help! I can't add or edit characters

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Jessica Rydill

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Jul 13, 2014, 6:50:24 PM7/13/14
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I am sorry - I have done a search but couldn't find this.

I have created a new project, and then a chapter and a scene. But when I click on the 'characters' menu and it opens the window which invites me to add/edit a character, nothing happens.

Since then, I have managed to create a character by highlighting him in the scene and right-clicking. But now I can't edit him!

Please can someone tell me what I'm doing wrong, or whether it's a bug.

Thanks!

Carl Maniglia

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Jul 14, 2014, 1:50:06 AM7/14/14
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If you've created a character, they should then appear in the list under the Characters tab. Double clicking on the line on which the characters is listed should open the window to allow you to edit.

If you have the  Characters tab open then Right clicking with your mouse inside the list area should pop up a menu item alongside the cursor with a single "Add New" option which is the fastest way to get to create a new character description.

Regards

Carl




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Shannon

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Jul 17, 2014, 11:36:27 PM7/17/14
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Hi Jessica, I am having the same problem. I tried your highlighting trick, which worked as far as creating the character is concerned, but when I actually try to edit that character, nothing happens. I type and nothing shows up. Very frustrating. Did you figure out what was going wrong? Thanks!

Jessica Rydill

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Jul 18, 2014, 9:31:39 PM7/18/14
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Thank you Carl. Sorry for the late reply. I think maybe that was the problem? But I will have another go tomorrow!

Jessica

Devon Kaufman

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Jul 20, 2014, 1:53:37 PM7/20/14
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I'm having the same problem. Did you figure it out? I can't add or edit anything but scenes and chapters.


On Sunday, July 13, 2014 6:50:24 PM UTC-4, Jessica Rydill wrote:

Carl Maniglia

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Jul 28, 2014, 3:38:42 AM7/28/14
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Are you double-clicking on the character line? It will then will open a dialog for editing the character. The same applies to locations and items once you created them by right clicking in the window area below the tag and left clicking on the Add New option that appears as a pop up menu item.

The long way is to select the Characters, Locations, or Items tab and click the View/Edit menu option. A dialog will appear listing all the Characters, Locations or Items depending on which tab you selected. Select the C/L/I and click on the button on the menu bar in the dialog to edit.

You can use the C/L/I tabs to add new ones as well.

Regards

Carl

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John W Nelson

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Aug 28, 2014, 4:52:49 PM8/28/14
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A Scrivener user who thought he'd investigate yWriter. Downloaded Windows version.  The import of RTF was pretty smooth, but I can't add or edit characters. Double-clicking does nothing. Right-click and "Add New" does nothing. Using Windows 7. Could it be because I'd like to save to Dropbox?  
Thanks! 

John N

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Aug 29, 2014, 6:26:46 PM8/29/14
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Thanks! I think the problem was my importing an RTF file and then
immediately saving the yWriter project to Dropbox. When I slowed
down, saved the project normally to my hard-drive, I was able to to
add characters, locations, items, etc. My problem was probably due to
learning curve issues. ;)
best regards,
John Nelson
john...@gmail.com
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Michelle Norton

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Aug 29, 2014, 6:55:01 PM8/29/14
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Try opening the menu item. Does it let you access the character list from there?
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Alexis Holcomb

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Sep 13, 2014, 11:39:18 AM9/13/14
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Was this ever resolved? I have the same issue with characters, items, and locations. I've been able to add new ones by doing the highlight-right click, but, like the others, no editing and no ability to create new ones other than the highlight-click.

I'm using Windows 7 64bit, NOT using Dropbox, and read what I could to try and fix it. I've saved the project, backed it up, but still nothing.

Andrew Griffin

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Sep 16, 2014, 9:55:09 PM9/16/14
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I hope this Thread hasn't been abandoned because I'm having this problem with a fresh install and a new project. I've created chapters fine and edited author info, but when I go to add a new character by either navigating the menu or right clicking in the character field and selecting "ADD NEW" literally nothing happens, no window pops ups, zip. If I go to "VIEW/EDIT" the window opens and I can click the "ADD NEW" button, again nothing happens. If I click the "ADD NEW" button several times I can see a brief flash of white in the frame where I should be able to enter a new character then it disappears and the frame is grayed out again. 

I have not tried to import anything, I was going to type in everything by hand. I'm Running Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit.
Thanks!


On Sunday, July 13, 2014 6:50:24 PM UTC-4, Jessica Rydill wrote:

Andrew Griffin

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Sep 18, 2014, 1:28:19 PM9/18/14
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Ok, so, second attempt to post to this thread. I had the same problem. I created chapters and a new project but when I tried to create a new characters the program didn't not let me. I accessed the characters menu and tried both ways of creating a character but each resulted in no entry into the character database. I tried clicking the add character button inside the All Characters menu but that resulted in a flash of white where the new characters were supposed to go, then it blanked to gray again. Now, a few days later it works fine with no intervention from me. This is weird behavior for a program. 

I know that my particular problem is solved (for now), but I am a little concerned that the problem may be intermittent. I'm running Windows Vista 64bit, updated as of 9/15/2014. 

Andrew Griffin
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Robin Carroll

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Sep 27, 2014, 11:50:32 AM9/27/14
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Same here. I just downloaded the program, created a project, and created Chapter 1. So far the chapter is just one sentence. I want to enter my characters first - I have an awful lot of them and no clear sense of which chapters and scenes they're going to appear in. I created a scene, which now appears in the scene list. Under Content, I typed in my first character's name, right clicked and selected "create new character." Now the character name appears in the character list for that scene, but I can't edit it. I right click the character's name and select edit, and I can see two boxes, one for Notes and the other containing Description, Goals, and Bio. It says to double click to edit, but when I do, I still can't enter any text, and I get a really annoying ringing sound to boot. I made this the viewpoint character and clicked Add there. That gave me a box with All Characters and this character (so far the only one) listed. I tried Add New and Edit but neither one works. Right clicking gives me Sort Alphabetically - useless at this point.

This is a huge problem - in fact, it makes the software useless to me. Can anyone help? I really like the way the software is SUPPOSED to work - if only it actually did!


On Sunday, July 13, 2014 6:50:24 PM UTC-4, Jessica Rydill wrote:

Michelle Norton

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Sep 28, 2014, 9:19:26 PM9/28/14
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Are you sure no errors came up. The ringing noise usually means an error has popped up. I have the latest version and I can't replicate the problem you're having. 

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Robin Carroll

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Oct 1, 2014, 6:49:02 AM10/1/14
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I did finally figure out how to add and edit characters. I'm not entirely sure what I did. It may be I did not have the chapter open. Now I can click the Character tab, right click and select Add New. I can also access the characters from the menu across the top. Thanks for your help!
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