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1.0 is just the beginning...


Steve

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Hi Everyone,

 

Storyist for iPad 1.0 is out and I want to thank everyone who contributed feature requests to the various threads here in the forums. Hopefully you'll love what you find in 1.0 (and let the world know in the reviews in the iTunes App Store).

 

As with Storyist for Mac, Storyist for iPad development will be user driven, and I'd like to use this thread to collect your requests.

 

So... you've downloaded 1.0 and have spent some quality time with it. What would you like to see?

 

[Please feel free to start a new topic for each request if someone hasn't requested it already].

 

-Steve

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well, first of all, I am happy the program exists.

 

after trying, my biggest wish is to customize the custom keyboard by adding some keys (like in Nebulous notes), because I often need - and other keys for example, which are not present as key currently. If user just could add them that would be great (see nebulous or even writeroom).

 

images. I would like to mix images with index cards. right now, images are visible within the text page and the image folder.

 

text on index cards. I am unsure where this text goes, it does not go into the page it seems? can it be exported? I would like better if I just had thos cards and then click on one which would open the editor of the section of the manuscript/document for the respective card and just write. right now it is a bit cumbersome when one actually want to write into the document. why not have a switch on the index card, like "note" / "content" and when selecting content, the nice writing interface would appear and one can just write away.

 

text zoom. the text is too small for me when writing and editing. please add zoom (making font bigger is not really what one wants as this affects the actual font in the manuscript.

 

how about word count? if the index cards representing manuscript sections (as explained above) could display the word count for the content, that would be helpful. actually I did not really see a tool for tracking the daily word count, useful or not can be argued, but I am using this for the writing session as some kind of orientation and while writing it seems to help me alot seeing the live count.

 

other stuff: actually this would be quite important to me: set up sub-documents for Dropbox sync as plain text. like having a doc where I take some notes, write down snippets, edit, I would love to just place it in Dropbox and sync it, because then I can quickly access it from any device, mac, pc, iphone etc.

I did use the export to have storyist doc on mac, but usually do not need whole doc, just what I currently work with and export/import is cumbersome.

as a workaround, I am using a plain text editor where I keep copies of storyist docs to have what I work with readily available, but that is cumbersome. (I see that this might interfere with the index card implementation, but that probably could be solved somehow, right now it would help to just add new type doc as "Dropboc text doc" without any index card feature it it, they still can be sorted withing the respective Storyist folder)

 

speaking of export/import, when exporting no warning comes up when overwriting existing with same name (I know, dropbox keeps a copy), therefore, why not just call that sync and have a sync button which syncs the documents automatically/with just one cklick...

 

character, setting etc sheets: would be cool if image in upper right on sheet would be used as representation/preview of sheet within folder.

 

Hi Everyone,

 

Storyist for iPad 1.0 is out and I want to thank everyone who contributed feature requests to the various threads here in the forums. Hopefully you'll love what you find in 1.0 (and let the world know in the reviews in the iTunes App Store).

 

As with Storyist for Mac, Storyist for iPad development will be user driven, and I'd like to use this thread to collect your requests.

 

So... you've downloaded 1.0 and have spent some quality time with it. What would you like to see?

 

-Steve

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Hi, uneulv:

Welcome to the forums. Some of your requests are already available in the app. For example, there is a one-button Dropbox sync, but it is turned off by default. You can find instructions to turn it on in "Getting Started." Once you turn it on, you will have the best results if you sync from then on, unless you specifically want to work on a copy of your file rather than the original. Otherwise you may end up with several copies of the same file on your iPad because Dropbox is trying to ensure you don't lose anything.

 

To zoom in or out, use your fingers (move two fingers apart to zoom in; move them together to zoom out).

 

You can export some parts of your Storyist file as plain text or RTF text. For example, if you open a project called Novel, you will see your manuscript (Manuscript). Tap on Edit, tap Manuscript, tap Export (up in the top left corner), pick a way to export (to Dropbox, to iTunes, e-mail), then tap RTF or TXT.

