Due shortly we want to have a full article on DramaQueen 2.0 here. Until then you can read our articles on the DramaQueen 2.0 BETA versions. These already contain a lot of useful information on the changes that the NOVEL extension brings:
2015, 2016 and DramaQueen 2.0 BETA
2.0.0 BETA 3
2.0.0 BETA 4
And of course we have an extensive update report for the current release. We wish you great fun with DramaQueen 2.0 and as always we are looking forward to your feedback!
In the last three weeks we have put on the last polish for DramaQueen 2.0 and improved on many details. An often wished for feature has made the cut as well: It is now possible to configure a few automatic corrections (replacements while typing) as well as the symbols used for quotation marks. This is especially important for novel authors. The global program settings which affect all documents have received a new page. Individual replacements can be deactivated there. For each document separately, it is possible to configure the symbols for the quotation marks (“…”, «…» etc.). DramaQueen recognizes and replaces double and single quotes and also distinguishes using an apostrophe.
To be absolutely sure, we want to test the changes one last time in the form of BETA 4. It should be possible to release the final version of 2.0.0 in one week. As always we are looking forward to your feedback!
Since we published the BETA version of DramaQueen 2.0, we have received a lot of exciting feedback on the NOVEL extension. A frequently important subject was the hierarchical structure of novel documents. We have used the time to incorporate the feedback: Names have shuffled around a bit for novel documents. The synopsis text-level now consists of “parts”. The treatment and novel are structured into “chapters”, no longer “bits”. On the novel text-level, chapters may have additional subchapters. In the Outline panel, there will be an additional hierarchy level for subchapterts, meaning chapters can be expanded to reveal the contained subchapters. For script documents the changes are accordingly. Split scenes no longer appear on the same level as regular scenes, but they are structured below scenes. This improves the clarity in the Outline. With the changes also comes a refinement of the drag’n’drop behavior, especially in relation to subchapters and split scenes respectively. The new behavior is more intuitive in many situations.
A second important change is that the text display can be limited to the active part or chapter. This option is situated in the gear-menu of the Texts panel. It doesn’t only help to focus on a certain area of the text, but exporting and printing the document take this setting into consideration, too. It was an often requested feature to export only a certain scene or chapter.
We have not forgotten script writers. The new BETA 3 features the “Shot” text element. It can be used for secondary headings and improves the reading flow. The attention can be quickly drawn to a certain perspective. With the change also comes better compatibility with other script writing software. The keyboard shortcuts for quickly switching the active text element have also been adjusted to the established standard.
Some will be happy to hear that the script text elements are again available as icons in the tool bar. We had unified the access to paragraph styles via a drop-down widget due to the NOVEL extension, but in some situations, the individual icons are easier to access. This option is also located in the gear-menu of the Texts panel.
Naturally BETA 3 also fixes reported bugs. That said, some of the new features are quite fundamental, so they should be put to test within an extended BETA phase. We will use the comming two to three weeks for polishing and will then most likely release the final version of DramaQueen 2.0. Until then, we wish you a lot of fun with BETA 3 and as always we are looking forward to your feedback!
After a long waiting time and repeated shifting of the release date, we finally have a BETA version of DramaQueen 2.0 with the promised extension for novel documents.
Not actually that much on first sight. Naturally DramaQueen now distinguishes between movie documents and novel documents. For new documents, the type is simply selected in the start panel:
Existing documents can be converted as promised (in the File menu).
The Smart-Import has been extended. On top of supporting scripts, it now supports all texts. If you have already started writing your novel or short story with another software, you can comfortably import it in DramaQueen. The text’s chapters and/or sections will be recognized correctly. To achieve this the text is searched for commonly used structuring. Numbered headings, headings ending in a colon, bold or underlined text styles. Or simply empty lines between paragraphs. When no structuring is detected at all, the import will separate individual paragraphs. Where that is unwanted, one should simply start a new document and transfer the text via copy and paste instead of using the import.
Novel documents are the realm of a different vocabulary of concepts. The text-levels are called synopsis, concept, and novel here (movie documents: synopsis, treatment, and script). They consist of parts and chapters (movie documents: steps and scenes). On the novel text-level there are no script specific options and writing aids. There are no scene-headings. Instead there are generic headings:
For novel documents on each text-level, for movie documents on the levels synopsis and treatment. Choosing a text element (a.k.a. paragraph style) now happens via a drop-down in the tool bar of the Texts panel. This means there are no separate icons in the script anymore. At the same time, “scene-heading” is now integrated as paragraph style.
