What's new?

[peter88213]

In this thread I want to make you aware of new and special features of novelibre. To keep it clear, I have locked it for comments. If you want to make a comment on a feature, you can try to post a reply, or open a separate thread.

You can download the latest novelibre version from the project homepage. There you will also find the links to the plugins.
To learn about planned features and how development progresses, see the Features project Kanban board.

[peter88213]

Online help

I have moved the noveltree online help to a separate website and combined it with the help pages of the plugins. The help pages are not yet complete; I intend to finish them over time.

[peter88213]

See the ages of the characters related to a section

If a section is dated, you can call up the ages of the related characters who have birth dates (as of version 1.7).

[peter88213]

Version 1.8: Update of the plugins is recommended

Until version 1.7 there were homepages on GitHub Pages for noveltree and all its plugins. After I moved the online help pages to a separate website, I abandoned the individual homepages and now use the GitHub repositories as landing pages. This reduces the maintenance effort and makes updates available more quickly.

Since the old help page and homepage URLs are also in the program code of the plugins (e.g. as links for the plugin manager), there is now an update with revised URLs. It is recommended to update noveltree and all plugins used.

[peter88213]

Version 2.0: Preparations for renaming the application

Version 2.0 does not bring any new features. Nevertheless, I recommend installing it; this will make it much easier to switch to the renamed application at a later date (see below). "Under the hood", the plugin mechanism is now well prepared for the things to come.

The whole installation is moved from "~/.noveltree" to "~/.novx" automatically. This is why you may need to adjust your noveltree launcher on Linux, or your Windows desktop link if it doesn't work after the noveltree update. Also, Windows users should re-run the registry script add-noveltree.reg in the installation directory to keep noveltree working as the default application for .novx files. The icon for the desktop shortcut must be set again. All installed plugins must then be updated.

A new name for noveltree

When I was looking for a new name for novelyst v5, noveltree seemed like a good one, since the application provides a tree for structuring a novel. However, a web search for "noveltree" shows many hits that lead to businesses such as cannabis distribution. Also, a large software project on GitHub is already named noveltree. I would like to have a unique name for my program, so I will change it in the near future.

Some preparations are necessary for this. First, I renamed the help pages and the plugins so that "noveltree" no longer appears in their URLs. This is done with the API v1.8 and requires no further action from the user than updating noveltree and its plugins.

The next step is to change the installation directory. It should no longer be called "~/.noveltree", but have a neutral name. I am thinking of "~/.novx", which refers to the file format used and is suitable for all tools that process .novx files.

I suspect that the user base of my program is still very small at the moment, so I would like to take this step as soon as possible, because it requires Linux users to revise their program launcher, and Windows users to revise their shortcuts and file association. The actual relocation is to be automated with the v2.0 update.

You can have a look at the progress of the changes here: #6

[peter88213]

Version 2.1: The new name is novelibre

• After installation or update, please run the registry script "add_novelibre.reg" on Windows.
• Version 1.x plugins must be updated.

[peter88213]

Version 3.0: New features and file format upgrade

With version 3.0, arcs have been renamed plot lines. novelibre now povides a plot grid with plot line notes for each section. This allows you to see the big picture and keep track of multiple subplots. In order to outline a novel with a plot grid right from the start, novelibre now offers the option of creating up to 20 sections at once.

In return, the former section list is now only intended for export. As of version 3.3, it will contain a complete set of section metadata and thus support project export.

The file format has been extended and the version of the document type definition has been increased from 1.0 to 1.1. This means that .novx files written with a novelibre version 2.7 or higher are no longer read by older program versions.

The behavior when exporting documents can now be set via an options dialog. This allows you to skip confirmation requests and prevent automatic locking.

The online user guide has now been enhanced and covers all program features.

Version 1.x and 2.x plugins must be updated.

Note: Version 2.7 was an interim release with most of the version 3 features implemented. However, some version 2.x plugins may not work because of the file format upgrade, so it is highly recommended to update the application and all its plugins to version 3.

[peter88213]

Version 3.5: New features and file format upgrade

With version 3.5, you can store notes and links along with almost every element in novelibre.
To add this data to the .novx file, the file format has been upgraded to version 1.2. This means that .novx files written with a novelibre version 3.5 or higher are no longer read by older program versions.

If you link a file that is located in the novelibre project directory or below, the path is now saved relative to the project directory.
Thus, tis path will not break when moving the project folder with all its contents.