 

Getting text off cards requires a few more steps. Steve can probably help you there. I second the call for a simpler method in a future version.

 

Someone else asked about curly quotes. Straight double and single quote marks are available on the extended keyboard in the manuscript (but not in index cards and sheets—yet). To get curly quotes, you need to touch 123, slide to the " mark and hold it until the alternate characters appear, then slide to the one you want. I second the call for having them available from the extended keyboard.

Best,

Marguerite

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found the sync button and am happy with that.

the other issue you mention, text zoom, I am still not happy with, it involves scrolling, has to be reset each time doc is opened and does something strange to the paragraphs it seems.

you also mention export to dropbox, that is not what I tried to describe, I actually was thinking of setting up sync for text that is a sub-document in the storyist file.

I hope the other issues can be addressed too, I am most struggeling with lacking keyboard customization and the issue of finding and editing the text that belongs to the index cards.

thanks.

 

Hi, uneulv:

Welcome to the forums. Some of your requests are already available in the app. For example, there is a one-button Dropbox sync, but it is turned off by default. You can find instructions to turn it on in "Getting Started." Once you turn it on, you will have the best results if you sync from then on, unless you specifically want to work on a copy of your file rather than the original. Otherwise you may end up with several copies of the same file on your iPad because Dropbox is trying to ensure you don't lose anything.

 

To zoom in or out, use your fingers (move two fingers apart to zoom in; move them together to zoom out).

 

You can export some parts of your Storyist file as plain text or RTF text. For example, if you open a project called Novel, you will see your manuscript (Manuscript). Tap on Edit, tap Manuscript, tap Export (up in the top left corner), pick a way to export (to Dropbox, to iTunes, e-mail), then tap RTF or TXT.

 

Getting text off cards requires a few more steps. Steve can probably help you there. I second the call for a simpler method in a future version.

 

Someone else asked about curly quotes. Straight double and single quote marks are available on the extended keyboard in the manuscript (but not in index cards and sheets—yet). To get curly quotes, you need to touch 123, slide to the " mark and hold it until the alternate characters appear, then slide to the one you want. I second the call for having them available from the extended keyboard.

Best,

Marguerite

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Hi uneulv,

 

Thanks for joining the discussion. I just created a separate thread for the keyboard customization request. That has come up before and I'll likely add that this fall.

 

the other issue you mention, text zoom, I am still not happy with, it involves scrolling, has to be reset each time doc is opened and does something strange to the paragraphs it seems.

 

So if I understand the request, you'd like to be able to zoom in further than you can currently (about 150% in landscape) and have Storyist handle the scrolling, much like it does when you cursor vertically in the document. Is that correct?

 

you also mention export to dropbox, that is not what I tried to describe, I actually was thinking of setting up sync for text that is a sub-document in the storyist file.

 

I think you also mentioned that you'd like to see this sync be plain text. This would be a fairly major change and it's not immediately clear how I could make this simple and intuitive. Let me think about it some.

 

I hope the other issues can be addressed too, I am most struggeling with lacking keyboard customization and the issue of finding and editing the text that belongs to the index cards.

thanks.

 

The card text is editable in the index card view, and you can edit it in the index card view in the main editor, or by splitting the text view as described here and tapping a card twice (once to select it and once to edit it).

 

The card text is currently not exportable, and expect this will also be popular request.

 

-Steve

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thank you. follow up concerning index cards and editing of actual document:

it is difficult for me to write with those cards on left hand side, I am able to enter full width mode to write, but how do I get back to the index card row from there? via those many steps? or is there a single click way doing that? like having those cards, then go full landscape mode for writing some, then immediately go back to cards?

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Hi uneulv,

 

thank you. follow up concerning index cards and editing of actual document:

it is difficult for me to write with those cards on left hand side, I am able to enter full width mode to write, but how do I get back to the index card row from there? via those many steps? or is there a single click way doing that? like having those cards, then go full landscape mode for writing some, then immediately go back to cards?

