lulu,
I’ll re-post Keith’s remark from the first page:
Thanks AmberV
OK to clarify, I am writing a dissertion. I need it to have a bibliography that conforms to Harvard referencing - as shown here referencing.port.ac.uk/apa/index.html
I need to reference books, weblinks, journals etc. There is a specific style that has to be followed (i.e. Author of chapter, Initials. (year). Title of chapter. In Initials. Name of Editor/s (Ed.), Title of book (pp. start and end page numbers of chapter). Place of publication: Publisher.) for each type of reference. Is there any way that a template could be used to automatically fill in the details correctly?
hope thats enough info for you - if not, do let me know!
thanks
Hmm, I’m not sure what a template could do for you here, as most people don’t use Scrivener for final bibliography formatting. That is much better handled using your citation database software. What you want to do is use it to insert placeholders into your thesis, and then when you compile, use RTF, and then “scan” the RTF with the citation software. It will take the placeholders and do everything necessary to connect them to a bibliography entry and format both that and the reference correctly. Most of these have many style guides built into them and know how to properly do everything you are looking for. We’ve never made any attempt to replicate that sort of behaviour as these tools already do a great job of it, so it would be a re-invention of the wheel.
A project template doesn’t really dictate too much along these lines. It must work within the same restrictions you would, since all they are is a blank project, built up a bit with some starter files and ideas that you can discard or amplify at will, and sometimes compile settings. But the compile settings for endnotes and footnotes are wholly ignorant of such minutia as where the page number goes, or whether to use “pp” or “pg” and so on—they just establish things like font, numbering scheme, and simple placement. Hopefully that makes more sense.
ooo, Ive never heard of citation database software! I will look into that; thanks so much.
You’re welcome! Check around in the usage forum sections, there have been some good discussions on which software works best, and how to get various versions working best with Scrivener. If you’ve are tight for cash, Zotero is a good free manager that a lot of people like. Its integration with Scrivener isn’t quite as slick as the big names, but those can be fairly pricey.
Thanks again. I will check out Zotero.
cheers!
Deleted reference to the PhD template LL
Thanks for your reply. However, It seems to me it might be easier just to type my references manually without any additional software which seem to confuse the situation somewhat.
I’m guessing you might be in America, Lord Lightning as it sounds like you are speaking about a different system. My supervisor is right there for me, pointing me in the right direction. My uni’s preferred style is Harvard, as stated originally, but they dont sell software. I can of course get student discounts on various software but that’s a different matter.
Really? News to me, and I have just spent the past five years doing an MSc followed by a PhD. My university certainly did not have “preferred software”. As lulu says, the situation is likely to be very different in different parts of the world. I’m in the UK, and PhD students here tend to value being left alone to get on with things. In fact, one of the major irritations I faced was having the graduate school getting me to fill in forms to tell them how I was getting on. As my supervisor said, it was tantamount to saying that they didn’t trust him. Ditto for me.
Not in my experience, they don’t. I was never offered so much as a bent farthing in discount, but then my university doesn’t sell software, either.
However, what is really important is lulu’s situation. Having just been through the mill myself, I would advise you to think seriously about the advantages of bibliographic software. I started with half a dozen books to read. I ended up with a bibliographic database that has 595 entries in it. You would be amazed how things can mushroom in three years. I’ve used Bookends for several years and it works well. I’d recommend trying a few to see what suits you.
Best of luck with it, and having lived through it all, I can say that there is light at the end of the tunnel.
Martin.
Thanks Martin, and I couldnt agree more with you.
I will look at your suggestion, though I imagine your Phd requires a much bigger reference section than my dissertation of ‘only’ 20,000 words, which currently has 60 references - and growing 
My pleasure. Of course, it’s the “growing” which is the problem! But don’t overlook the fact that bibliographic software can help you by grouping books and articles according to themes, in folders or by tagging, and that you can print out sub-bibliographies according to theme or whatever. It’s another way of understanding and mastering the subject. And you can also make links between works that are linked by being rebuttals, reviews of another work, etc. Moreover, the bibliographic software keeps more information than is given in the citation or bibliography that you place in your dissertation (for example a URL for the website where you found the item, a shelfmark in your library, links to a pdf you have downloaded, etc.). And you will always read more than you refer to or cite directly!