For novelibre version 3.5, the following plugins and tools must be updated to work with the version 1.2 file format:

• Timeline plugin
• Aeon Timeline 2 plugin
• XPress tagged text export

[peter88213]

Version 3.6: File format upgrade

As of version 3.6, novelibre stores links in a redundant way. This allows for auto-fixing broken links if files are moved on the disk.
To add the new data to the .novx file, the file format has been upgraded to version 1.3. This means that .novx files written with a novelibre version 3.6 or higher are no longer read by older program versions.

If you link a file, the path is now saved relative to the project directory, and additionally as an absolute path.
Thus, the link will not necessarily break when moving the project to another folder. If one of the two stored link paths keeps working, the other one will automatically be fixed after successfully opening this link.

For novelibre version 3.6, the following plugins and tools must be updated to work with the version 1.3 file format:

• Timeline plugin
• Aeon Timeline 2 plugin
• XPress tagged text export

[peter88213]

Bugfixes

Currently, I 'm working on a new novel, plotting it with novelibre from scratch. Most of the functions are used here, and bugs are fixed as they show up. This could lead to an increase in updates in the near future.

[peter88213]

Version 4: File format upgrade

The section "Action/Reaction/Custom" scheme is generalized and extended now, so that you can also specify non-staged sections and make customized annotations. See:
https://peter88213.github.io/nvhelp-en/section_view.html#scene
For this, the file format has been upgraded from DTD 1.3 to DTD 1.4.
This means, that novelibre versions before 4 cannot read novx files that are saved with novelibre version 4.

All plugins must be upgraded for version 4. The novelibre plugin API has been enhanced, and the plugins' file sizes may be significantly reduced.

[peter88213]

Copy and paste novelibre tree elements via the clipboard

The nv_clipboard plugin adds this feature to novelibre.
However, the current version 0.6.0 is still an "Alpha" release with more features to come.

[peter88213]

Moon phase display

What is the moon in the sky? Is it full tonight, even though the night was moonless yesterday?
As of novelibre version 4.4, you can call up the moon phase at the section's start date.

The moon phase information consists of:

• the phase day (0 to 29, where 0=new moon, 15=full etc.),
• the visible shape,
• the fraction illuminated.

The moon phase calculation is based on a ‘do it in your head’ algorithm by John Conway.
In its current form, it’s only valid for the 20th and 21st centuries.

[peter88213]

Self-installing distribution packages

From now on the releases of novelibre and all its plugins and tools will be provided as self-extracting Python archives.
This greatly simplifies installation.

Many web browsers recognize the download as an executable file and offer to open it immediately. This starts the installation.

However, depending on your security settings, your browser may initially refuse to download the executable file. In this case, your confirmation or an additional action is required. If this is not possible, you have the option of downloading the zip file.

[peter88213]

Modifying the look of your final document

If you prefer simple blank lines instead of section separators, you can achieve this using "Find and replace".

This is particularly convenient with a macro that comes with the new novelibre-tools extension for LibreOffice and OpenOffice.

[peter88213]

Preparing your work in progress for novelibre import

Before creating a novelibre project from an .odt "work in progress", you have to set up the text document as described here.
As of version 0.2, the novelibre-tools extension for LibreOffice and OpenOffice comes with a macro that inserts the right section divider on a blank line.

[peter88213]

User interface changes in the nv_matrix, nv_timeline, and nv_aeon2 plugins

The main menu items for the above plugins have been moved to the Tools menu.
Also, buttons for the most frequently used commands were added to the toolbar.

[peter88213]

Optional zip files re-uploaded

After switching to distribution via self-extracting Python-zip archives three days ago, the optional zip files were assembled incorrectly, which corrupted binary files such as icons and translation dictionaries. The error in the build scripts has now been fixed and the zip files have been uploaded again.

[peter88213]

PDF manuals available

Now there are also PDF versions of the user guide:

• English manual as PDF
• German manual as PDF

The PDF document may be some versions behind the online manual. However, it can be updated on demand.

[peter88213]

Viewing the progression of the narrated time

The nv_tlview plugin displays a timeline with sections that are given a narrative date/day and time. This may be a lightweight substitute for dedicated timeline software, However, it's just a viewer. This means, it is not yet possible to change the time and duration of the sections using the mouse.

[peter88213]

Changing section date/time/duration via the timeline view

As of version 1.1.2, the nv_tlview plugin allows you to move the start and end of the sections with the mouse.

