Replacing words

[Maury]

Hi, is there a way to automatically replace a word or series of words in a text? I?m asking because I decided to change the name of a character and was wondering how can this be done as easily as possible. He appears a lot, damn it!

 

[marguerite]

Are you using Storyist for Mac, or Storyist for iPad? The process is the same, but the exact sequence of steps differs a bit.

Best,

Marguerite

[Maury]

Are you using Storyist for Mac, or Storyist for iPad? The process is the same, but the exact sequence of steps differs a bit.

Best,

Marguerite

Actually I use both, but the "heavy writin'" is being done on the Mac nowadays.

[marguerite]

Okay, then there are two ways to search. The first thing to do is to click in the actual manuscript, then choose Find from the Edit menu. When the Find window appears, type the current character's name in the first box and the new name in the second box. Click Replace all. You may get a message saying you will "delete text and collages" and asking you to confirm.

 

Normally, you want to choose "Yes, delete." In the most recent Storyist beta, I encountered a problem with this wiping out chapter and section sheets in the Project View, which it's not supposed to do. Steve then fixed this problem, but I'm not sure when it crept in, so I mention here to ensure that you don't panic if it happens to you. If it does, hit Command-Z (Undo from the Edit menu) immediately, and all will return to the way it was before. You will then have to choose Find again and confirm each change (click Next, then Find and Replace until Storyist reports that it cannot find any more instances). Note that if the original character's name was, say, Guy or Bill you should confirm each change anyway or billing may become joeing.

 

Once you have the manuscript the way you want it, the best thing to do is to use Storyist's internal search feature, which also finds every instance in every sheet. That is the box on the toolbar next to the Inspector. Type the original character's name where it says search in grayed-out type, and you will see a long list of every time it is used in the project. Just click through them one by one and change them until that window is empty.

 

You can combine the two methods. If you are in a sheet, and you know there are multiple instances of the character's name there, you can use the Edit > Find (Command-F) method within the sheet. But it will not search across sheets as Storyist does. The Storyist search box remains on the screen until you dismiss it by clicking the x in the search box to dismiss the name that you typed in.

 

The process is much easier than it sounds.

Best,

Marguerite

[Maury]

Okay, then there are two ways to search. The first thing to do is to click in the actual manuscript, then choose Find from the Edit menu. When the Find window appears, type the current character's name in the first box and the new name in the second box. Click Replace all. You may get a message saying you will "delete text and collages" and asking you to confirm.

 

Normally, you want to choose "Yes, delete." In the most recent Storyist beta, I encountered a problem with this wiping out chapter and section sheets in the Project View, which it's not supposed to do. Steve then fixed this problem, but I'm not sure when it crept in, so I mention here to ensure that you don't panic if it happens to you. If it does, hit Command-Z (Undo from the Edit menu) immediately, and all will return to the way it was before. You will then have to choose Find again and confirm each change (click Next, then Find and Replace until Storyist reports that it cannot find any more instances). Note that if the original character's name was, say, Guy or Bill you should confirm each change anyway or billing may become joeing.

 

Once you have the manuscript the way you want it, the best thing to do is to use Storyist's internal search feature, which also finds every instance in every sheet. That is the box on the toolbar next to the Inspector. Type the original character's name where it says search in grayed-out type, and you will see a long list of every time it is used in the project. Just click through them one by one and change them until that window is empty.

 

You can combine the two methods. If you are in a sheet, and you know there are multiple instances of the character's name there, you can use the Edit > Find (Command-F) method within the sheet. But it will not search across sheets as Storyist does. The Storyist search box remains on the screen until you dismiss it by clicking the x in the search box to dismiss the name that you typed in.

 

The process is much easier than it sounds.

Best,

Marguerite

Thanks a bunch!