Hi. I’ve been using Scrivener for a while, but only recently started really utilizing the word count target function. I really like this feature, but I have a small suggestion for improvement. By using Apple’s standard “moving fluid” progress gauge (I don’t know what it’s actually called), the slight flickering of the gauge can be a bit distracting when it is almost full. Nothing too horrible, but still kind of against the philosophy of Scrivener, I think.
My suggestion would be to switch to a static image of progress that would grow to indicate progress, but not continue “moving” when typing was idle. Perhaps a solid color or some kind of “>>>>>” pattern. This would limit any distractions.
Hi,
I already have this on the list for the next update, in fact! I’m not 100% sure I’ll be able to do it, as a quick look suggests that subclassing (customising) the standard progress control is tricker than it is for most such controls, but I’m certainly going to attempt this before the next update, as I agree that the flicker is distracting.
All the best,
Keith
Keith,
Does the progress bar provide any functionality worth subclassing?
I would think you could very easily create your own view with a couple of matching methods to match the progress bar’s, and then you could make it look however you want.
Just thought I’d add my 2c here. I, too, find the flashing bar very distracting. If doing something graphical is too hard, why not just put a text amount there. “50% done” or “500/1000 words written”. That would be enough for me…
Thanks for including this fix. I suppose I should have anticipated it. The program is nicely polished. I wonder, though, would it be possible to include a word-count per session setting? (I’d like to write 1,250 words today, and you know, doing the math is difficult.)
Amafortas, this should already be functional. Try pressing Cmd-Ctrl-T. This will bring up two progress bars. The top one shows all words in the project, and the bottom one shows how much you have typed in a session. If you click in the target areas you can change those numbers to set goals. As you type, in any document, the session bar will increment. It resets whenever you load the project, or can be reset manually with the button. This window can be kept open while you work.