[peter88213]

Version 1.1.2 of the nv_tlview plugin has a serious bug where changing the duration with the mouse could corrupt the project file. This is fixed with version 1.2.1.
As of version 4.8.3, the novelibre application program is now also protected against such plugin malfunctions.

[peter88213]

A special style for the first paragraph of the chapter

As of novelibre version 4.8, the manuscript and the final document "for printing" are formatted using the "Chapter beginning" style for each chapter's first paragraph. This allows you, for example, to use initials with the help of customized document templates.

However, out of the box, the Chapter beginning style looks exactly like Body Text.

[peter88213]

Linux fix and nv_tlview changes

After a long time, I have installed Linux again for testing purposes. I noticed that in the meantime code has been added to novelibre that does not work under my Xubuntu configuration. This has now been fixed with novelibre version 4.9.1.

I have also adapted the operation of the timeline viewer plug-in so that it works on the XFCE desktop, where the Alt key is used by the system. For this reason, the end date of the sections is moved by holding down the Ctrl and Shift keys from nv_tlview version 1.5.

[peter88213]

Version 4.11 with user interface improvements

• Now there are "hovertips" for the toolbar buttons.
  

• The German translation now also includes the menu accelerators.
  

[peter88213]

Viewing project statistics

The nv_statistics plugin shows bar diagrams with word count statistics information.

The current version 0.2.3 is still an Alpha release with some features still missing, but it already works quite well.

[peter88213]

Version 5 upcoming

Currently, I'm testing novelibre version 5. As soon as it is published, all plugins must also be updated.

There are no new features yet. However, the program code has been extensively restructured and improved with a focus on the reusability of the basic modules and a broad standardization of the module interfaces. Technically speaking: I have tried to implement the “model-view-controller” design pattern even more consistently.

At the moment, the upcoming version is still in the novelibre5 development branch. I am using it from now on for my daily work in order to test it thoroughly. It will probably first be released when there are new features or plugins, or when bugs are reported in the current release of version 4.

[peter88213]

Current development status of version 5

New features

• Via the context menu, you can export a manuscript containing only the selected chapter.
• New Chapter menu entry: Move selected chapters to new project.
  This creates a new project containing the moved chapters/sections
  and all related elements and plot lines/plot points.
• Added a Major character checkbox to the character properties view.
• Importing and exporting plot lines with plot points via XML data files.
• Made it easier to delete multiple elements.
• Added a Cut command to the nv_clipboard plugin.
• Updated the sample templates included with the nv_templates plugin.
• The nv_collection plugin now always asks before saving.
• In case of program errors, a log file is created that can be used for bug reporting.
• Opening Zim wiki page links is no longer natively supported; instead the new nv_zim plugin will do this, adding additional convenience for managing project wikis and creating wiki pages for characters and elements of world building.
  
• Added birth and death dates to the ODS character list.
• Added birth and death dates to the HTML character list.
• Finished the nv_statistics plugin.

Bugfixes

• Fixed a bug where the project is not updated from ODT location and item descriptions.
• Fixed a bug where an exception is raised when trying to delete chapters that contain stages.
• Fixed a regression from version 4.17.1 where the root element titles are invisible when creating a project without saving it immediately.
• Preventing setting a section in an unused chapter "normal" via the properties checkbox.
• Preventing loading templates with the nv_templates plugin while the project is locked.
• No longer auto-fix broken links while the project is locked.
• Fixed a bug where the cover image may be not be displayed when opening an existing project after discarding a new project.
• Fixed a bug where the editor window is not closed when the corresponding section is deleted.
• No longer try saving editor changes although the corresponding section is deleted.
• Fixed a bug in nv_tlview where aborting mouse drag operations with "Esc" may raise an exception.
• Fixed nv_tlview key binding issues by deactivating "Undo" and "Help" shortcuts.

[peter88213]

Version 5 is now available

• Each plugin installed must be updated. The nv_statistics plugin is now significantly improved, and there is now a new plugin nv_zim to connect novelibre with Zim Desktop Wiki.
• Several chapters have been added to the User guide to support the use of the full range of novelibre features.
• The .novx file format is upgraded to version 1.5. Project files written with novelibre 5.x cannot be opened with novelibre 4.x or older versions. However, in case of emergency, you can forge the version number in the XML file to make it suitable for novelibre 4.x. In this case, the wiki link entries created with the new nv_zim plugin are lost.
• You find a comprehensive list of the changes in the changelog.