Uncle Jack

@walt.farrell I agree, it's great to see Serif coming out with so many incremental enhancements to Publisher.
I wasn't expecting IDML import so soon and that function will help me free myself from dependence on InDesign. 
I'm hopeful that it won't be too long before they implement column-spanning.
For me and others, it's worth occasionally emphasising the importance of column-spanning as input into Serif's prioritisation.
@Catshill On a short, single-page document, you're right, the lack of column spanning is easily worked around.
On a long document with two or more columns, it's common practice to use a full-width heading between sections/chapters.
As I go through iterations during the preparation of the document, I can't
because the size and also page break locations will change as the document develops.
If anyone has an easy workaround to that problem, I'd love to hear it.

Yes, please. Same as @Korlall I need this feature before I can switch over entirely.

Column span is the only thing preventing me to switch from InDesign to Publisher. I would really appreciate that feature.

Thank you

Where have you seen anything from Serif saying they won't add a column-spanning feature?
Users are asking for many functions, and the Serif staff have only so much time to spend. We have already seen progress in the Publisher 1.8 beta on a number of frequently requested functions:
Merging Publisher files Importing data from InDesign (IDML file support) XLSX (Spreadsheet) import Improvements in the handling of Linked document files Collecting used resources Remembering Find/Replace strings for later reuse Improvements when moving pages in a Publisher document, or when reapplying Master pages And more, plus a bunch of bug fixes.

It's funny, the importance of key features like Span Columns that are vital to everyday users, seem to be obtuse to programmers. Then, when users point out the need for these key features, programmers seem to get their back up and refuse to put them in on some kind of "principle." The late, lamented, Corel Ventura Publisher had the span columns feature back in the 1990s. SMH  Because of this lack of one basic feature, I am still using Adobe InDesign. 
I also don't use Adobe Illustrator because of 2 simple feature quirks: 
1) You can't align strokes on text to the outside, meaning that you always have to have strokes impeding in on the text. That is insane. I use this technique quite a bit for super-imposing text on noisy backgrounds. Yes, there are kludgy workarounds, but users shouldn't have to figure something like this out. Yet, AI programmers refuse to implement this basic feature. Nothing but sheer stubbornness can explain it after all these years. 
2) And this second one is the worst of the two: When selecting objects in AI, EVERYTHING your cursor touches is selected, including the background. That's insane. When you do many projects, as I do, you reuse elements rather than recreating them each time. You want to quickly select just a particular group of elements without selecting everything else, With Illustrator this is impossible. AI users have complained bitterly about this for DECADES, yet, there is still no option just to select those things INSIDE a selection box.  Again, nothing but sheer stubbornness or hubris on the part of programmers can explain it after all these years. It is the single biggest reason I use Affinity Designer, rather than AI. 
That said, I hope that Affinity programmers don't fall into the same, "we know better" arrogance as the Adobe programmers. No "span columns" is one of those worrisome things. 

I am exactly in the case of Adriandw.
I just tried v180 beta, and opened some idml I had created under ID. It works rather well, but I was very disappointed to see that spanned columns (in ID) are not yet spanned (in APub), even in v1.8.
I am afraid to have to wait v2 and then to pay v2 to have that feature absolutely essential for any professional publisher, even for non-profits organisations.
So, please, add span column feature in v 1.x

I second the wish for span column feature.

I think it depends on your work. For people whose text/article blocks can move or be rearranged during production, it's a must. Also, it just seems like a basic function that got overlooked and now programmers aren't sure how to implement/integrate it. It's not a sin. Things get overlooks. Maybe it's hard to implement. Who knows? However, without it, I cannot make Publisher my production program and have to stick with ID. That's just me. It would be nice if they would let us know where it is in the roadmap. 
I do want to point out that the greatest, most powerful yet easy-to-use page layout program, Corel Ventura, which was cruelly euthanized by its owner, had the span column feature back in the 1990s, over 20 years ago. It was, like most things with Ventura, elegantly implemented and easy to use. It just seems that 20 years later a program that deigns to be a professional tool would include Span Columns as a matter of course. Again, just my view. Don't freak out, people, I actually own and (try to) use Publisher whenever I can.  

