Manuskript 0.3.0

Hey, manuskript 0.3.0 is out !

manuskript-0.3.0

So, what’s new?

Most changes happened under the hood. Here are the most important:

New file format1. New file format

I have been dissatisfied for a while with the single-file format: it doesn’t allow versioning, collaborative editing nor out-of-manuskript editing. Pushed by one of my interlocutor, I opted for a different file format, where everything is either:

  • stored as several small text files in one folder
  • or zipped in one file.

More on that…

Warning: Though I tried my best to guarantee a smooth experience, it’s possible that loading from an ancient file format fails. You should certainly do a backup if you have an important manuskript project, and test a few times (closing and reopening manuskript) to be sure everything is alright. And as always, please report any bug you find.

2. Simpler interface

I’ve been asked to reconsider “the enormity of my project” :p by thinking not only of fiction writers, but also of other type of writing: academic, documentation, etc. Those writers are not interested in character or plot development.

Therefore, Manukskript now offers two modes: one “fiction” mode with all the tools for fiction writers (summary, characters, plot, world/context, etc.), and one “simple” mode, with only the writing tab.

More on that…

3. Markdown

Markdown

Finally, I finally decided to drop my beloved txt2tags for markdown. I’ve not settled yet on an exact flavour of markdown, but it will probably be that of pandoc, to enjoy LOTS of export format (html, docx, odt, latex / PDF, epub, rst, etc.).

I also decided to drop other text format (plain text and rich text), for the sake of simplicity. So if you want to add some formatting (bold, italic, etc.) to your project, you will have to use the lightweight markup of markdown. For example, this is *italic* and this is **bold**. It may seem unsettling at first, but many of those who try markup just fall in love: as soon as you get the hang of it, you’re able to focus more on writing and less on formatting. And it’s cleaner.

Warning: because of the switch to markdown you’ll lose any formatting (bold, italic, underline, align centre or right) in your project. If you did some formatting in txt2tags, you’ll still have the markup, but invalid. If in html, it will be totally gone. Sorry, but hey, manuskript is under heavy development 馃檪

Many small tweaks

Among those:

How can I try?

Go to the download page.

Thanks

Thanks to all of you who contributed to: translate, test, report, package, question, critique, encourage and thank. Working on an open-source project is quite fun 馃檪

Special thanks to those who donated something, it means a lot 馃槈

What’s next?

I drafted some kind of roadmap. Please feel free to weigh in.

17 thoughts on “Manuskript 0.3.0

  • Hey,

    Your program looks so wonderful, but 3.0 doesn’t seem to let me start a new project. I tried 2.0 and it works fine. Maybe somethings not right?

    /Alexa

  • Cool, You are definitely on the right track, keep the good work 馃槈

    It would be even more cool if you could add a more options and fields for the character and world data sections with image drop support for the characters, organizations… the Ideal is that Manuskrit would also serve Interactive stories building, I know it would be a hell of hard work but if our favorite software could get such features, well it would be totally awesome !

    here is some features I would dream to find and hope to see one day on Manuskrit :

    – Hierarchical flowcharts :
    Each node in your story flowchart can contain an inner flowchart. For example, you can start with a top-level chapter structure and break it down into quests and dialogue. This nested approach ensures clean flowcharts for each level.

    – Story simulation with variables ( story logic check points )

    – Attachments & hyperlinks
    Make relevant objects or external reference material available where you need it. Link them to nodes, like email attachments.

    – Screenplay import / export
    You can import from FinalDraft and export branching flowcharts directly into hyperlinked Word documents.

    – Story database : Skill trees, object trees, tech trees, etc.

    – Easy-to-use location editor :
    The build-in location editor is a vector-based 2D drawing tool. It comes with Photoshop-like layer management and serves as an iteration-friendly sketching tool for the maps and scenarios. ( you can integrate some of gimp code for layers and other graphical tools )

    Sorry for the long Post, anyway I’m looking forward to your future work and wish you good continuation !

  • Your program looks amazing! Tried it briefly in a vm box, and I love the possibility of working on files outside of Manuskript (unlike the others). However, I notice 0.3.0 is only 64 bit (unless I missed something) because I just created a dedicated Manuskript laptop which happens to be 32bit. Woe me. Any chance a 32bit version is released? 馃檪 Pretty please? I’ll beta for you 馃槈 Long time scrivener user for what that’s worth.

  • Bug with translation failing to load is still present running in Win8. Ignoring and creating a project anyway closes the program.

  • I am just downloading and it looks amazing, can’t wait to try it. Though I do have one question, or take it as a suggestion if you like. 馃檪 I usually carry all of the files for my current project on a flash drive, along with “portable” writing applications for writing, timeline, brainstorming, etc. Some of those apps, though, are not truly portable and install files on the computer I am using in order to work properly. Not a problem if I am using it on one of my own computers, or even a family member’s or close friend’s, but using them on my work computer is sometimes a problem. Is there a plan, or even the possibility, for a portable version of Manuskript? I would absolutely adore you if you could make this portable!

  • Hello! I’ve finally managed to run the program! Yay! But now I’ve encountered a different problem.

    “Warning: failed to load translator for local en_US…”

    Is there any way to resolve this?

    Thanks!

  • Hola amigo, vuestro aplicaci贸n es atractiva y con un aspecto funcional interesante. Ahora bien, para las versiones Mac OS X El Capit谩n, parece tener un but, pues cuando se inicia da un error interno, no funciona. Supongo que otros como yo interesados os habr谩n comentado lo mismo. 驴Ten茅is idea o alg煤n consejo respecto a la versi贸n para Mac? Un saludo y mucho 谩nimo.

  • Me gusta mucho el programa y me parece muy 煤til. Pero NO LO PUEDO UTILIZAR porque NO APARECEN LAS TILDES que utilizamos en espa帽ol: cami贸n sale como camion, por ejemplo. Y eso lo hace inutilizable en nuestra lengua. 驴Existe alguna manera de arreglar esto? Utilizo la versi贸n 3.0 para linux 64 bits, y con la versi贸n anterior ya hab铆a el mismo problema.
    Y es una l谩stima.
    Seguid mejorando.
    Gracias y un saludo.

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