Separate Style Palettes

[AndrewMac]

Hello again, everyone

Is there any way to separate the Styles Palette into separate palettes for each type of style?

Sorry if that doesn't make sense, but I'd really love to be able to open up one style palette that shows *only* the document's character styles, and another that shows *only* the paragraph styles (etc, etc, for list and note styles, as well as the current combined palette).

Cheers
Andrew

[rmark]

AndrewMac would like:

one style palette that shows *only* the document's character styles, and another that shows *only* the paragraph styles

Sorry, you cannot do this as Nisus Writer Pro is currently designed. We can add that to the official "To Do" list. I'm curious to know how many others would like this.

[AndrewMac]

Thanks for clarifying that, and it might help if I explain my reasoning a little more.

Most of the work I do with Nisus Writer is editorial, and as part of that I need to confirm what styles are set for various bits of text (hence the separate request regarding paragraph formatting icons). I have a fairly extensive default set of both paragraph and character styles that covers almost all of the typesetting requirements we have. With any given manuscript, one of the things I need to do is check and/or apply the appropriate character and paragraph styles. So I'd like to be able to click somewhere and instantly see what (character and paragraph) styles and overrides are applied to that text.

What happens at the moment, though, is that when I click in a given bit of text the styles palette jumps to show me what paragraph style is applied. I then need to scroll back up in the styles palette to find out what character style is applied, if any. If I could separate the palettes, I would usually be able to see immediately -- without scrolling -- what styles are applied to the text, and if necessary apply the correct style with one or two clicks (rather than click, scroll, check, click). Two palettes would also make it much quicker to actually *apply* the styles I need.

I cannot stress enough how critical styles are to our workflow, and I imagine that a lot of other editors are of the same opinion. I know that both the measures I have asked about (the styles palettes and the paragraph formatting icons) would make me, and probably a lot of others, a heck of a lot more productive in the work we need to do.

The posts I made yesterday were just my immediate reaction to something that is slowing my work down an awful lot, and on thinking about it further there may well be other approaches that would ultimately give the same results. Even something that displays in the status bar at the bottom of the window or in a new palette like the Statistics palette, for example, would be enough to make my work a lot easier in Nisus Writer. I just need to be able to identify formatting styles as quickly as I can and cut down on the number of clicks I need to make to find out the information I need about the text I'm working on. Ideally I'd just like to be able to click somewhere and immediately see what styles are in place.

I'd be happy to hear of any other thoughts, opinions or suggestions other users may have, as long as they're not going to dismiss my needs as irrelevant because they don't have the same workflow requirements. I can assure you that they are indeed very relevant to my professional needs. Nisus has always been a totally brilliant tool for manuscript editing, and I have in fact used it very happily since the very first version that came out, way back in 1990 or so. As I mentioned in one of my recent posts, the only thing that took me away from it was the requirement for tracked changes in the publishing company I have been working with, and happily that situation has just changed.

Cheers
Andrew

PS: I just thought I'd add that I do already try to get creative with solutions to this issue. I usually have two separate (but almost identical) style libraries, one with specific colours applied to various styles, which allows me to quickly identify some of the information I need. But for various reasons this isn't always the best solution, although it is indeed a great help. And as I mentioned above, having two palettes would also make it quicker to apply the styles as well.

[phspaelti]

What happens at the moment, though, is that when I click in a given bit of text the styles palette jumps to show me what paragraph style is applied. I then need to scroll back up in the styles palette to find out what character style is applied, if any.

Just a small tip note that the style pattern has two buttons: a paragraph style button, and a character style button. If you click on these you don't need to scroll. The palette will switch to show you what is applied. I don't disagree with your larger point.

[phspaelti]

Oh, and while it is not very easy to see the buttons/icons will be dimmed if no style is applied.

[AndrewMac]

Hi Philip

Thanks for the information. Those icons certainly do help a little, although they're still not quite what would work best for me.

I also don't want people to get the wrong impression. As I said, I started with the first ever release of Nisus Writer, way back when, and it has always been my preferred manuscript editing program. I only stopped using it when forced to by the publishing workflows I needed to fit in with.

So even if the fit is still not absolutely perfect for me, I really am very, very pleased to be able to switch back from Word. And any suggestions I make are only meant to make Nisus Writer even better, so that I never have to leave it ever again!

Cheers
Andrew

[AndrewMac]

Sorry, me again ...

I've just noticed that the "Lists" palette already has a menu for selecting styles, which also happens to show the applied list style if you click in a list. Even a style menu something like that in the character and paragraph palettes, though not perfect, would be a bit of a help ... though I would still prefer separate character and paragraph style palettes.

Cheers
Andrew