View Section Titles (and Page Counts) in Main Toolbar / Sections Tab

[natecombsmedia]

Hey friends!

I certainly couldn't find a way to do this, so I apologize if it already exists. I did find a topic about opening the "Fields" tab, but that seems to be more for internal programming and metadata. No actual information presented to me based on which page/section I'm on.

Basically, I have a large enough screen and would love to make use of the extra space in the toolbar, the right side tabs, or even the pages area to be able to quickly glance at which section I am in and the name I gave it as these new Kindle Vella types of novels I'm editing all come in "episodes" and release essentially one chapter at a time. Later on, they can be released as full books, but the content sometimes gets updated as books written in real time can be messy.

I start a new section with each episode and name it accordingly. I saw some topics about them not being useful, but I have great use for them. I typically carry over author data and "typeface styles," social media plugs, and other content from previous books, making that my last section...and this tool is perfect because when I create a section, pasting formatting from the latest episode, any new pages automatically place themselves between the two.

But every single time I need to see section data, I have to scroll back up and read the chapter title to see which one I am laying out. If I could always see which one I'm currently in and its title (and I imagine others would find use for seeing how many pages are being manipulated as formatting changes), that would be amazing! A sections tab under "pages" and "masters pages" might also be helpful and cool. I'd totally just duplicate a section and paste a new episode into it to kick off the formatting.

Thanks,

Nate

[MikeTO]

There isn't a way to do this. I wish the Pages palette had a way even just to indicate the start of a new section. Maybe someday.

Here's a workaround. Temporarily, add a section name field to all of your masters and make it very large, but position it out of the way in the margin. Then make your thumbnails large enough in the Pages panel and you'll be able to see the section name at a glance. Just delete this text object before printing obviously.

[natecombsmedia]

Thanks Mike! That's a good idea for a tip, but going back and setting it all up and then deleting it before printing is probably more work than just scrolling thru the pages and clicking on different sections.

I do also wish there was an indication for section breaks.

Oh, and mods, while I was working last night, I remembered one other idea that would be awesome for sections. When I open the section manager, it would be equally as helpful to click/double click on one of my sections and have the program jump straight there!

[MikeTO]

4 hours ago, natecombsmedia said:

Thanks Mike! That's a good idea for a tip, but going back and setting it all up and then deleting it before printing is probably more work than just scrolling thru the pages and clicking on different sections.

If you're already using master pages, it should just take a few seconds. Create a text object with 72pt or larger text, insert the section name, and then copy that text object to each master. That's it.

[natecombsmedia]

Ah, I might be using my setup differently than you. I only have two masters for most books. One is for the first page of a chapter (ie no book title, author name, chapter title, sometimes page number, etc.) and starts halfway down with guides for titles. The other is a normal book page. I only add more if the author's margin info changes dramatically per episode. Maybe that is what you were meaning and then just change the name of it where it appears in the spread every few pages (Vellas in particular aren't like normal books with 20ish chapters...they can get as large as a couple hundred episodes and regularly settle above 80).

Honestly, having a large icon to glance at like you suggest is a great idea, but I've been realizing I have to scroll up and click for other reasons anyway, so what's one more click along the way? Still, I might take the time to implement it if things get really messy or confused. What you are saying is essentially what I hope could get added to the pages or a new sections tab.

I found another little semi-workaround for now! Since I get most books as Google docs these days, docs automatically create sectioned chapter divisions (which is actually the perfect feature addition for Publisher) based on turning the author changing the title text from "normal" to "heading." I get a whole outline of just the sections right next to the dos. So, since I name my sections by their episode, I can just glance at their sections on my other screen to see where I am, what I am adding, and what is before or after in Publisher.

Thanks again!

[MikeTO]

24 minutes ago, natecombsmedia said:

Ah, I might be using my setup differently than you. I only have two masters for most books. One is for the first page of a chapter (ie no book title, author name, chapter title, sometimes page number, etc.) and starts halfway down with guides for titles. The other is a normal book page. I only add more if the author's margin info changes dramatically per episode. Maybe that is what you were meaning and then just change the name of it where it appears in the spread every few pages (Vellas in particular aren't like normal books with 20ish chapters...they can get as large as a couple hundred episodes and regularly settle above 80).

Your setup is the same as mine, and the fewer masters you have the better. Here's a simple video that illustrates how to do this, you should be able to do it in seconds.

 

 

[natecombsmedia]

Ah, thanks for that video. I was wondering if you were talking about a literal "Field" text object. Didn't know you could have it pull the section data like that. Thanks! I think I am better off doing it just as you said for now.

[natecombsmedia]

1 hour ago, MikeTO said:

Your setup is the same as mine, and the fewer masters you have the better. Here's a simple video that illustrates how to do this, you should be able to do it in seconds.

Hilarious highlight. I incorporated it in with how I have my sections titled...and I immediately thought, This actually looks really cool.

Showed the author of the book I'm currently on, and she said, "Oh please add the titles that way and do it for all my Vellas. It's sooo cool and I like that better than a traditional title. 1000%"

So once again, thanks for the idea for this oversized goodness!