The new headings can also be used in the Outline panel. For this we have integrated an option into the gear menu, to choose what the Outline column should display exactly:
The option ‘Prefer manual outlines’ matches the known behavior: manual outlines where provided, automatically generated from the text otherwise.
For automatic outlines, headings are always preferred if present in the text. The last option further restricts the behavior, such that only headings are used for the automatic outlines.
Absolutely essential for the NOVEL extension is support for EPUB as an export option. This feature was several months in the making:
In the document settings there is now a new page where options can be set for the Document which are used also for the EPUB export:
Any number of contributors can be defined with their respective roles. And there can be additional titles on top of the main title. It was only natural to move the option ‘Language of texts’ over to the new page from the layout related section of the settings.
The Help panel has been revised for the NOVEL extension. It reflects the type of the current document regarding the used vocabulary as well as leaving out script specific sections.
If you want to experiement with the new BETA version, download it from our BETA page. It is recommended to install it in parallel to the previous version. New novel documents or documents converted into novels should not be opened in previous DramaQueen versions. It will work in principle, but formatting and layout-settings will be garbled.
If problems exists, we expect them more in the area of inconsistencies than in the form of crashes or serious errors. Still, we have touched a lot of areas in the software, so some caution (like saving often under a new name) is good advice. You should always have a backup of your documents.
We are looking forward to feedback and critique and will try to make changes until the final version, as long as it is possible without introducing long delays.
Maybe you have already noticed: All DramaQueen licenses purchased in the last few weeks have been “2.x” licenses. This means that all newly purchased licenses are now valid for all versions of the 2.x era. The next non-free upgrade will be the version 3.0. Of course it is up to you whether you upgrade at all, or even skip a version. For all owners of a “1.x” license, the 2.0 version is a free upgrade as promised. For them, the 2.1 update will be the first non-free (but optional) upgrade. We will soon publish a separate article on our new release and upgrade strategy.
For the immediate future we expect to smooth out any rough edges from the NOVEL extension. After that we want to focus on team work. Comparing documents, revisions, tracking changes, merging documents, replying in comments. Its this area where DramaQueen has some weaknesses and we receive many feature requests. DramaQueen 2.0 shows that it’s no longer a software solely targeted at movie scripts. Its dramaturgy tools make sense for stories in all media and formats, and so we want to market DramaQueen more intensively. You can help us by recommending DramaQueen, or by writing us about what features are missing for you or your friends and colleagues. We want to make DramaQueen the best tool which supports many individual ways of working, but without loosing sight of its main purpose: Developing great stories.
We wish you a Happy New Year!
While developing new features and specifically before each new release we do extensive testing. We test all new and all important old features, the compatibility with old documents as well as the installation and performance on all computers available to us. After each work day, automatic tests are performed which we extend progressively to check more and more of the code base against regressions in an automated fashion.
With all this in place, we still had to follow up each new major release with a point-update, sometimes even several. This isn’t even a problem only for us as a small, resource-constrained startup, but for the largest and best in the software industry. It seems almost a law of nature that there will always be some last, hard to reproduce bugs left which only show themselves with broader use. For this reason many vendors push updates in waves to their users, not only to prevent overloading their servers, but also so they can stop the update and fix it, if it’s raining complaints.
As much as we would love to provide perfect, error-free software from the start, we must face reality and seek a solution. It would be sad if users ignore new DramaQueen versions which end with .0 entirely, and wait for a .2 or .3 update. At the same time, there are users who would like to work with the new features as soon as possible, and are willing to take the risk that there may be some last bugs hiding in the software.
And so we have decided that there will be a short, open BETA phase before each new major release. This means that all users will be offered a new BETA in the start panel when it’s available. This notice is easily suppressed for the future with a checkmark (or re-enabled from the Help main menu). To prevent anyone from switching to a BETA by accident, they are never offered via the regular automatic software updates. Instead, interested users can go to a dedicated BETA download page from the link in the start panel and download the BETA from there. This BETA download page has room for information on the specific BETA and its new features. Of course it is easily possible to switch back to the previous release. Once the BETA version is installed, the regular software update mechanism works again to update to newer BETAs and the final new release.
The necessary changes in the software update process are contained in DramaQueen 1.7.4, it is therefore recommended to install this update. Otherwise a future BETA will be offered as a regular update (although it will be marked with “BETA” after the version number).
We hope that this will make the .0 releases of DramaQueen live up to high expectations on reliability, and that we will find a “critical mass” of beta testers on this voluntary basis for each new release!
