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You can count on Scrivener

One of the most-asked questions when compiling is about chapter numbering. For many, this proves to be a stumbling block. So, today, I’m explaining all – and much else about Scrivener’s auto-numbering feature.

There are a host of numbering options, and they are activated using ‘placeholders’. These are essentially ‘tags’ which are replaced during the Compile process for actual data. A complete list is available via the Help Menu.

Tags are easy to spot; they start with <$ and end with >.

Title options

You have the option to let Scrivener number your chapters for you using numbers (1, 2, 3, …) or words (one, two, three, …).

To activate the auto numbering of chapters, you need to put a tag as a title prefix in the Title Options pane (part of the Compile process).

Notice the ‘t’ in this tag. It results in the words ‘One, ‘Two’, ‘Three’ etc being used to number your chapters.

There are alternative options for the worded version of a chapter title number: w and W. This extract from the complete list of placeholders (available via the Help menu) explains all.

And there’s always the simply numbering activate by the ‘n’ tag.

This can be combined with the ‘:chapter’ in the Title prefix pane – or used for many other auto numbering options.

What if you don’t wan’t Scrivener to automatically number your chapters?

If you’d rather number your chapters yourself, or not number them at all – just have the titles you’ve used for the titles of your chapters – that’s simply achieved, by ticking the correct box in the Section Layouts pane.

If you tick the Title column AND set up the Title Prefix, you’ll get both: your title and Scrivener’s automatically generated one!

Decide which you want and change the settings accordingly.

Alternative numbering options

Scrivener provides options so you can count using Arabic numbers (1, 2, 3, …) or Roman:

Or, you can use lettering:

Other auto numbering options

It’s not only chapters that Scrivener can number for you. You can automate the numbering for:

• Parts
• Figures / images
• Tables

You can even dream up your own name and create a ‘named auto numbering stream’.

These tags are put within the text of your manuscript, and they are replaced with actual numbers during the Compile process. More on that, in the next blog post.

Questions? Need a helping hand? Want a demo?

To watch me demonstrating how to control auto numbering of chapters in Scrivener, or to ask any questions, book a Simply Scrivener Special.

To help me to prepare, you could also complete this short questionnaire.

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