Back to: Jump Into Scrivener 3 for Windows: A Mini-Course for Scrivener 1 Users
Software Versions
This course was created using Scrivener for Windows 3.0 on a PC running Windows 10. If you’re using different versions, you may see some differences in appearance or functionality between the course material and your own system.
NOTE: Scrivener 3 requires Windows 7 SP1+ with .NET Framework 4.6.2+.
To check which version of Scrivener you’re running, go to Help—>About Scrivener. The version number is at the bottom of the window that pops up.
To check your Windows edition, press the Windows logo key to open the Start menu, go to Settings (gear button)>System>About. Scroll down to the “Windows Specifications” section.
Conventions
Clicking
You need to know how to click, double-click, and right-click with your mouse or trackpad. Right-clicking opens up a whole new world of contextual menus that apply to whatever you’re working on.
Drag and drop
Moving an item by dragging is accomplished by clicking an object and holding the mouse button down while moving the pointer on the screen. You drop by letting go of the mouse button.
TIP: Don’t know how to drag with a trackpad? While hovering the pointer over the selected items, click the trackpad and hold it down while using another finger to drag the items where you want them to go. (I usually click with my thumb and drag with my index finger, but use whatever feels comfortable to you.)
Text Conventions Used in the Lessons
- A keyboard shortcut is represented like this: Ctrl+V. This text means that you press and hold the Ctrl key and type the letter V, then release both keys.
NOTE: Some keyboard shortcuts are combinations of more than two keys, such as Shift+Ctrl+S. For this one, press and hold Shift and Ctrl, and then type the letter S. Then release all three keys. - Menu commands are written like Project>New Text, which tells you to click Project to open the Project menu and choose New Text from that menu. Within a lesson, it might be written: Go to View>Corkboard.
- When I’m directing you to type specific text, it appears in bold. For example, you might see: Type Bob didn’t know what to do next.
- When you see text in angle brackets (e.g. <filename>), that means you don’t type the actual text (or the angle brackets), but rather what’s represented by that text. So if I you saw <your name> in the procedures, and your name is Marilyn, you’d type Marilyn instead of <your name>.
Assumptions
In order to create this course, I had to make a few assumptions (scary as that is). I assumed that you have some fundamental skills with your computer, such as turning it on, starting a program, using a mouse, and accessing and saving files (if you’re weak on file management, see Working with Files on Your PC below).
In addition, I assumed you’ve at least used a word processor before, so you have some familiarity with selecting text, basic formatting (such as font, font size, justification, and spacing), and keyboard use.
For this course, I also assumed you have some familiarity with Scrivener 1.
Working with Files on Your PC
If you’re not very comfortable working with files on the PC, I recommend browsing the topics on the site linked below. You will need a basic understanding of File Explorer (Windows' file system) for this course.
An introduction to File & Storage in Windows 10: https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/topic/files-storage-9bf80d1c-fc20-43bb-a76a-13c4316ea442?ui=en-us&rs=en-us&ad=us