I have started a project based on a novel that I started years ago. One of my problems is that I have several versions of each chapter. Some are first drafts that I have nit-picked into better versions, some are versions that have additional text added, some are major rewrites, and some are versions created over the years in different programs on Mac and PCs. Right now I have to load one document into the editor, split the screen view, load another document into one of the editors and then scroll one editor, then scroll the other editor – back and forth.
What I would like is some setting so that if I scroll one editor, the other also scrolls. That way, sections that are the same can be viewed quickly and files that are the same can have one tossed. When two files turn out to have some important differences, I’ll be able to deal with that, but I have found today two files that were both revisions to a third but in different places. A real mess. Having to manually scroll each editor is frustrating, time consuming, and seems like an opportunity for a simple solution.
If Scrivener already has this ability, please point out where to activate this. Thanks
Not exactly on the line you’re thinking of, but have you thought of approaching this problem by using snapshots? This would allow you to compare different versions of the same document, highlighting what’s changed much easier.
Not real proficient with snapshots. But it seems to be an extra step before getting to the core activity I have to do. It is something, though, to experiment with. Don’t know if it would work with all the docs constructions I have to go through.
Creating a snapshot is as easy as saving, the shortcut is just slightly different: Cmd-5 instead of Cmd-S. That’s all you have to do to save a milestone out of your current text. When later you are ready to review changes between the two versions, use Documents/Snapshots/Show Snapshots and click the compare button. If you want to view the changes in the larger editor, drag the snapshot from the list here to the editor header bar, with the Option key held down.
It may be worth exploring the feature a bit. You can easily jump from one edit to the next (why scroll around squinting for changes in the text when you can just go straight to it like in Word with track changes), change the highlighting scope, and even compare two different snapshot states between each other (rather than the default behaviour of comparing the selected snapshot to the current text).
By the way, you can scroll the other editor without using the mouse or switching to it. The key commands for that are: Ctrl-Opt-Cmd-UpArrow and down arrow, but I do realise that isn’t quite what you were looking for.