Scrivener – Page 14 – Gwen Hernandez

Tech Tuesday: Custom Meta-Data in Scrivener 2.x

December 7, 2010Gwen HernandezTech Stuff27 Comments

You may know that you can modify the Label and Status fields to meet your needs, but what if you want to track even more items? With Custom Meta-Data, you can make your own. Want to know more? Here’s how to get started.

Adding a Custom Meta-Data Field to Your Project

1. Make sure the Inspector is open (if not, click the Inspector icon at the top right of your screen).

2. Click the Custom Meta-Data button at the bottom of the Inspector.

3. Click Definte Meta-Data Fields…
The Meta-Data Settings box will open. (Note, this box is also available when you edit Label or Status settings.)

4. Click the + button to add a new Meta-Data field, then enter the desired field name, and click OK. I called my field Blog Type.
– If you want all of the entered text to show (e.g. in Outline view), and you expect your values to be long, check the Wrap Text box.
– If you want the text color to be something other than black (so it will stand out in contrast to other data), check the Colored Text box and use the Color Picker to select a color.

Populating a Custom Meta-Data Field

Once you’ve created a custom data field, it shows up in the Inspector any time you click the Custom Meta-Data button. To add a value to it, just enter the value in the text box below the field name.

You can also add values in the Outliner view as shown in step 3 below.

View Custom Meta-Data in the Outliner

1. In the Binder, select the folder you want to view in the Outliner.
If the Outliner doesn't show, click the Outliner button (far right button in View Mode section of toolbar) or go to View–>Outline.
2. To see your Custom Meta-Data, click the Column Selector button at the far right end of the Outliner header bar (looks like a >> on Mac or a down arrow in Windows) and choose the desired field.
3. To add/edit the value for a document, double-click in the cell under the custom field’s header and enter the desired value.
4. To sort by your custom field, click the header to toggle between ascending and descending sort. (Mac only for now)

View Files by Custom Meta-Data Value using Search

1. To search by Custom Meta-Data, type the value in the Search box at the top right of your toolbar.
2. Click the magnifying glass icon and choose to search in Custom Meta-Data. The resulting documents will show in the Binder.

3. To save the search, click the magnifying glass again and choose Save Search As Collection. Saved searches show up in your Collections.

Pros and Cons of Custom Meta-Data

+ Once created, custom data fields can be added to any document in the project.

+ Can be used to create a collection, which in turn can be used as a filter for choosing which documents to compile.

+ Allow you to track additional data not already provided for.

– User cannot create drop-down list to limit values and control for errors.

– Can only be viewed in Inspector and Outliner.

If you want to store more data, but aren’t a big fan of how Custom Meta-Data works, try Keywords instead. Scrivener is nothing if not flexible.

Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

Write on.
[Updated 6/12/14]

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Not really Tech Tuesday: Playing with Scrivener 2.0

October 26, 2010Gwen HernandezWriting Life

If you’ve been off-planet, or passing time in a cave in the Hindu Kush, you might not know that a sneak preview of Scrivener 2.0 was released today. This post will not be about all of the awesome, wonderful features that have been added. (I already mentioned a few in my anticipatory post last month.) I’ll get to that in a couple of weeks, or maybe after November—i.e. NaNo—ends.

I’m just gloating because I downloaded my copy (which I’m using to write this blog), and it’s beautiful. All the familiar parts are still there, but there are shiny new buttons and toys to play with and I can’t wait to uncover all of its secrets.

For now, if you want to know more, check out Keith’s great videos introducing the new features, or check out his blog post about them.

And for my friends still stuck with PCs, the Windows beta version also came out today. Apparently, it’s a bit rough (you know, beta version), but a nice preview of what’s to come.

Time to go celebrate with Reese's peanut butter cups. Write on!

Tech Tuesday: Keywords in Scrivener

October 5, 2010Gwen HernandezWriting Life48 Comments

I was reluctant to take on the topic of Keywords because I hadn’t been using them up to this point. But when mmarkmiller requested a TT post on it, I took another look. I may just be hooked. If customizing the Label and Status drop downs doesn’t provide you with enough ways to categorize and organize your documents, then read on.

Why use Keywords? The possibilities are endless. Here are just a few things you can track for a document using Keywords:

Characters present in the scene
POV
Setting
Which act or part of the story the scene is in
Time/Day
Which subplot(s) the scene belongs to

I’m sure you can think of others. Feel free to share. So are you ready to see how it works?

View the Keywords pane

If the Inspector pane is not open, click the Inspector button in the upper right-hand corner.
At the bottom of the inspector pane, click the button shaped like a key. The Keywords pane will display, listing all keywords associated with the current document, if any.

Add a Keyword to a document

In the Keywords pane, click the + button.
On the open line, enter the keyword you want to associate to the document.
Note that keywords added in an individual document will be available to all documents in the project via the Project Keywords panel, discussed next.

