Just ASK before deleting text

[mercedes von uppity]

I am desperate for Storyist to do any any photo-editing system does: just ask me before any text is deleted. Just a little window that says "Are you sure you want to delete this?"

 

Even though I have received wonderful and patient help from the forums in the past about the bahaviour of sections Re: the # symbol, and I understand better, I still have some issues. e.g. Sections blend together when I did not intend them to (I'll be typing along and next thing I know, the # has disappeared and I'm in the section below.) Or, conversely, I end up with many new "untitled section"s. When I try to straighten this out, I inevitably end up with some text not in the section that I think it is/should be. Of course, this happens mostly when I've put down the project for a while and come back to it, so I'm refamiliarizing myself with where I was in the story.

 

To be honest, this whole deal drives me constantly insane. But it must be me as I don't see others struggling with it. So...I just stumble on best I can. But when I'm trying to straighten-out these messy sections...I end up accidentally deleting text, and I don't notice till it's too late (because I'm all wrapped up in not knowing what's going on with these divisions).

 

This is about the 4th time I've LOST text that I really, really liked. I'm at my wit's end with it. I would really love it if Storyist would just ask "Do you really want to delete this text?" so I can have a warning that I'm about to do away with something. (Which normally I never do. I move text I think I don't want to somewhere else, in case I want to put it back later.)

[Steve]

Hi Mercedes,

 

Welcome back and thanks for the post.

 

I am desperate for Storyist to do any any photo-editing system does: just ask me before any text is deleted. Just a little window that says "Are you sure you want to delete this?"

 

Storyist will ask you if you're about to delete sections that have sheets (notes) attached, but does not ask you if you're just deleting regular text. The general rule of thumb is to prompt for operations that are not undoable, but not for operations that are undoable. Text deletion is undoable.

 

Even though I have received wonderful and patient help from the forums in the past about the bahaviour of sections Re: the # symbol, and I understand better, I still have some issues. e.g. Sections blend together when I did not intend them to (I'll be typing along and next thing I know, the # has disappeared and I'm in the section below.) Or, conversely, I end up with many new "untitled section"s. When I try to straighten this out, I inevitably end up with some text not in the section that I think it is/should be. Of course, this happens mostly when I've put down the project for a while and come back to it, so I'm refamiliarizing myself with where I was in the story.

 

Your sections are named "Untitled Section" when you first create them. You're creating new sections when you type the "#" (section separator) character.

 

To be honest, this whole deal drives me constantly insane. But it must be me as I don't see others struggling with it. So...I just stumble on best I can. But when I'm trying to straighten-out these messy sections...I end up accidentally deleting text, and I don't notice till it's too late (because I'm all wrapped up in not knowing what's going on with these divisions).

 

If you do accidentally delete text without realizing it, you can probably retrieve it from one of the automatic backups (File > Backups).

 

This is about the 4th time I've LOST text that I really, really liked. I'm at my wit's end with it. I would really love it if Storyist would just ask "Do you really want to delete this text?" so I can have a warning that I'm about to do away with something. (Which normally I never do. I move text I think I don't want to somewhere else, in case I want to put it back later.)

 

Check your backup files. By default, Storyist makes automatic backups every day, and I'll bet you'll find the text there.

 

One suggestion (and I do this with my own writing) is get in the habit of making a backup (File > Back Up) before you make structural changes to your work. Then, if you do accidentally delete something, you'll be sure to able to retrieve it.

 

As for prompting any time text is deleted: Personally, I think that would get annoying fast. However, as I mentioned above, Storyist already prompts when you're about to delete sections that have sheets attached, and I could see extending that to operations that delete sections even if sheets are not attached.

 

-Steve