NOTA BENE
 
 
A REVOLUTIONARY NOTE-TAKING, REFERENCING, & WRITING SYSTEM


 


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NOTA BENE
12

RELEASED APRIL 10, 2018



1. All Your Data Synchronized in the Cloud
Nota Bene users have been utilizing file-synchronization programs to access their Ibidem databases in the cloud for a long time. But that’s not been an option for note-taking files, or Orbis textbases, or user-spelling dictionaries, or other kinds of files that you’d like to have the same across sysems. Now with NB 12, you can put all your data in the cloud — your documents, Ibidem databases, note-taking files, and your Orbis textbases —, making all your work accessible from any computer on which Nota Bene is installed.

NB 12 makes this possible by providing an easy way to give a fixed name/location to folders that may be in different locations, especially if you use both Windows and Mac computers, where the cloud folder/file-synchronization usually varies (for example):
  • Windows — c:\user\johnsmith\cloudfolder
  • Mac — z:\users\jsmith\cloudfolder

Once set up, even if the paths to the cloud/file-synchronization folder differ, both can be accessed simply by the selected letter, for example, N:. You would then save all your files in that folder, in subdirectories, as appropriate (for example, for Orbis management files, Ibidem databases [with the note-taking folder underneath it], and your regular documents, including those included in Orbis), as long as those subfolder names were identical (although the main cloud/file-sync folder may not be).

You can also access your user-spelling dictionaries, phrase libraries, and auto-expand list (see #6: Expand/Shorthand below), so that these are identical on all your computers running Note Bene.
  • NB 12 does not provide the file-synchronization software (for example, Dropbox, Spideroak, iCloud, or OneDrive) that allows for such synchronization, but instead now allows that software to work properly with Nota Bene.


2. Edit Footnotes/Endnotes in Place

You can now edit footnotes in place (without opening the fixed-location command window at the bottom of the screen):


You can now simply move into notes to edit them by using the up and down arrow keys when in the body of the text — using down arrow on the last line of the body text on a page, for example, will move into the first note on that page. This new, simpler method of editing notes gives you a total of three different options. You can:
  • Click (with the mouse) into a note
  • Press F3 when the cursor is on the note-call number
  • Use the arrow keys to move into notes from the body text
    • You can disable this option to move into notes using the arrow keys, so that they will skip over notes, continuing with the body text on the next or previous page, if you prefer the current (pre-NB 12) method
    • Once within a note, the up/down arrows move to the previous or next note on that page, or back up into the body text, or down to the first line of text on the next page



Similarly, you can now edit endnotes in place (without opening the fixed-location command window at the bottom of the screen):


Once you are editing an endnote at the end of the chapter or manuscript, you can:
  • Use the up and down arrow keys to move between endnotes
  • Click in another endnote to move directly to it
  • Click the blue up-arrow icon to the left of the endnote window (see the image above) to return to the location in the body text where the note is called

Alternatively, you can edit endnotes in place, without jumping to the endnote location at the end of the file, thus letting you choose between what happnes when you press F3 to edit an endnote:
  • Open the note at the location of the call number in the body of the text, so that they can be edited in place, without moving to the endnote location at the end of the section or file
  • Move to the endnote location at the end of the section or the file



Whether editing footnotes or endnotes, saving is now automatic:
  • Save:
    • Move out of the note (using the arrow or other cursor keys)
    • Click on another note to edit it, or back into the body text of the file
    • Press the F3 key, as currently
    • Click the Save icon (forward rotating arrow with plus symbol) on the status line (this icon was previously positioned on the now-absent toolbar at the top of the now-removed fixed note-editing window)
  • Cancel:
    • Right click into the body text of the file
    • Press the Ctrl+F3 combination, as currently
    • Click the Cancel icon (reverse rotating arrow with minus symbol) on the status line (this icon was previously positioned on the now-absent toolbar at the top of the now-removed fixed note-editing window)



You can also:
  • Show the Note Options Bar automatically, or only as needed, to:
    • Add or remove cross-reference labels
    • Change the note series to which a note belongs



  • Click on both the footnote separator and wrap separator to edit them in place
  • Display a “map” of all note formatting commands in the file to make sure that note formats are consistent throughout the file (see Element Map below)



Virtually everything related to this new way of editing footnotes and endnotes is under your control using Tools, Preferences, Footnotes/Endnotes). In addition to the various options listed above, you can control:
  • Whether notes opened with F3 pop up at the location of the call number in the body of the text (at the location where the note is inserted), or at the bottom of the page, where the note is output



3. Simplified Headers/Footers
Headers and footers are now much easier to use, and much more powerful!


You can now:
  • Choose simple page-numbering-only options when first inserting headers and footers
  • More easily set the location of page numbers for the other options
  • Get a better sense of what combination of headers and footers you are selecting, since the images depicting the available pages now change based on the selection

When inserting more than a single header or footer at a tiime (using one of the “Other Options” in the image above), you can either:
  • Show only the single header or footer