Best, Martin.
I’m hovering between using scrivener on a mac and a pc and cant make up my mind, but I see that some of the software mentioned is only available for a mac, including Book Ends. Its useful to see links of rebuttals and other citings, as you mention, so that might sway me to the old mac, though my internet connection where the mac is sited is not very good. Its a long and tedious problem for me…!
thanks again Martin 
Forgive me if this has been suggested.
I would LOVE to see a Picture Book template. I am thinking of something similar to the many scrapbook/photo book templates that are available.
For my personal purposes I’d love to see a box(es) that a photo could be dragged and dropped into and then a box for text to be typed into. I’m envisioning something that would work well with Kindle or ipad or other ereader platforms. Landscape or Portrait choices would rock.
Say if I was writing a non-fiction children’s book about minerals it would be neat to have the box on the left/right/top/bottom (depending on orientation) for the photo/illustration of the mineral and then a text box next to/under/over for text that describes it.
It would be super neat if there were choices with a couple basic collage patterns that would work on the larger ipad/tablet screen and simpler ones for the smaller Kindle/Nook screens.
This may be totally out of the scope of Scrivener. I am a new user (just a couple of weeks) and brand new to the forums (just today). But I think it could be a useful “add on” for some folks. I’d certainly pay another $5 or $10 for personalized add-ons. An “a la carte” option for these different templates I’ve seen mentioned might be a way to go. Development could then be continuous and the 2.0 could be released while other add-ons are being developed. Oy vey. Forgive me if I am not clear. I’ll try to clarify if you need.
Places that have the templates I’m thinking of are www.blurb.com, the app fotobooks on Facebook and the like.
Thanks for a great program. I am so impressed and shocked at how much easier writing is for me using it.
All good ideas, to be sure. The only problem is that Scrivener isn’t really a layout program in the traditional sense. It can do some basic “placeholder” style layout like putting a graphic down where it should appear in the final copy, but most designers are going to need more control than that. The author can use alignment to hint at design ideas, but there are no boxes or word-flow options.
So, lacking all of that I’m not sure what a template for a picture book would have over one of the other fiction templates, like perhaps short story.
Can we get a new template for the poetry option? I was thinking of Poetry Chapbook. Or a novella template. Thanks.
I’ll repost the guidelines from the original request, since they are all the way on page one:
So with all of that in mind, please expand on what you mean by a novella template? What would this have (or not have) that would set it apart from the novel template, for instance?
Chapbook article/description: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chapbook
Chapbook Template: docstoc.com/docs/2156621/Cha … User-Guide
Novella article/description:
As one or two others have said, I’d like to see a template for a non-fiction book.
It would require the following
- Preface / Foreword
- Introduction (possibly by a different person)
- Contents
- Chapters
- Index
- References
- Acknowledgements
- Illustrations pictures and diagrams (to be linked into the appropriate places in the main text)
- Research
a) links to web sites
b) reference books and articles
c) interview transcripts
d) other miscellaneous information and notes - Proposal for publisher including
a) Synopsis / Outline
b) Sample chapter
c) Pitch
d) Author’s CV
A suggestion has already been made for a ‘Poetry Template’, and I think it is a great suggestion, which I would like to see implemented as well.
Thank you for accepting suggestions and good luck creating them.
Wonderfully,
Chrystal
There are more than 600 known poetry forms. So it is unlikely that anyone will ever create a useful template for Poetry.
For example take a look at Listology - listology.com/list/poetical-forms
It is very easy to build a Scrivener Template so why not read how to do it then do it yourself. You can then shape the template to suit yourself and your interests.
I tried and got as far as “The boy stood on the burning deck…”
PS: Love poets - very special people.
PPS: You might enjoy this compelling 360 documentary on Benjamin Frater
abc.net.au/radionational/pro … ll/3764002