Hello everyone, I am writing because I’ve seen some talk about using HTML links between documents, but I’m pretty ignorant about how those features work. I thought I’d describe what I’d like to do, then see if it’s possible and, if so, how to do it.
Essentially, within a Scrivener project, I have a bunch of binders. They will have individual text documents with my highlights and notes from books I’ve read. The format goes:
Binder (Last Name, First Name of Author)
Text Document (Book Title)
Now, I would like to have a system where I can do two things:
Put tags on certain quotes within a text document so that I can search in the Inspector for a tag (say “Self-help”) and have a display of all text selections with that tag.
Be able to place hyperlinks on a specific text selection. For example, I have a quote from Abraham Lincoln in one binder that I think goes well with a quote from George Washington in another binder. I want to create a link on the Lincoln quote that will take me to the George Washington citation.
Are these functions both achievable? If so, is there a guide? I don’t now how to code in HTML, but I’m pretty good at following instructions.
I am not sure where you heard that one should use HTML for this. Although you could, if the purpose were to create an HTML file (or an ePub), in the same way you could insert any HTML you wanted to.
But that is entirely an export thing, it has no function in the software itself. For linking between things in the software, broadly I would refer you to §10.1, Linking Documents Together, in the user manual PDF. There are quite a number of different methods for linking things together in your project. This is a very useful and feature-rich area of the software.
In basic terms though, you could either make a “hyperlink”, such as something you would click on in your text editor, or you can store lists of links that generally relate sections together, in the Inspector. In your example, such a “Document Bookmark” in the inspector sounds like an ideal tool, as the two quotes from the different presidents are generally related, rather than maybe one phrase or word within the quote.
The PDF goes into the mechanical aspects of how to easily make these.
Put tags on certain quotes within a text document so that I can search in the Inspector for a tag (say “Self-help”) and have a display of all text selections with that tag.
Scrivener is a bit old-fashioned and refers to tags as “keywords”, which is probably how you missed it. It does indeed do the kinds of things you would use tags for though. Refer to §10.4, Organising with Metadata for this topic in general (as it does a whole lot more than just tagging), and §10.4.5 specifically for Using Keywords.
As an aside, you will have better luck searching the documentation and elsewhere by calibrating to the software’s jargon a bit. A ‘binder’ in Scrivener’s jargon, refers to the entire contents of your project: or everything you can see listed in the left sidebar. What you are using the word for sounds to me more like what Scrivener would call a ‘folder’.
Amber, thank you so much for your precise and helpful response. I’ll be the first to admit that I have a fair amount to learn with such a feature-rich program. I’ll head over to the documentation section you referenced. Thank you again!
