1.8.9.1 Beta Released 15th Sept 2015 (CLOSED)

[StaceyUK]

Do I need to install this version of Scrivener or can I wait until it goes live. If I use Check for updates will it just update my current scrivener or will I have to install a whole new version 1.9 when it is ready?

This version is just for those who wish to beta test and provide bug reports to aid development. If you're just giving Scrivener a try for the first time, you can install the current official release, 1.8.6, for a free 30-days-of-use trial. When 1.9 is available, you'll be able to upgrade 1.8.6 via the Check for Updates, or download the new 1.9 installer and install over your existing 1.8.6 version.

When will you incorporate "Revision Mode" in Windows version?

Revision Mode will be part of the next major release, not 1.9.

StaceyUK, repositioning the inspector icons was part of a design decision (for both Mac and Windows) in cleaning up the interface to make the icons more accessible, obvious, and consistent. I'm sorry it isn't working out well for you. Would customising the format bar to remove or rearrange icons (or hiding the bar entirely) help?

Thanks MM but no it wouldn't help. It's the split expand editor window buttons that the inspector icons are too close to. Please consider putting a bigger gap between the two button sets and / or keyboard shortcuts for the inspector pane functions. That would help.

[LauraEss]

I haven't tested the beta yet, but I have had a bit of experience with other programs that let you customise the display.

Moving the icons to the top is useful if you're using the mouse a lot and you want sets of buttons in the same are. I've seen that done in Manga Studio on the Layers palette. This can have lots of layers all shown in a column in the palette, and at the top is a toolbar with various commands and menus which affect the appearance of a layer. At the bottom is a second toolbar and all the commands there are about adding and deleting layers. But they have a toggle which allows the user to position the 2nd bar at the top if they want to.

So I'm suggesting that (and obviously not with this beta) that you add the following options for customising Scrivener's display:

Toggle options for the both the format bar and the Inspector bar so that the user can decide if they appear at the top or bottom of their panels

Toggle options for the both the format bar and the Inspector bar (and maybe the binder buttons/status bar as well) which would set the size of the icons in each, so that they can the same size as the Main Toolbar

Add both <S P A C E> and <G A P > options to the "Available Toolbar Actions" list for both format and main toolbars

These additions would allow the user to decide where and how they want these toolbars. Some of those combinations might seem "ugly", but for folk with sight issues (like myself) they'd allow us to help avoid accidents (by adding gaps and spaces) and make the buttons easier to see and select. I Like using scrivener, but have found the format and inspector buttons really awkward to use, because with bifocals they're really hard to see!

I'll make this suggestion in feedback area as well. I'll be downloading and trying the beta version later today. Keep up the good work!

[Gibinna]

Hello All. I am new to this forum, so hopefully am doing this right. I had read the posts about the beta version so I decided to install it in a separate directory in windows, and that seemed to work I seem to be able to open the old version and the new version so far. But the beta says that "The Scrivener Windows Beta will expire on Thursday, October 8, 2015" Has anyone else gotten this and what happens once it expires. Hopefully this hasn't been answered somewhere else that I didn't see and thanks for your patience with me as a newbie to both scrivener and this forum.

[MimeticMouton]

Hi Gibinna, and welcome!

Whereas the regular trial runs for 30 days of use, our Windows beta versions always have a set expiry date, to ensure that users don't continue testing an outdated version and report bugs that have been fixed in a newer beta. The beta will run until the expiry date and then will no longer open (instead giving a "beta expired" message); we'll have a newer build available for download at that point, so you can continue testing. Typically you could also revert to the official version, but in this case the beta uses an updated file format, so projects worked on in the beta will not be able to open in 1.8.6. (You could of course create new projects in 1.8.6 which can be later updated to the new format.)

As noted earlier, we're hoping for a just a short beta run, so we may have the official 1.9 out before the 8 October date anyway.

[Knightdarling]

Had hoped for finally gaining implementation of the long awaited features which are on the Mac version (5 yrs now). Running the windows version still feels like getting the Walmart version of the program rather then the Mac's upscale Nordstoms version all for the same price.
Is there any update on when we can hope to see some of the features promised back in 2011 which make the two programs vastly different?
I do thank you for fixing the bugs on this latest beta patch though.

[Mad Girl Disease]

As noted earlier, we're hoping for a just a short beta run, so we may have the official 1.9 out before the 8 October date anyway.

Wow! That constitutes a tidal wave of a leak from the normally tight lipped Scrivener insiders.

Had hoped for finally gaining implementation of the long awaited features which are on the Mac version (5 yrs now). Running the windows version still feels like getting the Walmart version of the program rather then the Mac's upscale Nordstoms version all for the same price.

I've been looking forward to Mac parity too, though atm I can only think of one thing in particular I'm looking forward to, and that's the Styles system.

I'm afraid my biggest gripes with Scrivener have to do not with missing features but with the UI, and subtle and not so subtle ways it differs from Windows conventions. When I've asked about these things, it seems most of the time they are limitations of the Q framework with which Scrivener is built. That's had the effect of dampening my expectations for the update, tbh.

[Aycae]

Congratulations for the new beta. I also would like to have the icons back in the footer bar:

The icons were fine in the footer bar and consistent with the rest of the UI. To me the UI now looks cluttered with all the small icons next to one another.

I understand this is a design decision but could you please reconsider to add an option to bring them back to the footer area? I usually work with main toolbar and format bar on (and loaded with icons), these icons on the top adds a third toolbar to the top area, which, for me, decreases the useful space to the top; as I am usually inclined to look toward the upper section of the screen. These icons were resting below, out of the way and accessible whenever needed; not always in-your-face. For me, this was much more preferable and consistent with the rest of the footer area (now the inspector doesn't have any footer bar area, while the binder and all the rest has it). So, please make it an option!

Also, the Main toolbar is still "unlockable". I have to "lock the Main Toolbar" whenever I restart the program.

Cheers,
Aycae

[Blue Ninja]

Hi Gibinna, and welcome!

The beta will run until the expiry date and then will no longer open (instead giving a "beta expired" message); we'll have a newer build available for download at that point, so you can continue testing. Typically you could also revert to the official version, but in this case the beta uses an updated file format, so projects worked on in the beta will not be able to open in 1.8.6. (You could of course create new projects in 1.8.6 which can be later updated to the new format.)

As noted earlier, we're hoping for a just a short beta run, so we may have the official 1.9 out before the 8 October date anyway.

I confess a slight twinge of nervousness as the 8th draws nearer and this beta expires, in my time zone, in 33 1/2 hours... But that is mostly outweighed by confidence in the developers and their track record.