OR
  • Thumbnails of the other headers and footers that are part of that group:
When the thumbnails are dispalyed, you can:
  • See all the selected/active headers and footers at the same time
  • Swap the contents using the left-right and up-down arrow icons (for example, move the header on even pages to the footer on odd pages), without retyping the content
  • Delete individual headers and footers



In addition, it is now easier to edit existing headers and footers using one of the options shown below:
  • Previously, you could only edit existing header/footer groups by replacing the existing ones on a page



A new header/footer map dialog makes it very easy to adjust headers and footers in manuscript files, where headers and footers change frequently:


The Headers & Footers: View, Add, Edit, Remove dialog lets you:
  • Open the active header or footer to edit it
  • Modify the type of header or footer (all, even, or odd pages)
  • Blank out the header or footer
  • Delete the header or footer, thus reactivating any prior header or footer
  • Add a new header or footer for following pages
  • Suppress the header and/or footer for the current page only
As outlined in the key, the visual header or footer map shows the scope of all existing headers or footers, making it easy to see where headers and footers begin, and when they end.



The same map option makes setting page numbers — roman numeral for prefatory pages, for example, followed by standard arabic numbering for the body of the paper — very easy:



In addition to these dialog maps, you can show a side-bar “map” of all headers and footers and set-page commands in the file to make sure that headers and footers are consistent and as desired throughout the file (see Element Map below)
  • Unlike the dialog maps, this side-bar can remain open as you edit in the file



4. Edit Frames & Graphics in Place

You can now also edit frames, and any graphics contained in them, in place, without opening another graphics-editing window:





5. Major Changes to Frames & Graphics
In addition to the in-place editing of frames and graphics, other major changes have been made, including:
  • You can now paste images directly (using Ctrl+V) into an NB file
    • If an image is on the clipboard — either because you used Save As from a browser, or because you copied an image file in File Explorer, or by any other means — you can use Ctrl+V to paste the image directly into an NB file
    • The image will be auto resized so that images larger than the page width will be able to be pasted into the file
    • NB now supports over 150 image formats — BMP, JPEG, PNG, TIFF are perhaps the most common ones, but even very exotic formats are now supported
  • A new frame type that auto resizes the graphic as the frame is resized has been added
    • This new “illustration” type allows you to easily add captions above and/or below the embedded graphic (either by clicking a button on the Framework/Graphic Bar shown in the image above, or by clicking the “Click Here to Add Caption or Text” tooltip also shown above)
    • When adding captions or text, the frame will automatically adjust the vertical size
  • You can now use the mouse (in place, without opening another window) to:
    • Change the position of the frame (as previously, but much more reliably — frames should stay where you drag them)
    • Resize the frame
    • Resize the white space (inset) between the frame and the surrounding text
    • Resize the graphic
    • Crop the graphic
  • When editing around frames/graphics, the flashing seen in early versions should now be gone
  • In particular, this makes it easier to have frames/graphics in the margins of page, either in part, or in whole


  • Powerful, but simple to use, image transformation functions are now available, letting you, among other options:
    • Rotate images
    • Blur, or sharpen
    • Change tint or hue
    • Reverse colors and/or flip
    • Lighten, saturate, etc.


    A wide variety of transformations are available using simple-to-use sliders, with changes updated in real time:
  • These same transformations apply to any OLE object (see the list under Insert, Image/Object), whether linked or embedded
  • In addition to transformations of embedded elements, you can independently adjust the left, top, right, and bottom of:
    • Borders
    • Inset — amount of white space separating the frame from the surrounding text
    • Gutters — the amount of white space between the border and internal text and/or image/object
      • Note that previously you could not control left and right gutters independently
  • Frame, with or without graphics, can have a background color
Together, all these changes now make even text frames far more powerful, and easier to use:


Along with the ability in earlier versions of NB to postion frames and wrap text around them, as shown in the image below (the top Frame/Graphic Bar, and the side Frame/Graphic Dialog, are new to NB12, but not the frame-positioning dialog), frames and graphics in Nota Bene should now be a strength of Nota Bene, and no longer a weakness:




6. New Expand/Shorthand as You Type
Nota Bene has always offered users multiple ways to simplify typing:
  • Phrase Libraries (under Edit)
  • Auto Replace (under Proof)
  • F5 + character (under Insert)
  • F6 + character (under Insert)
Now another option — preconfigured, but customizable, and geared toward symbols and commands — is now available:
  • Expand/Convert/Shorthand (under Edit)
There are three kinds of options:


Convert Text Automatically

The first kind of expansion/shorthand is when naturally occurring characters are converted automatically into other formatted strings.

