Every Scrivener project starts out with a ‘Research’ folder and for good purpose: it’s quite useful!
But one important feature I feel is missing is a template specific for that ‘Research’ folder. Scrivener’s templates are super useful, but as most writers will agree, the template we use for writing and researching is often very different.
It would be very helpful if we can make a template specific for the ‘Research’ folder. That way we can define a format we use to collect our notes and ideas, and keep using the writing template for the actual writing process.
That would make a quick collection of ideas in the ‘Research’ folder that much quicker.
There’s no reason why you can’t do this yourself: a template is a just a collection of settings saved for convenience – there is nothing in a template which you can’t recreate from a blank project, or from any other template.
So, the first thing to decide is: what do you want in the ‘Research’ template. How will it differ from the standard offering? Will the Research folder start off with certain sub-folders, do you want each subfolder to have default icons / keywords / metadate / new document templates and and so on?
Then, create that setup in Scrivener, either in a new blank project, or in an existing project based on a template which is close to the effect you want. (E.g. adapt the MLA template or whatever).
When you’ve got it exactly the way you want it, there’s a function somewhere on the File menu (sorry, not at the computer at the moment so I can’t give you the exact title, but it’s obvious) to Save Template. Follow the instructions in the dialogue box and the next time you choose New Project, your new template will be available for selection in the category you chose. Of course, you may have to go through this loop a couple of times to get it exactly right, but the process is really simply.
When you’ve found something that works, then you can post it on the forum for other people to use if you want, or suggest to the developers they incorporate it into a future release, but they’ll only be following the process I’ve outlined above, so there’s no need to wait for that.
Are you looking for a project template, or a document template?
Project templates works as Brookter described.
For document templates, look for example at the Character sheets that come with the Novel project template: define what you want your starter page to look like, then put that page in the project’s Templates folder. Then, you can assign that template as the default for new documents, either project-wide or in whatever sub-folder you want.
It would be interesting to know more particularly what you had in mind. But perhaps your post is a bit ambiguous between 1) the idea that scrivener should provide some kind of canned structure for the research folder or 2) provide you the ability to set up such a structure yourself.
As some have said, you can do the latter already, by creating a whole project template which would include pre-fab Research folder items, if you like.
And/or set up elements into a Template folder within a project (or project template)
The ability to create a templates folder is very powerful. You can create a template document, or a whole system of folders and documents.
In one application, I have a Scriv project which is dedicated to a series of short stories— both my own and those written by a small group of writers with whom I affiliate. In the one Scrivener project, I have — using Scriv’s Template functionality — designated a complex folder as a template. Each story begins from the folder template. The template when invoked produces a folder with two subfolders, one intended for the draft folder, one intended for the research folder. The part intended for the draft folder introduces documents and folders specifically crafted for how stories will be compiled for my inDesign typesetting workflow. The part intended for the Research folder has several elements. It includes some custom forms which are about thinking through a story idea, as well as a starter mindmap document, because that is how I like to sketch plot and character motivation out. It includes a folder with a starter document for a Character profile, it contains a Locations folder and a Materials folder for whatever.
So the question becomes for me this: what is it exactly that you imagine a sciv doing for you bryond what these sorts of things?