I have created a Basic PDF guide here (6.3MB), you can download and print it or add it to Mac Books to follow on an iPad ...and its FREE!
If anyone uses it I wouldn't mind some feedback, especially if there is something that is difficult to follow.
Ny hopeless internet connection would not allow me to upload the file here.

Irrelevant to the question of "Why no actual manual?"
I have observed that some software distributed only by download includes PDF manuals that are at least as good as the hard-copy ones were, and easier to search {if properly designed}

I have tried to use the "Help" {scare quotes intended}.
Like the "Help" in PPX9 {note that i didn't mention the "Help" in PPX9 in that post}, it is essentially useless unless you pretty much know what you want to do and are just looking for last-minute detailed advice.
As for tutorials - they really don't seem to work out for me; again, i can use a tutorial to touch up my knowledge of things i already pretty much know, but they are time-consuming poorly-paced annoyances that take longer and cover stuff i neither want nor need to know in addition to what i MIGHT want to know.
I guess i was spoilt by being a Navy electronics tech and then working as a tech at several companies using test and assembly equipment whose makers supplied detailed and easily-used manuals for it.
I am used to having either hard-copy or PDF support documents that i can sit down with, refer to the index or ToC, find the actual specific knowledge i need without having to wade through extraneous clutter, and synthesise a solution.
If Serif is no longer willing to provide simple, clearly-written documentation that its users can search at their own pace and in their own manner, then i guess it's time - after twenty-plus years - for Serif and myself to part ways.
{I have been observing a tendency in the electronics and computer industry - at least in the general-public-facing parts - to provide less and less detail on use and maintenance of equipment.  I built this computer from parts, as i have several others over the years ... and if i HADN'T been building my own computers for years, the "documentation" supplied with the motherboard and semi-modular power supply MIGHT have been sufficient - but i found myself having to fill in things that had been glossed over in the "documentation" that came with things.}

And no footnotes, data merge, hand tool while inside text frame, table splitting between pages, no way to sample & paste text styles, import multi-page PDF in one go, and so on.... 
I guess we'll have to wait for version 2 and give it a try again.

Still not ready for production: Version 1.8 has no global layers and no PDF Pass Through. Extreme disappointing.

As long as Publisher and Photo cannot deal with 1bit bitmaps, it is useless to me for most of my print work. The latest 1.7 still converts a 1bit 1200ppi image to 8bit when exported to pdf, irregardless of the settings.
Good 1bit support is absolutely required for a variety of print jobs.
When imported, a 1200ppi 1bit image looks fine in Publisher. Switching to Photo results in the image being down-sampled to a 300ppi anti-aliased version in the view. Any edit in Photo will return a 300ppi greyscale image to Publisher!!!
Imagine that: import a 1bit print resolution tiff in Publisher. Then the user decides to remove a scan stain, or something in Photo. Result: the image is reduced, without asking, to a 300ppi greyscale version, which will print at low resolution and with fuzzy edges. And because the user worked zoomed out, they did not notice and generate a pdf for printing.
Now imagine the client's reaction.
It staggers the mind to realize that the Affinity devs have stated they will never support 1bit images in Photo. As for Publisher support: it is all up in the air. I have not yet tested the 1.8 beta. Will do this today.

My worry is it will take too long for the Publisher to catch up. As many people I would love to switch 100% as it doesn't make sense to use 2 apps for the same job. But if I have to think everytime if the job is doable in Publisher in reasonable time and with features it has currently I will end up using inDesign 100% of the time and slowly forget I have it :-(
Good thing InDesign update progress is slowing down. The last update brought "column rules" and "SVG import" - that's it - 2 features.

@redlik While I agree that there is still a lot of things missing that other software has and all the points you list are absolutely valid, I think "not ready for pro production" is a bit harsh -- I have just sent my first 92 page product catalogue to the printers and couldn't be happier. I cannot transfer all my work to Publisher yet, but for a lot of jobs (professional work) Publisher is suited.

