Post 9.2 requests

[danzac]

I was going to post this on Tuesday, but with the fresh release I didn't want to risk the possibility of being a downer for Jon. I love the new release. Here are a few things I would like to request, I've made some of them before.

1. I would like a "copy plain text URL" edit menu item. I just made a poll for this, vote if you like the idea. (There are workarounds right now I know, but a menu item with a shortcut key is ideal)
2. I would like to be able in the preferences to customize the hypertext linked copy. Here is why- for people like me who use DT (or others who use Scrivener) you often start work in a program and move it over to Mellel for finalization. This is the reason I l put citations in DT, because I can later open the DT document in Mellel, ask it to convert text citations (it recognizes the citation delimitors) and viola. So I would like to be able to specify how the hyperlink shows up- in my case I would want {author, date, title, unique id} This gives me the hyperlink, enough info in the program that has the hyperlink, and the flexibility to move the text to Mellel and make them into citation objects. Because Mellel does not recognize hyperlinks, this is no problem.
3. With the new groups pane restructure and the ability to have folders, I would like to be able to create smart groups that work with static groups. In other words, I would like one of the criteria in the smart group dialogue box to be "in this static group" (similar to 'with this label'). This would increase the usability of the groups pane and folders, for me anyway.
4. command-E opens the view formatted pane. If the view-formatted pane is sticking around, I'd like command-E to toggle it to take it away as well (and the window put back to its original size).
5. Please resize the window back and forth when the info pane is toggled, unless you are planning on going with an inner-draw UI like Papers.
5. I love the way labels were added to the main window in the latest release. How about being able to add to a group/showing which group it is in, right beside the place the label option is? If it is multiple groups, then it can say "multiple groups". The dropdown list can indicate the group with a check mark.
6. If Title Case is applied to the Title it is automatically applied to the journal field. This may be good in theory for some, but for those who use a journal glossary, this is potentially problematic (it is for me). Abbreviations for series and periodicals mix and match caps with no caps, the Title case ruins those. Can I suggest that the user be able to specify which fields get the title case applied when chosen for the Title field.
7. I would like a "copy selected citation (unlinked)" and "copy selected formatted (unlinked)" as well. The reality for many of us is that we are working simultaneously in multiple programs. I often have Mellel open but am entering info in DT (and it may be scrivener or notebook for others). When I would like to copy and paste a citation from BE, my linked program in Mellel, so the copy keystroke will place it wherever my cursor is in Mellel when I may want to put it in DT. And I may just as quickly be done in DT and go back to Mellel. Having to choose a different program to link to is a tad annoying, and in my race to work quickly I often forget, have to cut the citation from mellel, and go paste in in DT. This type of edit menu choice would enhance usage.

Thanks.

[Jon]

Hi,

I'll just comment on a few of these now:

3. With the new groups pane restructure and the ability to have folders, I would like to be able to create smart groups that work with static groups. In other words, I would like one of the criteria in the smart group dialogue box to be "in this static group" (similar to 'with this label'). This would increase the usability of the groups pane and folders, for me anyway.

You can do this now with virtual groups. Just click on the smart group and any combination of static groups -- and you can and/or them.

command-E opens the view formatted pane. If the view-formatted pane is sticking around, I'd like command-E to toggle it to take it away as well (and the window put back to its original size).

Pressing Command-E when the pane is open now lets you see multiple references formatted at once in the preview pane.

Jon
Sonny Software

[danzac]

Thanks for the tip about virtual groups, that will do (although I still think specifying the groups, like labels, would be good in the smart groups dialogue)

Since command-E is dedicated to showing formatted in one way or another, how about a different shortcut for toggling it?

[Jon]

This is the reason I l put citations in DT, because I can later open the DT document in Mellel, ask it to convert text citations (it recognizes the citation delimitors) and viola. So I would like to be able to specify how the hyperlink shows up- in my case I would want {author, date, title, unique id} This gives me the hyperlink, enough info in the program that has the hyperlink, and the flexibility to move the text to Mellel and make them into citation objects. Because Mellel does not recognize hyperlinks, this is no problem.

I should point out that you can of course Copy Citation to DT. And it may not be obvious, but you can replace the hypertext link with any text you want (paste in the Copy Citation info, type from the keyboard, etc.) and the link will still work.

Jon
Sonny Software

[danzac]

Jon,
That's helpful to know. So I could paste the hyperlink in DT, then move the cursor into the hyperlink text, go back to BE and copy the citation info as well. A good workaround in the meantime.

I still think being able to customize the formatting link would be cool though. Others may just want a little more info (like author and date) as well. Could it even be based on a format maybe? I guess essentially what this may boil down to is having multiple options for "copy selected citation" and "copy selected formatted".

Your last post reminded me of another request, I have added it as number 7 to the first post of the thread.

The way I imagine this all working possibly is that
"copy selected citations" in the edit menu becomes its own submenu:
~ "copy selected citations"
~ "copy selected citations (hyperlinked)"
~ "copy selected citations (unlinked)" [see #7 in first post]

Same with "Copy selected formatted", it becomes a submenu:
~ "copy selected formatted"
~ "copy selected formatted (hyperlinked)"
~ "copy selected formatted (unlinked)"

(And of course add "copy plain text citation URL" to the edit menu as well )

[joewiz]

I still think being able to customize the formatting link would be cool though. Others may just want a little more info (like author and date) as well. Could it even be based on a format maybe?

While I'm really sensitive to the need to prevent feature bloat and menus spawning out of control, I like this idea of being able to set the format of a non-hypertext Copy Link. Why?

1. The current Edit > Copy Hypertext Link uses the title as a link. I'm an author-date kind of guy, so I'd set the link to "Author Date".

2. My note-taking program is Mori, which auto-recognizes valid URLs, so I don't really need the hypertext-style link. If I could choose a format I'd make it: "Author Date <bookends: URL>".

3. The Edit > Copy Selected Formatted sends the clipboard directly to Mellel. I'd like to be able to have a custom-formatted 'copy' command that wouldn't automatically send to Mellel -- letting me paste a custom format (see #2 above) into Mori.

For my purposes this could be nicely accomplished by the following:

1. Add an Edit menu item for a non-hypertext-based Copy Link command.

2. The format for this would be set via a new item in the Biblio menu beneath Default Format, called Secondary Format (or something like that).

3. Biblio > Format Manager would need a new single letter code (see Guide p. 131) for either the bookends: URL, or the Unique ID number.