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Ulysses 2.0: HELP totally LOST -- the 2.0.4 GUI is counterintuitive and the screencasts dont follow 2.0.4

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    okay -
    there is a huge problem with the current screencasts that are supposed to show how style formatting is changed/editted -- they HAVE NOT BEEN UPDATED to the 2.0.4 way - it took me a lot of trial, error, and dumb luck to figure out that editing of formatting for paragraph styles is done under fonts and colors.... is there any way to download the other version? the one that is used in the screencasts?

    furthermore - if someone would please help me - i know this is a lot of hand holding and stuff but please walk me through this --

    My main objective is to create a template that meets my needs for writing novels, which is why i bought ulysses in the first place. however i need somebody to walk me through how to achieve my goals because the screencasts DO NOT FOLLOW THE INTERFACE UPGRADE in 2.0.4 it took me forever to figure out where the editing of formating for styles takes place - and may i also say that the current method is counter intuitive... you should migrate ALL the formating and whatnot for both paragraph and inline styles IN THE PARAGRAPH AND INLINE STYLE SECTION OF THE PREFERENCES AREA. Going one place to define your styles, then closing that entire window and going to another to define their formatting is VERY CONFUSING and i almost didnt find it at all - the only reason i was able to figure it out was because i accidentally clicked inside the window which brought up what i was looking for. Even after finding the formatting window for styles however im still totally lost as to how i accomplish the following goals so i will detail what im trying to do and hopefully one of you will take pity on me and specify how this is done:

    GOAL 1: CREATE A PARAGRAPH STYLE FOR DIALOGUE
    my biggest problem with dialogue is that its very hard for me to hold the shift key and type " " every time i want to add dialogue to a chapter so i would like to create a paragraph style that does the following:

    is activated by // and replaces those characters with open and close quotes like this " " - THEN ALSO indents the line with two tabs and if the dialogue is longer than a line it auto indents the entire thing. i know how to set up the style in the styles area of preferences - its just VERY confusing how you indicate line indents and formatting that is much easier to assign using the old preferences interface.

    is there any way to downgrade back to the version of ulysses that is featured in the screencasts? Because THAT system of doing things makes far more sense and is something i can work with while watching the screencasts.

    Could someone please help me? For clarification, below is an example of what i want to happen:

    //Thank you very much, you have been wonderful// becomes:

    " Thank you very much, you have been wonderful " and the line is indented with two full TABS

    I need step by step instructions for what options i change in Fonts and Colors --> Standard Mode -- i know that you click once on the line of the style in question but beyond that im lost.

    Also - i have successfully created my own theme so that the font is the same in standard and console mode and uses colors that are far better for me.

    and in closing once again, if it would just be easier im willing to downgrade to the version of ulysses in the screencasts but i am running leopard so if this is a problem i guess im stuck with version 2.0.4 - either way SOMEBODY NEEDS TO UPDATE THE SCREENCASTS! Until that happens you should put a disclaimer somewhere on the download page that tells people that what they see in the screencasts isnt really going to help. i cant emphasize enough that the area under fonts and colors that allows you to edit formatting for styles *needs to be put back under the paragraph and inline styles section of the preferences* splitting it up the way it is now is VERY counterintuitive and theres NO MENTION anywhere immediately visible what has to happen in 2.0.4

    -Chris
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      CommentAuthorgoetz
    • CommentTimeJun 16th 2010 edited
     

    The first four Screencasts were created using Ulysses 1.6, only the last one ("Document Management") was created using Ulysses 2. We're really sorry that this caused you all the confusion. The introductory texts in the Ulysses Help already mention that Screencasts 1-4 use Ulysses 1.6 and that user interface elements may look different or may be at another spot. However, the concepts all remained the same.

    About the Paragraph Style:

    To create a new Paragraph Style, open the Preferences (Ulysses > Preferences...), then click "Paragraph Styles" and then hit the "+" button on the bottom. A new row will appear where you can change the Tag to "//" and the Description to "Dialogue" (whatever suits the purpose). Since Ulysses includes the default Paragraph Style "Level 1" with "// " as a tag, you will need to change the tag to something else or remove that Style altogether.

    In the Fonts & Colors Panel (Ulysses > Fonts & Colors...), you can now change the look of the Paragraph Style. For example, you can change the color and the style (bold, italics, ...). What you can not do is (1) automatically replace // with "" and (2) (auto-)indenting the paragraphs. In the Fonts & Colors panel, you can only indent the first line of every Paragraph (regardless of the Paragraph Style).

    What you could do about problem (1) is to write the text using "//" is Paragraph Style tags and then replace // by "" using Search & Replace (Project > Search and Replace...). In this case, you would need to set the Paragraph Style tag to "" so that the Paragraph Styles are applied when // is replaced by "".

    Indenting text is a matter of exporting. In the PDF, RTF, and Word Exporters, you can set the Head indent of the first line and of the other lines. So when your Document is ready for export, open up the Exporter (Project > Export...), select the Documents you want to export on the left-hand side and select the appropriate Styles in the tables on the right. If you select the "Dialogue" Paragraph Style" and click on the cell in the Style column, you can select the menu item "Edit...". A sheet appears, which allows you to set the indent of the first and of the other lines. Upon export, the paragraphs with the "Dialogue" Paragraph Style applied will be indented.

    I am a bit confused about your example. A Paragraph Style only has a start tag (no end tag). Thus, the paragraph would need to be as follows:

    //Thank you very much, you have been wonderful.

    The end of the paragraph automatically signals the end of the Paragraph Style since it is always applied to a paragraph as a whole (in contrast to an Inline Style or a Marker, which are applied to a text portion inside a paragraph).

    About the User Interface design:

    In Ulysses 2.0, we split up the Preferences into Preferences and Fonts & Colors since we believed that the old Preferences were overloaded and the look of a Style/Marker should be kept separate from its semantics (which is defined by the tag and the name).

    If you want to use Ulysses 1.6r2, you can download it from here and give it a shot. Please be aware that we have changed the registration system for Ulysses 2 and you will not be able to use your serial number in Ulysses 1.6r2. Please contact us via support@the-soulmen.com if you want to use Ulysses 1.6 instead of Ulysses 2.

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      CommentAuthorgoetz
    • CommentTimeAug 18th 2010
     

    Just a small note: we just released a re-recorded version of the first screencast. You can either watch it in HD on YouTube or as a regular quicktime movie. I hope this helps.

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