Before I start my "rant" and people will disagree/agree I'd like to admit first - I bought all 3 apps, as well as 2 Ipad versions so I fully support and appreciate what Affinity is doing but the truth is I barely use them, unfortunately.
I hope devs read this forum and hear me out. As someone who used InDesign/Quark for the last 20 years I understand we're at version 1 and there a lot of things we didn't get yet but if the app (all 3 of them) wish to be considered as adobe killers they should at least offer similar capabilities the current version have.
I work in a busy print house but I managed to try Publisher on couple of jobs I do regularly. First one was a health magazine, A4 16 pages. It's a mixture of articles, ads, recipes etc.
I've finalised the mag but here's the list of stuff that made the job hard or sometimes impossible to finish:
No PDF pass-through. The mag includes PDF ads sent by producers so importing them, even as external links caused the ads to be "opened" and fully editable. This is very dangerous as there were fonts missing, images loosing their transparencies etc. Had to convert most of them to tiff's Images with no frames by default. Some people may call in just an old habit but this is how I think layout app should deal with images. When I drop an image on a page I want to control the size of the frame and image inside independently. When one is laying out a page of a magazine you have only a space that text allows so I constantly resize, crop move image inside the frame to get that spot-on position. Publisher allows to do it but it's really clunky, and not on by default. On top of that when I switch this option and resize the outer frame the image inside scales and re-centers itself which drives me maaad!  No hand tool when inside the text frame. I hit the ALT key constantly to move around the page, while my cursor is inside the text frame (cant use space obviously). I know I can move around if I have 3-button mouse but it's not the same as standard hand tool. Changing selected text frame option makes it the default. Not sure why this is the default behaviour. It's very confusing and un-intuitive.  No scope for S&R. This is really huge omission, especially when we can use GREP. I use it all the time to clean up imported text (double spaces, returns, extra tabs, leading numbers). Without an option to limit to current frame or a selection this can really mess up your existing layout. The second job was a technical manual, lots of tables, footers, end-notes. Here's my list of missing features:
No footnotes/endnotes. I'm guessing it's coming in future versions, I mean it has to. No way to split/flow tables between pages.  Tables are separate from text-frames. I know you can anchor the table inside the text frame but then we go into issue 2 - tables won't split themselves between pages. No book feature. My manual is approx. 200 pages. It's a mixture of portrait and landscape pages so my original ID project is a book, which includes all sections. This way I can have portrait and landscape as separate indd files and join them together as one PDF, with page numbers, TOC's all synchronised. This feature is a must for any longer publication I believe. I hope it's on the feature list as well. No separation/overprint preview. This is very crucial feature for pro designers. I check the breakdown of colours on the layout all the time.  Preflight/Packaging. I think that's self explanatory  
To make this post not just a list of complaint here's what i like about the app.
Speed. This is ways ahead than current Adobe apps. Even on an older machine all 3 apps work as fast as I can work myself. Studio link. I like this feature, ability to edit images or vector files without leaving the app is great. I'm still not sure what happens to original files - do they get embedded or originals get edited. I guess I need to use it more often to figure out. The amount of pro features in v.1. Even though I've listed a lot above I'm still impressed how many features we got in the first release. I did manage to finish these complicated jobs with the current version so I'm really impressed and looking forward to future releases. I just wish the list of new features are more aligned to pro user than "Publisher on iPad" - nobody needs that. I would love to use Publisher on as many jobs as I can, now that we have indesign import coming but when I think about the features I miss I just skip and go back to indesign, which is really a bummer.
I hope this post won't start a flame war but a good discussion how we'd like this app to go forward. I think everybody here is tired of Adobe slow apps, lack of real progress, extortionist prices for subscription and would love to drop them for Affinity apps.

I usually prefer to override all local formatting that is not from a character style. I am not opposed to the change suggested in this thread, but if it is made, please make option-clicking a style in the Text Styles Studio to apply the style and clear all the overrides.

I use them because ... well, er... because they are there.
Oh, I like them because there is less stuff to set up. Useful for balancing text across two or more columns on a page. A few other reasons.

In InDesign it came with CS6 – the last buyable version. And indeed it is an important feature especially in combination with SmartStyles  which allows to format items with multicolumn-headlines, sublines and bodytext on the fly with a single click. Especially working on newspaper-style projects this gives an enormously faster working. Unfortunately I have do do some weekly jobs in a CS5.5-surrounding – and its annoying every time on that settings to seperate headings and bodies in different frames to get the formatted results.
So I too would appreciate that affinity would add the multicolumns-feature within a frame as soon as possible...
 
ur

Hi,
i really resent the fact that in the 1.8 update you still don't allow headings to run across multiple columns. I waited a long time (too long) for this update - and now this feature is still missing. You should be ashamed of yourself.