 

I agree that when writing, having the full width in landscape is preferable. If you just want to edit the card and return to your writing, you can tap the Outline button to get the popover view. The card for the current section will already be selected, and tapping again lets you edit it.

 

Getting back to the pinned split view takes two taps: one to open the popover, and the second to pin it open.

 

-Steve

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 Hi Steve,

 

My experience with Storyist for iPad just keeps getting better. I posted a five-star review on iTunes, which should appear shortly. 

 

Meanwhile, I have some suggestions (and a possible bug?) for you to consider, minus those I already see mentioned. I look forward to hearing what you think of them.

 

Possible Bug?

--  If the orientation changes from landscape to portrait while editing an index card, all edits to that card are lost. (Perhaps autosave an index card whenever it loses cursor focus?)

 

Suggestions:

--  When editing index cards, include arrow keys and buttons for quotes and apostrophes (in addition to the color and "next card" arrow buttons).

 

--  Make "undo" button available while editing index cards.

 

--  Option to pin outline list to left-hand side by default. (This would eliminates the extra step for those of us who prefer it that way.)

 

--  Retain current configuration of outline list/index cards/document elements when exiting.

 

--  Option when viewing index card layout in edit mode to "copy" as well as "delete"cards. This would enable the use of existing cards as templates.

 

--  Add drop-down list of main documents (those not nested in a folder) accessible from within each document to enable quick switching between them without having to return to the project page.

 

--  Full-screen outline view (available with or without sidebar, as with index cards and documents).

 

--  Ability to move documents between projects as well as within them.

 

Thanks!

MichaelM

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just wanted to mention, I also posted a 5 star review, which the app deserves. there is much room for improvement, but it is kind of pioneering and makes the ipad more useful, much in contrast to other hyped but bad stuff out there.

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Hi MichaelM,

 

Thanks for the great suggestions. Comments below.

 

Hi Steve,

 

My experience with Storyist for iPad just keeps getting better. I posted a five-star review on iTunes, which should appear shortly.

 

Thank you!

 

Meanwhile, I have some suggestions (and a possible bug?) for you to consider, minus those I already see mentioned. I look forward to hearing what you think of them.

 

Possible Bug?

-- If the orientation changes from landscape to portrait while editing an index card, all edits to that card are lost. (Perhaps autosave an index card whenever it loses cursor focus?)

 

It looks like if you are in manuscript view and have opened the Outline popover (or have it pinned) and are editing a card when you rotate, Storyist closes the popover without saving the edits. This is probably not what you want. I'll fix that.

 

The index card view does preserve the changes, at least for me. Let me know if you're seeing otherwise.

 

Suggestions:

-- When editing index cards, include arrow keys and buttons for quotes and apostrophes (in addition to the color and "next card" arrow buttons).

 

In order to add keys, I'd need to condense the color controls, probably to a single control with a popover (so choosing a color would require two taps rather than one). I think any keyboard customization enhancements would be useful in the index card editor too, so let's track this one in the keyboard customization thread.

 

-- Make "undo" button available while editing index cards.

 

You can currently undo typing in the card using the iOS undo mechanism: Just tap the ".?123" key when editing to reveal the Undo key. I thought about adding the Undo key to the extended keyboard (to save taps), but decided against the duplication for a cleaner UI.

 

-- Option to pin outline list to left-hand side by default. (This would eliminates the extra step for those of us who prefer it that way.)

-- Retain current configuration of outline list/index cards/document elements when exiting.

 

Agreed. Lets track these two here.

 

-- Option when viewing index card layout in edit mode to "copy" as well as "delete"cards. This would enable the use of existing cards as templates.

 

Yes, and for documents too.

 

-- Add drop-down list of main documents (those not nested in a folder) accessible from within each document to enable quick switching between them without having to return to the project page.