Adding a keyword in the Keywords pane (bottom right)

Opening the Project Keywords Panel

There are two ways to view the Project Keywords panel:

Click the Keywords button at the top of the screen.
Click the gear button in the Keywords pane and choose Show Project Keywords.

Adding Keywords in the Project Keywords Panel

Click the button on the bottom left of the panel to add a keyword at the same level as the one currently selected, or the middle button to add a child to the selected keyword.
Type the new keyword.

Adding a new project keyword (as sibling to Characters)

Example of child keywords, and multiple keywords applied to a document

Applying Keywords to more than one document at a time

Select desired documents in the Binder, using shift+click (for contiguous selection), or command+click [Mac] or Ctrl+click [Windows] (for non-contiguous files).
Drag the appropriate keyword on top of any of the selected documents.

NOTE: You can also drag a keyword from the Project Keywords panel onto a single document.

I selected three documents, then dragged “Mark” on top of the middle one to apply to all three

Search by Keyword

There are two ways to display all documents tagged with a keyword:

Select the desired keyword in the Project Keywords panel, and click the Search button.
Or, in the Search pane at the top of the screen, type in the desired keyword, then click the magnifying glass and choose Keywords in the drop down menu.

Delete a Keyword from a document

In the Keywords pane, select the desired keyword(s) and press the [-] button.
Or, you can select the desired keyword(s) in the pane, click on the gear button, and choose Delete Selected Keyword(s).

Note: This does not delete the keyword from the project. It will still be available in the Project Keywords panel.

Delete a Keyword from the Project Keywords Panel (and thus the whole project)

Open the Project Keywords panel.
Choose the desired word or words in the list.
Click the ⦸ button at the bottom of the panel.

I think with a bit of fiddling, you’ll find the Keywords feature to be very useful. Or, for another option in Scrivener 2.x, check out Custom Meta-Data. Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

Write on!

[Updated 10/29/14]

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Tech Tuesday: Scrivener 2.0 is coming!!

September 21, 2010Gwen HernandezWriting Life21 Comments

It’s coming, it’s coming! Scrivener 2.0 is officially—finally—almost here. I cannot wait for the release, currently set for an undetermined date in October. Here are a few of the new/updated features I’m looking forward to.

Improved integration between the Corkboard, Outliner, and Edit Scrivenings views.
Move index cards totally freeform around the Corkboard.
Print index cards!
For those used to Page Layout view in Word or similar software, Scrivener 2.0 now boasts its own version. Great for visualizing your writing by pages instead of just word count.
Snapshots will now show up in the Inspector, and best of all, will include a compare feature. I’ve been waiting for this.
The full screen function was updated with several features, including the ability to put in your own background photo instead of just solid colors. I’m envisioning some leaves or an ocean view in my future…
Organize documents into collections in the Binder. For example by POV, status, or whatever label you want.
Make revisions with a different text color to help you keep your edits straight.
Copy a document as an HTML file for easy blog posting. This will be super handy for me since I now use Scrivener to write and archive all of my blog posts.
Scrivener will now support exporting to EPUB format for use on Sony Reader, iBooks, etc. Super Brownie points for this one!

That’s a brief taste of what’s to come with 2.0. The best part? The upgrade is only $25, and new users get the wonder that is Scrivener for only $45. I would gladly pay double that or more. And, no, I’m not an affiliate. I don’t make any money if you click on the link from here.

Scrivener has changed the way I write—and organize my writing—for the better. I’ll never go back to a plain old word processor again. I’d rather write longhand. :-p

Go to the Literature and Latte blog for more details on the upcoming release.

Write on!

Looking for more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

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Tech Tuesday: Advanced Highlighter Features in Scrivener

May 18, 2010Gwen HernandezTech Stuff46 Comments

You probably know that you can highlight text in Scrivener using your choice of colors. Big deal, right? Any decent word processor offers that. But did you know that you can also search by color, and rename the colors to something more meaningful for how you use them?

If not, then read on.

Just in case you don't know already, here's how to highlight text in Scrivener with one of the standard highlighter colors (or one of your own choosing).

Select the text you want to highlight.
Go to Format–>Highlight, and then choose the color from the submenu.

Now on to the really cool stuff. I know several people who mark up their paper drafts with highlighters. Why? One does it for items such as dialogue, emotion, conflict, and setting. Another marks each character's dialogue so he can track it through the whole MS and make sure it's consistent. Still another uses it to mark areas that need research or revision (much like we did with annotations).

You are only limited by your imagination here. Once you've marked up your draft, you can use the Find Highlight function to search for all highlighted text, or one color.

