I bought Scrivener for the NaNoWriMo competition but when I put my name and serial number in (yes, being VERY CAREFUL not to include an extra space when copying the number) it says INVALID.
Keith responded by telling me to go to my ~/Library/Preferences folder …
“With Scrivener closed, try going to your ~/Library/Preferences folder (where ~ represents your home folder) and delete the file entitled com.literatureandlatte.scrivener.plist. Then launch Scrivener and try again.”
I’m a writer … not a bloody computer expert. THAT’S why I have a MAC!
Can anyone help me here? Contest starts tomorrow and I’m not up and running.
And not happy about it.
I continue to try and get an answer from Keith but I’m not hearing back from him.
Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? Bueller?
Open a finder window by double clicking on the HD icon on your desk top.
Click on the “House” icon in the left pane (this is your home dir which is ~ in KB message)
Double click the Library folder then double click the preferences folder.
Now look for the plist file and drag it to the trash.
And don’t panic! At the worst, you have thirty-days to sort things out under the trial licence limitations. The software is fully operational until then.
I have just e-mailed you. As I explained there, I only just received your e-mail - both of them (for reasons unknown to do with my e-mails), but responded immediately once they came through. But even allowing for the delay in my receiving your e-mails, your original e-mail was sent only yesterday, so I replied within 24 hours - so it’s hardly as if you couldn’t get a reply from me or that I have been in any way tardy in responding; quite the opposite.
Also, you don’t need to be a “bloody computer expert” to follow the instructions I gave you - you only have to tell me nicely that you need more basic instructions and I will happily provide them (as I have done). Most Mac users know how to use the Finder and how to read a file path, as file manipulation is something you will need to do on any computer. The instructions I gave would be clear to the majority of users, and if I tried to explain how to use a Mac in every set of instructions I send to a user, I would need many more hours in the day. It would be a good idea to learn these basics, as you are likely to encounter file paths and need to use the Finder on a regular basis.
I’m sorry that you are experiencing difficulties, but I am doing my best to help and replied within a more than reasonable timeframe, so I’d really appreciate it if you didn’t swear or imply that I am being deliberately unhelpful, when the opposite is true.
That said, I do like the Ferris Bueller reference.
Just drop me a line or reply here if you are still having problems registering.
OK, well your gmail was a lot kinder than this but I’m sure that your product is your baby so I’m sorry that I spoke so harshly and anxiously. I’m a Yank and “bloody” is not considered swearing here but I’m assuming that’s what you meant since all of my ancestors are Brits. Were I to swear, I would say something more like, “What the fuck?!” … I grew up on Mamet and Stoppard not Agatha Christie. Nevertheless, my apologies. Don’t want my Grandmum spinning in her grave.
That said, I did take an entire day off work in order to get this rectified and get to know the software so the anxiety was somewhat warranted and I respectfully disagree with your expectations and feel demoralized and embarrassed by your response that, “Most Mac users know how to use the Finder and how to read a file path, as file manipulation is something you will need to do on any computer.”
I get paid to do go all over the world by prestigious artistic institutions and Hollywood money machines to use my computer but maybe that qualifies me as not being “most Mac users”? I usually work with a cadre of people around me who “find” that stuff but the purpose of this whole NaNoWriMo thing is to move out of one’s comfort zone. Right? Those may be basic to you but the simple fact is that they were not to me. And they certainly won’t be for a lot of middle-aged people and probably even less so for many senior citizens.
“Hey Grandma … Can you read a file path? Can you get your file manipulation on?”
If your goal was to belittle me and make me feel crappy, it worked.
Kinda mean that whole thing about … "If I had to teach everyone how to use a MAC … "
And y’all say Americans are the rude ones.
Well, thanks to Jaysen, from Upstate, New Yawk baby … I made it work! You should hire him. He’s reeeeeeal nice … like them Apple Company folks from out there in Cala-four-nigh-yay.
THANK YOU, JAYSEN!
It cuts both ways - if your intention was to belittle me and make me feel crappy by your post here, well, that worked too.
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to make you feel demoralised or embarrassed - I merely meant that everyone is at different levels, but most people I e-mail know about the Finder and file paths, and that is the only reason I didn’t explain it in my first e-mail. I have e-mailed similar instructions to hundreds of users and only a handful need further instructions (and yes, many middle-aged users and senior citizens are fine with these instructions; only a handful need extra help, but there’s no shame in that). And that’s fine - I wasn’t saying there was anything wrong with that at all, as lack of knowledge in one area of course does not imply lack of knowledge in another, and nor did I imply such a thing.
As I say, I sent you a very reasonable reply giving fuller step-by-step instructions within 24 hours of you telling me you found my earlier instructions too hard to follow (despite the rather abrupt, shouty and demanding tone of your e-mail).
Oh well. There’s really no need to continue the bad feelings. I understand you were stressed and probably ruder than you meant to be, and I apologise that in my offence over your rudeness to me I may have come across as straying into rudeness in return.
Um, I’ve been paid to proofread and copyedit newsletters. My skill at copyediting says nothing about my ability to tell you the differences between The AP Stylebook and the Chicago Manual of Style. I personally and I daresay most copyeditors could, but not every copyeditor can quote technicalities, and that doesn’t make them any less skilled at copyediting.
Get my drift?
Also, Keith’s British, and these forums have a lot of non-US users. Just something you may wanna bear in mind while posting.
It would be a good idea to learn these basics, as you are likely to encounter file paths and need to use the Finder on a regular basis.