 

I thought about this some early on. There are a couple of approaches:

 

1) Press and hold the Back button to see history. This would mirror the behavior you get when you press and hold the Back button in Safari.

 

2) Tap the title to allow navigation. This would be similar to Command+Click in the icon of a Finder window. The last choice might be "Choose" which would bring up a popover similar to the Move popover.

 

Let me think about this some more.

 

-- Full-screen outline view (available with or without sidebar, as with index cards and documents).

 

Storyist for Mac does this. The toolbar is getting a little crowded, but this would be a nice addition.

 

-- Ability to move documents between projects as well as within them.

 

Agreed. Right now, you can do this by exporting/importing with Dropbox. A little clunky, I know.

 

-Steve

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Hi uneulv,

 

just wanted to mention, I also posted a 5 star review, which the app deserves. there is much room for improvement, but it is kind of pioneering and makes the ipad more useful, much in contrast to other hyped but bad stuff out there.

 

Thank you for the review on iTunes, and for your suggestions here in the forums.

 

-Steve

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi Steve,

 

1.0 seems like a great start! Here are my top requests:

 

* Progress functions (word count). I know this is top of the list for 1.1, just want to reinforce. =]

 

* Linking between chapters/sections and story sheets (that's my security blanket), which leads to...

 

* Easy way to switch back and forth between linked items and sections for quick reference. I realize that multiple documents on the iPad is not realistic, but some sort of browser / iOS style navigation would probably work almost as well.

 

Thanks, look forward to future enhancements!

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  • 4 weeks later...

If you want this to be a solid competitor for the eventual FD and MMS apps, then here's what you need to consider:

 

Slim it down and implement it as a logical and progressive workflow that covers the entire spectrum of writing. Screenwriters work in stages. Notes/Brainstorming > Index Cards > Outline > Draft.

 

The character sheets and scene sheets etc. are great, but working writers want something that is intuitive.

 

Like a note/brainstorming idea you've had? Allow it to be 'pushed' to an index card, so the writer can go into the Index Cards and refine it as a scene.

 

Index Cards and Outlines are different to different writers. Some writers use their Index Cards to reference when writing a proper Outline. Some writers hate writing Outlines and just paste up their Index Cards as the Outline.

 

But a good Outlining feature can work in both interpretations. Sophocles was a great abandoned writing software that the majors are now referencing for its intuitive Outline building features.

 

ACT

>SEQUENCE

>>SCENE

>>>BEAT

 

Like the scene you've built as an Index Card? Allow it to be pushed to the Outline, where it can either be left as is, or written into a more prose form of Outline, depending on your preference.

 

The flow begins in Notes. Fill it with everything in your head. Push what you like to Index Cards for the next stage, because all of your other notes are still going to be there in 'Notes' if you have to come back to them.

 

Refine your ideas in Index Cards. Push what you like to the Outline as a Sequence, Scene, Beat etc. The scenes that didn't make the cut for your Outline are still going to be there in 'Index Cards' if you want to add them later.

 

You build your final Outline the way you want. Organise your Scenes and Beats into the appropriate Act and Sequence so that you have a linear overview of your story, clearly segmented.

 

Your final Outline is what you write off. Offer the option to present it as a traditional outline, a basic scene summary or just as finalised Index Cards. Then the writer can work side-by-side in Draft mode. Allow it to be collapsed/expanded for quick navigation purposes.

 

Presto! A screenwriting app that finally works how most writers do.

 

I like Storyist. The other Screenwriting apps are useless, because they don't actually present things in the logical order that a writer works. 'Pushing' things from one stage to another would be a valuable feature.

 

Keep the Character, Scene sheets etc. Have them as folders in Notes. But you really need to seperate and compartmentalise all of your product features into the clear steps of the writing process: Notes > Index Cards > Outline > Draft. Having them as a mess of folders is like having everything strewn all over your desk.

 

These ideas of defining the steps of writing would serve well in both your Desktop and iPad apps.

 

Keep it simple and linear and writers will love you for it.

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