Go to Edit–>Find–>Find By Formatting.
In the Find drop-down menu, select Highlighted Text.
To search for only one color, check the box next to Limit Search To Color, then click the color box to choose the desired color.
Click Next (or Previous if you want to go backwards).
Scrivener will take you to the next instance of the chosen color(s) in your MS.
You can edit or read the text and then click Next again to move to the next instance, without closing the Highlights Finder dialog box.

If you'd like the change the color names to something more meaningful, you can do that too (currently Mac only).

Go to Format–>Highlight–>Show Colors.
Select the color label (double click) and type your own label.
The new labels will show up in the Highlight submenu of the Format menu.

I hope you found this as cool as I did. Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

Happy highlighting!
[updated 7/31/14]

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Tech Tuesday: Saving Layouts in Scrivener

May 11, 2010Gwen HernandezWriting Life

You already know you can create project templates in Scrivener, but did you know you can also save multiple layout settings? Honestly, mine are kind of boring. I pretty much stick to one layout and toggle between that and full screen mode. However, after Keith and David put out a call for user layouts recently, I realized that there are as many layout preferences as there are Scrivener users.

Here's how to set up and save yours.

Set up your screen in the layout you want to save. This includes the binder, editor, outliner, corkboard, and inspector visibility, as well as the size of each.
From the View menu, choose Layout, Show Layouts (or Shift+Cmd+) ).
Click the + button at the bottom left of the dialog window.
Give your layout a title and description, and check all of the settings you want to save.
Click Save.

Now, if you mess around with your screen layout and want to get back to your preferred layout quickly…

From the View menu, choose Layout, Show Layouts.
Select the layout you want in the list on the left, and choose Set.

To delete a layout:

From the View menu, choose Layout, Show Layouts.
Select the layout from the list on the left, and click the – button.

You can export layouts to share.

From the View menu, choose Layout, Show Layouts.
Select the layout to export from the list on the left.
Click on the Manage… dropdown arrow.
Choose Export Selected Layout, and save it as desired.

You can also import layouts from your friends.

From the View menu, choose Layout, Show Layouts.
Click on the Manage… dropdown arrow.
Choose Import Layout, select the desired layout file, and click Open.
The imported layout will now be visible in the list on the left.

The best part is, these layouts are now available for all of your Scrivener projects. For more information about Layouts, see the Scrivener Help under Windows & Panels, The Layouts Panel. Or check out the Scrivener Online Support page.

Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

Write on!

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Tech Tuesday: Linking documents in Scrivener

April 20, 2010Gwen HernandezWriting Life46 Comments

Last week I looked at how Scrivener's Annotations feature allows you to mark up your documents with reminders for further research or revision notes.

But maybe you want to write a pretty lengthy note on a new direction for the scene, or you want to link to another scene within your project. Or you have the research article imported into your project already, but you don't want to stop and go through it right now.

For cases like those above, Scrivener offers the ability to insert links to other documents within your project. You can link to text documents (scenes, character notes, story outline), or to files, photos, and web pages already imported into your project. You can even create a link and a new document at the same time.

Ready?

How to insert a link to an existing file within your Scrivener project:

1. Select the word or text you'd like to use for the hyperlink (otherwise, Scrivener will insert a link with the name of the file you select).
NOTE: You can choose to insert the link in an annotation to prevent it from being embedded in the text of your MS.

2. Go to Edit–>Scrivener Link, point to the location of the file, click on the file you want to link.

What if you want to make a list or a full page of notes?

1. Follow step 1 from above.

2. Go to Edit–>Scrivener Link–>New Link.
A pop-up menu appears with the Create New Linked Document tab selected.

3. Choose the location where you want to save the new file, enter a name for it in the text box, and click OK.
The new document appears in a quick-reference panel so you can add text.

4. Type in your notes, lists, ramblings, etc.

5. If you remove or delete the link, the new note will not be deleted from the Binder.

Want to insert a hyperlink to a web page that's not imported into your project?

1. Copy the URL of the web page.

2. Select the word or text you'd like to use for the hyperlink.

3. Go to Edit–>Add Link.

4. Make sure the Web option is selected, and then enter the URL of the web page in the text box and click OK.
NOTE: If you copied the address from your web browser, it probably already has the http:// in it, so choose the No Prefix option.

Use your link:

1. Click on the hyperlink to switch to the linked document.

2. Use the back arrow to go back to the original document.

Edit a link:

1. Select the text of the link.

2. Go to Edit–>Edit Link (Mac) or Edit–>Link (Windows).

Remove a link:

1. Select the text of the link.

2. Go to Edit–>Unlink. Or, just right click the link and choose Remove Link (Mac) or Unlink (Windows).

Need more help? Sign up for an online class, read more Scrivener articles, or schedule a private training session. If you don't already have it, you can download Scrivener here.

Happy linking!

[Updated 5/22/13]

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