Among the predefined options (on by default, but these can be turned off) are:
  • Two hyphens turn automatically into an em dash
  • Any three characters, on a line by themselves, followed by Enter turn into a leader (composed of the specified character)
  • (c) will be changed to ©, and (r) into ®, etc.
  • A stand-alone lowercase “i” becomes “I”
Other options where regular text is converted into other text (unlike the above, these are off by default, but can be activated as desired) include:
  • Numbers surround by parentheses become circled numbers with a white background; if “)” is repeated, a black background is used
  • A hyphen between two numbers becomes a number dash
Although many users might want at least some of these active all the time (the first group, for example, are standard expansions that many programs make), if you prefer you can deactivate them on ordinary typing, but still execute the conversion/expansion when needed by pressing, and releasing (without typing another character) the [Ctrl] key


Convert on [Ctrl] or Other Key: Predefined Options

A second option lets characters on the standard keyboard be converted into less accessible symbols, either by:
  • Typing a special (user-configurable) “expand” key
  • Pressing and releasing Ctrl after typing the sequence
Among the options are angle brackets being converted to arrows and the “#” and “@” characters being converted to square and round bullets
  • Repeating the special expand or Ctrl key again selects additional bullets


Convert on [Ctrl] or Other Key: User Options

In addition to these predefined conversions, any sequence of characters can get converted/expanded into other characters, using either the [Ctrl] or the special expand key, as above.

Those who like to use the Action Line to insert formatting or other commands can now do so even more easily (again, any of these shorthand notations can be turned off, and others added).

A few sample options (which can be removed) are included, and new ones to match your preferences can be added:
  • T + Expand Key or Ctrl — issues Today command (inserts today’s date into file)
  • F + Expand Key or Ctrl — inserts filename into file
  • P + Expand Key or Ctrl — inserts path + filename into file
  • 0 + Expand Key or Ctrl — inserts IP0IN,0IN,0IN into file


In all these cases, if a conversion/expansion option is active, pressing [Esc] before typing the last character in the shorthand text will suppress the expansion
  • For example, [hyphen]+[Esc]+[hyphen] will override the [hyphen]+[hyphen] > [em dash] expansion


7. New Element Map
Nota Bene 12 provides a new “map” view of the file that shows the location of every Nota Bene formatting command or element — headers and footers, note-formatting commands (and notes), colored text regions, hyperlinks, insert and delete track changes blocks, indentation, font changes, references, tables, and frames — in short, every single Nota Bene embedded command.

You’ll find the map useful even in smaller files, but it will be invaluable when working with manuscript files composed of multiple chapters, or even in a longer single file. Using the map, you can:
  • See the location of all commands/embedded codes/elements
  • Go to the page with the selected command/element
  • Open the command to edit it
  • Delete the element
It’s now easier than ever to see why and where the structure of the document changes, and to make it more consistent.


This particular map (note that the NB manuscript is shown zoomed down to an unreadable size to allow full-width depiction of the map) shows the location of all of the following elements in the file:
  • Note numbering commands (stating number and format)
  • Note format/layout commands
  • Separators (both for first pages, and when notes are wrapped)
  • The notes themselves (the graph bar gives some sense of the frequency on each page, with the count displayed)
As can be seen, note formats are set at various places (in this case, where style-manual formats were added for the various preliminary sections — title page, table of contents, list of abbreviations, acknowledgments, introduction, etc. ), but these settings are ignored (because there are no notes in those sections); instead, the formats set about page 14 take effect, and the notes begin at that point.

The center bar that depicts the file in the map also shows (although in this example, only the first two are shown):
  • Sections
  • Chapters
  • Endnotes
  • Reference list



If you click on any icon in the map, tooltips will be displayed showing all occurrences of the selected elements (note, styles, layout, colors, track-change markers, cross-reference labels, and the like) on the current page.


You an then click on any popup to open and edit it.

This layout/element map can stay open as you move through the file, and the popups — if they are displayed — will remain displayed during basic edits.

The new element map should prove extremely useful in all sorts of contexts: For example, it can show — and let you go directly to, either to view, or to edit:
  • Cross-references, and the labels (as popups) to which one wants to refer
  • All track-change entries
  • All color-coded sections
  • Items tagged for indexing
It’s a cliche, but it’s true — the limit is your imagination.


8. Open DOCX File Without Word Installed
You can now open DOCX Word files without Word installed, retrieving the content and the basic formatting (page layout, paragraph and text formatting, footnotes, etc., but not tables yet) of those files for editing in NB.

This also now lets you open DOCX files on the Mac — previously you could not open DOCX files from the Nota Bene File, Open dialog even though Word was installed on the system, since it installed on the Mac proper, and not in the NB Wine bottle
Note that this uses the prelimnary DOCX to NB filter developed for Orbis+.


9. Extract Text from PDF Files
The Orbis+ text-extraction options used to allow text to be extracted from PDF files is now available to extract text from PDF files selected in the File, Open dialog in NB




10. Change Selection Color
You can now change the color used to mark the selection, and well as the color used to show the highlighted terms when using the Find All option in the Ctrl+F Find/Replace menu.
  • Some people prefer a more subtle color than the stark black used previously
  • The original NB selection color can be selected by clicking the Reverse button





11. Continuing Technical Support
By upgrading to NB 12, you are entitled to receive continuing free technical support. We provide technical support at no cost to any registered user who is running the current version of the program. See our technical support policy.



12. And More...
NB 12 also includes all the changes in version 10, 11, and 11.5:

Nota Bene 10
Nota Bene 11
Nota Bene 11.5