Disconnecting the linked text frames in Publisher

[vdamjanovski]

I am wondering if anybody knows if this is possible in Affinity Publisher:

I have a few chapters of a book created in Affinity Publisher, with the standard linked text frames.

I do need to add some additional text (and pictures) in a chapter that is before other chapters, but I don't want the following chapters linked text to be pushed further back as I add new text. 

Is there a way to disconnect the links temporarily, but without losing the formatting and the text of the chapters after the newly edited chapter before?

After I finish my update chapter, I want to re-link it again as it was before.

Could this be done?

I followed some video tutorials from Affinity guys, and while I understand how to break the link (by clicking on the left red triangle and then the red x inside the text frame) when I do this I loose all the text from the frames in the following chapter.

And I don't want that. I just want to add new text in a chapter which is preceding one or more chapters, without forcing the text to flow beyond the new chapter.

Or perhaps another question which I could use to do the same:

Can I extract a chapter of my book as a separate file, work on it until I am happy and then insert it back (Place it) in the book with the same master pages format?

Thanks guys. 

[sfriedberg]

@vdamjanovskiIt sounds like you are not using Sections, and have assigned different master pages to your chapter heading pages.  Try breaking your text into Sections that match your chapters.  Each Section can grow or shrink in number of pages without upsetting the start of the following Section (or end of previous Section).

[vdamjanovski]

Thank you sfriedberg , haven't used Section, you are correct. I will have to learn and see how that goes, but thank you for your suggestion, I appreciate it.

[vdamjanovski]

A little update sfriedberg, I created the Sections in my book, but not quite clear how I can extract the Sections or work on them without affecting the linked text.

Have you got any suggestions?

[sfriedberg]

On 2/7/2022 at 2:03 AM, vdamjanovski said:

I don't want the following chapters linked text to be pushed further back as I add new text. 

I have to say, I don't completely understand what you are after here.  My best guess originally was that inserting additional text was getting your chapter head master pages out of sync with the content they should apply to.  By introducing proper sections, you should be able to bring that under firm control.  Then you can add or delete content in one section, without messing up any of the other Sections, even if page count increases or decreases.

On 2/7/2022 at 9:03 PM, vdamjanovski said:

how I can extract the Sections or work on them without affecting the linked text.

As far as extraction, perhaps copy and paste?  But I am unclear on why you can't work in-place now that you have Sections established.  Can you explain the problems you are having in a bit more detail?

As to the question of breaking a text flow ("story") from one sequence of linked frames to two independent sets of linked frames, there are some relevant comments in these two forum threads.  The short version is "you can't do that, yet".

 

[vdamjanovski]

Sorry sfriedberg, I only saw your comment a few minutes ago.

Thank you for trying to help me, I do appreciate it. This may be a very simple thing to do, but so far I have not found a way.

Trying to better describe what I want to do:

My book has chapters which have chapter heading text style, also sub-headings, which are processed by the Contents function, and all that is good.

The start of chapter has a different master page design, due to the starting of a new chapter. The rest of the pages are the same main-text master page design.

If I add more text as I go through my revisions, or add a new picture, the new content, as expected, pushes the text further into new pages. But if I add too much text, it pushes the following chapter from its location and messes all up. So I then add a blank main-text master page after the last one of the chapter I am working on, and I can pull back the next chapter heading. But this looks messy to me. I am not aware if I can tell the main-text master pages that they should expand automatically as I add text and pictures, but without pushing the following linked chapter.

This is where I thought if I can break the chapters on its own, but they need to still be a part of the complete book when I do repagination on the Contents, it will help me grow every chapter (or reduce) as much as I want, without pushing the start of my following chapter back or forth.

I thought that suggested Section function would do this, which I created, but I must admit I can't see how?

Also, I thought if I click on the connecting text-flow left red triangle (see the enclosed screen-shot), I would get a function to disconnect the link between the chapters. But if I do that, I loose all the text in the following chapter (or at least I think I loose it, as only the photos are there but the text disappears). 

Another option I was thinking was to copy each chapter and paste it as a separate .afpub file (although this is a major operation for me), and then try to merge them, but I don't think the Place command recognises .afpub file to be inserted or placed.

Unless there is another method to insert .afpub file inside an existing .afpub...

Ideally, I would like to see ability in publisher to select a chapter and export it as a separate .afpub file, with the same formatting as the original book, and then be able to Place it, or Insert it inside, as when you edit multi-page PDF files.

I hope the above explains my problem.

Thanks for your time anyway.

[Old Bruce]

The only way you can get individual chapters from what you currently have is to Cut and paste from chapter 2 to the end. Then break the link by clicking on the overflow link and clicking anywhere on the page that overflow link is from.

Now you can paste chapter two to the end in the remaining frames, repeat the Cut and breaking of the text flow.

[sfriedberg]

Without seeing your .afpub file, I am making a guess about what's going on.

Let me describe how I would set things up.

0) Save a copy of your existing document, so you don't lose any work.  Create a new document.

1) Create two master pages, one for chapter start and one for main text body.  The master pages should contain text frames.

2) Create a section for each chapter.  Each section will have its own independent text flow ("story").

3) Cut the text for one chapter from the existing document.  Paste it into a section.  Assign the chapter start master page to the first page of the section.  Add ONE page to the section, after the first page.  Assign the main text body master page to the second page.  Link the text frame of the first page to the second page.  On the second page, SHIFT-click the overflow indicator on the lower right of the text frame.  This will automatically insert as many pages as needed to contain the pasted text and link their text frames together.

4) Repeat with the other chapters.  Each chapter (section) will have an independent text flow ("story"), so adding or removing content from any of the chapters will not affect the pagination (or master page assignments) of any following chapters.  Adding enough text to require more pages will require you to add pages to the affected section.  Repeat the SHIFT-click on the overflow indicator at the end of the chapter to add as many pages as needed and link their text frames together.

[Side remark] While the Affinity Publisher help files do mention "sections", they really don't tell you anything about how they work, including the most basic stuff like: each section has its own independent text flow.  I'm not sure if the Publisher workbook does a better job, but you'd hope so.

Edited February 23, 2022 by sfriedberg
grammar