The ability to import research, images, and web pages into Scrivener is one of its best features, but sometimes creating a bookmark—a link to the file or location—might be a better option. (NOTE: Bookmarks were called references prior to Scrivener 3.)
When might you want to use a bookmark instead of importing a file or web page?
– When you always want the most up-to-date version.
When you import a file, Scrivener creates a copy of it, thus freezing it in its current incarnation. Sometimes that’s desirable, other times not.
– If the file is large or you have a lot of them.
Importing files increases the size of your project, which can slow down backups and syncing with online drives. A large project may take up too much space on a flash drive or be too big to email. Some people also prefer not to have their Research folder cluttered with anything but the most important reference materials.
– When a web page doesn’t import well.
If you’re having trouble importing a web page, a bookmark allows you to create quick access to it.
– When you don’t need to refer to the item frequently, but want to be able to find it easily.
You can create internal bookmarks that point to items within the project (often as document bookmarks, see below), but I’m going to focus on external bookmarks in this post. External bookmarks point to items outside of the project, located either on a drive accessible by your computer, or a web page.
Accessing the Bookmarks Pane
To view the Bookmarks Pane, first make sure the Inspector (right-hand sidebar) is open. If not, go to View>Show Inspector. Then, click the Bookmarks button at the top of the Inspector (see image below).
You can create a document or project bookmark. A document bookmark is only visible when you’re viewing the file where you added the bookmark. A project bookmark is visible from the Inspector pane of any file in the project.
Click the Document Bookmarks header in the Inspector to toggle between Document Bookmarks, Project Bookmarks, and Matching Text.
I’ll cover each in more detail below.
Creating a Bookmark To a File Inside the Project
If you want to link to a file that exists within the project, follow these steps.
1. To add it as a document bookmark (accessible only from the current document), choose Document Bookmarks in the header. For a project bookmark, choose Project Bookmarks.
2. Click the gear button and point to Add Internal Bookmark. Follow the project hierarchy until you locate the desired file and select it. The bookmark appears in the list.
Creating a Bookmark To a File Outside the Project
Use this procedure to add a project bookmark to a file on a drive that’s accessible from your computer.
1. Unless you want this to be a document bookmark, toggle the header to Project Bookmarks.
2. Click the gear button and choose Add External File Bookmark.
3. When the window opens, select a file and click Open. The bookmarked document [Read more…]
