Jason Henke Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 A quick question which I may know the answer to, but want to check on: If I am in full text writing mode and I use the # and make it a "section head" style (love this ability by-the-way as it doesn't break my flow for writing at all)...can the Index Card created for the section be pre-populated in any way? Reason for the question: I find it very distracting to pop out to the Index Card view and see my Chapter names as created in writing dipslayed, but for each section in the chapter to simply say: Section Head and be blank cards. I'd love for it to take a section title (by entering #Title say or even #Title#) and then take the first number of characters--or even the first sentence (defined by ".")--to fill the section's summary in. When I saw the "Show Body Text" option, I thought it would show my story text, but it just shows the space on the card for a summary area. I had no way of telling which section I was clicking on when using the Index Card view. I want to have an idea what it is. I will most often create these on the fly as I write and not pre-create them via the outline mode before I write. I know this is a feature request if it can't be done already, but there may be a way to do it that I'm missing. So, I asked the question in the "Using Storyist" thread first, but it went without comment. Thanks! P.S. I bought this on a whim during and it's fast becoming my main way of writing and replacing my little powerhouse laptop. The iPad just fires up to quick, lasts longer, and can off load the files when done via Dropbox...the Storyist software allows me to work in my writing style and create the cards on the fly--and that is huge. It may even take over for other suites I like a lot. Now, if only I had a Mac (or you came out with a PC version). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I thought someone else would answer this, but no one has, so let me take a stab at it. In the Mac version of Storyist, sheets for characters, plot, and settings do pre-populate, in the sense that text typed on the cards displays in the summary fields of the sheets and vice versa. Text entered on cards for section sheets generally remains independent, as the program assumes you need a place to note what you want to happen in the section rather than simply duplicating the summary field. This behavior carries over into the iPad version—except that on the iPad, only section sheets have an option to display in card mode. So the short answer to your question is no, section sheets do not pre-populate. The feature request has, however, been made. Welcome to the forums. Best, Marguerite Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steve E Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 I thought someone else would answer this... Oh, and welcome to the forums, jhenke. -T Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Henke Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Thanks to you both. In reading this again, I guess I should clarify my want in case my noobie status with the program clouded it: Situation background: When writing in my Manuscript (working in the full text, not in outline mode), I like to create sections using the keyboard shortcut "#" and the "Section Head" style. This is the same as I do for creating chapters while full on writing in the manuscript view. However, when I do this, the created section cards are blank and title-less when viewed in the Outline/Card mode. My feature request (you said it's already made): I just want the iPad Storyist (I don't have a Mac) to grab the first sentence or so from my new section and pop it into the new section's summary. It doesn't have to be on the fly (though it would be nice), but a button on the index card view to populate sections would be fine. The blank cards were useless to me in Outline/card mode as is. I couldn't tell what they were from looking at them. Actually, even being able to highlight a portion of the section text and assign it to "Section Summary" would be more than fine. Why: My writing method (and, yes, this is selfish) is to go right into the draft on the inspiration. I LOVE being able to add sections on the fly and have cards created for them as I type in Storyist's full text Manuscript mode. That feature was a great surprise for me as I traditionally create sections/cards out of the text (in other programs) after my initial fire writing; I do this for editing, tracking, and analyzing story flow for the polishing drafts. I find it very off putting to outline first (just how I do my writing), but I then treat that rush draft like raw footage in my film editing. I just need to see more than the blank card when I pop into Outline/Card mode from the Manuscript...i had 6 blank section cards in a properly titled chapter and no clue what they were in looking at them. Thanks for the reply and the welcome. Have a great day! (edited: added the style idea for section summary) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted January 23, 2012 Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 That all sounds perfectly reasonable to me (although I don't have to program it). One point I should have mentioned earlier. The cards are labeled "Section Head" because you haven't named the sections (since you added them on the fly). If you want to at least get a hint of what goes with what, you can put the iPad in Landscape mode, pin the outline view to the left so you can see text and outline, and rename the sections before you switch to card view (I suggest you pick something more informative than Chapter 1, Scene 2). To get rid of the outline again, tap the x. Those section names will carry over onto the cards, so that should help a bit. M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Henke Posted January 23, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 23, 2012 Trying that tonight. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason Henke Posted January 24, 2012 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 totally worked and thank you for that tip! I still want the auto fill (in fact, they can modify the bit that highlights the section when you click the card in this case), but I can work with the side pinning and editing the titles there for the sections for now. Cool. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marguerite Posted January 24, 2012 Report Share Posted January 24, 2012 Happy to help. Now that you know where we live, so to speak, why not stop by the Community forum and introduce yourself? We're friendly! Best, M Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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