenarioI am working on my laptop, Mac OS 12.4, and I have scrivener open in a window taking up half my screen and I have another window open as well, say safari for research

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As I understand it, this behaviour is intentional, though it is a default setting that you can change if you prefer that the window position and size stay fixed, regardless of whether you toggle the binder or inspector’s respective visibility. This will result in the main content view in the middle being made narrower, naturally, to make room for these elements.

You can read more about this behaviour, and the setting used to change it, in the user manual PDF under Appendix B.5.1, General Interface, and the setting in question: Adjust window size to accommodate binder and inspector.

Alternatively, if you would prefer that behaviour overall but just not in this one specific use case, you could try using the Mac’s split screen feature, to focus on both Scrivener and Safari. As far as I know, the only time the split ratio will change is if one window demands more horizontal width than can be displayed at its current size—a problem you most likely won’t encounter unless you have both the binder and inspector enabled, plus a vertical split, and a smaller screen. Even so, if this does happen, it won’t overlap Safari, but squish the latter down a bit to make room.

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