I opened a document in a QR window using the method in this related post (not actually related to the problem(s) I found, just showing off how much I can learn from others here, actually using their tips.)
Since the document I opened referred me to view the Project Bookmarks, I selected Navigate->Inspect->Bookmarks (Problem #1 from my POV) to view them. Apparently, the only bookmarks I can view in a QR window are Document Bookmarks (Problem #2.)
Regarding #1, am I weird or should this Inspect submenu actually be under the View menu, not the Navigate menu? (Or perhaps both are true—I’m weird and it should be under the Navigate menu!)
Regarding #2—what I consider an actual bug, for certain—I may be in a QR window, but there’s no reason I might not want to consult Project Bookmarks while there, is there?
With the Bookmark Inspector (as you’ve found out from the Navigate menu). When you’re there, click on the header marked ‘Document Bookmarks’ and it will toggle to ‘Project Bookmarks’ and back. You can right click on a bookmark and open it as QR from there. (The Mac shortcut is F6 – don’t know what it is in Windows…)
Project > Show Project Bookmarks which opens up a special HUD with the list of Project Bookmarks. There’s a shortcut but I don’t know what it is in Windows, sorry.
Press it twice quickly to expand the HUD (or choose the menu option) with the actual text of the selected bookmark. (This is essentially a QR window with a sidebar binder for project bookmarks.)
(BTW: AFAIK this is core V3 functionality which I think will be available on Windows. If it’s not working for you then it’s either a bug or it’s still on the roadmap – I don’t know which, sorry!)
As for the placement of the menus – you always Navigate to Inspector Panels in Scrivener, so that makes sense as your cursor is automatically moved to the relevant panel. The Keyword and Bookmarks HUDs (Show…/Hide…) are both on the Projects menu (presumably because that makes it clear that they’re project-wide lists?).
My complaint was specific to SfW (and I thought I posted this there), and also specific to QR windows (which I’m pretty sure I mentioned.) QR windows do not have a Project menu.
That said, I do appreciate your attempt. I’ll have to play around with your suggestions to see if they do indeed help.
SfW and SfM basically work the same way for almost everything, including bookmarks.
There’s a slight difference because of the way menus are displayed (one per app on the Mac, one per window on Windows), but the basic workflows are the same, so it’s useful to know how it’s supposed to work on the Mac first – that will give you an idea of whether something’s broken or not.
You can turn a QR window to a Bookmark HUD by clicking the little flag (bookmark icon) on the bottom left of the QR. I’m back at home now so I can show you what I mean (via Parallels…):
The first screen shot is of a document opened as a QR window, split with the list of (Document) Bookmarks below. (It’s the ‘Bookmarks’ document from the tutorial.)
When you click on the ‘bookmark’ icon (highlighted), you open the Bookmarks side bar which shows the (Project) Bookmarks and can navigate through them. (i.e. to the Start Here or The Binder, which are the only Project Bookmarks in this project.)
I’ve found the Bookmarks sidebar to be invaluable.
Binder items with children can be navigated via the sidebar, so strategically selecting folders from your binder as Project Bookmarks results in a sort of ‘virtual binder’ within every QR window. I find this super helpful for accessing research docs or notes without having to touch the real Binder.
I think there’s a logic to it: you ‘View’ a element (Binder, Collection, Editor Inspector etc) to turn it on or off, but you ‘Navigate’ to a sub-element/panel to do something within it. So all the Go To/Move Focus to commands are in the Navigate menu, and so are the Inspector panels.
Sometimes features could be under more than one heading and the designer has to choose one (especially on the Mac, where shortcuts can be flakey if you repeat menu titles), while other people may have chosen another.
BTW, have you come across the SfW feature (again borrowed from Macs, where it’s present in every app by default) to search for a menu item? Help > Search Menus. As its name suggests, just insert a string into the search field and it will show you every menu item matching that string. It’s really handy for finding a feature you’re sure is there somewhere…
I have—I’ve even recommended it in these forums I believe—but (my laptop is sleeping right now or I’d check for sure) I think that’s also missing from QR windows, which is the current topic of discussion.
To explain the reasoning for why this is in the Navigate menu: while its initial function is more View-like (revealing the inspector if necessary and switching tabs) it has a secondary function which moves your keyboard focus into the area you are inspecting, if the pane is already in view. E.g. you can tap the Notes keyboard shortcut twice to immediately start jotting down notes.
There are a few places where there are blind spots in the design, where full capacity does not exist, or shortcuts are minimal, thanks to how Windows doesn’t have a global menu bar concept, and it seems it has to be rebuilt wherever it is needed. The QR panels have a stripped down navigation menu and for whatever reason the inspector focus shortcuts do not work (nor do the shortcuts for splitting, which operate the inspector visibility and layout in this context).
Or something to be addressed someday (on a par with a wish list item)?
Or perhaps, if we get around to it, we’ll think about it some more?
As a programmer in a former life, I understand computers can do darn near anything if enough resources are thrown at a problem, but I’m also extremely aware that resources are always limited, something else is always more important, and almost always tradeoffs must be made.
Expressed more succinctly: I get it if nothing can be done short term, but it’s nice to dream it’s being considered. (It’s always nice to dream that.)
Sorry for the lack of clarity, when I say something isn’t working right, I mean it to be implied that it is on a list—either because I looked up whether it is or because I just wrote it up before I responded. In this case, I filed the problem with them in November 2020, as part of editing the user manual, where I found it discussed keyboard access of the inspector in QR windows, and had to insert a redaction for that bit of text, tagged and pointing back to the open ticket describing the issue.
… but I’m also extremely aware that resources are always limited, something else is always more important, and almost always tradeoffs must be made.
Exactly. And we’re talking about a niche productivity booster for a subset (frequent QR panel users) within a subset (knows what keyboard shortcuts are and uses them) within a subset (frequently uses the inspector to the point of memorising tab shortcuts) of users—which incidentally have an effective workaround of using Alt,N,I....
Not ideal, but it’s not like you went to print and found your images cut across page breaks and are now faced with the prospect of having to port your work into another software package to get it finished off—which is yes, an open bug on the priority list.
